95% of the wafers needed for photovoltaics are produced in China.

Omissions

• The MEP does not cite a specific source for the 95% figure, making it difficult to trace the exact dataset.
• The IEA figure of 'almost 95%' refers to manufacturing capacity under construction for polysilicon, ingots, and wafers combined — not to actual current wafer production alone. The MEP applies it to wafer production specifically.
• The most authoritative data point (IEA 2022) is from 2021 manufacturing data. While more recent analyses through 2025 confirm China's continued dominance in PV supply chains, an exact updated wafer-only production share figure for 2024–2025 was not located within the search constraints.
• The MEP slightly understates China's wafer dominance: the IEA reports ~97% rather than 95% for actual wafer manufacturing share.

Sources

• PrimaryIEA — Solar PV Global Supply Chains (Executive Summary)Based on manufacturing capacity under construction, China's share of global polysilicon, ingot and wafer production will soon reach almost 95%. Today, China's share in all the manufacturing stages of solar panels — such as polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules — exceeds 80%.
• AcademicNature Communications — Policy-driven transformation of global solar PV supply chainsChina is poised to remain a globally dominant supplier through 2030, especially in terms of lower-value PV components.
• Secondarylighthief.energy — China's Solar Dominance in 2025China has achieved unprecedented dominance over the global solar industry, controlling over 80% of the entire photovoltaic supply chain. 95% of global polysilicon, ingot, and wafer production capacity under construction.