China Rolls Out Solar Energy Standards to Accelerate Capacity Upgrades
Authorities in China have released three national energy consumption and efficiency standards covering key segments of the photovoltaic manufacturing value chain, including polysilicon, wafers, modules and inverters, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The new standards were jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the National Development and Reform Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation on July 2. They establish tiered energy consumption and energy efficiency requirements for major PV products and are widely viewed by market participants as important measures in accelerating the phase-out of inefficient, high-energy-consuming production capacity through stricter technical standards.
The three mandatory national standards cover:
* Energy consumption per unit products of polysilicon and germanium;
* Energy consumption per unit products of monocrystalline silicon; and
* Minimum allowable values of energy efficiency and energy efficiency grades
for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules and inverters.
The standards have been published on China’s National Public Service Platform for Standards Information, and will become mandatory on Jan. 1, 2027.
Key Requirements
Each standard establishes three performance grades.
For polysilicon produced using the Siemens process, the new standard sets maximum energy consumption thresholds of =5.0 kilograms of standard coal equivalent per kilogram or kgce/kg for Grade 1, =5.5 kgce/kg for Grade 2 and =6.4 kgce/kg for Grade 3.
For fluidized bed reactor or FBR granular polysilicon, the corresponding thresholds are =3.6 kgce/kg, =4.0 kgce/kg and =5.0 kgce/kg, respectively.
For monocrystalline silicon wafers, using the 182 mm*210 mm specification as the benchmark, the standard sets energy consumption limits of =2.27 kgce/kg for Grade 1, =2.37 kgce/kg for Grade 2 and =2.76 kgce/kg for Grade 3.
Unlike upstream standards, the module standard establishes minimum energy efficiency requirements for different technology routes, including Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact or TOPCon, heterojunction or HJT and back-contact or BC modules.
For TOPCon modules, the minimum conversion efficiencies are 24.0% (650 Watt peak) for Grade 1, 23.7% (645 Wp) for Grade 2 and 23.2% (630 Wp) for Grade 3.
For HJT modules, the corresponding thresholds are 23.8% (645 Wp), 23.5% (635 Wp) and 23.2% (630 Wp), while BC modules must achieve 24.2% (655 Wp), 23.9% (650 Wp) and 23.5% (635 Wp) across the three grades.
Under Article 25 of China’s Standardization Law, products and services that fail to comply with mandatory national standards cannot be manufactured, sold, imported or provided. Manufacturers, importers and service providers are legally required to comply with these mandatory standards.
Market Implications
Market participants generally believe the new standards will accelerate the elimination of outdated production capacity and help ease the solar industry’s prolonged oversupply, with some industry estimates suggesting that up to 30% of existing capacity could eventually be affected. Nevertheless, several sources caution that the standards alone are unlikely to materially rebalance market fundamentals in the near term.
One polysilicon industry source said that if the standards are strictly enforced, only production facilities commissioned after around 2018 would generally be capable of meeting the new energy consumption requirements. However, because China’s rapid polysilicon capacity expansion largely occurred after that period, nearly 2 million metric tons per year of production capacity would remain operational under the new standards. This, said the source, is theoretically sufficient to support approximately 900 gigawatts of module production annually, suggesting structural oversupply is likely to persist.
Another market observer shared a similar view, noting that although the standards are expected to eliminate some inefficient capacity, they are unlikely to fundamentally resolve the supply-demand imbalance.
“Across every manufacturing segment of the PV supply chain, the combined capacity of just the leading manufacturers is already sufficient to meet total end-market demand, and most of these facilities can already comply with at least the Grade 3 requirements,” the source said. “Structural rebalancing of supply and demand will still require time.”
Another polysilicon producer agreed that roughly 2 million mt/year of polysilicon capacity could remain after the standards take effect. Nevertheless, the source described the policy as highly significant, arguing that restoring industry profitability will require a combination of complementary policy measures rather than relying on a single initiative.
The source pointed to China’s Implementation Measures for Minimum Renewable Energy Consumption Ratios and Renewable Electricity Consumption Responsibility Weights, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1, as another important policy designed to strengthen long-term renewable electricity demand.
The source also highlighted a recent government notice promoting energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades in key industries, which introduces differentiated, tiered and punitive electricity pricing for selected energy-intensive sectors. According to the source, the policy is intended to raise operating costs for inefficient production while reinforcing market signals favoring more competitive manufacturers.
“The PV industry’s recovery will require coordinated policy support from multiple directions,” the source said. “These policies work together to gradually guide the market toward healthier development.”
Another industry observer noted that the newly released standards will not only impose substantially more stringent technical and energy performance requirements than previous versions, but the shortened transition period before implementation demonstrating policymakers’ determination to accelerate the industry’s upgrade.
The tightening of the polysilicon energy consumption standard has evolved over the past year. At an industry seminar last July, participants discussed reducing the Siemens-process energy consumption limits from the existing =7.5, =8.5 and =10.5 kgce/kg to =5.0, =6.0 and =7.5 kgce/kg across the three grades.
In September 2025, the National Standardization Administration further tightened the draft thresholds to =5.0, =5.5 and =6.4 kgce/kg, identical to the final standard released last week. At the time, authorities indicated the standard would take effect 12 months after its official release.
However, the latest standards will take effect in January — only about six months after their official announcement. This effectively halves the expected transition period and signals a faster-than-anticipated regulatory push toward higher energy efficiency and industry consolidation.
–Reporting by Summer Zhang, szhang@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com