Solar cells, which are unassembled parts that make up solar panels, made up the remaining 10% of China’s solar exports by value ($2.5 bn). The main export destinations for solar cells were Türkiye (33%), India (17%), Cambodia (15%), Thailand (10%) and South Korea (4%). The remainder of the report analyses exports of assembled modules only.
That dollar amount reflects a 29.4% increase from 2021 to 2022, and an 83.9% improvement since 2018. The 5 most lucrative exporters of solar power products are mainland China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Germany and Japan. By value, that quintet of leading exporters earned nearly three-quarters (72.6%) from solar power products exported in 2022.
In 2021, the United Kingdom accounted for the largest share of solar panels exported from the European Union, with roughly 23 percent of extra-EU exports. The United States was the EU's second largest trade partner for solar panels, with an export share of 15 percent. Get notified via email when this statistic is updated. * For commercial use only
In 2021, the value of China’s solar PV exports was over USD 30 billion, almost 7% of China’s trade surplus over the last five years. In addition, Chinese investments in Malaysia and Viet Nam also made these countries major exporters of PV products, accounting for around 10% and 5% respectively of their trade surpluses since 2017.
The largest extra-EU export destination for wind turbines was the United Kingdom (30%), followed by the United States (18%). China (98%) was by far the largest partner for extra-EU imports of solar panels in 2023 (see Figure 5). The largest extra-EU export destinations for solar panels were Switzerland (31%) and the United Kingdom (25%).
In 2023, the United Kingdom was the largest destination for extra-EU exports of wind turbines and solar panels, the United States for liquid biofuels. This article provides a picture of the international trade in green energy products of the European Union (EU) for three products: wind turbines, solar panels and liquid biofuels.
The following is a list of countries by photovoltaics exports (including exports of Photosensitive, photovoltaic and LED semiconductor devices). Data is for 2022, in billions of United States dollars, as reported by The Observatory of Economic Complexity. Currently twenty countries, as of 2022, are listed.