This is a list of notable photovoltaics (PV) companies.
Grid-connected solar photovoltaics (PV) is the fastest growing energy technology in the world, growing from a cumulative installed capacity of 7.7 GW in 2007, to 320 GW in 2016. In 2016, 93% of the global PV cell manufacturing capacity utilized crystalline silicon (cSi) technology, representing a commanding lead over rival forms of PV technology, such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), amorphous silicon (aSi), and copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS). In 2016, manufacturers in China and Taiwan met the majority of global PV module demand, accounting for 68% of all modules, followed by the rest of Asia at 14%. The United States and Canada manufactured 6%, and Europe manufactured a mere 4%. In 2021 China produced about 80% of the polysilicon, 95% of wafers, 80% of cells and 70% of modules. Module production capacity reached 460 GW with crystalline silicon technology assembly accounting for 98%.
Photovoltaics companies include PV capital equipment producers, cell manufacturers, panel manufacturers and installers. The list does not include silicon manufacturing companies.
Photovoltaic manufacturers Top 10 by year Solar modulecompanyShipments (GW)Country 2015* 2015† 2016(forecast) 2018 201920202021 LONGi Solar–––7.2924.5(1st) ChinaTrina Solar 4.55 5.74– 8.19.715.9(2nd) ChinaJA Solar 3.38 3.93 5.2-5.5 8.810.315.9(3rd) ChinaJinkoSolar 3.79 4.51 6-6.511.414.218.8(4th) ChinaCanadian Solar 3.9 4.7 5.4-5.5 7.18.511.3(5th) Canada –1.24–4.87(7th)(6th) ChinaFirst Solar 2.9 2.82.9-3 2.75.5(9th)(7th) United States Suntech Power(10th)(8th) ChinaHanwha Q CELLS 3.2 3.3 4.5-4.7 5.57.3(6th)(9th) South Korea (8th)(10th) ChinaGCL System Integration Technology4.14.8 ChinaSFCE (Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited)– 2.28–3.34 ChinaYingli Green 2.35 2.35-2.40––– ChinaSunPower Corp. 1.18-1.25– 1.7-2–2.5 USSources: tenth place depending on source. Total world 2015 shipment was 50.8 GW. * March 2016 source. † April 2016 source.
Summary
+Notable PV production lines in 2015, technology, capacity and productionHirshman, W. P., "Little smiles on long faces (cell production 2008: survey)," Photon International, (March 2015), pp. 170-206.Hirshman, W. P., G. Hering, and M. Schmela, "Gigawatts — the measure of things to come (cell production 2015: survey)," Photon International, (March 2015), pp. 136-166. Company Country Technology Capacity (MW) Production (MW)2012 2013 2014 2015 2012 2013 2014 2015 America Green Solar US Crystalline silicon 0 100 300 480 0 40 108 200 Bosch Germany Crystalline silicon, Thin films (a-Si, CIGS) - 220 260 270 - 55 143 200 BP Solar Spain Laser buried grid - 80 - - 12 15 40Estimated production/capacity - Australia MC Screen print - 52 - - 33 35 40 - Greenshine New Energy US - - 43 - - 25 27 30 - Canadian Solar Canada Crystalline silicon 0 100 270 420 0 40 102.8 200 Contendre Solar India Crystalline silicon - 192 320 320 - 80 100-120 194 Conergy Germany - 0 275 100 250 0 0 50 100 DelSolar Taiwan - 50 100 120 120 - 54 83 88.8 China - - - - 60 - - - 0 E-Ton Solar Taiwan - - 200 320 320 35 62 97 220 Evergreen SolarFiled for bankruptcy on Aug 15, 2011, Evergreen Solar Seeks Bankruptcy US String ribbon - 17 58.5 145 13 16 26.5 103.4 Germany String ribbon - 90 - - 15 50 - - China String ribbon - - - - - - - -Helius EnergyUSMonocrystalline & polycrystalline / PERC - - - - -355050China - - -120120180220220Brazil - - - - - - - - First Solar US CdTe - 119 147 160 60 119 145 143 Germany CdTe 0 158 196 214 0 81 192 192.5 Malaysia CdTe 0 0 392 854 0 0 167 764.5Morgan Solar IncCanada - Gintech Taiwan Crystalline silicon - 210 310 660 6 60 180 368 Contendre Solar India - - - - - - - - Isofoton Spain - - 130 180 140 61 87 130 70 Lubi solar India Monocrystalline & polycrystalline 75 90 110 120 35 40 52 67Itek EnergyUSMonocrystaline, PERC10154050241225 JA Solar Holdings China Crystalline silicon - 225 750 800 30 132 300 520 JUST Solar Co., Ltd. China - 0 120 156 205 0 83 156 194 Kyocera Japan - - - 360 - 180Plant closed in 2009. 207 290 400 Mitsubishi Electric Japan - - 150 220 220 111 121 148 120 Mitsubishi Heavy Japan - - 14 42 68 13 14 40 42 Motech Taiwan Crystalline silicon - 240 350 470 102 176 270 296 China Crystalline silicon 0 0 60 130 0 0 64 MX Group Italy - - - 60 90 - - 37 67 Neo Solar Power Taiwan Crystalline silicon - 60 210 240 4 36 135 201 Ningbo Solar Electric China - - 100 250-270 350 - 100 175 260 Photowatt France - - 60 60 - 33 38 58 49 Photovoltech NV Belgium - - 80 80 80 18 29 80 54 Q-Cells Germany - - 516 760 500Production greater than capacity due to closing of some production lines in mid-year 253 389 570 551 Malaysia CdTe - - - 300 - - - 206 Germany (Calyxo) - 0 8 25 10 0 1 3 1 Germany (Solibro) - 0 0 30 30 0 0 5 14 Germany (Sontor) - 0 8 25 - 0 1 3.6 RECOM France Monocrystalline & polycrystalline - 1.5 GW 1.5 GW 1.5 GW - - - Renewable Energy Corporation Norway - - - - 150 - - 80 115 Panasonic Japan - - 265 345 345 155 165 215 260 Schott Solar Germany - 118 162 205 355 83 74 138 218 US - 14 - 15 15 13 10 11 11 Sharp Japan - - 710 710 710 434 363 473 595 Silfab Solar US - - - - - - - - - Solarday Italy - - 20 60 90 - 30 37 50 SolarPark Korea South Korea Crystalline silicon - - - 170 - - - 90 SolarWorld Germany - - 160 300 500 70 135 200 200 US - 55 - 100 250 20 35 30 50 Solland Netherlands - - 60 170 170 18 36 60 80 SunPower US Crystalline silicon - 214 414 574 63 100 237 397 Suntech China Crystalline silicon - 540 1000 1100 160 336 530 704 Sunways Germany - - 46 116 116 25 38 49 60 Trina Solar China Crystalline silicon - 110 350 600 - 29 210 399 United Solar Ovonic US Thin film flexible amorphous silicon - 118 178 150 28 48 112.6 123.4 Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd India Monocrystalline & polycrystalline - - - - 120 200 350 500 Yingli China - 200 400 600 37 145 281.5 525.3TamesolSpainMonocrystalline & polycrystalline -120220340356080120Sova Solar LimitedIndiaPolycrystaline & monocrystaline12.525501007152545Zytech Solar (Zyt Energy Group)Spain (headquarters)Polycrystaline & monocrystaline, LCPV150250500700527490130China (subsidiary)Polycrystaline & monocrystaline10020020030025405365India (subsidiary)Polycrystaline & monocrystaline - - -200 - - -120
According to EnergyTrend, the 2011 global top ten polysilicon, solar cell and solar module manufacturers by capacity were found in countries including People's Republic of China, United States, Taiwan, Germany, Japan, and Korea.
In 2011, the global top ten polysilicon makers by capacity were GCL, Hemlock, OCI, Wacker, LDK, REC, MEMC/SunEdison, Tokuyama, LCY and Woongjin, represented by People's Republic of China, United States, Taiwan, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Historical rankings In 2015, GCL System Integration Technology Company made an increase of 500%, topping 2.5-2.7 GW, which puts it at seventh rank, overtaking Yingli Green, compared to 0.5 GW in 2014. Their solar PV module production appears to have reached a 3.7 GW capacity at the end of 2015.
Solar modules, as the final products to be installed to generate electricity, are regarded as the major components to be selected by customers willing to choose solar PV energy. Solar module manufacturers must be sure that their products can be sustainable for application periods of more than 25 years. As a result, major solar module producers have their products tested by publicly recognized testing organizations and guarantee their durable efficiency rate for a certain number of years. The solar PV market has been growing for the past few years. According to solar PV research company PVinsights, worldwide shipments of solar modules in 2011 was around 25 GW, and the shipment year-over-year growth was around 40%. The top five solar module producers in 2011 were: Suntech, First Solar, Yingli, Trina, and Canadian. The top five solar module companies possessed 51.3% market share of solar modules, according to PVinsights' market intelligence report.
Ranking2011 Marketshare Solar modulecompany Ranking2010 Marketshare Country 1 5.8% Suntech 1 8.1% China 2 5.7% First Solar 2 7.9% US 3 4.8% Yingli Solar 4 6.4% China 4 4.3% Trina Solar 5 6.1% China 5 4.0% Sungen Solar 6 5.3% China 6 2.8% Sharp 3 Japan 7 2.8% Sunpower 8 US 8 2.7% Hanwha Solarone 7 South Korea 9 2.3% Jinko – China 10 1.9% REC 10 Norway Sources:
Top 10 solar cell producers
According to an annual market survey by the photovoltaics trade publication Photon International, global production of photovoltaic cells and modules in 2009 was 12.3 GW. The top ten manufacturers accounted for 45% of this total.Hirshman, W. P., "Surprise, surprise (cell production 2009: survey)," Photon International, (March 2010), pp. 176-199.
In 2010, a tremendous growth of solar PV cell shipments doubled the solar PV cell market size. According to PVinsights, Suntech topped the ranking of solar cell production. Most of the top ten solar PV producers doubled their shipment in 2010 and five of them were over one gigawatt shipments. The top ten solar cell producers dominated the market with an even higher market share, say 50~60%, with respect to an assumed twenty gigawatt cell shipments in 2010.
Solar cellcompany Country Shipment2009 in MW Shipment2010 in MW Suntech China 704 1,572 JA Solar China 520 1,464 First Solar US 1,100 1,411 Yingli Solar China 525 1,062 Trina Solar China 399 1,057 Motech Solar Taiwan 360 924 Q-Cells Germany 586 907 Gintech Taiwan 368 827 Sharp Japan 595 774 Sungen Solar China 193 588 Sources: PhotonMagazine and PVinsights. Note: 2009 shipments of Motech and Canadian Solar are by PVinsights.
Quarterly ranking
Although yearly ranking is as listed above, quarterly ranking can indicate which company can sustain particular conditions such as price adjustment, government feed-in tariff change, and weather conditions. In 2Q11, First Solar regained the top spot in solar module shipments from Suntech. From the 2Q11 results, four phenomena should be noticed: thin film leader First Solar still dominates; more centralization in the solar module market; Chinese companies soared; and the giga-watt game is prevailing (according to the latest solar model shipment report by PVinsigts).
Thin film ranking
Thin film solar cells are commercially used in several technologies, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and amorphous and other thin-film silicon (a-Si, TF-Si). In 2013, thin-film declined to 9% of worldwide PV production.
In 2009, thin films represented 16.8% of total global production, up from 12.5% in 2008. The top ten thin-film producers were:
1100.0 MW First Solar 123.4 MW Suntech solar 94.0 MW Sharp 60.0 MW HELIOSPHERA 50.0 MW Sungen Solar 50.0 MW Trony 50.0 MW Moser Baer 43.0 MW Solar Frontier 42.0 MW Mitsubishi 40.0 MW Kaneka Corporation 40.0 MW Vtech Solar 30.0 MW Würth Solar 30.0 MW Bosch (formerly Ersol) 30.0 MW EPV
1 Estimated
2011 global top 10 polysilicon manufacturers by capacity
Company Capacity (tons) Country GCL 65,000 China OCI 65,000 Korea HSC 43,000 US Wacker 33,000 Germany LDK 25,000 China REC 19,000 Norway MEMC/SunEdison 15,000 US Tokuyama 9,200 Japan LCY 8,000 Taiwan Woongjin 5,000 Korea Sourced from EnergyTrend
On the other hand, the 2011 global top ten solar cell makers by capacity are dominated by both Chinese and Taiwanese companies, including Suntech, JA Solar, Trina, Yingli, Motech, Gintech, Canadian Solar, NeoSolarPower, Hanwha Solar One and JinkoSolar.
2011 global top 10 solar cell manufacturers by capacity
Company Capacity (MW) Country Suntech 2,400 China JA Solar 2,100 China Trina Solar 1,900 China Yingli 1,700 China Motech Solar 1,500 Taiwan Gintech 1,500 Taiwan Canadian Solar 1,300 Canada Neo Solar Power 1,300 Taiwan Hanwha Solar One 1,100 Korea JinkoSolar 1,100 China Sourced from EnergyTrend