China is touted as a global leader in solar technologies. We examine this assumption by investigating knowledge and technology transfers based on 960,000 patented inventions and 1.78 million patent citations from 1970 to 2020 and across 175 countries. Patented inventions and citations offer a lens to the use of technology and its transfer through knowledge spillovers. The analysis indicates that transfer patterns and spillovers are highly concentrated: the United States (US) and Japan are responsible for 61% of all citations. The results do suggest that the influence of global North in solar energy technologies (SETs) has diminished while China’s has increased. However, much of China’s influence in transfer of solar energy patent is regional and in lower-end general SETs although its influence in upstream core technology has risen considerably. Despite China’s rise, US remains the undisputed leader in solar knowledge spillovers, especially in core technologies. The US and China have also become tightly linked in knowledge transfers suggesting that energy transition will heavily depend on the stability of the relationship between the two countries.
 

solar energy technology,technology transfer