That was one conclusion of a 70-page report analyzing U.S. patents in solar technology by Semiconductor Insights, a division of United Business Media, the publisher of EE Times. The report analyzes trends in U.S. solar patents by company and technology.

Patent activity has risen steeply since 1996 when about 25 solar patents were issued a year to 2006 when about 170 patents were awarded, the report found. Canon, TSMC, Sharp and Samsung were the top four patent holders respectively, according to the report which called Samsung "the IP gorilla in this relatively new field."

Samsung has "exploded onto the scene since about 2004," the report said. The company is the top patent holder in the emerging field of dye-sensitized solar cells, "a relatively new technology with the first activity appearing only 10 years ago, and with potential to provide inexpensive cells in high volume," the report said.

Samsung announced in September it will leverage its LCD business to produce solar panels starting in 2009, but the company has not published a road map for its plans, the report said. "Their patent portfolio suggests they could cover a wide range of PV cell types within the thin film categories [and] they are well represented in the bulk category as well," said the report.