Chinese companies dominate Wood Mackenzie’s solar PV module manufacturer rankings

Massachusetts — Nine out of the top 12 manufacturers in Wood Mackenzie’s new global solar PV module manufacturer rankings are Chinese companies, according to a report, where both fifth and tenth place were awarded to two companies each due to close scores.

Wood Mackenzie’s unique scoring methodology evaluated more than 30 solar PV module manufacturers. The ranking examines nine different criteria, including module manufacturing experience, vertical integration, financial performance, capacity utilisation, and more.

Top 10 solar PV module manufacturer ranking in 2023:

Source: Wood Mackenzie

Note: Both 5th place and 10th place were awarded to two companies each due to close scores. Companies with scores within 0.3 of each other were given the same rank.

Eight out of the 12 ranked module manufacturers are self-sufficient in cell capacity, stated the report. Tongwei and Risen are the only manufacturers in the ranking that are fully vertically integrated through the whole supply chain from polysilicon to module.

According to the report, seven out of the 12 ranked manufacturers are each expected to exceed 100 GW of module production capacity by 2027. The total capacity of wafers and cells of the top 10 ranked companies is expected to reach 830 GW in the next three years​, which is enough to satisfy global demand twice.

In terms of capacity and growth rate, 10 out of the 12 manufacturers had over 100% growth in the past four years, stated the report.

Top 10 ranked manufacturers’ module capacity compared to total global capacity and global installation rate, 2020-2027: ​

The report found that the top 10 ranked manufacturers continue to expand despite the oversupply of manufacturing capacity. At the same time, manufacturers are focused on becoming more vertically integrated.​

The top-ranked manufacturers have several strengths in common, ​including more than 10 years of module manufacturing experience, vertical integration, and high capacity utilisation​.

“Our new module manufacturer ranking comes at an optimal time in the evolution of the solar PV supply chain. Manufacturing capacity across the global solar value chain has expanded dramatically, as we’ve reported for over a year,” said Yana Hryshko, head of solar supply chain at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report.

Hryshko added: “Our ranking reflects a comprehensive summary of the most important criteria that buyers care about when purchasing solar PV modules. The scoring criteria focuses on the items that buyers ask about most frequently in their requests for quotations or requests for proposals.”