Which inverter makers were profitable in the first half of 2026?

Sungrow, Deye and Sigenergy between them accounted for more than 95% of total net profit across China's listed inverter manufacturers, according to first-half filings compiled by PV Tech on 11 September 2026. Sineng Electric, GoodWe, Ginlong Solis and Chint Power stayed profitable but only modestly. Solaxpower, Sofarsolar, Hoymiles and APsystems all reported net losses for the half.

Why did Sungrow's revenue fall while its rivals grew?

Sungrow's H1 2026 revenue was RMB30.912 billion (about US$4.6 billion), down 28.99% year on year, with net profit attributable to the parent of RMB5.259 billion, down 32.01%. It remains by a wide margin the largest and most profitable company in the sector. The companies posting triple-digit growth - Sigenergy up 261.2% and Deye up 92.23% - are growing from a much smaller residential-storage base, where demand in Australia and Europe has been strong.

Does a manufacturer's loss mean its inverters are unreliable?

No, and it should not be read that way. The losses reported by Hoymiles, APsystems, Sofarsolar and Solaxpower are attributed to falling microinverter demand in Europe and North America, an industry-wide price war, foreign exchange losses and the cost of entering new markets - commercial conditions, not product defects. What a sustained loss does affect is the money available for service networks, spare-part stock and firmware support over a warranty that runs ten years or more.

What should a UAE rooftop owner check before choosing an inverter?

Three things beyond the datasheet. First, that the model is on the utility's approved equipment list for your emirate, because an ineligible inverter cannot be connected. Second, that the manufacturer has a service presence or authorised service partner inside the UAE, since cross-border RMA on a failed unit in August is the difference between days and months of lost output. Third, that the warranty is registered to the site and the owner, not held informally by the installer.

Technology13 Sept 20269 min read

Inverter makers split: Sungrow profits, four post losses

Nikita LutsenkoFounder & CEO, SOLTECH

Inverter manufacturer profitability in the first half of 2026: Sungrow, Deye and Sigenergy take over 95% of sector net profit while four rivals post losses

Sungrow, Deye and Sigenergy took over 95% of the inverter sector's H1 2026 net profit, while Solax, Sofar, Hoymiles and APsystems all posted losses.

Inverter manufacturer profitability split sharply in the first half of 2026. Sungrow, Deye and Sigenergy together took more than 95% of the sector's net profit, according to first-half filings compiled by PV Tech on 11 September 2026, while Solaxpower, Sofarsolar, Hoymiles and APsystems all fell into loss despite several of them growing revenue strongly.

H1 2026 results for the major inverter manufacturers

Company	Revenue, RMB bn	Year on year	Net profit to parent, RMB bn	Year on year
Sungrow	30.912	-28.99%	5.259	-32.01%
Deye	10.641	+92.23%	2.717	+78.53%
Sigenergy	9.874	+261.2%	2.428	+201.0%
GoodWe	6.250	+52.96%	0.287	+1,825.94%
Ginlong Solis	3.882	+2.32%	0.423	-29.74%
Solaxpower	3.154	+74.55%	-0.035	-124.78%
Sineng Electric	2.858	+30.84%	0.217	+7.96%
Chint Power	1.803	+5.53%	0.068	-29.80%
Hoymiles	1.780	+77.06%	-0.164	-1,107.86%
Sofarsolar	1.310	+17.72%	-0.072	-179.04%
APsystems	0.300	-53.94%	-0.132	-267.21%

All figures are from company filings as compiled by PV Tech, 11 September 2026. Sungrow's revenue equates to roughly US$4.6 billion. Sineng's net profit is given as RMB216 million in the report text and RMB217 million in the summary table; the difference is rounding.

Storage is where the profit went

The clearest pattern is not scale but segment. The three companies that took almost all the profit are the three deepest into storage. Sigenergy, which completed a Hong Kong listing in April 2026, grew revenue 261.2% on residential storage demand in Australia and Europe and held a gross margin of 40.5%. Deye grew 92.23% on the same residential-storage wave across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The same effect shows inside individual companies. Ginlong Solis grew revenue only 2.32% overall, but that number hides a near-42% fall in grid-tied PV inverter revenue against a 106.70% rise in storage inverters. Its 29.74% profit decline was attributed mainly to non-operating items - foreign exchange losses and higher share-based compensation - rather than to the core business.

GoodWe is the clearest turnaround: revenue up 52.96% to RMB6.250 billion and a swing from a RMB17 million loss a year earlier to RMB286 million of net profit, a 4.6% net margin. Thin, but positive.

Why the microinverter specialists lost money

The four loss-makers are concentrated at the distributed end. APsystems, primarily a microinverter maker serving European and North American residential markets, reported a RMB132 million net loss on revenue that more than halved to RMB300 million, citing falling overseas microinverter sales, slower domestic commercial storage deliveries, continued R&D and market-entry spending, and currency losses.

Hoymiles is the sharpest illustration of revenue growth without profit growth: turnover up 77.06% to RMB1.780 billion, and a swing to a RMB164 million loss. PV Tech attributes it to softening overseas microinverter demand, an industry-wide price war compressing gross margins, overseas expansion costs, R&D and foreign exchange. Solaxpower, up 74.55% on revenue, still lost RMB35 million on lower prices in new markets, higher raw material costs, a reduced export tax rebate rate and adverse currency moves. Sofarsolar lost RMB72 million, or RMB86 million excluding non-recurring items.

One further variable sits over the whole group: the United States ban on foreign-produced inverters. Because it applies to future models rather than existing ones, PV Tech's assessment is that the immediate impact on Chinese manufacturers is expected to be minimal.

The SOLTECH view

We treat these numbers as information about service continuity, not about product quality, and the distinction is worth insisting on. Nothing in a half-year filing says an inverter will fail. What it says is how much money a company has available to keep a UAE service partner stocked, a firmware team funded and an RMA process staffed for the next decade.

For a villa owner in Dubai or Abu Dhabi: the inverter is the component most likely to need attention in years six to twelve, because it is the one with electrolytic capacitors and cooling fans sitting in 45 °C ambient air. A ten-year warranty is a promise from a balance sheet. We would rather fit a well-supported unit from a company with a UAE service footprint than save a few hundred dirhams on a brand whose nearest spare part is a customs clearance away. Check the utility's approved equipment list first - see our summary of DEWA-eligible equipment - because an inverter that is not listed cannot be connected regardless of how good it is.

For EPC contractors: the price war visible in these results is the same one landing in Gulf tender pricing. It is tempting to pass it straight through. Our position is that the saving is borrowed from the service phase, and the contractor is the one holding that liability when a client calls in year seven. Where we cannot verify in-country support, we price the risk rather than ignore it.

For investors: do not read Sungrow's 28.99% revenue decline as sector contraction. The sector's revenue grew; it moved. Where we would be cautious is in assuming the current triple-digit growth rates at Sigenergy and Deye are a durable run-rate - they come off a residential-storage boom in two regions with policy-sensitive demand, and the same price war that has pushed four competitors into loss is not going to stop at the segment boundary. For a GCC rooftop portfolio, the practical implication is narrower and more useful: build a replacement-cost line into the model at year twelve, and write it against a brand you expect to still be shipping.

Related reading: Sungrow's storage revenue overtaking inverters, the Enerparc insolvency and counterparty risk, and our overview of inverters for UAE rooftops. For equipment we install, see products.

Sources

SOLTECH Solar Wiki · General information, not a design document. System-specific numbers always come from a site assessment. ← All articles

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