Discover which companies are producing the highest number of solar panels around the world. China produces 86% of the world’s solar panels each year, according to Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. In comparison, Europe and North America each produce around 2%.
Tongwei Solar (TW-Solar) is the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world. TW-Solar shipped a whopping 38.1GW of solar modules in 2022, doubling Trina Solar's shipments and achieving an annual revenue of USD $20.57 billion (£16.2 billion). In August 2023, Tongwei Group made history as the first solar PV company on the Fortune Global 500 list.
The third largest solar panel manufacturer is Shanghai AIKO Energy Co. Ltd., which exported 30.7GWp of solar modules in 2022. AIKO’s sleek black N-type ABC (All Back Contact) monocrystalline glass modules have been consistently ranked as the world's most efficient panels (at 24% efficiency) since their launch in March 2023.
In comparison, Europe and North America each produce around 2%. It therefore makes sense that six of the world's seven largest solar manufacturers are also based in China. Tongwei Solar (TW-Solar) is the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world.
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. Top 10 solar cell producers
China now manufactures more than half of the world's solar photovoltaics. Its production has been rapidly escalating. In 2001 it had less than 1% of the world market. In contrast, in 2001 Japan and the United States combined had over 70% of world production. By 2011 they produced around 15%.