China Proposes Export Controls on Perovskite and Tandem Solar Manufacturing Technology
China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed on October 16 to add 12 photovoltaic manufacturing technologies, including processes for producing high-efficiency perovskite and perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, to the country’s catalogue of technologies prohibited or restricted from export. The draft, issued as Joint Announcement No. 48 of 2026, is open for public comment until November 15 and targets manufacturing know-how and equipment rather than finished solar panels — but it still reaches deep into the production chain that has made China the world’s dominant solar manufacturer.
Perovskite, tandem cells and polysilicon on the list
The draft catalogue sets specific technical thresholds rather than blanket bans. It would restrict production processes and equipment for perovskite-silicon tandem cells made on wafers of at least 182 millimeters with conversion efficiencies of 30% or higher, and perovskite slot-die coating processes with coating widths of 1.1 meters or more. It would also cover manufacturing processes for large-area perovskite modules of at least one square meter with efficiencies of 18% or higher, and tandem modules of the same size reaching 28% efficiency or more. Beyond perovskite, the list reaches into more established parts of the supply chain: cold-hydrogenation fluidized-bed processes used to produce trichlorosilane for polysilicon, silane-based fluidized-bed processes above a minimum capacity, silicon-wafer processes for wafers no thicker than 70 micrometers, polysilicon plant engineering services for large production lines, and crystal-pulling, wafer-cutting and TOPCon, back-contact and heterojunction cell manufacturing processes, according to pv magazine’s reporting on the announcement.
Framed as a national-security measure, not a trade shot
The two ministries cited national security as the rationale, pointing to the growing use of photovoltaic technology in aerospace, defense and other sensitive applications. The announcement states the proposed controls do not target any specific country, region or company. The solar measures sit inside a wider consultation covering roughly 40 technologies spanning solar energy, artificial intelligence and biomedicine, suggesting Beijing is treating advanced PV manufacturing know-how as part of a broader category of strategic technology rather than singling out the solar sector for special treatment. A separate, narrower registration requirement for companies planning to export some of the listed technologies reportedly took effect on October 16, ahead of the outcome of the public consultation on the fuller export-control list.
Finished panels are not covered — for now
The distinction between hardware and know-how matters for how the rule would actually bite. Shipments of finished solar panels, including ones built on perovskite-tandem architecture, would not be blocked under the draft; what would be restricted is the transfer of the production processes, equipment designs and manufacturing techniques used to make them. That puts the proposal at the technical frontier of the industry: large-area perovskite-tandem modules clearing 28% efficiency are close to what researchers are only now demonstrating at scale — UNSW and UtmoLight set a 23.5% efficiency record for a large-area perovskite module earlier this month, illustrating how tightly bunched the leading edge of this technology still is. If finalized as drafted, the rule would make it harder for manufacturers outside China to license or buy their way into that frontier, even as they remain free to buy or import finished Chinese-made modules.
Why manufacturers elsewhere are watching closely
China’s advantage in solar manufacturing is not just in scale but in process knowledge accumulated over a decade of cost-cutting and yield improvement, and a chunk of the industry’s current wave of intellectual-property disputes reflects competition over exactly the next-generation cell architectures this draft would cover — First Solar is already suing JA Solar and a Corning-operated US plant over TOPCon cell patents. Any final version of China’s export-control list would land at a moment when manufacturers in the United States, India and elsewhere are trying to build independent tandem and TOPCon production lines partly in response to tariff pressure that has already reshaped the US market — US solar module prices have jumped more than 40% since Section 232 tariffs took hold. Tighter Chinese controls on exporting the equipment and process know-how behind the newest cell designs would add a further obstacle to that push, independent of whatever happens on the tariff and trade-remedy side.
What happens next
Because the measure is still a draft, the practical impact depends on what survives the comment period and how strictly any final version is enforced. The ministries have not indicated when a final rule might be published or take effect, and public reporting has not clarified which government body will handle licensing decisions once the catalogue is finalized. Equipment makers, engineering-services firms and solar manufacturers with cross-border supply relationships involving Chinese-origin perovskite and tandem production technology are the most directly exposed, and they have until November 15 to respond to the draft before it can be adopted.
Sources
- pv magazine USA, “China proposes ban on exports of perovskite, tandem solar manufacturing technology,” October 16, 2026 — ministries involved, Joint Announcement No. 48 of 2026, technical thresholds, consultation deadline and stated rationale.
Illustrative image. Photo: Benlisquare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — source
