{"id":652740,"date":"2026-06-09T10:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T08:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=652740"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:28:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T08:28:35","slug":"worlds-largest-solar-cell-manufacturer-launches-first-panels-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/652740-worlds-largest-solar-cell-manufacturer-launches-first-panels-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"World’s largest solar cell manufacturer launches first panels in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Chinese photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturer Tongwei Solar has officially entered the South African solar panel market through distribution partners Solarworld Africa and IBC Solar South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Headquartered in Chengdu, Tongwei Solar is one of the world’s largest and most vertically integrated solar product manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Founded in 1983, Tongwei initially focused on products for the agriculture and aquaculture sectors. It entered the renewable energy sector in 2009 with the establishment of Tongwei Solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tongwei has ranked as the biggest manufacturer of solar cells since 2017. In 2024, it became the first to deliver over 300,000 megawatts (MW) of cumulative product capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company is also the world’s largest producer of high-purity crystalline silicon, with roughly 30% of the global market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While several other Chinese firms sell more panels than Tongwei, they often buy cells from Tongwei’s wholesale business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Major module brands that use Tongwei’s cells in some of their products include Canadian Solar, JA Solar, Longi, and Trina Solar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company’s annual cell production capacity is approximately 150,000MW, triple the peak output of all of Eskom’s installed capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tongwei holds Tier 1 status on the BloombergNEF PV Modular Tier 1 List, a benchmark of financial bankability and manufacturing excellence for panel manufacturers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tongwei has also featured on the Fortune 500 list of the world’s most valuable firms on several occasions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The firm controls its full supply chain from high-purity crystalline silicon production to finished PV modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tongwei general manager of overseas business, John Chen, said South Africa was an important and fast-growing market for high-quality solar solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are delighted to be working with Solarworld Africa and IBC Solar South Africa as our preferred distribution partners in the country,” Chen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Together, we look forward to supporting South Africa’s energy transition with modules that set the global benchmark for performance and reliability.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panel capacities from 450W to 700W+<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Tongwei TNC 2.0 TWMNH-66HD-635 module.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Among the first Tongwei products officially available locally is the Tongwei TNC 2.0 TWMNH-66HD-635 module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high-power N-type TOPCon module is designed for commercial, industrial and utility-scale applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The panel boasts a 635Wp output across 132 cells with an efficiency of 23.5% and a 30-year linear power output warranty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its TNC 2.0 platform incorporates several proprietary technologies developed by Tongwei to improve efficiency, reliability and long-term energy yield, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Zero Busbar (0BB) interconnection technology<\/li>\n\n\n\n
The distributors will also offer smaller panels with capacities of 450W+, which are primarily aimed at residential markets, as well as 700W+ modules, typically suited for industrial and utility-scale plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to load-shedding and increased electricity prices, South African households and businesses have rapidly adopted solar power in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demand drove a surge in panel imports from China, which accounted for more than 60% of the global module market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solarworld Africa managing director Gregor Kuepper explained that Tongwei would help address industrial customers’ demands, which had stretched beyond pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The choice of module has a direct impact on project performance, financing confidence, warranty security and long-term return on investment,” said Kuepper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are proud to be the first preferred distributors to introduce Tongwei to South African buyers and to stand behind this product with our reputation.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
IBC and Solarworld said 71% of self-generation installations in South Africa were in the business and commercial sectors, precisely the market for which Tongwei’s high-output modules were engineered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“At current tariff levels, a commercial solar installation can reach payback in as little as two to three years, with cumulative returns exceeding five times the initial investment over a decade,” they said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While several companies produce and sell more panels than Tongwei Solar, many of their modules use its cells, a product category in which it holds 30% global market share. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":652782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27995],"tags":[105777,105775,82871,105776,26088,4922,105774,80120,105772],"class_list":["post-652740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-chengdu","tag-ibc-solar-south-africa","tag-pv-solar","tag-renewable-poweer","tag-solar-cells","tag-solar-power","tag-solarworld-africa","tag-tongwei","tag-tongwei-solar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652740"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652885,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652740\/revisions\/652885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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