The U.S. Clean Energy Expansion Faces Challenges Amid Sluggish Growth
The pace of clean energy development in the United States has notably slowed this year, with expectations for solar, wind, and battery capacity to grow only 7% by 2025 compared to 2024. This marks the slowest growth rate in over ten years. The wind energy sector is particularly affected, with a projected growth of just 1.8% this year, the lowest since 2010. Factors contributing to this slowdown include policy decisions from the Trump administration, such as the withdrawal of substantial offshore wind funding and halting permits for new offshore projects. Despite these setbacks, the dynamic nature of U.S. governance suggests that innovation in clean energy will persist.
While precise figures for U.S. clean energy patents are not readily available, global trends indicate substantial growth over the past decade. From 2017 to 2021, there were 78,000 low-carbon energy technology patent families globally, with a significant contribution from the U.S. Photovoltaic energy, in particular, has been an area of high patent activity in the U.S., with over 3,200 filings between 2015 and 2025. However, as global competition intensifies, especially from China, the U.S. Patent Office faces challenges in maintaining its edge in cleantech innovation.
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China has emerged as a leader in clean energy innovation, excelling in areas such as manufacturing, large-scale deployment, investment, and the development of new technologies like fast-charging electric vehicles. Its dominance in the supply chain for key technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries is supported by strategic planning and substantial investments. Recently, Chinese scientists launched the world’s first operational thorium reactor in the Gobi Desert, a project that has benefited from American research initially conducted in the 1960s. According to Guangming Daily, “The US left its research publicly available, waiting for the right successor. We were that successor,” stated project chief scientist Xu Hongjie. He added, “Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance,.”
U.S. companies and startups continue to pursue patents at near-record levels, covering sectors like batteries and electric vehicles. These patents serve multiple business purposes, such as establishing market barriers and protecting competitive advantages. However, with many cleantech innovations now occurring outside the U.S., finding non-U.S. prior art becomes increasingly difficult, impacting the scope of patent portfolios. Experts recommend that U.S. companies narrow their patent portfolios to reduce litigation risks associated with unconsidered prior art.
Recent legal developments in the U.S. energy sector include Tigo Energy‘s (NASDAQ:TYGO) settlement with SMA over solar technology, and Maxeon Solar‘s (NASDAQ:MAXN) legal actions against competitors like Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ) for alleged patent infringements. Tigo Energy concluded a multi-year settlement with SMA in May 2025, resolving a lawsuit regarding Tigo’s rapid shutdown technology. Meanwhile, Maxeon Solar filed a lawsuit against Canadian Solar in March 2024 for infringing on its TOPCon solar cell technology patents, with Canadian Solar planning to defend itself against these claims.
Original Story at finance.yahoo.com