Faced with increasingly fierce international competition, climate change,and other global challenges, it is more important for national governments to take on the analysis of the patent intelligence of solar energy technology one step further. Based on the Innography patent information retrieval platform, this study analyzed the competition pattern and development trend in patents for global solar energy technology from the viewpoint of a patent country, application country,IPC distribution, patent rights,and patent strength. The additional analysis focused on the core patent concentration of countries and institutions in the world's major markets using patent data mining technology. A comparative study was conducted on the technology layout in the Chinese market between local technology developers and global technology developers. It is of great interest to discover the competition trends in patents for global solar energy and the hot technology layout, which this study evaluated in terms of the competitive environment, competitors, competitive technology,and international strategy. In addition, this paper highlighted some key implications, particularly for speeding up technological innovation and industrial upgrades to enhance the international competitiveness of China's solar energy industry.