PVTIME – On 10 June 2025, the PVBL 2025 Global Top 100 Solar Brands rankings and the PVBL 2025 Global Solar Brand Influence Report were unveiled at the 10th Century Photovoltaic Conference in Shanghai, China. During the conference, PVBL announced its annual ranking of the top 20 global photovoltaic module manufacturers.
In 2024, the global solar module market continued to see the strongest players thrive, with the top four enterprises — JinkoSolar, LONGi, Trina Solar and JA Solar — collectively shipping over 320GW and dominating the industry. JinkoSolar led the pack, capitalising on its early-mover advantage in TOPCon (Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact) modules to ship over 90GW. LONGi trailed closely behind with 82.32GW, driven by its high-efficiency BC (Back Contact) technology and astute market strategies. Trina Solar and JA Solar both surpassed 70 GW in module shipments, maintaining their leadership through technological innovation and global expansion. Notably, Trina Solar invested 1.846 billion yuan in R&D, just surpassing LONGi’s investment of 1.815 billion yuan, in an effort to strengthen their technical capabilities.
Further down the rankings, the fifth to tenth positions saw diverging fortunes. Tongwei and CHINT (Astronergy) surged with shipments of 45.71GW and 40.20GW respectively, leveraging their vertically integrated supply chains. In contrast, Canadian Solar prioritised profitability over volume, achieving 31.10GW by focusing on high-margin markets. Meanwhile, firms such as GCL SI, DAS Solar and Yingli Energy occupied the 15–25GW bracket, each carving out a niche through a specialised approach. DMEGC (Hengdian Dongci) and others were close behind. First Solar remained the sole US entrant in the top tier, while Aiko debuted thanks to its mass-produced BC cell modules and Huasun ascended rapidly by commercialising HJT technology.
As the industry undergoes deep adjustment, obsolete capacity is being phased out quickly. Top players are reinforcing their positions through technology, scale and globalisation, while others are adopting differentiated strategies to target niche markets. The sector is evolving from volume-driven competition to value-based rivalry, with R&D intensity and technological differentiation emerging as key success factors.
The rankings assess not only market performance and financial metrics, but also innovation capability, social responsibility, and sustainable development, reflecting the industry’s future trajectory towards tech-driven green growth. Most of the data comes from the 2024 annual reports and public documents of listed companies, while non-listed firms provided their own figures. Renowned companies absent from the list did not submit the required data.
Established in 2012, the PVBL Annual Report is the only data research report in China supported by a multidimensional evaluation system. This system provides an accurate reflection of consumer attitudes towards brands and offers companies insight into the effectiveness of their brand positioning strategies.
To calculate a company’s corporate brand rating, Photovoltaic Brand Lab combines 10 years’ worth of data gathered by Century New Energy Network through its web-based operations with the evaluation criteria of
GB/T 31041-2014 Brand Value – Requirements for Quality Evaluation.
GB/T 31042-2014 Brand Value – Requirements for Service Evaluation
and GB/T 31043-2014 Brand Value―Requirements for Technology Innovation Evaluation.
The maximum achievable corporate brand rating is 1000, calculated after companies undergo an extensive judging process involving the evaluation of five primary and ten secondary indicators.
The primary indicators are revenue, research and development, outgoing shipments, impact and service.
The secondary indicators are brand design, brand popularity, brand reputation, brand loyalty, product quality, service quality, marketing promotion, social responsibility, industry impact and societal impact.
Finally, the top 10 PV brand rankings lists for various categories are finalised for announcement at the annual Century Photovoltaic Conference, organised by Century New Energy Media and PVTIME. These categories include, but are not limited to, the following: Top PV Power Station Investor, Top Power Station EPC, Top Module, Top Solar Cell and Top Inverter.
Thanks to PVBL’s continuous improvements to its evaluation system, more and more overseas institutions are paying closer attention to its annual rankings, which can be regarded as a barometer of the global photovoltaic market.
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