PV Tech’s top 10 stories of the year 2023

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
In 2023 Masdar inaugurated what it says is the world’s largest solar project in Abu Dhabi, with a capacity of 2GW. Image: Masdar

From the world’s largest project being commissioned to a possible downturn for solar manufacturers in 2024, and including the US Department of Treasure releasing guidance from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Here, PV Tech runs down its top 10 stories of the past 12 months.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

10 – Why TBC will follow shortly after TOPCon

11 September 2023: In this guest blog for PV Tech, Radovan Kopecek et al., explore which technology will take the lead from tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and why it will be TOPCon back contact (TBC).

9 – Masdar inaugurates ‘world’s-largest’ 2GW solar project in Abu Dhabi

17 November 2023: As the industry continues to grow, it is becoming more common to see gigawatt-scale projects being announced or completed, such as this one from UAE state-owned renewables developer Masdar with a 2GW PV project in Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest according to the company.

8 – ‘Massive increase’ in solar module defects poses ‘significant risk’ to PV industry – CEA

1 November 2023: A report from trade body Clean Energy Associates detected an increase of solar module ‘invisible’ defects, with the two most common defects being line cracks and soldering errors. The most eyebrow-raising result was a “massive increase” in micro-cracks between the start of 2022 and mid-2023. These module defects were posing a “significant risk” to the solar industry according to the report.

7 – Top 6 Chinese PV module manufacturers: Q1 shipment ranking

16 May 2023: In this Premium article, we looked at how the top six Chinese manufacturers – Jinko Solar, JA Solar, Trina Solar, LONGi, Risen Energy and Tongwei – fared during the first quarter of 2023, with some of them posting strong performance.

6 – First Solar could be the only profitable volume PV module supplier in 2024

20 November 2023: Finlay Colville, head of research at PV Tech, explores how cadmium telluride thin film manufacturer First Solar could be the only major PV manufacturer to escape a possible downturn for solar manufacturing in 2024.

5 – Can anything prevent a PV manufacturing downturn in 2024?

15 November 2023: Closely linked to the previous article and published a week before, Finlay Colville, explored the possible downturn of the solar PV manufacturing industry in 2024 and what might avert this situation which would be the first major downturn in the industry since 2013-2014.

4 – SunPower sued for alleged inaccurate accounting

1 November 2023: A class action lawsuit has been filed against the solar company SunPower for allegedly misleading investors by failing to disclose that it had inaccurately reported the cost of revenue and inventory metrics. According to a statement published by law firm Bragar Eagel & Squire at the time, SunPower would be restating certain previously issued financial statements for fiscal year 2022 and the first two quarters of 2023.

3 – Masdar to build 500MW of solar capacity in Ethiopia

23 August 2023: With a strong presence in Africa and the Middle East, state-owned UAE renewable energy company Masdar signed an agreement with Ethiopia to build 500MW of solar capacity in the Eastern African country. This agreement is part of the Etihad 7 programme, a project introduced by the UAE in January 2022 aiming to install 20GW of renewable energy capacity in Africa by 2035.

2 – US Treasury releases IRA guidance to widen net of tax credit recipients

19 June 2023: Even though the IRA was passed into law in August 2022, several guidance explaining how tax credits and other benefits from the IRA could be received were published throughout 2023. Among them is the US Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releasing guidance on tax credits, which allows state and local governments, nonprofits and other entities to benefit from renewable energy tax breaks.

1 – Top 10 PV module suppliers in 2022 shipped 245GW

1 February 2023: Finlay Colville highlighted how the top 10 module manufacturers fared in 2022, which had a massive growth in PV module production. The top 10 module suppliers alone accounted for over 75% of the global supply, and shipped 245GW of modules. LONGi remained in the first position in 2022, followed by JinkoSolar who climbed to the second position, ahead of Trina Solar and JA Solar. Each of these four companies shipped more than 40GW of modules in 2022.

10 March 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
The conference will gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing out to 2030 and beyond.
7 April 2026
Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE
Intersolar Middle East and Middle East Energy are coming together to present the mega energy event for the MENA region. From April 7–9, 2026, Dubai World Trade Centre will host Intersolar Middle East Exhibition and Conference alongside the 50th Middle East Energy. Intersolar Middle East focusses on the areas of photovoltaics, PV production technologies, and energy storage systems. The combined event expects to attract more than 45,000 trade visitors from around the world and feature 1,900+ exhibitors.

Read Next

October 9, 2025
The retroactive collection of duties on historical solar imports to the US has been temporarily paused pending the outcome of an appeal.
October 8, 2025
US solar module prices jumped in Q3 2025 as developers scrambled to meet the 2 September 2025 safe harbour deadline for Investment Tax Credit (ITC) qualification, according to supply chain platform Anza.
October 8, 2025
Despite policy headwinds on the federal level, there is optimism for the future of the US solar and storage sector.
October 8, 2025
Officials from Norway and Egypt have agreed provisional terms for the financing of the Dandara solar park in Egypt, which is being built and operated by Norwegian IPP Scatec.
October 7, 2025
Solar PV will account for almost 80% of the 4.6TW of new renewable power expected to be added by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
October 7, 2025
Doral Renewables has secured a PPA with an unnamed 'corporate buyer' for its 430MW Cold Creek solar-plus-storage project in Texas.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK