30GW of Bids Awarded, 52.5GW of Bids Terminated: Are PV Module Prices Stabilizing?

According to price tracking data from Solarbe Consulting, polysilicon prices declined slightly last week, with the average winning bid prices for N-type recharged, dense, and granular polysilicon being 39,200, 35,600, and 37,000 yuan/mt, respectively. Recently, polysilicon producers have continued to reduce their production schedules, and inventory backlogs among polysilicon manufacturers have become prominent, making it difficult to reverse the downward price trend in the short term.

Prices in the wafer and solar cell segments remained stable. In terms of PV modules, prices in the PV industry chain have rebounded since March. Despite the "430" installation rush period having passed, installation enthusiasm in May has not yet subsided. However, industry insiders generally believe that this price rebound is essentially just a temporary recovery amidst the interplay of industry supply and demand and market dynamics. As the installation rush fades, module market prices have already shown a downward trend.

In terms of the current state of the industry, the current industry consolidation cycle will only truly conclude after undergoing a brutal market shakeout and the law of the jungle in competition. By reviewing recent tender details, Solarbe found that nearly 30 GW of PV modules were awarded in April 2025.

Among them:

In terms of pricing, the average winning bid price for N-type modules in April was 0.707 yuan/W, and for P-type modules, it was 0.708 yuan/W, basically flat compared to March, with an increase of about 3% from the beginning of the year.

N-type modules accounted for over 92%, with TOPCon accounting for 96%, HJT/BC accounting for 1%, and the remaining 3% of PV module tenders not specifying specific technical requirements.

Meanwhile, affected by adjustments to the new energy electricity price policy and the chaotic installation rush in the market, tenders for 51 GW of modules from PowerChina, 1.5 GW of modules for the Xinjiang PV Desertification Control Project, and inverters, as well as tenders for multiple distributed PV projects, were all "put on hold" in April for project adjustments.

Tender Analysis

Led by CNNC and SNWTP

Local energy enterprises accelerate green transformation

According to statistics, nearly 30 GW of modules were publicly awarded in April, including 27 GW from CNNC, 1 GW from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, 250 MW from China Aneng, 228 MW from China Minmetals Group, as well as 227 MW from Guangdong Energy Group and 108.55 MW from Hunan Energy Group, both local energy enterprises. Central and state-owned enterprises and local energy enterprises from various industries have all intensified their efforts in low-carbon transformation and participated in the construction of PV projects.

From the known public tender information, CNNC had 27 GW of PV modules with publicly announced winning bid candidates in April. This includes 26.667 GW of modules for the CNNC 2025-2026 period and 375 MW of modules for the Xinjiang Tongqing Midong District procurement. As of March 31, 2025, the installed capacity of new energy projects under the control of China National Nuclear Power was 30.69 GW, with 13.54 GW under construction.The group stated that it would continue to actively participate in the construction of the electricity market, optimizing the combination of nuclear power and various new energy power sources to maximize the advantages of zero-carbon green electricity and strive to increase revenue per unit of electricity. In April, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project finalized the award of 10.5GW of PV modules. The tender project was the 2025-2026 centralised procurement of 1GW of PV modules by South-to-North Water Diversion Middle Route New Energy (Beijing) Co., Ltd., including 700MW of TOPCon and 300MW of BC/HJT modules. Ultimately, nine enterprises, namely Tongwei, Jinko Solar, LONGi Solar, JA Solar, DAS solar, Chint New Energy, AIKO Solar, Huasun New Energy, and Guosheng New Energy, were shortlisted. Additionally, on April 9, PowerChina announced the termination of the 2025 framework shortlisting for the centralised procurement of 51GW of PV modules. The reason was that recent adjustments to new energy electricity price policies and other factors had led to certain changes in the bid inviter's procurement needs, resulting in the termination of the procurement. On April 30, the procurement project for 1.5GW of PV modules and centralized inverters for the sand control project of the 46th Regiment of the Third Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps also announced the termination of procurement. The announcement stated that due to adjustments in the basic project situation, it was decided to terminate this tender activity. On April 22, Gangneng (Zhenxiong) New Energy Co., Ltd. announced the cancellation of the tender for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project of the 2024 distributed PV power station project, terminating the cooperation for the 300MW distributed PV EPC project. The announcement stated that due to the impact of national policy adjustments on the construction of distributed PV power stations, before the introduction of the new policy on distributed PV, the bid inviter and the bid winner were unable to sign the contract as agreed in the tender documents. After mutual consultation, both parties agreed to terminate the cooperation for this project without holding each other responsible, and the tender for this project was cancelled.

Product Analysis

n-Type Tenders Account for Over 92%

TOPCon Maintains Dominant Market Position

According to available public information, n-type modules accounted for over 92% of the modules awarded in April. Among them, the demand for over 25.7GW of modules was clearly specified as TOPCon, accounting for approximately 96% of the n-type tender capacity, while approximately 1% of the demand was clearly directed towards HJT/BC. The market position of TOPCon remains stable.

Specifically, tenders clearly specified for TOPCon modules included those from China National Nuclear Corporation (25GW) and the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (700MW), among others. In addition, the 300MW tender from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project was clearly directed towards HJT and BC, reserving market application space for emerging technologies. Recently, LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. signed a 1GW BC module order with ENGIE and PowerChina, while Jinyang Quanzhou New Energy Co., Ltd. signed a 4GW HBC upgrade project with JA Solar and Fujian Jinshi Energy Co., Ltd. This reflects the determination of leading enterprises to reconstruct the industrial ecosystem through differentiation and by seizing opportunities for technological iteration amidst fierce market competition.

Price Analysis

Module prices have risen significantly since the beginning of the year,

with an increase of approximately 3%.

In April 2025, the lowest unit price for module bidding was 0.659 yuan/W, achieved by Xuhe New Energy and Guosheng New Energy in the 26.667GW centralised procurement of modules for the 2025-2026 period by CNNC. The highest price was recorded in the BC/HJT procurement, where LONGi Green Energy Technology won the bid at 0.768 yuan/W in the 300MW BC/HJT section procurement for the 2025-2026 period by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The trend of average winning bid prices for p-type and n-type PV modules from 2024 to date is as follows:

Among them, the winning bid prices for n-type modules in April ranged from 0.66 to 0.768 yuan/W, with an average of 0.707 yuan/W; for p-type modules in March, the winning bid prices ranged from 0.66 to 0.75 yuan/W, with an average of 0.708 yuan/W. The prices of p-type and n-type modules remained basically flat compared to March, with an increase of approximately 3% since the beginning of the year. From the perspective of different technology routes, the average winning bid price for TOPCon modules was 0.69 yuan/W, highlighting their price advantage; the average winning bid price for HJT modules was 0.7575 yuan/W, and for BC modules, it was 0.7615 yuan/W, all showing a slight increase MoM.

Bid Winner Analysis

Top-tier enterprises maintain firm pricing strategies

Second- and third-tier enterprises compete with low prices

In terms of bid winners, the list of module enterprises that won the bids in the centralised procurement of over 28GW, including 27GW by CNNC and 1GW by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in April, was announced. However, specific supply capacities for each enterprise are not yet available. Nevertheless, from the bid opening information, the bid prices of the top four module enterprises were all above 0.704 yuan/W, indicating a firm pricing strategy. In contrast, the bid prices of second- and third-tier module enterprises were significantly lower, reflecting the intense competition in the current PV module market and the survival pressure faced by enterprises at different levels. Details are as follows:

According to the announcement, there were 10 candidates shortlisted for CNNC's centralised procurement: JA Solar, LONGi Green Energy Technology, Chint New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Yingli Energy, Trinasolar, Tongwei Co., Ltd., Xuhe New Energy, Risen Energy, Jinko Solar, and Guosheng New Energy. Based on data obtained from SOLARBE, the bid prices of the shortlisted enterprises ranged from 0.659 to 0.705 yuan/W, with an average of 0.686 yuan/W.

There were six bid winners for Section 1 of the 1GW module procurement by the South-to-North Water Diversion Project: Tongwei Co., Ltd., Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., LONGi Lerri Solar Technology Co., Ltd., JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd., DAS solar, and Chint New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., with bid prices ranging from 0.692 to 0.705 yuan/W and an average of 0.7 yuan/W. There were four bid winners for Section 2: Zhejiang AIKO Solar Technology Co., Ltd., Anhui Huasheng New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., LONGi Lerri Solar Technology Co., Ltd., and Anhui Guosheng New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., with bid prices ranging from 0.75 to 0.768 yuan/W and an average of 0.7595 yuan/W.In addition, only about 1.3 GW of modules had clearly announced the specific winning bidders and supply capacities in April. Based on publicly available data, companies such as Daheng Solar, Hunan Red Solar, LONGi LERRI Solar, JA Solar, and Jinko Solar stood out in the bidding process.