We get quite a few questions here at RenewableEnergyWorld.com about who the big players in each sector of the renewable energy industry are, so we decided to start pulling together some top 10 lists. Here are the top 10 producers of PV for 2011 according to a report from Energy Trend. These numbers will take you right along the supply chain, from polysilicon to module.

Editor's note: These lists were updated from an entry originally posted in 2010. See below for the 2009 figures in the original post. The 2012 numbers do not reflect thin-film production, only polysilicon-based production.

2011 TOP POLYSILICON MANUFACTURERS BY CAPACITY

(Rank, Tons, Country)

1. GCL, 65,000, China
1. OCI, 65,000, Korea
3. Hemlock, 43,000, US
4. Wacker, 33,000, Germany
5. LDK, 25,000, China
6. REC, 19,000, Norway
7. MEMC, 15,000, US
8. Tokuyama, 9,200, Japan
9. LCY, 8,000, Taiwan
10. Woongjin, 5,000, Korea

2011 TOP CELL MANUFACTURERS BY CAPACITY
(Rank, Megawatts, Country)

1. Suntech, 2,400, China
2. JA Solar, 2,100, China
3. Trina, 1,900, China
4. Yingli, 1,700, China
5. Motech, 1,500, Taiwan
5. Gintech, 1,500, Taiwan
7. Canadian Solar, 1,300, China
7. Neo Solar Power, 1,300, Taiwan
9. Hanwha Solar One, 1,100, China
9. Jinko Solar, 1,100, China

2011 TOP POLYSILICON MODULE MANUFACTURERS BY CAPACITY*
(Rank, Megawatts, Country)

1. Suntech, 2,400, China
2. LDK, 2,500, China
3. Canadian Solar, 2,000, China
4. Trina, 1,900, China
5. Yingli, 1,700, China
6. Hanwha Solar One, 1,500, China
7. SolarWorld, 1,400, Germany
8. Jinko Solar, 1,100, China
9. Sunneed, 1,000, China
10. Sunpower, 1,000, US

* These numbers reflect capacity, not shipments, which is often how the largest module manufacturers are ranked.

The top 10 Solar PV manufacturers for 2009 are:

  1. 1100.0 MW First Solar
  2. 704.0 MW Suntech
  3. 595.0 MW Sharp
  4. 586.0 MW Q-Cells
  5. 525.3 MW Yingli
  6. 520.0 MW JA Solar
  7. 400.0 MW Kyocera
  8. 399.0 MW Trina Solar
  9. 397.0 MW SunPower
  10. 368.0 MW Gintech

Thin films represented 16.8% of total global production, up from 12.5% in 2008. The top ten (thirteen - the last four are tied) thin-film producers were:

  1. 1100.0 MW First Solar
  2. 123.4 MW United Solar Ovonic
  3. 94.0 MW Sharp
  4. 60.0 MW Sunfilm1
  5. 50.0 MW Trony
  6. 43.0 MW Solar Frontier
  7. 42.0 MW Mitsubishi
  8. 40.0 MW Kaneka
  9. 40.0 MW Moser Baer
  10. 30.0 MW Würth Solar
  11. 30.0 MW Bosch (formerly Ersol)
  12. 30.0 MW EPV
  13. 30.0 MW Solyndra

1 Estimated

More Top 10 lists coming soon. What top 10 would you like to see? Let me know, leave a comment below.