Image: Trina Solar
S&P Global Commodity Insights has published its first-ever 2025 Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list, recognizing 63 leading renewable energy suppliers across solar modules, inverters, wind turbines, and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The new classification marks a departure from traditional industry rankings, aiming instead to provide a transparent benchmark for reliability, resilience, and long-term performance in an increasingly competitive clean energy supply chain.
“This comprehensive evaluation empowers industry players to navigate the top supplier landscape with confidence, identifying companies meeting Tier 1 criteria, including corporate sustainability,” said Jessica Jin, principal research analyst at S&P Global PV supply chain research. “The Tier 1 designation helps both sides of the market make informed decisions by spotlighting suppliers that surpass a threshold of rigorous, relevant criteria.”
Unlike league tables that directly compare companies against one another, the Tier 1 designation highlights firms that meet or exceed defined thresholds in at least four of six categories: market presence, market share, shipment scale, global diversification, financial performance, and sustainability assessment. The methodology leverages S&P’s proprietary Commodity Insights database alongside results from its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) to ensure objectivity.
A Tough Market Landscape
The launch of the list comes at a time when global cleantech manufacturers face overcapacity, falling prices, and increasing regulatory scrutiny over sustainability and supply chain traceability. Developers and financiers are finding it more difficult to evaluate counterparties. S&P said its Tier 1 framework is designed to reduce information gaps and identify companies with the strength to withstand cyclical downturns.
According to S&P data, Tier 1 solar manufacturers recorded average EBITDA margins 12 percentage points higher than the sector average, underscoring the commercial relevance of the designation.
Global Leaders Recognized
The 2025 roster reflects the global distribution of industrial strength, with Chinese firms dominating all categories.
· Solar modules: Fourteen companies made the cut, including Trina Solar, JinkoSolar, Longi Green Energy, JA Solar, Tongwei, and Canadian Solar, along with First Solar (US) and Hanwha Q Cells (South Korea).
· Inverters: Huawei, Sungrow, GoodWe, and Ginlong were joined by Enphase Energy, SolarEdge, and SMA from the US and Germany.
· Wind turbines: Nine companies were recognized, including China’s Goldwind, Envision, Mingyang, and Sany Heavy Energy, as well as European and US majors Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Nordex, and GE Vernova.
· BESS: The sector showed greater geographic diversity, with CATL, BYD, Sungrow, and Trina Solar listed alongside Tesla, Wärtsilä, LG Energy Solution, Fluence, and Saft.
Some companies, including Trina Solar and Canadian Solar, appeared in multiple categories, highlighting their vertically integrated strategies.
A Reference Point for the Industry
S&P stressed that the list is not investment advice, and companies are presented alphabetically within each category. Instead, the exercise is meant to offer developers, lenders, and investors a consistent and transparent reference point when choosing partners in the renewable energy supply chain.
