Module efficiency and power have become the most relevant metrics, reflecting real-world cost, quality, and performance of the final commercial product
In an environment of price pressure and overcapacity, many high-efficiency claims remain aspirational
By analyzing 24 consecutive monthly editions from January 2024 to December 2025, TaiyangNews’ 7th TOP SOLAR MODULES analysis highlights efficiency progress, technology shifts, and company-level performance
A few years ago, discussions around solar performance largely centered on cell efficiency. Today, the focus has shifted. Module efficiency and module power have increasingly emerged as the more reliable metrics for comparing technologies and products. This shift is logical. The module is the final commercial product delivered to the market, while cell-level performance is now largely an internal benchmark, especially as manufacturers continue to move toward greater vertical integration. Efficiency is a unique metric that speaks to cost, quality, technical advancements, and performance of the solar product. It now represents another differentiator.
At the same time, rising price pressure and the prevailing overcapacity have led to a growing number of announcements around high-efficiency products. This raises an important question: how many of these announcements translate into modules that are genuinely available in the market? Separating commercially relevant products from aspirational claims has therefore become increasingly important.
This is where TaiyangNews’ TOP SOLAR MODULES feature plays a role. Instead of following a bottom-up approach that tracks individual product launches and their commercialization timelines, the listing adopts a top-down perspective. It focuses on the highest efficiencies achieved by modules already commercially available, categorized by cell technology and supplier. Launched in 2022 and updated on a monthly basis, TOP SOLAR MODULES tracks real-world progress in high-efficiency modules. Each edition includes a curated data table, performance graphs, a summary article, and an animation video, all published on the TaiyangNews website. The December 2025 update is the 48th consecutive monthly edition of this feature, representing 4 years of coverage. As a value add, TaiyangNews started another initiative, called the TOP SOLAR MODULES Badge of Excellence, in 2023. The badge is awarded to manufacturers that rank in the top 10 for at least 6 months within a calendar year, recognizing sustained performance rather than isolated results (see TOP SOLAR MODULES 2025: Badge Of Excellence).
While each monthly edition provides a snapshot of efficiency progress across companies and technologies, reviewing them collectively over time reveals interesting insights and broader trends. This report consolidates those insights. TaiyangNews began publishing such in-depth analyses with an annual summary for 2022, followed by biannual reports from 2023 onward. The present publication represents the 7th edition of this report series.
Consistent with the previous annual summary, the data scope of this report is limited to the most recent 24 editions, covering the period from January 2024 to December 2025. The analytical framework also remains unchanged. The report evaluates efficiency progress across defined efficiency bands and cell technologies. In addition, it includes a high-level review of module power trends and examines performance developments at the company level.
The text is an edited excerpt from TaiyangNews’ latest TOP SOLAR MODULES Report 2025, which can be downloaded for free here.
