Polysilicon production
1.82Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ↗
million tonnes · more than
Industry · solar manufacturing
China photovoltaic manufacturing
Read polysilicon, wafers, cells and modules as successive manufacturing stages. Polysilicon uses a mass unit while downstream products use power units; the same embodied capacity can appear at more than one stage and must not be summed.
Wafer production
753
GW · Reached
Cell production
654
GW · Reached
Module production
588
GW · Reached
Two-year chain output
Upstream mass and downstream power are shown separately
The left panel shows polysilicon in million tonnes; the right panel shows wafers, cells and modules in GW. Separate axes prevent unlike physical quantities from sharing one scale.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ↗ · Polysilicon: million tonnes; wafers, cells and modules: GW; “more than/reached” qualifiers preservedchinainfigures.com
Downstream product exports
Wafer exports fell while cell and module exports rose
In 2024 wafer exports were 60.9 GW, cell exports 57.5 GW and module exports 238.8 GW. Exports across stages must not be summed because the same embodied capacity can cross borders as wafers, cells or modules.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ↗ · All export volumes are in GW; successive stages must not be summedchinainfigures.com
More output, lower prices
Output rose across stages while polysilicon and module prices fell
Reported output growth ranged from 10.6% to 23.6%, while polysilicon prices fell 39.5% and module prices 29.7%. More output does not directly imply higher industry profits.
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ↗ · Output growth uses published year-on-year rates; price changes are full-year comparisonschinainfigures.com
Accessible data table
Eight supply-chain observations for 2023–2024
| Year | Stage | Production | Unit | Qualifier | Reported YoY | Exports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Polysilicon | 1.43 | million tonnes | More than | +66.9% | — |
| 2023 | Silicon wafers | 622.0 | GW | More than | +67.5% | 70.3 GW |
| 2023 | Solar cells | 545.0 | GW | More than | +64.9% | 39.3 GW |
| 2023 | PV modules | 499.0 | GW | More than | +69.3% | 211.7 GW |
| 2024 | Polysilicon | 1.82 | million tonnes | More than | +23.6% | — |
| 2024 | Silicon wafers | 753.0 | GW | Reached | +12.7% | 60.9 GW |
| 2024 | Solar cells | 654.0 | GW | Reached | +10.6% | 57.5 GW |
| 2024 | PV modules | 588.0 | GW | Reached | +13.5% | 238.8 GW |
Mixed units
1.82 million tonnes cannot be added to 753 GW
Polysilicon is a material mass, while wafers, cells and modules are rated power. They describe different physical quantities.
Successive stages
Do not sum supply-chain stages
The same polysilicon can become wafers, cells and modules in sequence. Adding the three GW outputs would repeatedly count the same eventual capacity.
Source qualifiers
“More than” is a lower bound
Several 2023 outputs and 2024 polysilicon use “more than”. The published growth rate should be used rather than recomputing it from two lower-bound values.
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Page data
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Includes registered formal points, available historical series and scalar derived metrics. UTF-8 encoded for spreadsheets and analysis tools.
Download CSV ↓Data file updated: 26 Jul 2026
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Public record
Revision and update timeline
Photovoltaic manufacturing indicator added
Added archived MIIT 2023–2024 production, exports and price changes for four photovoltaic manufacturing stages.
Related sources: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China ↗
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed
Data downloads and revision timeline added
Added page-level formal-data CSV files, chart-level CSV/PNG/SVG exports and a bilingual revision timeline to all indicator pages.
Sources and definitions registered; automated checks passed