10 Biggest Solar Companies

Search Fintrev

Search our guides, reviews and glossary.

The biggest solar company by market capitalization in the ranking above is Sungrow Power Supply, a Chinese maker of inverters and battery storage systems. First Solar is second and the largest US-headquartered company on the list, and Nextpower (formerly Nextracker) is third. The ranking uses a companiesmarketcap.com snapshot dated November 9, 2026, so positions can shift as share prices move.

Most of these firms sell equipment to developers, utilities and installers. Sunrun is the only top 10 company whose core business is installing solar on American homes.

How the Ranking Works

Market capitalization is share price multiplied by shares outstanding, so GCL Technology can trade below 10 cents a share and still be worth billions of dollars, while First Solar trades far higher per share. A share price on its own tells you nothing about a company’s size. Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong prices are converted into US dollars, which is why several show values under $3.

The ranking covers only solar module, polysilicon, inverter and tracker makers. It leaves out three other kinds of “biggest” solar company:

• Solar generators. Utilities and power producers such as NextEra Energy (NEE), which through its NextEra Energy Resources arm is one of the largest renewable power generators in the US, own solar farms but do not manufacture equipment. They are the companies to look at for the largest operators by installed capacity.
• Diversified firms. Tesla sells solar roofs and home batteries, but solar is a small part of a company valued mainly as an automaker.
• Private companies. Many installers and distributors are privately held and have no market cap to rank.

The 10 Biggest Solar Companies

1. Sungrow Power Supply

Sungrow was founded in 1997 in Hefei, China, and trades on the Shenzhen exchange’s ChiNext board. It makes PV inverters, which convert the direct current from panels into alternating current for the grid, along with large battery energy storage systems.

2. First Solar

First Solar is based in Tempe, Arizona, and listed on Nasdaq. It makes thin-film modules that use a cadmium telluride semiconductor in place of the crystalline silicon used by most of the industry. As a result, it does not depend on the Chinese-dominated polysilicon supply chain. It runs factories in Ohio and other US states as well as in Asia, and it offers end-of-life module recycling. It is widely regarded as the largest US-based solar panel manufacturer.

3. Nextpower

Nextpower, which traded as Nextracker until its renaming, was spun off from electronics manufacturer Flex after a 2023 IPO. Its core product is the solar tracker, a motorized mounting system that tilts panels to follow the sun across the day and raises output at utility-scale plants. The company has added foundations, electrical systems and monitoring software, and it is moving into power conversion equipment.

4. LONGi Green Energy Technology

LONGi is headquartered in Xi’an. It built its position on monocrystalline silicon wafers and later expanded into cells and finished modules. It also has a hydrogen unit that makes electrolyzers. It trades in Shanghai and is one of the largest module suppliers by volume.

5. Tongwei Co., Ltd

Tongwei, based in Sichuan province, is a major producer of polysilicon and solar cells. Unusually, it also runs a long-standing aquaculture feed business alongside its solar operations, so its Shanghai shares are not a pure solar play.

6. Xinjiang Daqo New Energy

This Shanghai STAR Market listing produces high-purity polysilicon, the refined raw material that becomes ingots, wafers and then cells, using a modified Siemens process. It is controlled by Daqo New Energy Corp., which trades separately on the NYSE under DQ and appears lower in the table. The two figures are not separate businesses competing with each other: one is largely a holding in the other.

7. Trina Solar

Trina Solar, headquartered in Changzhou, makes modules and has expanded into trackers and energy storage. It is one of the long-standing large Chinese module exporters and trades on the STAR Market.

8. GCL Technology

GCL Technology is a Hong Kong-listed polysilicon producer. It is known for granular silicon made in fluidized bed reactors, an alternative to the rod-based Siemens process used by most rivals. It has the lowest share price in the table.

9. Sunrun

Sunrun, based in San Francisco, designs, installs and finances home solar and battery systems. Its main product is a subscription, a lease or power purchase agreement under which Sunrun owns the system and the homeowner pays for its use or output. Customers can also buy with cash or a loan. Sunrun also groups customers’ home batteries into networks that can send power to the grid during peak demand.

10. SolarEdge

SolarEdge is based in Israel and listed on Nasdaq. It makes inverters paired with DC power optimizers, small devices on each panel that tune its output individually. Its systems serve residential, commercial and utility-scale projects, and it sells batteries and energy management products that link solar with storage.

Where Each Company Sits in the Supply Chain

Grouping the 15 ranked companies by what they make shows how the market splits value along the chain:

• Polysilicon: Tongwei, Xinjiang Daqo, GCL Technology, Daqo New Energy
• Wafers, cells and modules: LONGi, Trina Solar, First Solar, Canadian Solar, Jinko Solar
• Inverters and power electronics: Sungrow, SolarEdge
• Trackers and electrical balance of system: Nextpower, Array Technologies, Shoals Technologies
• Residential installation and financing: Sunrun

Several of these companies span more than one stage. Canadian Solar, for example, also develops and operates large solar and storage projects through its Recurrent Energy subsidiary. Shoals makes the wiring, connectors and combiners that link panels in utility plants, and it has extended into battery storage and data center power.

This grouping also explains why some of the largest panel makers rank low by market cap. JinkoSolar has spent years among the top module shippers worldwide, yet the NYSE-listed Jinko Solar sits at 15th. Part of the reason is structural: JKS is a holding company, and its main operating subsidiary trades separately in Shanghai.

Biggest Residential Solar Companies in the US

For homeowners, the relevant companies are the ones that install systems and the ones whose equipment ends up on the roof.

Sunrun is generally described as the largest residential solar installer in the US. It grew partly by acquiring Vivint Solar in 2020. Tesla also sells home solar and Powerwall batteries through its 2016 purchase of SolarCity.

The residential sector has also produced some of the industry’s biggest failures. SunPower, once one of the best-known US residential brands, filed for bankruptcy in 2024, and Sunnova, a residential solar and storage financier, followed in 2025. Both depended on long-term customer contracts funded with borrowed money. That model becomes harder to sustain when interest rates rise and financing costs eat into the margin between what customers pay and what the capital costs.

On the equipment side, home systems use either string inverters, where one central unit handles many panels (SolarEdge adds per-panel optimizers to this design), or microinverters, where each panel has its own small inverter. Enphase Energy, a Nasdaq-listed maker of microinverters, home batteries, EV chargers and monitoring software, is the best-known microinverter maker. It is not part of this ranking, but its closest peer is SolarEdge.

Pressures on Solar Companies

• Policy and tax incentives. The 30% residential clean energy credit under Section 25D ended for systems placed in service after 2025 under the 2025 budget law. Leases and PPAs are claimed under separate business credits with their own rules, which matters for installers whose model rests on ownership.
• Trade measures. US tariffs on imported cells and modules, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, and the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s restrictions on goods linked to Xinjiang limit where Chinese manufacturers can sell. They also explain the appeal of First Solar’s non-silicon, partly US-based production.
• Overcapacity and price swings. Rapid expansion of Chinese polysilicon, wafer and module capacity drove equipment prices down sharply in 2023 and 2024, compressing manufacturer margins, especially for polysilicon producers.
• Financing costs. Solar projects require heavy upfront spending recovered over decades, so higher interest rates reduce what a project or residential contract is worth.
• Grid constraints. Long interconnection queues and limited transmission delay finished projects, which affects demand for trackers, inverters and storage.

How Affordable Is Solar?

Utility-scale solar has become one of the cheapest sources of new electricity generation on a cost-per-unit basis, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. For a household, system price depends on location, roof, equipment, whether a battery is added, and whether it is bought outright, financed or leased. With the federal homeowner credit gone for new installations, a lease or PPA can carry a lower upfront cost, while ownership keeps the long-term savings with the homeowner.

FAQs

The Bottom Line

The ranking matters most to investors comparing solar stocks, since market cap reflects valuation rather than how much solar a company builds or installs. Most top companies sell equipment, with Sungrow first and First Solar the largest US-based firm. Homeowners should look to installers like Sunrun and weigh leases or PPAs against ownership now that the federal homeowner credit has ended.