"Solar company" covers a lot of ground — from the factory that makes a panel to the crew that bolts it to a roof. SolarXList classifies its 563,976 active companies into 17 industry sectors. Here's how the global solar economy breaks down.
Solar companies by sector
- Electrical / Electrician — 108,310
- Energy (other) — 93,581
- Solar Company (general) — 64,005
- Solar Installation / EPC — 63,881
- Engineering / Contractor — 53,645
- Electric Utility — 37,018
- Energy Storage / Battery — 34,622
- Consulting / Services — 32,387
- Solar Equipment Supplier — 22,071
- Manufacturing — 21,155
- HVAC / Heat Pump — 14,583
- Distribution / Trade — 11,457
- Solar Power Plant — 3,221
- EV Charging — 2,595
- Solar Thermal — 1,150
(Two specialist sectors round out the 17: Inverter manufacturers and dedicated PV-module makers.)
Storage is now a sector of its own
The standout story is energy storage. With 34,622 companies in the Energy Storage / Battery sector, storage is no longer an add-on to solar — it is a category in its own right, larger than equipment supply or manufacturing. The edges are blurring too: EV charging (2,595) and HVAC / heat pumps (14,583) increasingly overlap with solar as homes and businesses electrify.
Installation still dominates
Add up the deployment sectors — Electrical / Electrician (108,310), Solar Installation / EPC (63,881) and Engineering / Contractor (53,645) — and it's clear that most of the industry is about installing solar, not making it. Manufacturing is a smaller, more concentrated segment, dominated by a handful of countries.
Browse by sector: Energy Storage & Battery companies, Solar Installation / EPC, Manufacturing, or explore the full directory.
Source: SolarXList directory, June 2026. Each company is assigned to one primary sector; the 17 sectors sum to the full 563,976 active listings.