The global photovoltaic market was full of twists and turns in 2020. The sudden Covid-19, the supply of silicon materials, short glass supply, all imposed great impact on the installed capacity of the whole year.
After many surveys and visits by Solarbe Consulting, the analysts of the team have come into survey and statistic results of China’s photovoltaic module enterprises’ global shipment in 2020.
LONGi, which adheres to the layout of the whole industry chain, is undoubtedly the biggest winner. The high profits of silicon wafer also give them a strong backing in participating in the competition in the downstream market. In 2020, the shipment volume of modules of LONGi is about 23.7 GW, which is 172.41% higher than that in 2019, ranking first in the industry. It is estimated that in 2021, LONGi will still maintain this position, and the annual shipment is expected to exceed 40 GW.
The global layout of Jinko Solar is relatively perfect. Although the competition in the module market tends to be homogeneous, Jinko Solar can always attract people’s attention by its technology and transparent backsheet solutions. In 2020, Jinko Solar exported modules of about 18.9 GW, an increase of 35% over 2019. It may reach 35 GW in 2021, maintaining the top 2 in the world.
Trina Solar, which has just been listed on the A-share sci-tech innovation board, has a shipment volume of about 15.6 GW, an increase of 57.58% over the previous year. With the support of 600W+ Photovoltaic Open Innovation Ecological Alliance, Trina Solar has achieved fruitful results in R&D, production and application of high-power modules. It is estimated that the module shipment will reach more than 30 GW in 2021.
The layout of JA Solar in each link of the industrial chain is relatively balanced and its production is expanded in an orderly way, which enables it to successfully avoid being “stuck” in individual links. In 2020, with the brand and channel advantages, the shipment volume of JA Solar has reached 15.5 GW, which is about 44.86% higher than that in 2019. The shipment volume target in 2021 is also above 30 GW.
In 2020, the total shipment volume of top 5 module enterprises was 84.8 GW, more than 60% of the global new installed capacity; In 2021, the advantages of leading enterprises are more obvious. Five suppliers of LONGi, Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, JA Solar and Risen have achieved the total shipment of more than 155 GW. By signing long-term orders, they locked in most of the effective production capacity of silicon and glass, causing a great impact on the second and third tier enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the photovoltaic market will face serious challenges and may be nudged out of the industry if no featured products are launched.
