EU Repeals Chinese Solar Glass Duties: What Module Buyers Should Re-Quote This Quarter

At a Glance

Week in Numbers

The week's key figures in one place, for quick reference before the detail below.

1. Policy & Trade Watch

Europe - solar glass duties repealed after 12.5 years

The EU has removed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese solar glass.The European Commission announced on Oct 21, 2026 that it is repealing the definitive anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty on imports of solar glass originating in China, with effect from Oct 22 - the day after publication in the Official Journal. The measures had been in place since 2014, roughly twelve and a half years. Rates being removed: anti-dumping 17.5%-75.4% (country-wide rate 67.1%) and countervailing 3.2%-17.1% (country-wide rate 17.1%). The stated basis for repeal is that the EU solar glass industry has stopped production and is unlikely to restart within a foreseeable timeframe, so the measures no longer serve their purpose. Covered product: tempered soda-lime flat glass with the specified solar characteristics (heat resistance to 250 C per EN 12150, thermal shock resistance delta 150 K per EN 12150, mechanical strength >=90 N/mm2 per EN 1288-3), CN code ex 7007 19 80. Refunds: importers may claim back duties paid since the expiry review was initiated on 2025-07-22, under EU customs rules, without interest.

Source: European Commission announcement via China Photovoltaic Industry Association / China Energy Net (2026-10-21 to 10-23); MLex via The European Post (2026-10-21); pv magazine (2026-10-22)

Europe - new trade instruments signalled, still at proposal stage

Brussels is openly studying import quotas and an emergency cut-off mechanism.Following the Oct 16 EU summit, where China trade imbalance was treated as a core issue, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Oct 21 that the EU will introduce new trade instruments to counter low-price imports, with import quotas and tariffs under study to protect the chemicals and industrial-machinery sectors. A Franco-German concept paper circulating alongside this includes an 'emergency cut-off switch' for extreme import surges. None of this is legislation yet - treat it as direction of travel, not as a rule you must comply with. It matters for 2027-2028 sourcing plans far more than for Q4 shipments.

Source: Chinese trade media reporting of EU summit and von der Leyen statements (2026-10-16 to 10-23)

The flows that barriers were meant to stop

Chinese battery and inverter exports to the EU kept accelerating - China's Li-ion battery exports to the EU reached USD 31.2bn in January-September, up 46% year-on-year, representing roughly 40% of total Chinese lithium battery exports of USD 78.8bn (+42.2%). On inverters: after the EU barred Chinese suppliers from EU-funded projects in May 2026, Chinese inverter exports to the EU in Q3 still rose 34.5% YoY to USD 1.7bn, against global inverter exports of USD 4.5bn (+31.9%). Wood Mackenzie estimated last year that Chinese suppliers hold more than 80% of the European inverter market. Read together with the solar-glass repeal, the pattern this week is mixed rather than one-directional: one barrier removed, new ones being studied, and volumes still growing.

Source: South China Morning Post citing China customs (2026-10-22); Wood Mackenzie via trade press (prior year)

Other jurisdictions

India - Gujarat publishes a grid-connected storage regulatory framework.The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission issued a framework notice on Oct 16 (reported Oct 23) covering grid-connected energy storage systems above 1 MW with a minimum 2-hour duration connected at 11 kV or above. It regulates development, procurement, dispatch and business models, expressly including standalone storage, co-located storage, transmission-side and distribution-side storage, and user-side applications including vehicle-to-grid. GEDA is to publish registration, testing and commissioning procedures within three months. For suppliers, this is the kind of rule that converts a market from pilot projects to a repeatable procurement channel.

United States - Illinois opened a battery storage incentive programme.Reported Oct 20 in Chinese trade media. Detail on budget, eligibility and start date was limited in the available reporting; treat this as a signal that US state-level storage support continues to expand even as federal policy tightens, and confirm the terms before acting on it.

United States - a Tesla filing points at Chinese crystal-puller equipment.Coverage of Tesla's planned 10 GW vertical PV plant in Texas (reported via pv magazine, Oct 20) notes that a patent-dispute filing reveals the project plans to import Chinese monocrystalline crystal-pulling (ingot-growth) equipment. Beyond the dispute itself, this is a reminder that the equipment layer of the supply chain - not just modules and cells - is where the next set of trade questions will land, and that US-built capacity is still being specified around Chinese tooling.

Source: Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission notice via Chinese trade media (2026-10-16, reported 10-23); Chinese trade media on Illinois (2026-10-20); pv magazine on Tesla Texas (2026-10-20)

China - supply-side discipline continues

MIIT reaffirms the anti-'involution' campaign for PV and storage - At a State Council policy briefing on Oct 20, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said it will deepen the rectification of disorderly and non-rational competition in the PV and new-type storage sectors, strengthen capacity monitoring and early-warning, and noted that mainstream module prices have stabilised over January-September. This is the policy backdrop to the capacity-reduction and price-floor activity reported in recent weeks. For overseas buyers the practical implication is unchanged: Chinese policy is currently pushing prices up at the margin while demand is pushing them down.

Source: MIIT at State Council policy briefing (2026-10-20) via Chinese media

2. Pricing & Supply Chain

Flat on the surface, soft underneath

InfoLink: nothing in the chain moved in the week to Oct 21.InfoLink Consulting's weekly spot assessment (reference week Oct 15-21) records no change across the main segments. In China, actual delivered TOPCon module prices are CNY 0.65-0.73/W for utility-scale and CNY 0.68-0.76/W for distributed; BC modules are about CNY 0.75-0.77/W utility and CNY 0.78-0.81/W distributed. Polysilicon reference prices hold at CNY 40-43/kg for N-type recharging grade and CNY 40-41/kg for granular - reports of lower-priced material circulated but were not confirmed by actual transactions. Wafers: CNY 0.95-1.00/pc for 183N, CNY 1.03-1.05/pc for 210RN, CNY 1.10-1.15/pc for 210N. Cells: CNY 0.30/W (183N), CNY 0.31/W (210RN), CNY 0.295/W (210N).

Where the regional risk sits - InfoLink's regional read: in the Middle East, continuing conflict is disrupting shipments and delaying projects, keeping transaction volumes low and recent prices unclear; Europe is steady; in the United States, the latest Section 232 announcement is expected to push both imported and domestically manufactured module prices upward once effective, with the minimum import price acting as a floor; in India, a small number of recent orders edged higher as buyers stockpiled in response to the US measures, more visibly for projects not covered by the Domestic Content Requirement.

Source: InfoLink Consulting weekly spot price update, reference week 2026-10-15 to 10-21 (published 2026-10-22)

Price reference - China, week to October 22, 2026 (CNY)

Prices are quoted in CNY on the standard Chinese basis and have not been converted to any other currency. Apply your own contracted FX basis before comparing to landed cost. Sources use differing bases (index, mainstream quote, transaction range, company reference); the polysilicon spread across sources this week reflects grade and counterparty differences rather than a genuine price move. Mounting steel is tracked from this week as part of our widened BOS coverage.

Source: databm.com company reference prices (2026-10-22); TrendForce / Mysteel / Baichuan via Chinese dailies (2026-10-20 to 10-22); InfoLink Consulting (week to 2026-10-21); Huatai Futures weekly polysilicon report (2026-10-19); Chinese industry reports on storage EPC quotes (2026-10-22)

Sodium versus lithium: the crossover has flipped

Lithium carbonate below CNY 100,000/t removes the sodium price case.Lithium carbonate futures closed below CNY 100,000/t on Oct 22, down more than 3% on the day and extending a sustained decline. The consequence for storage chemistry choice is direct: head-line LFP cells are now around CNY 0.38/Wh while mass-produced sodium-ion cells sit near CNY 0.45/Wh, so sodium no longer wins on price in storage tenders. The industry had previously treated a lithium price of CNY 130,000-150,000/t as sodium's tipping point; Huatai now estimates that threshold falls to roughly CNY 81,000/t by 2028. That is an analyst projection, not a market fact, and it cuts both ways - a lithium rebound would restore sodium's economics quickly. If a 2027 procurement plan assumes sodium on cost grounds, re-run it before locking.

Source: Chinese industry and futures reporting via Mysteel / Baichuan / Huatai (2026-10-21 to 10-22)

Market monitor - storage: cells slip, systems hold

CNY basis, not converted. SMM and InfoLink use different assessment dates and bases (SMM spot as of Oct 23; InfoLink reference week Oct 15-21, which put lithium carbonate at CNY 109,000/t, -9.2% week-on-week) - the gap reflects timing, not a data conflict.

Cells are drifting down; complete-system prices are holding.The spread is the story this week: LFP storage cells slipped (InfoLink: 100Ah -1.8%, 280/314Ah -0.7%) while DC-side and AC-side system prices printed flat. InfoLink also notes the CNNC 2.98 GWh framework (reported above) landing back near CNY 0.50/Wh, which it reads as ample supplier capacity and continued low-level competition in standard grid-scale systems - project-to-project differences now come mainly from duration, grid-forming requirements, equipment scope and warranty boundaries, not from the market direction.

Export tax rebate change is pulling 2027 orders into Q4.InfoLink (Oct 21): with China's export tax rebate adjustment for battery products now in effect, some integrators report orders originally planned for Q1 2027 execution being pulled forward into Q4 2026. That supports Q4 cell and system shipments, but it is a timing shift, not new demand - InfoLink flags a possible order lull in early 2027 and a repricing of overseas quotes as suppliers weigh localised delivery and overseas warehousing costs. If you are buying for Q1 2027 delivery, expect less appetite to hold price through that window.

Source: SMM energy-storage price page (energy-storage.smm.cn, 2026-10-23); InfoLink Consulting ESS spot price commentary (2026-10-21)

Market monitor - PV mounting and tracker

Arctech puts its numbers on the table at REI Expo (Oct 22-24, New Delhi).Company-stated: more than 110 GW of cumulative tracking and racking shipments, ranked the world's No.2 tracker supplier (S&P Global), over 25 GW of cumulative project capacity in India (top-2 in that market), 30 GW of annual tracker delivery capacity, and manufacturing bases in Changzhou, two sites in Anhui, Gujarat (India) and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Company claims, not independently audited - but the shape of it matters for buyers: the Chinese tracker leaders now manufacture in India and Saudi Arabia, which changes the tariff and local-content arithmetic in exactly the markets where tracker demand is growing fastest.

GameChange Solar lands a 258 MWp tracker order at Benban, Egypt - Announced October 2026 (exact date not stated in available reporting): a contract with EPC Hassan Allam Constructions for the Infinity Power-developed Benban solar-plus-storage project, using the Genius Tracker 1R x 4 string architecture. It is GameChange's fourth Egyptian project, taking it past 3 GWp in Egypt and 6.7 GWp across MENA; the plant combines 200 MW of PV with 120 MWh of BESS. For mounting buyers, two reads: tracker demand is growing fastest in India and Africa per Wood Mackenzie-based reporting, and pairing trackers with on-site storage in one hybrid project is becoming the standard configuration in MENA.

Input-cost reference for fixed-tilt structures - Mounting steel (see the price table above): Tianjin hot-dip galvanised CNY 5,940/t and Zn-Al-Mg CNY 4,580/t, flat on the week. Steel is the dominant cost driver in fixed-tilt racking, so this line is your earliest signal for structure-quote movements.

Source: Arctech company communications at Renewable Energy India Expo 2026 (2026-10-22); Renewable Mirror on GameChange Solar / Hassan Allam / Infinity Power (2026-10)

Market monitor - EV charging

China's installed base crossed 24.7 million charge points. National Energy Administration data announced Oct 23: end-September national charging infrastructure totalled 24.777 million units, up 37.2% year-on-year - 5.207 million public (+16.3%) and 19.570 million private (+44.0%). Private installations are growing at nearly three times the public rate, which is where the volume sits; public fast-charging is where equipment specifications and the European tender pipeline are concentrated.

New supplier geographies are entering the European charging market. Algeria's state-owned SAIEG (Sonelgaz) plans to ship 250 EV charging posts to Italy at end-October or early November, under contracts totalling 450 units, of which 200 have already gone to Portugal (Algerie Presse Service interview, accessed Oct 13; buyer, contract value and technical specifications not published). Small volumes - but a sign that EU charging hardware sourcing is no longer a three-continent market.

Market context - the anatomy of a Chinese charger win in Europe. Reported Oct 12-14, just before this week's window, included as market context: Jiangsu Jingchung New Energy signed roughly CNY 10m of orders for 480 kW EU-standard DC chargers with a Dutch operator, alongside a global strategic agreement to use the Netherlands as its springboard into Europe. The pattern is worth copying into supplier evaluations: local after-sales presence with remote diagnostics, IP55/IK10 durability rated for -30 C to 55 C and coastal salt fog, OCPP 1.6 interoperability, multi-language and multi-payment interfaces, and a storage-charging integrated package that delivers 480 kW fast charging on weak urban grids without network upgrades. The company says overseas business is 60% of revenue and cites an estimated European public-charging gap of 300,000-400,000 points - company estimates, not official figures.

Source: National Energy Administration via Chinese media (2026-10-23); APS / Algerian press on SAIEG exports (accessed 2026-10-13); Nanjing Daily and Nanjing Morning Report on Jingchung (2026-10-12 to 10-14)

Supply-side indicators

Installed storage keeps growing; cuts in silicon are only partly landing.CNESA data: China installed 102.31 GWh of new-type storage in January-September, up 6% year-on-year, with 43.0 GWh in Q3 alone. On the silicon side, Huatai Futures put weekly polysilicon output at 21.5 kt, down 4.4% week-on-week, with the main futures contract at CNY 34,285/t and down 5.33% over the week to Oct 19 - producers have agreed to cut, but as Huatai notes, the cuts are not fully executed, and the end-of-month position is what matters. Mysteel reports September wafer exports of about 108 million pieces, up 47.2% month-on-month, with wafer utilisation at 54.9% in September and seen near 54.5% in October.

CATL's Q3 underlines where the volume is - CATL reported Jan-Sep revenue of CNY 442.14bn (+56.19%) and net profit of CNY 64.53bn (+31.60%). Combined power and storage battery sales exceeded 260 GWh, with storage roughly a quarter of the total and up about 60% year-on-year; January-August global lithium storage shipments were up 86%. The company is iterating to a 587 Ah large-format cell and says its TENER sodium product has signed European customers. For buyers, the number that matters is the storage share: the largest cell maker is now structurally dependent on storage demand, which is why delivery slots rather than price are the recurring constraint.

Source: CNESA via Chinese media (2026-10-20); Huatai Futures weekly (2026-10-19); Mysteel (2026-10-22); CATL Q3 results via Chinese media (2026-10-20 to 10-21)

3. Global Projects & Deals

Chinese suppliers - overseas wins this week

Read with care: a third-party tally circulating this week put Chinese storage companies' overseas signed orders for January-September at more than 600 GWh, roughly double full-year 2025. That figure bundles framework agreements and letters of intent with firm orders, so treat it as a directional indicator, not a deliverable backlog. The individually disclosed wins in the table above are the ones you can actually verify.

Global project activity

Source: Chinese trade media on Saudi SPPC, Trina Storage, Huawei Greece, CORNEX, WeLion and Yuanxin (2026-10-20 to 10-23); NYSERDA and Flatiron Energy announcement via Business Wire / Power Systems Technology (2026-10-21); pv magazine Australia and Energy-Storage.news on Teebar (2026-10-12 to 10-20); Renewables Now on Germany, Rwanda and Jordan (2026-10-19 to 10-23); Chinese media on Mumbai BEST, Akaysha and Whyalla (2026-10-20 to 10-23); Mobility Portal on the Marche call (2026-10)

4. Technology & Products

Source: Sungrow / onsemi announcement via Chinese media (2026-10-21)

Source: Fraunhofer ISE (2026-10-21) via Chinese media

Source: EVE Energy launch event, Chengdu (2026-10-20) via Chinese media

Source: Jinko Solar via Chinese media (2026-10-22); Saatvik Green at REI Expo (2026-10-22)

Source: Chinese media on the perovskite consumption-tax exemption and Renshuo (2026-10-23); Chinese industry analysis on Panasonic (2026-10-23)

One number to discount: Jinko's CTO said on Oct 17 that module prices will fall a further 50% over the next five years. That is a corporate forecast from an interested party, not a market assessment - we report it because it will circulate, not because you should plan on it. Note also that no new independently certified efficiency record was published internationally this week; the Fraunhofer, EVE and Jinko figures above are all vendor or laboratory claims.

5. What This Means for You

The following are editorial judgements drawn from the items above, offered as input to your own planning - not as advice, and not as verified fact.

Sources

All items are compiled from public reporting and official releases. Primary sources:

Official and regulatory: European Commission solar glass repeal (via China Photovoltaic Industry Association and MLex); MIIT State Council policy briefing (Oct 20); Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission storage framework notice (Oct 16); Bundesnetzagentur tender (Oct 23); NYSERDA bulk energy storage solicitation; Regione Marche FESR 2021-2027 call; China customs data via SCMP (Oct 22)

Price and market data: InfoLink Consulting weekly spot prices (reference week Oct 15-21) and ESS spot commentary (Oct 21); SMM energy-storage price page (Oct 23); databm.com company reference prices (Oct 22); TrendForce, Mysteel and Baichuan via Chinese dailies (Oct 20-22); Huatai Futures polysilicon weekly (Oct 19); CNESA via Chinese media (Oct 20)

Industry media: PV Magazine (Global/Australia), Energy-Storage.news, Renewables Now, Power Systems Technology, Business Wire, Mobility Portal, South China Morning Post, The European Post, China Energy Net, Renewable Mirror, SeedOps, Algerie Presse Service, Nanjing Daily / Nanjing Morning Report, Wallstreetcn, Mysteel, SMM

Corporate: Trina Storage, Huawei Digital Power, CORNEX (Chuneng), WeLion New Energy, Yuanxin Storage, CATL Q3 results, Sungrow and onsemi, EVE Energy, Jinko Solar, Saatvik Green, Panasonic, Fraunhofer ISE, Flatiron Energy, Atmos Renewables, Valo, Enerven, Akaysha Energy, Arctech, GameChange Solar, SAIEG (Sonelgaz), Jingchung New Energy