Kesterite tech news
According to intellectual property analytics released by Patsnap Research on September 16, 2026, International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) maintains a dominant patent position in next--generation kesterite (CZTS/CZTSSe) thin--film solar technology, holding 161 patent families in a global landscape totaling 1,146 published records. The top five assignees control 30% of all published kesterite patents worldwide, with the United States serving as the primary filing jurisdiction. The analysis notes that foundational device architectures are heavily concentrated among legacy commercial leaders like IBM, signaling that commercialization and white--space opportunities for market entrants are transitioning toward proprietary liquid--phase precursor chemistries, scalable atmospheric coating methods, and interface defect passivation.