The global solar photovoltaic (PV) industry, particularly in China, faces a complex landscape in 2024. Despite being a cornerstone of renewable energy expansion, the sector is struggling with declining profits due to falling module prices and intense market competition. Oversupply, driven by rapid manufacturing scalability and technological advances, has depressed prices and squeezed manufacturers’ margins. However, these pressures have not derailed the industry’s growth trajectory. Governments around the world, including China, continue to prioritise solar energy as a critical tool to achieve low-carbon transition goals under international agreements such as the Paris Agreement. This dual reality – financial pressure alongside unwavering demand – defines the current phase of the PV sector.
Chinese PV manufacturers, which dominate more than 80% of the global solar supply chain, are at the forefront of this push. In 2024, companies reported subdued earnings, with some smaller firms exiting the market. However, industry leaders such as LONGi, Jinko Solar and Trina Solar have doubled down on innovation and vertical integration to reduce costs. Technological breakthroughs in high-efficiency modules, perovskite tandem cells and automated production lines are improving competitiveness. At the same time, China’s “dual carbon” targets – to peak emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 – are anchoring long-term policy support and ensuring steady domestic demand.
As we move into 2025, the resilience of the industry is clear. In January alone, Chinese companies unveiled, signed or broke ground on more than 20 major solar projects across the country. These include gigawatt-scale PV power plants in arid northwestern regions, distributed solar systems for industrial parks, and integrated green hydrogen facilities. Cumulatively, more than 85 billion yuan (≈$11.7 billion) of investment is earmarked for new manufacturing facilities, targeting a combined annual capacity of 163 GW of silicon ingots, wafers, cells and modules. This expansion underlines China’s strategy to consolidate its global leadership while reducing costs through economies of scale.
Construction of the second phase of a solar cell and module factory in China began on 1 January. The project was initiated by Ronma Solar, a high-tech company specialising in the research, production and sales of P-type/N-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells and photovoltaic modules. A total of RMB 7.24 billion yuan has been invested in the second phase to achieve an annual output of 12GW of high-efficiency photovoltaic cells and 8GW of high-efficiency photovoltaic modules after the project is put into operation.
Construction of GCL’s New Silicon Material Application Industrial Base began on 1 January. The new base is located in Yancheng City. With a total investment of RMB2 billion, the bill will reach RMB3.5 billion when the project reaches full production.
On 2 January, an agreement was signed to start a large-scale project focusing on the mono-crystalline silicon process in Xinjiang, China, with a total investment of 8.473 billion yuan. The first phase will start with the construction of the production plant and support facilities to reach a production capacity of 12GW of wafers and 6GW of modules per year with an investment of 3 billion yuan.
On 3 January, the EIA of JingXu’s 2.5GW PV module project was approved. The total investment of Jingxu New Energy’s 2.5GW PV module project is RMB1.25 billion, and the construction includes 5 PV module production lines and supporting environmental protection facilities.
On 5 January, Pingmei LONGji started an expansion project with a total investment of 1.23 billion yuan. The project is located in Xiangcheng County, Henan Province, China. It aims to achieve an annual production capacity of 4.72GW of BC solar products through technical upgrading and renovation of the original seven production lines, with the addition of power systems and other auxiliary equipment. The upgrade is expected to improve the conversion efficiency of BC solar cells and further consolidate Pingmei LONGJi’s core leadership position in the PV industry.
Pingmei LONGJi mainly produces high-efficiency monocrystalline solar cells with world-leading conversion efficiency. Established in 2016, Pingmei LONGJi is a joint venture between PV giant LONGi and Yicheng (Henan Yicheng New Energy Co., Ltd., 300080.SZ), a subsidiary of China Pingmei Shenma.
On 7 January, it was reported that construction of a high-efficiency solar cell factory in China’s Shaanxi province was well underway. The new facility is designed to produce 6GW of high-efficiency solar cells per year, with a total investment of 1.8 billion yuan. It is expected to be completed and start production in July 2025.
On 8 January, the environmental impact assessment of Yulin LONGi’s 5GW PV module factory project was approved. Yulin LONGi’s 5GW PV Module Factory involves a total investment of RMB1.2 billion for the construction of a 5GW solar module factory and related support facilities.
On the same day, Suzhou Shijing Environmental Technology Co (301030.SZ), a China-based company mainly engaged in the research, development, production and sale of environmental protection equipment, recently announced that its large-scale PV solar manufacturing base has been approved by the local government of Sichuan Province, China. The company plans to build a large-scale manufacturing base with a total investment of 4.1 billion yuan (approximately US$560.5 million), and according to the announcement, 20 n-type technology production lines will be added in two phases to produce 20GW of high-efficiency monocrystalline wafers and 20GW of solar cells annually. The first phase is scheduled from March 2025 to December 2025 and the second phase from March 2026 to December 2026.
On 9 January, Zhongwei New Energy’s 20GW monocrystalline silicon wafer photovoltaic project was approved. Zhongwei is currently wholly owned by Tongwei Solar. The first phase of this particular factory will be located in Chengdu City, Sichuan, with a total investment of 700 million yuan, it is planned to produce 20GW of 182mm*210mm mono-crystalline wafers per year, new production lines will be added in Tongwei Solar’s workshops, with upgraded slicing workhouses. The construction period is from November 2024 to September 2025.
On 9 January, the first phase of a HDT solar cell factory in Sichuan Province, China, was improved. The new factory is initiated by JP-SOLAR Power (Fujian) Company, with a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan. It is planned to produce 10GW of HDT (High efficiency Heterojunction Double-side Technology Solar Cells) per year, of which 5GW will be HDT in this first phase.
A manufacturing base for perovskite solar products was signed on 9 January. With a total investment of RMB1.2 billion, the Boya Jieneng Perovskite Industry (Cluster) Project will build a GW-level automatic production line for third-generation perovskite PV modules and a 100,000-tonne clean plant, which will be completed and put into production by the end of March 2026.
On 10 January, AIKO started production of the first phase of its 10GW high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar module project in Jinan Province, China. The first phase of this special 10GW solar module project has a total investment of RMB9.978 billion.
At the same time, a new PV-related manufacturing plant was planned in the Xinjiang region of China, with a total investment of RMB8.473 billion. The project will mainly focus on mono-crystalline silicon ingot production with a capacity of 12GW per year and solar module production lines with a capacity of 6GW. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2025, and after the completion of the first phase with an investment of 3 billion yuan, it is estimated to generate annual sales revenue of about 6 billion yuan and tax payment of 200 million yuan per year.
On 14 January, Shouchu Nongxin held the signing ceremony of the whole industry chain centre of crystalline silicon photovoltaic module recovery and recycling. The total investment of the PV module recovery and recycling project is RMB 13 billion, with the construction of 100 standardised crystalline silicon PV module recovery and recycling production lines, and the annual processing capacity of 1 million tonnes.
On 15 January, the equipment for the first phase of the 5GW photovoltaic module project at ReneSola’s Yancheng production base arrived on site. This first phase of the 5GW photovoltaic module project, with a total investment of 5 billion yuan, will reach a production capacity of 5GW of cells and 10GW of modules in two construction phases after full production.
On 15 January, the first phase (5GW) of Huansheng Solar’s high-efficiency solar module smart factory in China started production. With a total investment of RMB4.566 billion, the new smart factory has a design capacity of 10GW of high-efficiency solar modules per year, and the main buildings include module workshop, finished product warehouse, waste station, water tanks, water pump house, substation, raw material warehouse and hazardous waste/chemical warehouse.
On 16 January, the processing equipment of an HJT high-efficiency module factory arrived at the site in Inner Mongolia, China. With a total investment of RMB 800 million, it is planned to build three 4GW high-efficiency flexible intelligent module production lines and support facilities.
On 17 January, a 2.4GW high-efficiency HJT tandem solar cell factory was approved in China. With a total investment of approximately 6.6 billion yuan, the project will produce 2.4GW of HJT tandem solar cells and 100MW of perovskite tandem cells via a pilot line.
On 19 January, a 5GW HJT module project started production at the Dual Carbon Industry Park in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, China. With a total investment of about 30 billion yuan, mainly including the design and construction of an annual output of 100,000 tonnes of high-purity silicon material project, 40GW high-efficiency n-type silicon pulling project, 40GW high-efficiency n-type silicon processing project, 5GW large-size ultra-thin n-type wafer project, 5GW high-efficiency heterojunction solar cell project, 5GW large-size heterojunction module project, 100,000 units of intelligent photovoltaic sweeping robots, 10GW sodium-ion storage device manufacturing project, 18 million sets of composite polymer photovoltaic frame manufacturing project, 500,000 sets of intelligent photovoltaic bracket manufacturing and other projects.
The first phase of the project plans a total investment of about 12.2 billion yuan to achieve an annual output of 50,000 tonnes of high-purity silicon, 10GW of high-efficiency n-type silicon material processing, 5GW of ultra-thin n-type large-scale wafers, 2GW of high-efficiency heterojunction solar cells, 2GW of large-scale heterojunction modules.
On 20 January, a new material processing base for perovskite solar products was signed in Hunan Province, China, with a total investment of 1 billion yuan. The project aims to produce perovskite solar cells.
On 21 January, Canadian Solar’s silicon material processing project in Inner Mongolia, China was updated. In order to improve the overall economic efficiency of the plant, Canadian Solar intends to invest RMB10,061,000 in the processing and reuse of mono-crystalline silicon ingot and build a 5GW silicon ingot processing project at the plant, with a construction period of three months.
On 22 January, JA Solar’s graphite hot field processing project in Baotou, China was approved. The project is expected to be completed in two months with a total investment of 10 million yuan.
Projects also reflect a shift towards higher value segments. For example, BC and TOPCon production lines dominate recent announcements as companies focus on premium products to differentiate themselves. In addition, backward integration in polysilicon production and recycling initiatives aim to stabilise supply chains and reduce dependence on imported raw materials.
Globally, the urgency of climate change mitigation continues to drive demand. Europe’s REPowerEU plan, the US bill to reduce inflation and India’s renewable energy targets all rely heavily on Chinese PV exports. However, trade tensions such as EU anti-subsidy investigations and US tariffs pose risks. In response, Chinese companies are accelerating overseas manufacturing in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the US itself to circumvent trade barriers.
Despite the headwinds, analysts expect PV market expansion to accelerate through 2025. Falling prices are making solar the cheapest source of energy in more than 100 countries, driving adoption. China’s aggressive capacity expansion, while risking near-term oversupply, is in line with global decarbonisation timelines. The industry’s ability to innovate, adapt and scale – even in the face of profitability challenges – underscores its indispensable role in the energy transition. As one executive noted: “The solar industry isn’t just growing, it’s evolving. Today’s investments are less about volume and more about reinventing how the world generates energy sustainably.
In summary, 2025 marks a pivotal chapter for the PV industry. While managing short-term economic pressures, Chinese manufacturers are laying the groundwork for a future where solar power underpins global carbon neutrality – a vision that requires relentless expansion, innovation and collaboration. The road ahead remains challenging, but the strategic importance of the sector ensures its momentum will continue.
