China's major solar companies are focusing on batteries to boost panel sales as they falter

China's largest solar panel manufacturers are increasing exports of higher-margin batteries to boost revenues as the growth in PV sales slows. They bet on growing global demand for renewable energy storage, to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Executives expect global demand to drop in 2026 due to weaker domestic installations, slower exports and record low prices.

Company executives said that this has prompted players such as JinkoSolar and JA Solar to expand into battery storage.

JinkoSolar will nearly triple its capacity to manufacture batteries from 5 gigawatt hours (GWh) up to 13-14 GWh before the end of the year. This is to combat the intermittent nature of renewable energy, a company representative said at SNEC, a solar industry meeting attended by over 500,000 people.

"We see some goodwill on the part of our directors, as we have massive investments," said Titus Koech, regional technical head for Energy Storage Systems.

According to Ember, countries with high renewable penetration, such as Japan, Vietnam, and India, along with Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S., were among the biggest importers of batteries in China by 2025.

Gloria Gao said that the energy storage products were the focus of JA Solar’s booth. This marked a change from previous displays which focused on PV, she added.

"If you own only a solar company, it doesn't help your business grow as the margins are so small." Gao said that they started their energy storage company because they foresaw the future.

Ember data shows that solar panels exports grew at a slower pace in 2025 than they did in 2018, a sign of the slowest growth since 2018. Rystad Energy analyst Fei Chan said that growth from May to the end of the year is expected to be slower than the pace seen in the first quarter.

Rystad predicted that battery exports to energy storage will jump by 30% in 2026 to 150 GWh.

ONE-STOP SHOP VERSUS BATTERY MANUFACTURING GIANTS

China's solar producers are entering a market that is dominated by giants like CATL and BYD. However, they are relying on their supply chain expertise and ability of offering integrated solar plus storage solutions.

A Trina Solar official stated that energy storage has become "the second growth curve after photovoltaics" due to this integration.

The official who refused to be identified said that the company's energy-storage shipments - which accounted for about 90% of the total - had more than quadrupled year-on-year.

CATL, the largest battery manufacturer in the world, anticipates that energy storage will account for 50% of its global sales by 2030. This is up from 25% today, due to the need to support intermittent, renewable power.

LONGi’s?solar plus storage integration initiative was advertised at SNEC on a giant curved LED display that covered nearly the entire width of its stall. It took precedence over standalone solar products.

Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, said that the trend is a reflection of a change in buying patterns.

Yana Hryshko is the head of solar supply chains research.

"LONGi & JA have just entered the energy storage business because you can't buy solar from one company and storage from another. We won't be talking about solar without energy storage in the next two-years. Reporting by Sudarshan Varadahan and Colleen Waye. Mark Potter edited the article.

(source: Reuters)