In the background of China’s continued economic downturn, the photovoltaic industry suffered a severe blow in 2024. 64 photovoltaic listed companies in 2024 saw a sharp turn from the previous year’s profit of one hundred billion yuan to a loss of approximately 30 billion yuan, facing unprecedented challenges.
Data shows that the total revenue of photovoltaic listed companies in 2024 was 931.096 billion yuan, a significant decrease of 22.4% year-on-year. It is worth noting that the once flourishing billion-yuan revenue companies have all disappeared last year. The industry’s overall net profit also plummeted from a profit of 104.955 billion yuan in 2023 to a loss of 29.757 billion yuan in 2024, a staggering drop.
This series of dismal performance is mainly due to a significant price reduction in the industry chain. Despite a 28% growth in national photovoltaic installations in 2024, the trend of “increased quantity, reduced price” has severely damaged enterprise profits. Additionally, the depreciation loss from price reduction reached 49.142 billion yuan, a 49.6% increase year-on-year, further exacerbating the difficulties in business operation.
There is a clear differentiation within the industry chain, with silicon materials and wafers, battery components, and other major sectors becoming the hardest-hit areas in terms of performance. In 2024, the total revenue of these two sectors decreased by 40.8% and 28.3% respectively, with losses of 28.025 billion yuan and 28.217 billion yuan. In contrast, subsidiary businesses such as photovoltaic processing equipment and inverters continued to grow and make profits, forming a distinct contrast.
Although there are signs of recovery in the profitability indicators of photovoltaic companies in the first quarter of 2025, with the total gross profit margin increasing by 0.14 percentage points to 9.06% quarter-on-quarter, industry experts believe that this is mainly driven by temporary installation rush, and the price rebound is not sustainable. Times Finance predicts that after the installation rush, the price of photovoltaic products will once again decline, and the industry’s bottom signal has not been established.
According to a report by “Daily Economic News,” in 2025, the competition in China’s photovoltaic industry has shifted from “price wars” to “patent siege.”
JinkoSolar and Longi Green Energy are engaged in global patent offensives and defenses, while Trina Solar’s 10 billion yuan claim against Atcheson Solar has shaken the industry. This global photovoltaic “patent war” is dragging China’s photovoltaic industry into an unprecedented “dark forest.”