A piece of news from Japan has sent ripples through the photovoltaic industry: major Chinese solar panel manufacturers have jointly raised their domestic sales prices in Japan for products shipped from April onwards, with the maximum increase reaching 30%. JinkoSolar, the world's largest producer by output, LONGi Green Energy Technology (ranked second), Trina Solar (fourth), and Canadian Solar, which ranks seventh and mainly manufactures in China, are all among the companies raising prices.

This price hike is not a case of companies "profiteering from a crisis", but a forced move amid drastic changes in the cost structure. The price increases reflect cost transmission across two dimensions: on one hand, silver prices surged to roughly three times their level half a year earlier in late January 2026, while silicon, aluminum and copper rose by 40%, 10% and 30% respectively. Industry insakers estimate that the overall production cost of solar panels has increased by approximately 60%. On the other hand, the Chinese government officially abolished the VAT export tax rebate for photovoltaic products starting April 1, completely eliminating the "tax rebate bonus" that had previously supported the low-price export of Chinese photovoltaic products.