S&P Global has released its inaugural 2025 Tier 1 Clean Energy list, featuring 63 suppliers of solar panels, wind turbines, inverters, and energy storage, aiming to provide a transparent benchmark for investors and developers.
S&P Global Commodity Insights has released its first 2025 Tier 1 Clean Energy companies list, encompassing 63 suppliers of solar panels, inverters, wind turbines, and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
This classification, unlike traditional rankings, aims to provide a transparent and reliable long-term performance benchmark for the increasingly crowded clean energy supply chain.
"This comprehensive assessment helps industry players confidently understand the top supplier landscape and identify companies that meet Tier 1 criteria, including corporate sustainability," Jessica Jin, lead analyst for S&P Global's photovoltaic supply chain research, told pv magazine. "Tier 1 certification helps market participants make more informed decisions and highlights companies that exceed rigorous standards."
Unlike rankings that simply compare companies, Tier 1 certification requires companies to meet standards in at least four of six dimensions: market presence, market share, shipment scale, global diversification, financial performance, and sustainability assessments. S&P stated that the methodology is based on its proprietary commodity database and Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) results to ensure objectivity.
S&P noted that global clean energy manufacturing is currently facing overcapacity, falling prices, and increased regulation on supply chain traceability and sustainability, creating increasing challenges for developers and financial institutions in evaluating partners. The Tier 1 framework aims to reduce information asymmetry and highlight companies that can withstand cyclical downturns. Data shows that the average EBITDA margin of Tier 1 photovoltaic manufacturers is 12 percentage points higher than the industry average, demonstrating the commercial significance of this certification.
Globally, Chinese companies dominate across all categories. The 14 selected module suppliers include Trina Solar, JinkoSolar, Longi Green Energy, JA Solar, Tongwei, and Canadian Solar, as well as First Solar from the United States and Hanwha Q Cells from South Korea.
For inverters, Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, Sungrow, Growatt, and Ginlong were selected, along with Enphase Energy, SolarEdge, and SMA from the United States and Germany. The nine selected wind turbine companies include Goldwind Science & Technology, Envision Energy, Mingyang Smart Energy, and Sany Heavy Energy from China, as well as Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Nordex, and GE Vernova from Europe and the United States.
For energy storage systems, the geographic distribution is even wider. CATL, BYD, Sungrow, and Trina Solar were selected alongside international manufacturers
such as Tesla, Wärtsilä, LG Energy Solution, Fluence, and Saft. Some companies, such as Trina Solar and Canadian Solar, appear in multiple product categories, demonstrating their vertical integration advantages.
S&P Global said the list does not constitute investment advice and that companies in each category are arranged alphabetically. The assessment is intended to provide a unified and transparent reference for developers, lenders and investors.
S&P Global has released its inaugural 2025 Tier 1 Clean Energy list, featuring 63 suppliers of solar panels, wind turbines, inverters, and energy storage, aiming to provide a transparent benchmark for investors and developers.
S&P Global Commodity Insights has released its first 2025 Tier 1 Clean Energy companies list, encompassing 63 suppliers of solar panels, inverters, wind turbines, and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
This classification, unlike traditional rankings, aims to provide a transparent and reliable long-term performance benchmark for the increasingly crowded clean energy supply chain.
"This comprehensive assessment helps industry players confidently understand the top supplier landscape and identify companies that meet Tier 1 criteria, including corporate sustainability," Jessica Jin, lead analyst for S&P Global's photovoltaic supply chain research, told pv magazine. "Tier 1 certification helps market participants make more informed decisions and highlights companies that exceed rigorous standards."
Unlike rankings that simply compare companies, Tier 1 certification requires companies to meet standards in at least four of six dimensions: market presence, market share, shipment scale, global diversification, financial performance, and sustainability assessments. S&P stated that the methodology is based on its proprietary commodity database and Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) results to ensure objectivity.
S&P noted that global clean energy manufacturing is currently facing overcapacity, falling prices, and increased regulation on supply chain traceability and sustainability, creating increasing challenges for developers and financial institutions in evaluating partners. The Tier 1 framework aims to reduce information asymmetry and highlight companies that can withstand cyclical downturns. Data shows that the average EBITDA margin of Tier 1 photovoltaic manufacturers is 12 percentage points higher than the industry average, demonstrating the commercial significance of this certification.
Globally, Chinese companies dominate across all categories. The 14 selected module suppliers include Trina Solar, JinkoSolar, Longi Green Energy, JA Solar, Tongwei, and Canadian Solar, as well as First Solar from the United States and Hanwha Q Cells from South Korea.
For inverters, Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, Sungrow, Growatt, and Ginlong were selected, along with Enphase Energy, SolarEdge, and SMA from the United States and Germany. The nine selected wind turbine companies include Goldwind Science & Technology, Envision Energy, Mingyang Smart Energy, and Sany Heavy Energy from China, as well as Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Nordex, and GE Vernova from Europe and the United States.
For energy storage systems, the geographic distribution is even wider. CATL, BYD, Sungrow, and Trina Solar were selected alongside international manufacturers
such as Tesla, Wärtsilä, LG Energy Solution, Fluence, and Saft. Some companies, such as Trina Solar and Canadian Solar, appear in multiple product categories, demonstrating their vertical integration advantages.
S&P Global said the list does not constitute investment advice and that companies in each category are arranged alphabetically. The assessment is intended to provide a unified and transparent reference for developers, lenders and investors.
