Photovoltaic (PV) technology, as a low-carbon energy technology, is crucial to mitigating climate change and achieving sustainable development. China has the largest total number of PV technology patents in the world, but the lack of core technologies has restricted the further innovative development of China's PV industry. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify China's current PV technology accumulation to better catch up with key technology areas. To clearly. Photovoltaic (PV) technology, as a low-carbon energy technology, is crucial to mitigating climate change and achieving sustainable development. China has the largest total number of PV technology patents in the world, but the lack of core technologies has restricted the further innovative development of China's PV industry. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify China's current PV technology accumulation to better catch up with key technology areas. To clearly describe the structural characteristics of China's PV technology innovation network, this study uses China's patent PV technology data over the past 20 years from the Incopat global patent database and analyses the structural characteristics of the network from the perspectives of one-mode and two-mode networks, using method of social network analysis (SNA). The results show that 1) the leading PV enterprises have basically formed relatively stable internal collaborations and that the scale of innovation network development has expanded rapidly, with very strong stamina; 2) with the development of China's PV industry, many innovative PV techniques have been developed by leading enterprises in the field of innovation and research and development (R&D) of PV technology, and among patent applicants with strong collaboration, kinship collaboration with investment relationships is dominant; 3) provinces participating in PV technology innovation are increasing significantly, the network is more influenced by leading nodes, and the eastern coastal provinces are pioneers i. ••The structure of China's PV technology innovation network is taken as the study subject.••Clarify China's current PV technological accumulation.••Provide patent insights into China's PV technology innovation and development.Photovoltaic technologyInnovation networkTwo-mode networkSocial network analysisAs an important strategic emerging industry, the photovoltaic (PV) industry is one of the most promising renewable energy industries in the world today. The PV industry not only addresses the impending depletion of traditional energy sources but also provides an excellent path to solving problems such as global warming and environmental pollution, with its clean energy properties [1,2,3,4,5]. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the issue of global climate change and has proactively pledged to achieve a carbon peak and carbon neutrality by 2030 and 2060, respectively, demonstrating the responsibility of a major country in addressing climate issues. Solar energy is an important kind of renewable energy, and one of the fastest growing renewable energy sources, with the advantages of easy installation, easy maintenance and no pollution, which could theoretically meet global energy needs. The climate environment and energy crisis have greatly stimulated China's research, development and application of solar energy, and the development of the PV industry is considered an important direction for China to achieve green development and transformation and is also an important tool to achieve the “dual carbon” goal.PV technology is an important technical way to achieve green development, transformation and overtaking. PV patents are innovative forms of PV technol. 2.1. Research dataThe data used in this study were obtained from the Incopat global patent database. Drawing on the research methods of previous scholars and using the International Patent Classification (IPC) green patent code, PV-related IPC patents in the Incopat global patent database were searched.1 First, the patents that are not related to PV were excluded, and second, patents with a single applicant, natural persons or companies registered outside China were excluded. In total, 6206 patents in the past 20 years, i.e., from 2002 to 2021, met the inclusion requirements. For the calculation of patent collaboration, first and nonfirst patent applicants were distinguished, and collaboration was divided into the first patent applicant (initiating) and the nonfirst patent applicant (participating), forming a directed data matrix of collaborative innovation among patent applicants. If a patent was applied for by four patent applicants A, B, C, and D, the collaborations between A and B, A and C, and A and D were all counted (3 times). To show the evolution characteristics of the PV technology innovation network as objectively as possible and to avoid sudden changes caused by special circumstances within a certain year, a multiple stage method was adopted, i.e., the research period was divided into four stages: 2002–2006 (Stage I), 2007–2011 (Stage II), 2012–2016 (Stage III) and 2017–2021 (Stage I.
