PV Aluminum Frames & Brackets: Tech Iteration Boosts Energy Transition Growth, Unlocking 100-Billion Market
Amid the global wave of accelerated transformation of the energy structure driven by the carbon neutrality goal, photovoltaic power generation, as a core pillar of renewable energy, is now entering a critical period of large-scale expansion. According to the latest statistics, the newly installed capacity of photovoltaic power in China has reached 216.9GW, increasing by 148% year-on-year and once again setting a new historical record. The cumulative installed capacity has reached 609GW, surpassing hydropower to become the second largest power source in China's power generation industry. Meanwhile, the export volume of photovoltaic modules has also achieved steady growth. It is expected that the total output of photovoltaic modules for the whole year will reach 490GW, an increase of 69.7% compared with the previous year. As an indispensable important auxiliary material for photovoltaic modules, with its natural advantages such as lightweight, high strength and corrosion resistance, it has become an indispensable key link in the photovoltaic industry chain. The penetration rate of aluminum alloy frames in the photovoltaic frame field exceeds 95%. The aluminum frame market has also ushered in new development opportunities.
According to data from the China Nonferrous Metals Processing Industry Association, since 2019, the output of photovoltaic aluminum profiles in China has continued to rise. By 2023, the output of photovoltaic profiles had reached 3.4 million tons, representing a year-on-year growth of 30.8%, demonstrating a strong growth momentum. It is worth noting that although the output of photovoltaic profiles has increased significantly, the processing fees of major aluminum products have generally declined due to factors such as the decline in downstream consumer goods prices, the shrinking of aluminum exports, and the intensification of industry competition. The processing fee for photovoltaic profiles has even dropped to the lowest point in history. Although the global photovoltaic installation growth rate is facing short-term adjustment pressure, the long-term growth logic remains unchanged. Coupled with technological iteration and the expansion of application scenarios, the photovoltaic aluminum frame and aluminum bracket industry is entering a golden period of high-quality development, and the market space continues to expand.
The resilient growth of global photovoltaic installations has solidified the market foundation on the demand side
The market demand for photovoltaic aluminum frames and aluminum brackets is directly linked to the global photovoltaic installed capacity. According to the "2025 Renewable Energy Report" released by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global new installed capacity of photovoltaic power exceeded 400 gigawatts in 2025, and the cumulative installed capacity steadily increased. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released the "2026 Global Photovoltaic Market Outlook", which predicted a short-term adjustment. It is estimated that the global photovoltaic installed capacity in 2026 will be 649 gigawatts, slightly lower than 655 gigawatts in 2025. However, BNEF also pointed out that this fluctuation is still within a reasonable margin of error, and the markets outside China continue to maintain a steady growth trend. By 2026, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power outside China will exceed 308GW, achieving a growth of nearly 9% compared to 283GW in 2025. Emerging markets such as India, Africa, and Latin America have become new growth engines.
From a long-term trend perspective, the global photovoltaic market has sufficient growth momentum. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts in the "World Energy Outlook 2025" that by 2030, the global annual new installed capacity of photovoltaic power will stabilize at over 400 gigawatts (GW), and the cumulative installed capacity is expected to exceed 4.5 terawatts. The huge installed capacity brings continuous rigid demand for photovoltaic aluminum frames and brackets. According to the Aluminum Processing Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, each gigawatt of photovoltaic installed capacity corresponds to a demand of approximately 2,000 to 2,500 tons for aluminum frames and about 3,000 to 3,500 tons for aluminum brackets. Based on this calculation, By 2030, the global demand for aluminum products in the photovoltaic field is expected to exceed 2 million tons, and the market size is likely to rise to the level of hundreds of billions.
The continuous deepening of the differentiation in demand structure is opening up a broader market space for the photovoltaic aluminum frame and bracket industry. The differentiated demands of different application scenarios are also driving the industry to upgrade towards precision and customization. On the one hand, centralized ground-mounted power stations remain the core force in the global and domestic new photovoltaic installations. Especially with the large-scale advancement of large-scale wind and solar base projects in the "desert, desert and wasteland" areas of Northwest China and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, more stringent performance requirements have been put forward for aluminum brackets. Such projects are mostly located in extreme environments with high altitudes, strong sandstorms and large temperature differences. They not only require aluminum supports to have higher structural strength to resist the impact of sandstorms and the pressure of component self-weight, but also need to enhance weather resistance and corrosion resistance. According to the "Technical Specifications for Structural Components of Photovoltaic Power Stations" released by China Power Engineering Consulting Group, Aluminum supports in such areas need to pass salt spray corrosion tests for over 1,500 hours, far exceeding the standards of ordinary regions. This has also forced enterprises to increase their investment in the research and development of high-strength aluminum alloy materials and high-end surface treatment processes. On the other hand, distributed photovoltaic power generation has rapidly penetrated with the advantage of "generating electricity nearby and consuming it nearby", becoming an important growth pole for driving demand. Data from the National Energy Administration shows that by 2025, the proportion of distributed photovoltaic installations in China had reached 45%. The "Blue Book on the Development of the Photovoltaic Industry (2025)" further predicts that this proportion will exceed 50% by 2030, with commercial and industrial rooftop photovoltaic and household photovoltaic being the core growth points. Due to the load-bearing limitations of industrial and commercial roof projects, the demand for lightweight aluminum frames is particularly urgent. The application ratio of 1.8mm thin-walled frames has increased from 20% in 2020 to 55% in 2025. Household photovoltaic systems, on the other hand, place more emphasis on installation convenience and appearance compatibility, promoting the development of aluminum frames towards standardization, modularization and customized sizes. It is worth noting that the rise of emerging application scenarios such as BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic), agrivoltaics, and fishery-voltaics is giving rise to brand-new product demands. Take BIPV as an example. It needs to balance architectural aesthetics and photovoltaic functions, which has given rise to special products such as irregular-shaped frames, arc-shaped frames, and color-coated frames. The gross profit margin of these products is 20% to 30% higher than that of traditional frames. Agricultural and fishery photovoltaic complementary projects have put forward special requirements for the height adjustability and anti-water accumulation corrosion ability of aluminum supports. The average annual growth rate of the market size of related customized products has exceeded 30%, becoming a new high growth pole in the industry.
The acceleration of technological iteration and upgrading has made green and intelligent development the mainstream
Driven by the core trend of photovoltaic modules evolving towards larger sizes and higher efficiency, the technological iteration of the photovoltaic aluminum frame and aluminum bracket industry has entered an accelerated period, forming a multi-dimensional optimization closed loop in product performance, production processes, and cost control. The size upgrade at the component end is the core driving force of technological change. According to the "2025 China Photovoltaic Industry Development Report" released by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA), the market share of 182mm and 210mm large-sized components is expected to exceed 90% by 2025, completely replacing traditional small-sized products to become the mainstream in the market. Although large-sized components can reduce the system's cost per kilowatt-hour by increasing the power of each unit, they also bring structural load-bearing pressure due to the expanded size (for example, the diagonal length of a 210mm component is 26% longer than that of a traditional 166mm component), which poses revolutionary requirements for the structural strength and dimensional accuracy of aluminum frames. To balance lightweighting and structural reliability, the industry is accelerating the transformation of aluminum frames from the traditional 2.5mm wall thickness to a thinner 1.8-2.2mm wall. This transformation is not merely about thinning but rather relies on the collaborative innovation of materials and processes
The continuous upgrading of surface treatment technology is not only the core support for meeting the weather resistance requirements of different application scenarios, but also the key path for the industry to respond to environmental protection policies and increase the added value of products. Photovoltaic modules are widely distributed in extreme environments such as high-humidity coastal areas, high-salt fog islands, and high-altitude areas with strong ultraviolet rays. This places differentiated demands on the corrosion resistance of aluminum frames. Due to its performance advantages, the anodizing + spraying composite treatment process has gradually become the mainstream in the industry. This process first forms a dense oxide film (with a thickness of ≥15μm) through anodic oxidation, and then superimposes a spray coating for dual protection. As a result, the salt spray corrosion resistance of the aluminum frame is enhanced from 500 hours of single anodic oxidation to over 1,500 hours, which can meet the 30-year service life requirements in extreme environments such as the "desert and barren land" in Northwest China and coastal photovoltaic power stations. More cutting-edge technological innovations are still constantly breaking through performance limits.
Intelligent and green manufacturing have become the new directions for industry development. Leading enterprises are all promoting the upgrade of automated production lines. According to the research data of the Aluminum Processing Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, leading enterprises have raised the degree of automation of production lines to over 92% through the intelligent transformation of equipment such as extruders and aging furnaces, effectively reducing production costs and scrap rates. The scrap rate of leading enterprises in the industry has been controlled below 1.3%. Driven by the "dual carbon" goals, the concept of green manufacturing has been deeply implemented. Enterprises have reduced their carbon footprint throughout the entire life cycle by promoting the application of photovoltaic green electricity, optimizing energy consumption in melting and casting, and increasing the recycling rate of waste materials. The "2024 Green Development Report on the Aluminum Industry" released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association shows that in 2023, the usage rate of recycled aluminum in the photovoltaic aluminum frame industry increased from 30% to 40%, and the carbon emission intensity decreased by 8% year-on-year. This not only alleviated the risk of fluctuations in raw material costs but also enhanced the ESG competitiveness of enterprises.
In addition, functional integration has become an important direction for technological innovation. New products such as smart frames (integrated sensors) are gradually being developed and implemented, which can monitor the operating status of components in real time and improve the operation and maintenance efficiency of photovoltaic systems. According to the "2025 China Photovoltaic Smart Component Industry Research Report" by Headline Research Institute, the market size of smart frames is expected to reach 10 billion yuan by 2030, opening up new high-value-added growth points for the industry.
The industrial pattern continues to optimize, with going global and integration becoming the key words for development
At present, the concentration of China's photovoltaic aluminum frame industry is steadily increasing, forming a competitive pattern dominated by leading enterprises and supplemented by small and medium-sized enterprises. Leading enterprises, relying on their large-scale production, cost control and technological advantages, continuously expand their market share through mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations and capacity optimization, while small and medium-sized enterprises are under pressure to transform and gradually shift towards customization and niche fields.
From the perspective of regional layout, the effect of industrial clusters is significant. Statistics from the Aluminum Processing Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association show that 80% of the frame production capacity is concentrated in East China and South China. Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong and other places, with their mature aluminum processing industrial chains and dense photovoltaic module manufacturing bases, have become the main production clusters of photovoltaic aluminum frames and brackets, and have the ability to quickly respond to downstream customized demands. However, the problem of uneven regional production capacity distribution still exists. In the concentrated areas of large-scale photovoltaic base projects in Northwest and North China, the production capacity is insufficient. Transportation costs and timeliness restrict the efficiency of the supply chain. Leading enterprises are alleviating this contradiction by optimizing their production capacity layout.
Going global has become an important path for enterprises to expand their markets. As the world's largest photovoltaic manufacturing country, China's aluminum alloy frame exports account for over 65% of the global share, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. In 2023, the export volume reached 420,000 tons, with a year-on-year increase of 23.5%. The export market has expanded from traditional Europe and America to emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. In the future, with the support of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises will accelerate their pace of building factories overseas. They will enhance the stability of the global supply chain through localized production and procurement, and further increase their international market share.
Opportunities and challenges coexist, and the industrial chain collaborates to break through and move forward
While the photovoltaic aluminum frame and bracket industry is enjoying the dividends of energy transition, it also faces multiple challenges. On the cost side, aluminum ingots, as the core raw material, account for over 65% of the production cost of frames, and their prices are significantly affected by fluctuations in the international bulk commodity market. On the supply chain side, data from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association shows that China's bauxite imports account for over 50%. Geopolitical conflicts may exacerbate the uncertainty of raw material supply, while policies such as the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) have also increased the compliance costs for export enterprises.
Facing challenges, the industry is actively responding through means such as industrial chain collaboration and technological innovation. Upstream aluminum enterprises and downstream photovoltaic module enterprises have strengthened strategic cooperation, locking in raw material supply prices through long-term agreements to stabilize cost expectations. At the same time, efforts should be made to increase the layout of recycled aluminum resources, raise the utilization rate of recycled aluminum, and reduce reliance on primary aluminum. At the policy level, the National Development and Reform Commission's "Guidance Catalogue for Green and Low-Carbon Transformation Industries" has included high-performance photovoltaic frames in the encouraged category of projects. Tax incentives and technological transformation subsidies support capacity optimization, providing policy guarantees for the high-quality development of the industry.
The photovoltaic aluminum frame and bracket industry is currently in a critical period of transformation from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement". Technological innovation, green manufacturing and global layout will become the core competitiveness of enterprises. In the future, with the continuous advancement of the global energy transition and the coordinated development of technologies such as N-type batteries and photovoltaic energy storage integration, the photovoltaic aluminum frame and aluminum bracket industry is expected to break through short-term fluctuations and achieve long-term stable growth, injecting strong impetus into the green transformation of the aluminum industry.