Overcapacity and falling prices have put global solar markets under pressure, making innovation more important than ever for companies to stay competitive. This was clearly on display at the industry’s 2 largest trade shows of 2025 – The smarter E Europe in Munich and SNEC in Shanghai – where manufacturers presented a wide spectrum of solutions across the solar value chain. Exhibits ranged from new cell concepts and refined module designs to advanced production tools, materials, and balance-of-system equipment.
This report puts together details from 22 companies active in the production equipment and materials segment. Among mainstream technologies, TOPCon continues to dominate on the cell side, but several companies are moving toward upgraded ‘TOPCon+’ designs. These next-generation cells feature poly fingers on the rear side, enabled by laser processing, and are often combined with additional steps such as edge passivation and stencil printing. Exhibitors also highlighted a wide range of tools covering TOPCon, HJT, and even perovskite production, with many suppliers offering complete turnkey lines. Sustainability was another key focus area at these events, with wet-bench makers presenting solutions that save water, energy, and chemicals.
Module production is evolving in parallel. New lines are more modular and automated, built to handle a variety of interconnection formats, including zero-busbar (ZBB), multi-busbar (MBB), and back-contact (BC) designs. There has been notable progress in testing equipment, particularly LED-based IV systems suitable for tandem cells, as well as compact tools for on-site evaluation of modules. End-of-life management is another subject that’s gaining traction, with the emergence of recycling solutions for conventional crystalline modules.
Materials are keeping pace with these technological shifts. Encapsulation films are being customized to meet the specific requirements of high-efficiency cell types, with specialized combinations developed for both glass-glass and glass-backsheet modules.
The report is the second in a series of 3 reports that cover new products shown at the leading trade shows in 2025. The first covering new modules and mounting tracker systems was published earlier in Sept. 2025 (see New Solar Modules & Mounting Systems Overview 2025), the second on inverters and battery storage products will be published in Oct. 2025.
