Solar Modules

What it is

A solar module (光伏组件), or panel, is a set of cells wired together and sealed in layers: usually tempered, low-iron solar glass on the front, an encapsulant such as EVA that bonds the cells in place, a polymer sheet at the back, and an aluminium frame (PVEducation, Honsberg and Bowden). Some, such as Jinko's double-glass Tiger Neo modules, use a second pane of glass at the back instead (Jinko 2026 interim report, p. 12). Power ratings keep rising: Jinko's mainstream modules are now above 650 W, and the TOPCon module it launched in June 2026 reaches 700 W at 25.91% efficiency (pp. 9, 10).

Why it matters for the chain

The module is the product that plant investors, developers, contractors and distributors buy (Jinko p. 9), and makers advertise bankability ratings and reliability test results alongside price (Trina 2026 interim report, p. 15). It combines solar cells made from wafers and polysilicon.

Demand in China fell sharply in 2026. New installations were 72.07 GW in the first half, down 66%, after the shift to market-based power prices made project returns less certain and against a high base a year earlier (LONGi 2026 interim report, p. 10). Distributed solar was 58.8% of installations, more than utility-scale plants for the first time, and residential installations rose 89% (Jinko p. 9). Aiko puts China's module output in the half at about 201.3 GW, down 35% (Aiko 2026 interim report, p. 9).

Where China stands

China made 627 GW of the 726 GW of modules produced worldwide in 2024, or 86%. India made 24 GW, the US 23 GW and Vietnam about 20 GW (IEA PVPS Task 1, October 2025, p. 11). Capacity is far beyond demand: CPIA counts more than 1,100 GW of Chinese capacity at each main stage at the end of 2025 (JA Solar 2026 interim report, p. 30), and Jinko cites CPIA putting supply at more than twice demand across the chain (Jinko p. 8).

First-half shipments by the largest makers:

• Jinko Solar (晶科能源, 688223.SH): 29.64 GW, which it says ranked first according to InfoLink and other third-party data (Jinko pp. 9, 10).
• LONGi (隆基绿能, 601012.SH): 29.93 GW, more than 65% of it back-contact (LONGi p. 12).
• Trina Solar (天合光能, 688599.SH): more than 25 GW (Trina p. 14).
• JA Solar (晶澳科技, 002459.SZ): 22.25 GW, 68.46% of it shipped abroad (JA p. 14).
• Tongwei: 13.07 GW (Tongwei 2026 interim report, p. 11), and Aiko: 9.39 GW of ABC modules (Aiko p. 10).

By the companies' own figures LONGi shipped slightly more modules than Jinko; Jinko's first place rests on third-party tallies.

Economics: modules at or below cost

Reported gross margins on solar products in the first half of 2026:

• JA Solar's modules: -1.74% (JA p. 16).
• TCL Zhonghuan's modules: -1.05% (TCL Zhonghuan 2026 interim report, p. 16).
• LONGi's solar products: about -1% (our calculation from LONGi p. 176).
• Trina's solar products: about 1.3% (our calculation from Trina p. 206).
• Jinko's solar products: about 2.8% (our calculation from Jinko p. 165).
• Aiko's ABC modules: about 9.1% (our calculation from Aiko p. 138).

Jinko lost ¥3.08bn, LONGi ¥3.68bn and JA Solar ¥2.66bn. Trina's net loss was only ¥270m, but before one-off items, mainly gains on its shares in T1 Energy, a solar maker based in Austin, Texas, it lost ¥2.89bn (Jinko p. 10; LONGi p. 8; JA p. 8; Trina pp. 7, 30).

Selling abroad is what kept margins positive. Jinko's overseas sales earned about 5.6% against about -3.3% in China (our calculation from Jinko p. 165), JA Solar's 3.02% against -2.86% (JA p. 16), and Aiko's about 11.9% against 1.3% (our calculation from Aiko pp. 138, 139). Storage helped Trina: its storage business earned a gross margin of about 21% (our calculation from p. 206) and was profitable in the half, with shipments of more than 5 GWh, up 188% (Trina pp. 10, 14).

Trade barriers

• The export rebate. China ended the export VAT rebate on solar products on 1 April 2026. Exports surged beforehand, and in May module export volumes fell 26.7% from April (Jinko p. 9). JA Solar cites the added tax cost as one reason its modules lost money (JA p. 14). LONGi says a consumption tax on cells and modules will be phased in from April 2027 (LONGi p. 10).
• The United States. JA Solar's report lists the measures, including anti-dumping duties of up to 271.28% and countervailing duties of up to 3,403.96% on cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, finalised in April 2025, and preliminary duties in 2026 on India, Indonesia and Laos (JA pp. 29, 30).
• India and Europe. Jinko cites India's approved-manufacturer list (ALMM), production subsidies and tariffs, Europe's Net-Zero Industry Act, and tender clauses in Italy and France that exclude Chinese-made modules (Jinko p. 8).

The makers are building abroad: Jinko in Southeast Asia and the US, with a joint venture planned in Saudi Arabia (Jinko p. 19); JA Solar in Vietnam and Oman (JA p. 12); and Trina in Indonesia, alongside what it calls a US partner base (Trina p. 16).

What to watch

• Volume cuts. Jinko cut its 2026 shipment guidance to 60 to 70 GW, putting profit, cash flow and order quality ahead of volume (Jinko p. 10).
• Efficiency floors. From 1 January 2027 modules must reach at least 23.2% efficiency, or 23.5% for BC, to be made and sold in China (Trina p. 13; Aiko p. 9).
• Patents in the US. First Solar's Section 337 complaint at the US International Trade Commission, opened in March 2026 (JA p. 30).

Our view: in the first half of 2026 the filings show modules making money only abroad, in a differentiated product such as Aiko's ABC modules, or alongside storage. Each of those is smaller than the volume business the large makers built, and the overseas market is where barriers are rising fastest.