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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilizing and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

40+ innovations will shape the power industry

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the power industry using innovation intensity models built on over 70,000 patents, there are 40+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, solar-powered charging stations, wind turbine performance monitoring, and renewable energy storage are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Foldable solar panels, solar thermal collectors, and geothermal collectors are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are wave energy converters and solar cell protective films, which are now well established in the industry.

Innovation S-curve for environmental sustainability in the power industry

Solar-powered desalination is a key innovation area in environmental sustainability

Desalination is a technique used for extracting minerals from saline water. Solar desalination is a technique to desalinate water using solar energy. Solar desalination can be accomplished either directly or indirectly. Sunlight may produce heat for evaporative desalination procedures, and for some indirect methods, it can also be converted into electricity to power a membrane process. The four stages in solar desalination include pre-treatment, reverse osmosis, post-treatment, storage and distribution.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 80+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established power companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of solar-powered desalination.

Key players in solar-powered desalination – a disruptive innovation in the power industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.  

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’. 

Patent volumes related to solar-powered desalination

Surrey Aquatechnology is a leading patent filer in the solar-powered desalination space. The company develops processes for the osmotic treatment of water, which include the desalination of seawater for potable water, the treatment of water produced from the desalination process and the preparation of water for re-injection for use in the oil industry. Osmosis technology can be used in the construction of new and integrated into existing thermal desalination and reverse osmosis desalination plants, reducing the capital costs, the footprint and the operating costs of such plants. Some other key patent filers in the solar powered-desalination space include MURTECH, Oneka Technologies, and Hitachi.

In terms of application diversity, Transocean leads the pack, while Honeywell International and AECOM stood in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Saltworks Technologies and General Electric are the leading companies.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the power industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) in Power.

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.