PV Companies
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Major photovoltaics companies include BP Solar, Yingli Green Energy, Kyocera, Q-Cells, Sanyo, Sharp Solar, SolarWorld, Motech, SunPower, and Suntech.

BP has been involved in solar power since 1973 and its subsidiary, BP Solar, is now one of the world's largest solar power companies with production facilities in the United States, Spain, India and Australia, employing a workforce of over 2,000 people worldwide.[86] BP Solar is a major worldwide manufacturer and installer of photovoltaic solar cells for electricity.[87] The company has begun constructing two new solar photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing plants, one at its European headquarters in Tres Cantos, Madrid, and the second at its joint venture facility, Tata BP Solar, in Bangalore, India.[88]

Yingli Green Energy is currently one of the largest manufacturers of PV products in China, with an annual production capacity of 200 megawatts of polysilicon ingots and wafers, cells and PV modules, as of July 2007. Yingli Green Energy sells PV modules under its own brand name, Yingli Solar, to PV system integrators and distributors located in various markets around the world, including Germany, Spain, China and the United States.

Kyocera Corporation has announced a plan to increase its solar cell production to 500 MW per year in 2010. 500 MW is about three times the current output of 180 MW, and the company will reinforce production bases in Japan, the US, Europe and China, investing a total of about ¥30 billion through FY2010. Through this production enhancement, Kyocera looks to meet increasing demand across the world for solar cells.

Q-Cells is the world's second largest cell manufacturer, based in Thalheim, Germany.Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) is based in Norway, and was established in 1996. Over a relatively short period, REC has become the world's largest producer of polysilicon and wafers for PV applications. REC is involved in all steps of the value chain, from production of solar grade silicon to wafer, cell and module production. The company has customers all over the globe and seven production plants in three different countries. It operates on three different continents and has approximately 1,100 employees.[92]

Sanyo Electric produced $213 million worth of solar cells at its plant in Hungary in 2006, and expects to triple its production capacity to 720,000 units in 2008.[93]

SCHOTT AG is one of the world largest producers of solar photovoltaic technologies. SCHOTT employs over 900 people and has worldwide production capacity of over 130 MW.

Sharp Solar is the world's largest photovoltaic module and cell manufacturer, which manufactures in Japan, and near Wrexham, UK. Sharp Solar produces both single and multi-crystalline solar cells which are used for many applications, from satellites to lighthouses, and industrial applications to residential use. Sharp began researching solar cells in 1959 with mass production first beginning in 1963. Production capacity amounted to 324 MW in 2004.

SolarWorld is headquartered in Bonn, Germany, and purchased Shell Solar's crystalline silicon activities in 2006.

SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells and solar panels based on an all-back-contact "All-Black" design. They install them through their subsidiary PowerLight. Recent projects include the Nellis Solar Power Plant, the largest PV installation in North America. Suntech Power is based in Wuxi, China, where construction of a 1 GW module plant has begun. Year-end production capacity for 2007 is expected to be 480 MW.

United Solar Ovonic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices Ovonics currently employs 700 people and expects to increase its production of thin-film amorphous photovoltaics from 117 MW/yr at the end of 2007 to over 300 MW/yr by the end of 2010. They are best known for producing building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) roofing systems (roofing shingle photovoltaics) and continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing of thin-film amorphous silicon alloy multi-junction solar cells.