Wood Mackenzie has published its Global Solar Module Manufacturer Ranking for the first half of 2025, placing JA Solar and Trina Solar in a near tie for the top position under its weighted scoring model.
JA Solar scored 91.7 points, narrowly ahead of Trina Solar at 91.6, in an assessment covering 38 crystalline-silicon module manufacturers across 10 core performance dimensions. The ranking draws on vendor surveys, public disclosures, proprietary databases and industry interviews, with market-based estimates applied where data gaps exist.
The report also introduces a new “Grade A” classification, positioned as an operational and bankability benchmark for procurement and project finance. According to Wood Mackenzie, Grade A status is awarded to manufacturers meeting at least four best-practice thresholds during the first half of 2025, with the aim of highlighting suppliers demonstrating consistent execution across manufacturing, finance and supply-chain performance rather than shipment scale alone.
The scoring framework applies equal weightings to multiple pillars, including environmental, social and governance performance, third-party reliability testing results, financial health, manufacturing track record, supply-chain resilience and vertical integration. Additional points are linked to research and development intensity and patent activity. Thin-film producers such as First Solar are excluded because the ranking is limited to crystalline-silicon modules.
Canadian Solar ranked third with a score of 90.4, followed by JinkoSolar at 88.8 and LONGi at 87.0. DMEGC scored 84.0, Astronergy 81.9, while Adani Solar and Qcells tied at 81.0. EliTe Solar scored 78.9, SEG Solar 76.6 and Tongwei 75.0. Wood Mackenzie assigns shared rankings where score differences fall within a narrow range.
Yana Hryshko, managing consultant and head of Wood Mackenzie’s global solar supply chain research told pv magazine that “the Grade A classification provides an independent benchmark for identifying PV module manufacturers that meet the industry’s highest performance and transparency expectations.”
The report indicates a widening operational gap across the sector, with the top 10 manufacturers maintaining utilisation rates of about 70%, compared with roughly 40% for the broader industry, amid sustained price pressure and weak profitability conditions.
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