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Solar Stocks List

Use this solar stocks list to compare 48 solar energy stocks across the full photovoltaic value chain, from polysilicon, wafer, cell and module manufacturers to inverter and tracker suppliers, EPC contractors, project developers, and diversified utilities with major solar portfolios.

It spans listed solar companies across the US, China, Europe and beyond, covering pure-play solar panel makers, specialist technology firms, and solar-plus-storage platforms. If you want diversified exposure rather than single names, the related Solar ETFs list compares US-listed solar funds.

48 CompaniesCombined Mkt Cap: $418BMarket data updated: August 21, 2026
At a glance

  • A full photovoltaic value-chain map: polysilicon and wafers → cells and modules → solar glass, inverters, trackers and eBOS → EPC, developers and operating assets.
  • The current roster includes twelve inverter/MLPE companies, eleven module manufacturers, thirteen renewable IPPs and three tracker specialists; companies may count in more than one segment.
  • Manufacturing exposure extends beyond modules: three polysilicon, three wafer and two solar-glass companies sit alongside three solar-cell specialists.
  • The US and China are the two main listing hubs, with 21 China-listed and 21 US-listed companies; European listings add downstream developer and asset-owner exposure.
  • Solar-plus-storage is a crossover theme across the list, connecting inverter and MLPE suppliers, residential solar, developers and renewable IPPs.
48 companies
FX rates — August 21, 2026: 🇨🇳 USDCNY 6.712  ·  🇪🇺 EURUSD 1.168  ·  🇭🇰 USDHKD 7.839  ·  🇳🇴 USDNOK 9.293
Solar Stocks — comparison of listed companies showing market capitalization, headquarters and business segment. Activate a row’s expand button for full company detail.
Expand Company Ticker HQ Segment
NextEra Energy
NEE $174B 🇺🇸 United States Renewable IPP
NextEra Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Renewable IPP

NextEra Energy operates a large US renewable platform through NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) alongside the regulated Florida Power & Light utility. As of 31 December 2025, NEER operated photovoltaic and solar-thermal facilities in 35 US states totaling approximately 12.8 GW of gross capacity and 10.5 GW of net capacity; essentially all of that capacity was contracted. FPL continues to add solar and storage as part of its regulated generation plan. NEER's renewables-and-storage backlog was approximately 29.8 GW as of 27 January 2026.

NYSE

$174B

Renewable IPP
Sungrow
300274.SZ $35B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Sungrow
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

Sungrow Power Supply is a major global PV-inverter supplier; S&P Global ranked it first in 2025 global inverter shipments, and it topped BloombergNEF's 2026 bankability survey with a 100% score, its sixth time at the top of the inverter group. Energy storage became its largest segment in FY2025, contributing CNY 37.3 billion of revenue — about 42% of the total — at a 36.5% gross margin, ahead of CNY 31.1 billion from solar inverters and related power-conversion equipment. A project-development arm that builds and transfers utility-scale plants on a DBT or EPC basis added CNY 16.6 billion, down about a fifth after China's shift to market-based power pricing. The Shenzhen-listed company earned roughly 60% of FY2025 revenue overseas; Q1 2026 revenue and profit declined year on year.

SZSE

$35B

Inverters
First Solar
FSLR $23B 🇺🇸 United States Module Manufacturer
First Solar
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Module Manufacturer

First Solar is a US-headquartered manufacturer of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar modules, using a fully integrated continuous process supported by its Ohio and California R&D facilities. Its manufacturing footprint includes five operating US plants, a sixth facility under construction in South Carolina and additional capacity in Vietnam, Malaysia and India, targeting roughly 18 GW of US nameplate capacity by 2027. First Solar recognized $1.6 billion of Section 45X advanced-manufacturing tax credits in 2025. Contracted backlog stood at 45.1 GW worth $13.6 billion at 30 June 2026, with deliveries scheduled through 2030, and cumulative module sales passed 100 GW in Q2 2026. OBBBA's prohibited-foreign-entity rules can affect the relative eligibility and sourcing economics of US-made modules; actual eligibility depends on project timing and traced supply-chain content.

NASDAQ

$23B

Module Manufacturer
Ningbo Deye Technology
605117.SS $18B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Ningbo Deye Technology
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

Ningbo Deye Technology is a Chinese manufacturer of hybrid inverters and matched LFP batteries for residential and commercial-and-industrial solar-plus-storage systems, alongside a smaller PV-inverter business. Frost & Sullivan ranked Deye first in residential energy-storage inverters by 2025 revenue, with a 20.6% global share in that category, according to the company's August 2026 Hong Kong listing application. Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Deye distributes in more than 150 countries; overseas markets represented 79.7% of FY2025 revenue, led by Europe, and the company forecast roughly 75% higher net profit for H1 2026 on overseas storage demand. Its first offshore plant, in Johor, Malaysia, broke ground in October 2025 with production targeted for early 2027.

SSE

$18B

Inverters
LONGi Green Energy
601012.SS $14B 🇨🇳 China Wafer Module Manufacturer
LONGi Green Energy
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Wafer Module Manufacturer

LONGi Green Energy is a major monocrystalline solar manufacturer producing silicon wafers, solar cells and modules under its Hi-MO brand. It reported 111.6 GW of wafer shipments and 86.6 GW of module shipments in FY2025. Its current technology work includes the Hi-MO X / Hi-MO X6 line using HPBC technology and the Hi-MO 9 flagship built on HPBC 2.0, backed by roughly 46 GW of in-house HPBC 2.0 cell capacity. LONGi has gigawatt-scale manufacturing across China and is expanding internationally. Revenue and margins have been pressured by industry-wide module and polysilicon price deflation since late 2023.

SSE

$14B

Wafer Module Manufacturer
Nextpower
NXT $13B 🇺🇸 United States Tracker
Nextpower
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Tracker

Nextpower (formerly Nextracker, rebranded in November 2025) is a major global supplier of single-axis solar trackers, with the NX Horizon family including terrain-following XTR and autonomous hail-stowing variants. The company is expanding beyond trackers into foundations, eBOS, storage and power conversion. Prevalon Energy was acquired in July 2026, and the acquisition of Zigor's power-conversion assets and Apex Power was completed in July 2026; the proposed acquisition of Zimmermann PV-Steel Group remained pending. FY2026 revenue, for the year ended March 2026, was $3.56 billion. Its US manufacturing activities can qualify for Section 45X credits on eligible components.

NASDAQ

$13B

Tracker
Enlight Renewable Energy
ENLT $11B 🇮🇱 Israel Renewable IPP
Enlight Renewable Energy
HQ: 🇮🇱 Israel Segment: Renewable IPP

Enlight Renewable Energy is an Israeli-headquartered, Nasdaq- and Tel Aviv-listed renewable IPP that develops, finances, builds, owns and operates utility-scale solar, wind and battery-storage projects across Israel, the United States, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Its portfolio reached 43.1 factored GW as of Q2 2026 using the company's combined generation-and-storage metric; 3.9 factored GW was operating and 12.3 factored GW sat in the mature portfolio. US projects include the 364 MW Atrisco solar-plus-storage complex, the 594 MW Snowflake A project and the 1.2 GW CO Bar Complex with 4.0 GWh of storage. In May 2026 Enlight signed a 200 MW solar PPA with Google for the Solstice project in Oklahoma. The model combines project development with ownership and long-term contracted revenue.

NASDAQ

$11B

Renewable IPP
AES Corporation
AES $11B 🇺🇸 United States Renewable IPP Diversified Power
AES Corporation
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Renewable IPP Diversified Power

AES Corporation is a US-based diversified global power company with operations in solar, wind, natural gas and battery storage across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific, alongside regulated US utilities including AES Indiana and AES Ohio. Its AES Clean Energy division reported roughly 11.0 GW owned and operated, 3.0 GW under construction, a 7.6 GW contracted backlog and a 46 GW development pipeline in its 2025 annual report. AES co-founded the grid-scale battery-storage integrator Fluence Energy with Siemens. The listed company therefore combines renewable development with utilities and other generation rather than offering a pure-play solar profile.

NYSE

$11B

Renewable IPP Diversified Power
Brookfield Renewable Partners
BEP $9.8B 🇨🇦 Canada Renewable IPP
Brookfield Renewable Partners
HQ: 🇨🇦 Canada Segment: Renewable IPP

Brookfield Renewable Partners is a listed renewable-power platform with approximately 47 GW of operating capacity across hydroelectric, wind, utility-scale solar, distributed energy and storage, and a development pipeline above 200 GW. Solar accounts for a portion of proportionate funds from operations alongside the broader renewable portfolio. The acquisition of French developer Neoen, agreed in 2024 and completed during 2025, expanded BEP's solar and battery footprint. The company reports that around 90% of generation is contracted under long-term PPAs. BEPC remains the exchangeable corporate-share alternative to the BEP limited-partnership units.

NYSE

$9.8B

Renewable IPP
Tongwei Co
600438.SS $8.3B 🇨🇳 China Polysilicon Solar Cells
Tongwei Co
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Polysilicon Solar Cells

Tongwei Co. is a major producer of high-purity polysilicon and high-efficiency solar cells, with roughly 900,000 tonnes of polysilicon capacity, more than 150 GW of N-type cell capacity and around 90 GW of module capacity. It is also a major aquaculture-feed and agriculture company, so the listed entity's consolidated results blend solar with a large non-solar feed business. Scale across polysilicon and cells is central to its manufacturing position, but margins across the solar value chain have been severely compressed by industry oversupply.

SSE

$8.3B

Polysilicon Solar Cells
Chint Electrics
601877.SS $8.3B 🇨🇳 China Solar Developer Inverters
Chint Electrics
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Solar Developer Inverters

Zhejiang CHINT Electrics (601877.SS) is the Shanghai-listed company of CHINT Group, distinct from the unlisted group parent. Its businesses include low-voltage electrical equipment and renewable-energy development, construction and operation. Inverter and storage activities sit with CHINT Power (002150.SZ), which is separately listed, and module maker Astronergy is likewise a separate CHINT group company, so the listed business spans electrical equipment and solar development rather than module manufacturing.

SSE

$8.3B

Solar Developer Inverters
Clearway Energy
CWEN $6.7B 🇺🇸 United States Renewable IPP
Clearway Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Renewable IPP

Clearway Energy is a US-listed clean-energy yieldco with approximately 13.9 GW of gross capacity across 27 states, including approximately 11.1 GW of wind, solar and battery storage systems and 2.8 GW of flexible dispatchable generation. Clearway is sponsored by Clearway Energy Group, whose owners include Global Infrastructure Partners, now part of BlackRock, and TotalEnergies. The portfolio mixes contracted renewable assets with flexible generation, and the yieldco typically grows by acquiring completed projects from its sponsor's development pipeline.

NYSE

$6.7B

Renewable IPP
SOLV Energy
MWH $5.7B 🇺🇸 United States EPC / Construction
SOLV Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: EPC / Construction

SOLV Energy is a US utility-scale solar and battery-storage EPC contractor, with more than 20 GW of solar capacity built since its founding in 2008. It is the most solar-concentrated contractor on this list: rather than building solar inside a broader energy and civil portfolio, SOLV is dedicated to utility-scale solar and co-located battery storage, covering engineering, procurement, and construction alongside ongoing operations and maintenance services. The company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker MWH on 11 February 2026, pricing at $25 per share. It remains a controlled company: private equity owner American Securities, which acquired the business in December 2021, retains roughly 75–80% of voting power following the IPO, leaving public shareholders with a minority voting stake.

NASDAQ

$5.7B

EPC / Construction
TCL Zhonghuan
002129.SZ $5.7B 🇨🇳 China Wafer Module Manufacturer
TCL Zhonghuan
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Wafer Module Manufacturer

TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy (TZS) is a Chinese manufacturer of large-format monocrystalline silicon wafers, the key intermediate product in the crystalline-silicon supply chain, and a major global wafer producer. It pioneered the G12 (210mm) ultra-large wafer platform and also manufactures finished modules. TCL Technology Group, the consumer-electronics and semiconductor group, is its controlling shareholder. Like other upstream suppliers, TCL Zhonghuan has faced margin pressure from the polysilicon and wafer price collapse since 2023.

SZSE

$5.7B

Wafer Module Manufacturer
Enphase Energy
ENPH $5.1B 🇺🇸 United States Inverters
Enphase Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Inverters

Enphase Energy is a US-listed supplier of microinverter-based residential solar and battery systems, having shipped approximately 89.4 million microinverters across approximately 5.3 million systems in over 165 countries as of Q2 2026. Its microinverter architecture converts DC to AC at the individual panel level and sits alongside IQ Battery LFP storage, the IQ EV Charger, the Enlighten monitoring cloud and Solargraf installer software. Enphase has a large US residential position; the United States accounted for approximately 81% of FY2025 revenue. Europe and Australia are key overseas markets. The company is expanding into US small-commercial solar with its GaN-based IQ9 microinverters; production shipments of the 548 W IQ9S-3P began in June 2026.

NASDAQ

$5.1B

Inverters
HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital
HASI $5.1B 🇺🇸 United States Clean Energy Finance
HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Clean Energy Finance

HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (rebranded from Hannon Armstrong in June 2024) is a US-listed specialty finance company that invests in sustainable infrastructure across three end markets: behind-the-meter assets including residential solar, energy storage, and efficiency; grid-connected utility-scale solar, wind, and storage; and renewable fuels and transport. Total managed assets reached $17.6 billion as of 30 June 2026, with an $8.2 billion on-balance-sheet portfolio yielding 9.2% in the second quarter of 2026. The company revoked its REIT election in 2024 and now operates as a C-corporation. A 50/50 co-investment vehicle with KKR (CarbonCount Holdings 1) carries $3 billion of committed equity and up to $4.5 billion of total capital to back larger transactions, including the $1.2 billion SunZia wind investment, whose funding HASI completed in July 2026. HASI's CarbonCount scoring framework measures avoided emissions per dollar invested.

NYSE

$5.1B

Clean Energy Finance
Trina Solar
688599.SS $4.5B 🇨🇳 China Module Manufacturer
Trina Solar
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Module Manufacturer

Trina Solar is a China-based vertically integrated solar company manufacturing monocrystalline and bifacial modules under the Vertex brand. It had reported more than 275 GW of cumulative module shipments by Q1 2025. Previously NYSE-listed before going private and relisting on Shanghai's STAR Market, Trina also operates a tracker business, with over 27 GW of cumulative tracker deliveries by end-2024, and an energy-storage business alongside its core modules. It is a major developer of 210mm large-format wafer platforms used in utility-scale projects.

SSE

$4.5B

Module Manufacturer
Primoris Services Corporation
PRIM $4.2B 🇺🇸 United States EPC / Construction
Primoris Services Corporation
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: EPC / Construction

Primoris Services Corporation is a large US utility-scale solar EPC contractor, with solar revenue of approximately $3.0 billion in 2025. Solar EPC and battery-storage construction sit within its Energy segment alongside natural gas generation, pipelines, and heavy civil work; the company also operates a Utilities segment focused on electric and gas distribution. Primoris reported total backlog of $13.9 billion at 30 June 2026, including $8.2 billion of Master Service Agreement backlog. Its Q2 2026 results attributed cost overruns to six renewable energy projects: two were substantially complete in Q2, three were expected to complete in Q3, and one in Q4. The company continued to expect 2026 Renewables revenue of approximately $2.1 billion, compared with approximately $3.0 billion in 2025.

NYSE

$4.2B

EPC / Construction
Ginlong Technologies (Solis)
300763.SZ $3.7B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Ginlong Technologies (Solis)
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

Ginlong Technologies (Solis) is a Chinese manufacturer of solar string inverters, hybrid inverters and monitoring systems under the Solis brand, focused on residential and commercial markets internationally. The company reports more than 100 GW of Solis inverters deployed cumulatively and distributes through installer and distributor networks across Europe, Australia, North America and Asia. Its hybrid inverter line supports battery storage, including in European residential-storage markets.

SZSE

$3.7B

Inverters
Aiko Solar Energy
600732.SS $3.7B 🇨🇳 China Solar Cells Module Manufacturer
Aiko Solar Energy
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Solar Cells Module Manufacturer

Aiko Solar Energy is a Chinese solar company built around its ABC (All Back Contact) cell technology, which places all electrodes on the rear of the cell to remove front-side shading from the metal contacts and support high module conversion efficiency. Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Aiko originally supplied cells to third-party module makers before expanding into ABC-based branded modules. It has invested in ABC cell and module capacity for utility-scale and distributed-solar applications.

SSE

$3.7B

Solar Cells Module Manufacturer
JA Solar Technology
002459.SZ $3.6B 🇨🇳 China Module Manufacturer
JA Solar Technology
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Module Manufacturer

JA Solar Technology is one of China's and the world's largest solar module manufacturers, with gigawatt-scale annual capacity and global shipments across utility, commercial, and residential markets in over 130 countries. The company's DeepBlue 4.0 Pro TOPCon module is among its flagship products, incorporating N-type cell technology for higher efficiency and better low-light performance. Its international manufacturing plans include a $565 million Oman plant with planned 6 GW cell and 3 GW module capacity, plus a module gigafactory in Egypt announced in December 2025.

SZSE

$3.6B

Module Manufacturer
Grenergy Renovables
GRE.MC $3.1B 🇪🇸 Spain Renewable IPP
Grenergy Renovables
HQ: 🇪🇸 Spain Segment: Renewable IPP

Grenergy Renovables is a Madrid-listed renewable developer and IPP that has shifted from a solar-led model toward large solar-plus-storage Oasis platforms and standalone battery projects. Its 2028 investment plan describes a footprint of roughly 12 GW of solar and 71 GWh of storage across Europe, the United States and Latin America. Its flagship Oasis platforms in Chile's Atacama and Iberia total around 5 GW of solar and 22 GWh of storage. Recent milestones include a 20-year hybrid solar-plus-storage PPA with Georgia Power in May 2026 and the sale of seven distributed-generation solar plants totaling 88 MW in Colombia to Ecopetrol in December 2025. Much of the stated capacity remains in development rather than operation.

BME

$3.1B

Renewable IPP
GCL Technology Holdings
3800.HK $2.9B 🇨🇳 China Polysilicon Wafer
GCL Technology Holdings
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Polysilicon Wafer

GCL Technology Holdings is the Hong Kong-listed, Cayman-incorporated solar-materials company of China's GCL group. It produces granular polysilicon using fluidized-bed-reactor (FBR) technology and also manufactures wafers. The company reported effective FBR granular-silicon capacity of 480,000 MT at the end of 2024. Its main R&D and manufacturing bases are in Xuzhou, Leshan, Hohhot and Baotou, and it exited its Xinjiang rod-polysilicon investment in April 2025. The business remains highly exposed to the polysilicon price cycle.

HKEX

$2.9B

Polysilicon Wafer
Xinyi Solar Holdings
0968.HK $2.8B 🇨🇳 China Solar Glass
Xinyi Solar Holdings
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Solar Glass

Xinyi Solar Holdings is a large solar photovoltaic-glass manufacturer, with average operating melting capacity of 21,400 tonnes per day in the second half of 2025, down from 23,200 t/day earlier in the year after two China lines totaling 1,800 t/day were suspended in July 2025. Solar glass accounted for 85.5% of FY2025 revenue, with the company supplying ultra-clear low-iron tempered glass to module manufacturers. Manufacturing is anchored in China, with overseas production in Malaysia and a new Indonesian base where the first 1,200 t/day line commenced operation in January 2026. Margins have been compressed by the PV-glass price downturn. The group also holds approximately 6.2 GW of grid-connected solar farms in China, primarily through listed subsidiary Xinyi Energy.

HKEX

$2.8B

Solar Glass
Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente
SLR.MC $2.7B 🇪🇸 Spain Renewable IPP
Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente
HQ: 🇪🇸 Spain Segment: Renewable IPP

Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente is a Spanish independent renewable-energy company operating utility-scale solar power plants concentrated in Spain and Iberia. The company combines PPA-contracted generation with merchant market exposure and has a land-rights and development pipeline supporting future projects. Solaria has been selectively expanding into other European markets. Most assets and development rights remain concentrated in Iberia, so geographic concentration is an important part of the business profile.

BME

$2.7B

Renewable IPP
ReNew Energy Global
RNW $2.5B 🇮🇳 India Renewable IPP
ReNew Energy Global
HQ: 🇮🇳 India Segment: Renewable IPP

ReNew Energy Global is India's largest independent renewable-energy company, with approximately 11.4 GW of commissioned capacity at end-2025, including roughly 5.8 GW of solar and 5.5 GW of wind, plus hydro and battery storage. Incorporated in England and Wales with operations run from Gurugram, India, ReNew has been Nasdaq-listed since its 2021 SPAC merger. On 27 July 2026 a consortium led by CPP Investments and CEO Sumant Sinha submitted a best-and-final, but still non-binding, proposal of $7.02 per share to take ReNew private; a 6 August confirmatory filing said the proposal remained under evaluation by the independent special committee. ReNew is also expanding into green hydrogen and hybrid solar-wind-storage projects.

NASDAQ

$2.5B

Renewable IPP
GoodWe Technologies
688390.SS $2.4B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
GoodWe Technologies
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

GoodWe Technologies is a China-based manufacturer of solar inverters for residential, commercial, and industrial applications, with a particular focus on hybrid inverters that integrate battery-storage management. Listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, GoodWe has built an international distribution network across European, Australian, and emerging-market residential-solar customers with its string and hybrid inverter range. Its product line has extended into home batteries, energy-management systems, and EV charging, broadening its platform beyond standalone inverters.

SSE

$2.4B

Inverters
SMA Solar Technology
S92.DE $2.3B 🇩🇪 Germany Inverters
SMA Solar Technology
HQ: 🇩🇪 Germany Segment: Inverters

SMA Solar Technology is a German manufacturer of solar inverters with more than 40 years of power-electronics experience. It produces string, central and hybrid inverters for residential, commercial and utility-scale solar, plus EV-charging and battery-storage management products. SMA sold 19.9 GW of inverter output in FY2025 but reported a loss, with EBITDA of -EUR 65.4 million and EBIT of -EUR 188.2 million, and is executing a restructuring and transformation program. It has added final-assembly capacity in Krakow while maintaining a service network for European installer and utility customers.

ETR

$2.3B

Inverters
GCL System Integration Technology
002506.SZ $2.3B 🇨🇳 China Solar Cells Module Manufacturer
GCL System Integration Technology
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Solar Cells Module Manufacturer

GCL System Integration Technology (GCL-SI, 002506.SZ) is a Shenzhen-listed solar cell and module manufacturer and member of China's GCL Group, distinct from GCL Technology Holdings (3800.HK). Its FY2025 annual report describes over 30 GW of large-format module capacity and 16 GW of n-type TOPCon cell capacity, plus storage and energy solutions; significant silicon-wafer production sits with affiliated group companies rather than GCL-SI itself. Module-sector price deflation has kept it loss-making: FY2025 revenue of CNY 15.3 billion came with a CNY 1.17 billion net loss, and the company guided to a further CNY 320-450 million loss for H1 2026. It has begun shipping premium-priced back-contact (GPC) modules produced on retrofitted TOPCon lines.

SZSE

$2.3B

Solar Cells Module Manufacturer
Sunrun
RUN $2.2B 🇺🇸 United States Residential Solar
Sunrun
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Residential Solar

Sunrun is a large US residential solar and battery-storage provider, with just over one million subscribers and 1.21 million total customers as of 30 June 2026. Customer agreements typically run 20 or 25 years and are financed through tax equity, asset-backed securities and the long-term cash flows of the contracted base, alongside prepaid and cash options. Storage attach rates reached a company record 74% in Q2 2026, supporting a networked battery fleet of approximately 4.6 GWh that Sunrun dispatches as a virtual power plant. The Section 25D residential credit ended for expenditures after 2025; the treatment of third-party-ownership structures depends on Section 48E eligibility and related foreign-entity rules.

NASDAQ

$2.2B

Residential Solar
Sineng Electric
300827.SZ $2.1B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Sineng Electric
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

Sineng Electric is a Chinese power-electronics manufacturer specializing in solar PV inverters and energy-storage power-conversion systems. S&P Global ranked it fourth globally by PV-inverter shipments in 2024, and BloombergNEF has included it in its Tier 1 power-inverter manufacturer lists. Its portfolio spans residential, commercial and utility-scale inverters, grid-scale battery-storage PCS, power-quality controllers and active power filters. Sineng operates manufacturing bases in Wuxi and Wuzhong in China and Bangalore in India, with the India facility supporting regional manufacturing and service. It sells across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

SZSE

$2.1B

Inverters
Flat Glass Group
6865.HK $2.1B 🇨🇳 China Solar Glass
Flat Glass Group
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Solar Glass

Flat Glass Group is a Chinese manufacturer of solar photovoltaic glass and architectural flat glass. Its solar glass products include AR-coated low-iron tempered glass used in crystalline-silicon and thin-film module encapsulation; PV glass represented 89.9% of FY2025 revenue. The company is dual-listed, with Hong Kong H shares (6865.HK) and Shanghai A shares (601865.SS). Sustained PV-glass price declines have pushed it to cold-repair kilns, with broker estimates putting in-production melting capacity around 16,400 tonnes/day by mid-2025, down from roughly 20,000 tonnes/day operated in early 2025; in July 2026 it warned of an H1 2026 net loss of CNY 300-400 million after impairments on idled furnaces and PV-glass inventories.

HKEX

$2.1B

Solar Glass
SolarEdge Technologies
SEDG $1.9B 🇮🇱 Israel Inverters
SolarEdge Technologies
HQ: 🇮🇱 Israel Segment: Inverters

SolarEdge Technologies designs DC-optimized inverter systems for residential and commercial-and-industrial solar, comprising module-level Power Optimisers, string inverters, and DC-coupled batteries. The Israel-headquartered but Delaware-incorporated, Nasdaq-listed company had shipped roughly 56 GW of systems to over 145 countries by end-2024, after which it discontinued its cumulative-shipment metric. Following severe inventory and demand challenges in 2023-2024, SolarEdge reported a Q2 2026 non-GAAP gross margin of 28.6% (GAAP 27.5%), a sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year margin expansion, and returned to non-GAAP operating profitability for the first time since Q2 2023. It began shipping its next-generation Nexis platform in 2026, with three-phase Nexis shipments into Europe exceeding $60M in Q2 2026. It is developing, with Infineon, a Solid State Transformer for AI data-center 800V DC architectures, targeting a working lab prototype by end-2026, data-center pilots in 2027 and volume shipments in 2028.

NASDAQ

$1.9B

Inverters
Scatec
SCATC.OL $1.7B 🇳🇴 Norway Renewable IPP
Scatec
HQ: 🇳🇴 Norway Segment: Renewable IPP

Scatec is a Norwegian independent renewable-energy developer and power producer operating utility-scale solar, wind, hydro and battery-storage projects across Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Its March 2026 materials describe roughly 6.3 GW in operation and under construction, and about 7.3 GW including acquired capacity, under a model spanning development, construction and long-term ownership. Its portfolio is concentrated in emerging markets, making project execution, financing and country risk important to the business model.

OSE

$1.7B

Renewable IPP
Risen Energy
300118.SZ $1.7B 🇨🇳 China Module Manufacturer
Risen Energy
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Module Manufacturer

Risen Energy is a Chinese manufacturer of monocrystalline solar modules for residential, commercial and utility-scale applications, with manufacturing in Ningbo and overseas plants serving international markets. Its current high-efficiency platform is Hyper-ion / Hyper-ion Pro heterojunction technology; issuer materials reported average mass-production output around 740 Wp and record cell efficiency of 26.61% in mid-2025. The earlier Titan series is its legacy PERC module family. Risen supplies modules across Europe, Australia, Latin America and the Middle East.

SZSE

$1.7B

Module Manufacturer
Solax Power
688717.SS $1.4B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Solax Power
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

SolaX Power Network Technology is a Chinese manufacturer of hybrid solar inverters and battery-storage systems, with a customer base weighted toward European residential solar-plus-storage. Listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, SolaX sells its X1 and X3 inverter series through installers in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and other markets. Its inverters support lithium-battery systems for residential self-consumption and backup power.

SSE

$1.4B

Inverters
Hoymiles Power Electronics
688032.SS $1.4B 🇨🇳 China Inverters
Hoymiles Power Electronics
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Inverters

Hoymiles Power Electronics is a Chinese manufacturer of microinverters and power optimisers for residential and commercial rooftop solar, competing with Enphase in the module-level power-electronics segment. Listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, Hoymiles reported about 17% of global microinverter shipments in 2025, citing S&P Global Energy data, and ranked first outside the United States on that measure. Its DTU communication units and monitoring platforms provide panel-level visibility and remote management. The business mix is shifting: FY2025 microinverter revenue fell sharply while energy-storage revenue grew about 61%, and the company swung to a CNY 161 million net loss as it invested through the transition.

SSE

$1.4B

Inverters
T1 Energy
TE $1.3B 🇺🇸 United States Module Manufacturer
T1 Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Module Manufacturer

T1 Energy (NYSE: TE), formerly FREYR Battery, began trading under its current name on 3 March 2025 following the December 2024 close of the Trina Business Combination, which brought Trina Solar's US solar-manufacturing assets under the company. T1 operates G1_Dallas, a 5 GW-nameplate photovoltaic module manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas, using PERC and TOPCon cell technology. It is also building G2_Austin, a planned US solar-cell manufacturing facility in Milam County, Texas; construction of the first 2.1 GW phase began in December 2025, with the company targeting initial cell production there in Q4 2026. T1 holds long-term supply agreements with Hemlock Semiconductor for polysilicon and Corning Inc. for wafers. In Q1 2026, T1 reported net income from continuing operations of $3.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $9.1 million, both company-described quarterly records.

NYSE

$1.3B

Module Manufacturer
Shoals Technologies Group
SHLS $1.2B 🇺🇸 United States Electrical BOS
Shoals Technologies Group
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Electrical BOS

Shoals Technologies Group designs and manufactures electrical balance-of-system (eBOS) solutions for utility-scale solar, battery storage and data-center power infrastructure. Its Big Lead Assembly trunk-bus system uses above-ground aluminum feeder cables and prefabricated harnesses instead of traditional combiner boxes and wire-and-conduit; the company says the design can reduce wire runs by up to 95%. Shoals reported more than 93 GW of deployed solar projects and total backlog and awarded orders of $747.6 million at end-2025. It has announced Master Service Agreements with data-center integrators. The wire-insulation shrinkback matter remains subject to litigation against the supplier, with related expenses disclosed in 2026 filings.

NASDAQ

$1.2B

Electrical BOS
Voltalia
VLTSA.PA $1.0B 🇫🇷 France Renewable IPP
Voltalia
HQ: 🇫🇷 France Segment: Renewable IPP

Voltalia is a French independent renewable-energy developer, IPP and service provider with solar, wind, hydro, biomass and battery-storage projects across Europe, Latin America and Africa. Its dual model combines ownership of generating assets with EPC, O&M and development services for third parties. At end-2025 Voltalia had 2.9 GW in operation and 3.6 GW including projects under construction. Under its SPRING plan the company cut its development pipeline by around 30% to roughly 12 GW and withdrew from five countries to concentrate on priority markets; FY2025 included a net loss of EUR 128.1 million amid Brazilian curtailment pressure.

EPA

$1.0B

Renewable IPP
Canadian Solar
CSIQ $988M 🇨🇦 Canada Module Manufacturer Renewable IPP
Canadian Solar
HQ: 🇨🇦 Canada Segment: Module Manufacturer Renewable IPP

Canadian Solar is a Canada-headquartered vertically integrated solar company with a broad value-chain footprint. Its manufacturing arm targeted approximately 51 GW of module capacity by December 2025 and shipped 24.3 GW of modules in FY2025, while its Recurrent Energy division develops, owns and operates utility-scale solar and battery-storage projects globally. Following a December 2025 reorganization, manufacturing is split between US-focused CS PowerTech, a majority-owned subsidiary, and CSI Solar's other-market operations; the Mesquite, Texas plant reached an annual run-rate above 5 GW and is expanding toward 10 GW by H2 2026. CSI Solar is separately listed on the Shanghai STAR Market (688472.SS), with the parent retaining majority ownership. This combination gives the parent exposure to manufacturing, project development and energy services.

NASDAQ

$988M

Module Manufacturer Renewable IPP
Daqo New Energy
DQ $919M 🇨🇳 China Polysilicon
Daqo New Energy
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Polysilicon

Daqo New Energy is a Chinese producer of solar-grade polysilicon, with reported 305,000 MT of nameplate capacity split between Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia and manufacturing based on the modified Siemens process. Its NYSE-listed Cayman holding company owns roughly 72.8% of Xinjiang Daqo, the operating subsidiary separately listed on Shanghai's STAR Market. Industry oversupply pushed polysilicon prices below the production costs of many producers; Daqo reported a net loss of $88.4 million in Q1 2026 and operated at approximately 57% of nameplate capacity. How far China's anti-involution supply-discipline campaign lifts polysilicon prices remains the swing factor for its earnings.

NYSE

$919M

Polysilicon
Xinyi Energy Holdings
3868.HK $891M 🇨🇳 China Renewable IPP
Xinyi Energy Holdings
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Renewable IPP

Xinyi Energy Holdings is a Hong Kong-listed, Cayman-incorporated, solar-focused renewable-energy operator in mainland China. As of 30 June 2026, it owned utility-scale renewable-energy generation projects with aggregate approved capacity of 4,630.5 MW, including subsidized and grid-parity projects; the wider portfolio also includes a small wind farm. The company sells electricity to provincial subsidiaries of China's state grid enterprises under a mix of tariff and market-based arrangements. It is a controlled subsidiary of Xinyi Solar Holdings (0968.HK), spun out as a yieldco in 2019 to give investors separately listed exposure to operating renewable assets, with the parent retaining majority ownership. The company also completed the acquisition of a New Zealand company in the first half of 2026 and expects a 100 MW Malaysian renewable project to connect by the end of 2026.

HKEX

$891M

Renewable IPP
JinkoSolar
JKS $834M 🇨🇳 China Module Manufacturer
JinkoSolar
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Module Manufacturer

JinkoSolar is one of the world's largest solar module manufacturers, having crossed 400 GW of cumulative module shipments delivered to nearly 200 countries during Q1 2026, with full-year 2026 shipment guidance of 75-85 GW. Its Tiger Neo TOPCon N-type product line accounted for over 99% of 2025 module shipments, and the third-generation Tiger Neo 3.0 reached average mass-production output of 655-660W by the end of Q1 2026. Operations are vertically integrated across silicon ingots, wafers, cells, and modules, with manufacturing in China, Vietnam, the United States, and a planned Saudi Arabian joint venture with PIF. The group is structured as a Cayman NYSE-listed parent (JKS) whose principal operating subsidiary, Jinko Solar Co., is separately listed on the Shanghai STAR Market.

NYSE

$834M

Module Manufacturer
Arctech Solar
688408.SS $832M 🇨🇳 China Tracker
Arctech Solar
HQ: 🇨🇳 China Segment: Tracker

Arctech Solar is a Chinese manufacturer of single-axis solar trackers and fixed-tilt racking systems for utility-scale solar farms, with experience in high-wind and difficult-terrain environments. Listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, Arctech has deployed its SkyLine and SkySmart tracker products across projects in China, the Middle East, Latin America and other international markets, and offers tracking control software for its systems. Its project base spans both Chinese and non-Chinese utility-solar markets.

SSE

$832M

Tracker
Array Technologies
ARRY $721M 🇺🇸 United States Tracker
Array Technologies
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: Tracker

Array Technologies is one of the largest global suppliers of single-axis solar trackers for utility-scale projects, with its DuraTrack platform and patented autonomous wind-stow technology installed across thousands of projects worldwide. The 2022 acquisition of STI Norland expanded its presence in Europe and Latin America, and the acquisition of foundation-solutions provider APA Solar, agreed in June 2025 and completed in August 2025, added an adjacent product line often deployed alongside trackers. The order book stood at a record $2.5 billion at 30 June 2026, its third consecutive quarterly record, and cumulative tracker shipments passed 100 gigawatts during the second quarter of 2026. Array manufactures with a high US domestic-content mix: its trackers can help project owners qualify for the domestic-content bonus, while Array itself claims Section 45X advanced-manufacturing credits on eligible components, two distinct tax mechanisms. Its primary US-listed tracker competitor is Nextpower.

NASDAQ

$721M

Tracker
7C Solarparken
HRPK.DE $150M 🇩🇪 Germany Renewable IPP
7C Solarparken
HQ: 🇩🇪 Germany Segment: Renewable IPP

7C Solarparken is a German operator and developer of distributed solar parks generating revenue from German feed-in tariffs, direct-marketing agreements and PPAs. Listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, it owned and operated roughly 504 MWp in 2025, predominantly in Germany with a smaller Belgian presence. It acquires existing parks and develops ground-mount and rooftop projects.

ETR

$150M

Renewable IPP
Tigo Energy
TYGO $84M 🇺🇸 United States MLPE Inverters
Tigo Energy
HQ: 🇺🇸 United States Segment: MLPE Inverters

Tigo Energy is a US-based provider of module-level power electronics (MLPE), competing primarily with Enphase and SolarEdge. Its TS4 platform delivers per-panel optimization, real-time monitoring, and code-required rapid shutdown for residential, commercial, and utility-scale solar systems. The company also offers GO Energy Storage Systems for residential solar-plus-storage and the Predict+ machine-learning analytics platform used by utilities for renewable forecasting. Tigo reported 2025 revenue of $103.5 million, up 91.7% year on year; EMEA revenue reached $69.5 million, driven by MLPE and GO ESS demand in Germany, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Poland.

NASDAQ

$84M

MLPE Inverters

List Updates

Additions, removals and corrections are logged here as they happen. Market-cap data last refreshed August 21, 2026. Full changelog across all lists →

±

Name ChangeNov 11, 2025
Nextracker rebranded as Nextpower in November 2025, reflecting its expansion beyond solar trackers into foundations, eBOS, storage and power conversion. Ticker NXT unchanged.
+

Company AdditionMar 3, 2025
T1 Energy (NYSE: TE, formerly Freyr Battery) began trading under its new ticker on March 3, 2025, repositioned around its 5 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas, acquired from Trina Solar. Added to Solar Stocks.
Disclaimer: Green Stocks Research publishes independent research for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing on this page is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security — always do your own due diligence and consider consulting a licensed financial adviser before investing. Market-capitalization figures are refreshed on a regular cadence from publicly available exchange data and may lag real-time prices; see our methodology for how this list is compiled and maintained. Green Stocks Research has no financial relationship with any company listed. Have a suggestion — an addition, removal, or correction? Email us at feedback@greenstocksresearch.com.

Solar Stocks — Investor FAQ

Solar stocks are shares of publicly traded companies that earn revenue from the solar power value chain. The term covers upstream manufacturers of polysilicon, wafers, cells, modules, inverters and trackers; EPC contractors that build projects; developers and independent power producers that own solar assets; and diversified utilities with large solar fleets. “Solar energy stocks” is used interchangeably, and the breadth matters for investors because manufacturers, developers and asset owners respond very differently to module prices, interest rates and policy changes. This solar stocks list organizes companies by value-chain segment, headquarters and market cap so the different business models can be compared side by side.
Utility-scale solar is among the lowest-cost sources of new bulk electricity in many markets, and demand is being pulled by several structural buyers at once: utilities, national auctions, corporate offtakers and, in the US, data centers. Lazard's July 2026 analysis put unsubsidized US utility-scale solar at $40–98/MWh against $51–129/MWh for new-build combined-cycle gas, with utility-scale solar plus storage at $61–156/MWh; cost ranges widened across technologies on higher capital costs, but Lazard still placed renewables as the most cost-competitive form of new-build generation, and the gap is reinforced by gas-turbine delivery lead times that a 2025 DOE report put at one to seven years depending on turbine class. Module costs have fallen roughly 90% since 2010 as Chinese manufacturing capacity scaled, wafers thinned and cell efficiencies improved. Alongside policy support across China, the EU, India and the US, solar demand is underpinned by data-center load growth (Berkeley Lab projects data centers could reach 9.5–15.3% of US electricity consumption by 2030, up from about 4.7% in 2024) and the broader electrification of transport and heating.
Upstream makes the equipment; downstream develops, builds or owns the assets, and oversupply that punishes one end of the chain often improves economics at the other. Upstream companies make the physical components: polysilicon, wafers, cells, modules, inverters, trackers, racking and balance-of-system. Their economics are driven by manufacturing scale, technology cost curves and the global capacity cycle, leaving them directly exposed to oversupply and price wars. Downstream is really three different business models: project developers earn development margins and often sell projects before or at completion; EPC contractors earn construction and services margins; and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) own operating assets and earn long-duration electricity revenue, typically under 10–25 year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The two ends of the chain can partially offset one another: oversupply that compresses module margins simultaneously lowers the cost base for developers and can lift project returns. Downstream names are also more rate-sensitive: yield-oriented IPPs tend to de-rate when long-end government bond yields rise, all else equal, and residential solar is highly rate-sensitive given its dependence on consumer loans, leases and tax-equity financing.
China's manufacturing scale gives it substantial influence over pricing across the crystalline-silicon value chain, so Chinese supply discipline (or the lack of it) affects margins for many listed names. The IEA put China at more than 80% of manufacturing capacity across every major PV production stage in the mid-2020s, including roughly 95% of wafers. Since late 2022 the industry has been in a deep oversupply cycle: polysilicon spot prices fell below the production costs of many producers, module prices collapsed, and the IEA reported negative net margins at integrated manufacturers in 2024. Beijing's policy response, labeled “anti-involution”, relies on enforcement against below-cost selling, quality standards and pressure for capacity discipline rather than official price floors; in January 2026 China's market regulator ordered the PV industry association and leading polysilicon producers to stop coordinating prices, output and capacity utilization. The April 2026 cancellation of China's solar export VAT rebate (cut from 9% to 0%) raises Chinese exporters' effective costs. US trade actions reinforce the bifurcation: Section 201 and AD/CVD tariffs, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and OBBBA's foreign-entity restrictions on tax credits have created a higher-priced US market with different eligibility and cost conditions for non-Chinese manufacturers.
Storage has become more important in markets approaching solar saturation. Solar-plus-storage pairs a PV array with a co-located battery (usually lithium-ion, AC- or DC-coupled), letting midday solar generation shift into evening peak hours. California illustrates why: in the first half of 2024, midday wholesale prices in the solar-heavy CAISO market repeatedly went to zero or negative, compressing the prices solar plants captured, and the state's large four-hour battery fleet now shifts some of that midday energy into the evening net-load peak. Spain, Germany, Australia and several Chinese provinces face versions of the same dynamic, and typical project sizing in the most saturated US markets has moved from 1–2 hour batteries toward four-hour systems.
Battery attach rates and energy-storage shipments are operating indicators for several residential and manufacturing companies. Sunrun reported a record 74% storage attach rate in Q2 2026 (up from 70% a year earlier), while JinkoSolar has built energy storage into a second business line and Enphase and Tigo sell storage alongside their inverter platforms.
The US policy stack affects solar company economics and was reshaped, but not dismantled, by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of July 2025. Section 45X advanced manufacturing credits pay 7¢/W for US-made modules, 4¢/W for cells, $12/m² for wafers and $3/kg for polysilicon; First Solar recognized $1.6 billion of 45X credits in 2025. Section 48E and 45Y investment and production tax credits still underwrite project economics, but OBBBA added a hard schedule: wind and solar projects beginning construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by end-2027 to qualify, and IRS Notice 2025-42 limits the old 5% cost safe harbor to small solar facilities, so larger projects must show physical work to lock in eligibility. Developers must incorporate that schedule into procurement and construction planning. OBBBA's prohibited-foreign-entity rules restrict credits for projects with material Chinese-controlled supply-chain content, affecting eligibility and supplier selection.
A separate Section 232 national-security investigation into polysilicon and its derivatives, opened July 2025, was still awaiting a final tariff determination as of mid-2026. In residential, the Section 25D homeowner credit ended for expenditures after 2025; the treatment of third-party-ownership platforms such as Sunrun depends on Section 48E eligibility and other foreign-entity rules. Developers and manufacturers can also monetize credits through direct transfers to unrelated buyers as an alternative to conventional tax equity; pricing varies by credit and deal, with First Solar's disclosed 2025 45X credit sales at roughly 95 cents on the dollar.
Solar panel stocks are the cell and module manufacturers, such as First Solar, JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar and LONGi, whose earnings track module prices and manufacturing costs through the global capacity cycle. Solar inverter stocks sit in power electronics: companies like Enphase, SolarEdge and Sungrow make the equipment that converts DC solar output into grid-ready AC power. Enphase is a useful example of the difference: its exposure is tied to microinverters, storage attachment and residential solar systems rather than module manufacturing, so it trades on different drivers from solar panel manufacturers or utility-scale developers. Inverter makers and module manufacturers therefore face different margin, demand and interest-rate exposures.
Solar stocks are shares in individual companies, so returns depend on single-company execution, financing and value-chain position. Solar ETFs hold baskets of solar and clean-energy companies, spreading single-name exposure across multiple holdings in exchange for a management fee; funds such as the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) mix manufacturers, inverter companies and developers in one instrument. The two formats therefore differ in company-specific exposure, diversification, fees and how much control the holder has over the underlying names. Our separate Solar ETFs list compares US-listed solar funds by assets, expense ratio and exposure type.

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Key Terms
Full Glossary →

The ultra-pure form of silicon (typically 8N–9N purity, meaning 99.999999% or better) that is the raw material for crystalline-silicon solar cells. Produced from metallurgical-grade silicon, primarily through the modified Siemens process (Daqo, Tongwei, GCL Technology) or the fluidized-bed reactor process (GCL Technology, REC Silicon). China accounted for over 80% of global polysilicon production as of the mid-2020s, with major hubs in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Polysilicon prices are highly cyclical: spot prices collapsed from late 2022 in the broader oversupply cycle, falling below the production costs of many producers.
The completed solar panel: photovoltaic cells laminated between glass, encapsulant film and a backsheet (or rear glass), bonded into an aluminum frame. Traditional formats used 60 or 72 full-size cells; modern modules typically use half-cut cells, so 108–144 cell pieces are common. Power ratings above 600W are common in large-format utility-scale products as cell efficiencies and wafer sizes have increased, but the rating varies by product and project. Module prices have fallen roughly 90% over the past fifteen years, with mainstream ex-China spot prices around $0.10–0.15/W during 2024–25. Bifacial modules, which generate power from both faces, typically add mid-single-digit to low-double-digit energy yield depending on site and mounting, and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the market by 2024 (IRENA).
Solar cell architecture has evolved through several generations, each lifting efficiency. BSF (Aluminum Back Surface Field) was the industry standard until around 2018. PERC (Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact) added a rear passivation layer, dominated production from roughly 2018 to 2023, and is being phased out. TOPCon (Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact) is widely used in current N-type production, including JinkoSolar's Tiger Neo, Trina's Vertex N, and JA Solar's DeepBlue, with 2025 average mass-production cell efficiencies around 25.5–26% and leading lines above 26%. HJT (Heterojunction) and BC (Back Contact, including LONGi's HPBC 2.0 architecture in Hi-MO 9) remain active higher-efficiency development paths. CdTe (Cadmium Telluride, First Solar's thin-film technology) sits outside the silicon roadmap entirely.
The power-electronics device that converts the direct current (DC) output of solar panels into alternating current (AC) for the grid or building loads. Central inverters (Sungrow, Sineng, SMA) are large units, typically several MW each, used in utility-scale projects. String inverters (Sungrow, Huawei, GoodWe, Solis, Solax) cover roughly 3–350 kW for commercial-and-industrial and smaller utility-scale projects, and have taken share from central inverters in many utility-scale designs. Microinverters (Enphase, Hoymiles) operate at the panel level, providing per-module monitoring and superior shade tolerance at higher per-watt cost, and are widely used in US residential systems. Hybrid inverters (Deye, GoodWe, Sungrow) integrate a battery interface for solar-plus-storage applications.
A ground-mounted racking system that rotates solar panels to follow the sun across the sky, typically increasing annual energy yield by around 15–30% versus fixed-tilt depending on latitude, irradiance and design. Single-axis trackers rotate panels east-to-west on a north-south horizontal axis and are the dominant commercial type. Dual-axis trackers add a second tilt-adjustment axis but are generally uneconomic for utility-scale projects. Terrain-following trackers are a further variant, engineered to tolerate a change in ground slope between adjacent foundation posts so that a row can follow undulating land; the tolerance is quoted in degrees of slope change per post, and a higher figure can reduce site grading, civil works and structural steel on constrained sites. Trackers add incremental capex versus fixed-tilt, so project economics depend on site, financing and energy-price assumptions. They are widely used in new US utility-scale installations. Key listed suppliers include Nextpower (formerly Nextracker), Array Technologies, Arctech Solar, and FTC Solar.
A measure of a power plant's lifetime cost per unit of electricity generated, usually expressed in dollars per megawatt-hour. Assumptions include capital cost, operating cost, financing, fuel, project life and capacity factor. LCOE is useful for first-pass technology comparisons but does not capture the full system value of dispatchability, transmission, curtailment or storage. Lazard's July 2026 US analysis continued to place onshore wind and utility-scale solar among the lowest-cost sources of new generation on an unsubsidized basis.
A contract under which a utility, company or other buyer purchases power from a generating project. Renewable PPAs commonly run for 10–25 years and may use fixed, indexed, escalating, floor or collar pricing. A physical PPA delivers electricity to the buyer; a virtual PPA is a financial settlement. Contracted revenue from a creditworthy buyer can support non-recourse project financing.
A company that owns and operates power generation assets and sells electricity into wholesale markets or under long-term PPAs. Most IPPs are distinct from regulated utilities, though diversified parents can own both: NextEra Energy pairs the regulated utility FPL with its NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) IPP arm. The IPP model is a major route through which utility-scale solar is developed and owned globally. Listed renewable IPPs on this list include NextEra Energy (via NEER), Brookfield Renewable, Clearway Energy, AES, Scatec, Solaria, Grenergy, ReNew, Voltalia, 7C Solarparken, Enlight, and Xinyi Energy. IPP valuations are typically driven by contracted cash-flow visibility, the cost of capital relative to long-end government bond yields, merchant power-price exposure, and the development pipeline that drives growth beyond the operating fleet.
The duck curve is the shape of net load in solar-heavy grids: total electricity demand minus variable renewable generation, which sags to a low midday belly while solar output is high and then ramps steeply into the evening as solar falls away but demand persists. Wholesale prices tend to track net load, so solar-rich hours often see very low or even negative prices while evening hours stay firm. Capture rate is the average price a technology actually realizes divided by the average wholesale price across all hours; solar's capture rate falls as penetration rises because correlated solar output suppresses prices in exactly the hours it generates. In the first half of 2024, midday prices in California's CAISO market repeatedly hit zero or negative, compressing solar capture rates and accelerating the shift toward solar-plus-storage. Co-located batteries shift midday energy into the evening net-load peak, improving the prices a hybrid project realizes.
The percentage of new solar installations sold or commissioned with co-located battery storage. Attach rates have risen as midday solar output has increasingly depressed wholesale prices, or forced curtailment, in high-penetration markets. In US residential, Sunrun reported a record 74% attach rate in Q2 2026, up from 70% a year earlier. For listed companies, attach rates and energy-storage-system (ESS) shipments are operating indicators alongside module shipments, visible in JinkoSolar's expansion of its ESS business and in Enphase's IQ Battery and Tigo's GO ESS product lines.
The federal credits and related rules that affect the economics of US-listed solar names, reshaped, but not dismantled, by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of July 2025. Section 45X pays manufacturers a per-unit production credit for US-made components: 7¢/W for modules, 4¢/W for cells, $12/m² for wafers, $3/kg for polysilicon, 0.25¢/W for central inverters and 11¢/W for microinverters. Section 48E (investment) and Section 45Y (production) credits support project economics; under OBBBA, wind and solar projects beginning construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by end-2027 to qualify, and IRS Notice 2025-42 limits the 5% cost safe harbor to small solar facilities, so larger projects rely on physical-work tests. Prohibited-foreign-entity rules restrict credits where supply chains contain material Chinese-controlled content. A Section 232 national-security investigation into polysilicon and its derivatives, opened July 2025, was still pending as of mid-2026. The Section 25D homeowner credit ended for expenditures after 2025; the treatment of residential third-party-ownership platforms depends on Section 48E eligibility and other rules.
The Chinese government's policy campaign against “involution”: irrational, below-cost competition in overcapacity industries, elevated to a national priority in the 15th Five-Year Plan period. For solar, the campaign works through enforcement against below-cost selling, quality standards and pressure for capacity discipline rather than official price floors; in January 2026 the market regulator SAMR ordered the PV industry association and leading polysilicon producers to stop coordinating prices, output and capacity utilization. Concrete measures include the April 2026 cancellation of the 9% VAT export rebate on solar PV products and government-led symposia involving MIIT, NDRC, SAMR and NEA. Its effect on producer pricing and margins remains uncertain.
The financing structures that monetize US clean-energy tax credits for owners that lack the tax capacity to use them directly. In a tax equity partnership, a tax-paying investor (historically banks and major corporates) takes an ownership stake in a project in exchange for the credits and depreciation benefits; this is the traditional route for project credits such as the Section 48E ITC and Section 45Y PTC. The IRA added transferability, allowing eligible credits to be sold to unrelated buyers for cash; transferability is also how manufacturers commonly monetize Section 45X production credits, which are manufacturing credits rather than project credits. Transfer pricing varies with credit type, tenor, indemnities and seller quality; First Solar's disclosed 2025 45X credit sales priced around 95 cents on the dollar. Transferability has broadened the buyer pool beyond traditional tax equity and is one way developers and manufacturers can finance growth under the OBBBA-era rules.

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