YUENS at SNEC 2026: What We’re Seeing in the Solar Mounting Industry——Reflections on Market Trends, Project Requirements and Industry Priorities
From June 3 to 5, 2026, the 19th International Solar Photovoltaic and Smart Energy (Shanghai) Conference & Exhibition (SNEC 2026) was successfully held. As the world’s largest and most authoritative annual showcase for the new energy industry, this year’s event once again set new records for all key performance indicators.
The most significant structural shift in this year’s exhibition is that the number of energy storage pavilions has, for the first time, surpassed that of traditional photovoltaic pavilions, signaling that the industry has completely moved beyond the era of solely relying on incremental photovoltaic growth and is now fully entering a high-quality development phase characterized by “equal emphasis on solar and storage, system integration, and refined scenario segmentation.” All six core segments across the entire industrial chain are simultaneously undergoing technological upgrades and track iterations, and the industry as a whole is shifting from…Shifting from past strategies of scale expansion and price-driven competition to competing on technological value, compliance quality, and full-lifecycle benefits.
Key Figures at a Glance
As a company with long-term expertise in the photovoltaic racking sector, YUENS engaged in in-depth exchanges with partners from numerous countries and regions around the world at this exhibition, gaining an even clearer and more direct sense of the new changes taking place in the industry.
Overview of Six Core Trends
1. Energy storage takes center stage
- Cross-industry influx: Home appliance giants join the fray, launching “PV-storage solutions.”
- Shift in model: moving from selling individual devices to “scenario-based system solutions.”
2. Component technology—dual-track parallel approach (BC & TOPCon)
- TOPCon: Still the mainstay for shipments (high cost-performance), with efficiency exceeding 26%.
- BC Technology: Highest level of attention; flagship components are fully moving toward 700W+ and have become the key to differentiated competition.
- Cutting-edge exploration: Trina Solar has unveiled a 907W perovskite/silicon tandem module (technical statement).
3. AI-Native Energy Integration (AI-Native Energy)
- AI is deeply integrated into R&D, manufacturing, and operations & maintenance.
- New Blue Ocean: Driven by the surge in computing power demand, energy storage integrated with data centers (AIDC) is emerging as a new growth driver, and coordinated operation of computing and power resources is key.
4. Grid-Forming & Integration of Photovoltaic, Energy Storage, and Charging Systems
- Grid-Forming: Becoming the “traffic driver” for inverter companies, it represents a new red line for grid security.
- PV-storage-charging: Integrated based on a DC bus, this is seen as a market worth trillions of yuan.
5. Commercialization of Sodium Ions and Standard
- Configuration with SiC Sodium ions: CATL has unveiled a full-scenario solution and plans to begin mass production in Q4 2026. ·
- SiC (silicon carbide): Becoming the standard configuration for energy storage PCS, enhancing efficiency.
6. Return to Rationality
- Against the backdrop of overcapacity, industry competition is shifting from “scale” to “value.”
- Enterprises are no longer merely debating technical roadmaps; instead, they’re shifting toward scenario-specific and differentiated products—such as mounting structures tailored to specific terrains and energy-storage solutions designed for particular scenarios.
Market Trends in the Photovoltaic Mounting Structure Industry
Shifting from “solar photovoltaic alone” to “integrated solar and storage.”
Energy storage has rightfully become the star of this year’s event—numbering of energy-storage pavilions has surpassed that of photovoltaic pavilions for the first time, with larger booth spaces and even greater foot traffic. Virtually all PV and even mounting-system companies are showcasing energy-storage products, while household appliance giants such as Haier, Gree, Aucma, and Hisense have crossed over into the sector, offering “PV-plus-storage solutions.” The industry has officially moved from selling individual products to an era of scenario-based, turnkey solutions. Whether they’re module manufacturers, inverter companies, or even some mounting-system providers, all are now focusing on product demonstrations and solution designs centered around “PV plus energy storage.”
From the project perspective, customers’ key concerns have shifted from merely component efficiency and racking costs to the overall system’s power generation revenue, electricity usage management, and investment payback period. In particular, in Europe, the Middle East, and certain emerging markets, the number of inquiries for integrated solar-plus-storage projects has risen significantly.
For mounting structure companies, this means that in the future, they will need to not only consider component installation itself but also pay closer attention to the overall system layout, equipment compatibility, and post-installation operation and maintenance requirements. Although mounting structures are basic components of the system, their stability, adaptability, and construction efficiency significantly impact the long-term performance of the entire project.
Application scenarios are replacing simple parameter competition.
Over the past few years, industry competition has increasingly focused on metrics such as power, efficiency, and cost. However, at this year’s exhibition, we’re seeing more and more companies starting to emphasize “scenario adaptation.”
Whether it’s desert power plants, mountain projects, agrivoltaic systems, or commercial and industrial rooftop and balcony photovoltaic installations, different application scenarios place entirely distinct demands on mounting systems.
Especially in the field of large-scale ground-mounted power plants, adapting to complex terrains has become a key issue. Some tracker bracket companies have highlighted solutions for steep slope installations, flexible structures, and complex landforms—each of which aims primarily to reduce civil construction costs and improve land-use efficiency.
For YUENS, we’ve also come to deeply recognize that the future direction of stent product development lies not only in material optimization and structural upgrades, but more importantly, in providing increasingly precise solutions tailored to different countries, various roof types, and diverse climatic conditions. What our customers need is not merely a single product, but rather a comprehensive installation solution that can be truly implemented on-site.
Overseas markets are placing higher demands on compliance and certification.
In the course of communicating with overseas customers, one topic that is frequently mentioned is certification and compliance. Product competition has gradually shifted from price-based rivalry to encompass supply chain management, certification systems, and long-term service capabilities.
- European Market: The threshold has been raised. Not only is carbon footprint certification now required, but trade protectionism is also spreading along the supply chain.
- U.S. Market: IRA Policy Benefits. The focus is on energy storage integration with data centers (AIDC) and standalone energy storage power plants.
- Chinese market: Shifting from “mandatory energy storage allocation” to “minimum capacity guarantee plus market-based incentives”; grid-forming capability becomes a key performance indicator. The electricity pricing mechanism is transitioning to time-of-use pricing, which benefits tracker systems and energy storage solutions.
For stent products, in addition to conventional structural safety tests, customers are increasingly focused on material sourcing, surface treatment processes, corrosion resistance, and long-term reliability. This reflects the industry’s transition from a phase of rapid growth to a more mature stage of development. The market is placing greater emphasis on the full lifecycle value of products, rather than solely on procurement costs themselves.
Tracking brackets continue to grow, but fixed brackets still have considerable room for expansion.
Tracking brackets remain one of the key highlights of this year’s exhibition. Thanks to intelligent algorithms, reverse tracking control, and digital management platforms, the power-generation benefits of tracking systems in large-scale ground-mounted projects have been further validated. This is especially true in regions such as the Middle East and Latin America, where solar irradiance levels are high. By region, the tracker market continues to maintain relatively rapid growth.
Meanwhile, we’ve also observed that fixed-mount systems have not lost their competitiveness. In commercial and industrial rooftops, distributed projects, and certain cost-sensitive markets, fixed-mount systems continue to hold a significant market share thanks to their advantages such as simple structure, easy maintenance, and controllable investment costs. Particularly in the context of the rapid growth of balcony PV systems in Europe, commercial and industrial rooftops, and residential energy-storage integration projects, lightweight, standardized, and rapidly installable fixed-mount systems still have ample room for further development.
In the future, these two technological approaches will coexist for the long term in different application scenarios, rather than simply replacing each other.
The industry is returning to value-based competition.
Against the backdrop of overcapacity and price wars, companies are starting to focus again on product reliability and long-term profitability. At the exhibition, numerous mounting bracket companies showcased AI-based intelligent operation and maintenance platforms that, by monitoring environmental parameters and equipment status in real time, help reduce O&M costs and improve efficiency. Asset efficiency. The market is starting to place greater emphasis on product quality, project profitability, and long-term operational capabilities. Whether in the module, energy storage, or racking sectors, the development model that relied solely on scaling up is undergoing a transformation. Customers are now more focused on whether products can genuinely reduce project costs, improve construction efficiency, and generate long-term returns.
For YUENS, this shift also brings new opportunities. Although the mounting structure isn’t the most visible component of a photovoltaic system, it directly affects the project’s safety, stability, and overall lifecycle value. Moving forward, we will continue to focus on product reliability, adaptability to various application scenarios, and the development of overseas service capabilities, providing global customers with more stable and efficient PV installation solutions.
Conclusion
SNEC 2026 not only showcases the latest achievements in the new energy industry but also reflects a brand-new development landscape characterized by the simultaneous emphasis on both photovoltaics and energy storage, continuous technological iteration, increasingly granular application scenarios, tightening compliance requirements, and intensified competition based on value. The photovoltaic, energy storage, inverter, and smart O&M sectors are all undergoing coordinated upgrades, driving the industry’s transformation from simple equipment sales toward comprehensive, system-based integrated solutions. As a core foundational component, photovoltaic mounting structures are simultaneously entering a critical period of refinement, customization, intelligentization, and compliance-driven upgrades.
As a member of the photovoltaic racking industry, YUENS will continue to focus on its core business of photovoltaic racking, closely follow the pace of iteration across the entire industry chain, and further enhance its product carbon footprint assessment, material traceability, and compliance certification systems. We will also strengthen our capability to provide one-stop, comprehensive solutions, offering global customers photovoltaic racking system solutions that are tailored to meet diverse scenarios, operating conditions, and regional compliance requirements.
