Evolution of technology fronts in organic solar cells

This article explores the evolution of emerging technology fronts in the field of organic solar cells so as to observe technological evolution. We apply bibliometrics to analyze highly-cited organic solar cell patents issued by the USPTO from 1999-2010 and observe technology evolution during three separate periods (1999-2002, 2003-2006, 2007-2010). That way enables us to observe the inheritance, enhancement, continuance, or even demise of certain technologies occurred in the organic photovoltaic arena. The result indicates that dye-sensitized solar cell and polymeric material technology have enhanced and enriched the organic photovoltaic technologies. By applying bibliometric analysis to highly cited patents, the proposed research offers an opportunity to monitor technological change and developing tendency in the hope for discovering potential areas of interest to the solar cell industry.