Did Elon Musk's team secretly visit several Chinese photovoltaic companies? A major A-share company responds, with a 20% daily limit up: The inspection team learned about the company's technological reserves, production equipment, and more. Major photovoltaic companies have all been visited.

Recently, there have been rumors in the market that Elon Musk’s team has recently visited several photovoltaic companies in China secretly. The projects under investigation involve equipment, silicon wafers, battery modules, and other aspects, with a focus on photovoltaic companies utilizing heterojunction and perovskite technology routes.

According to 21st Century Business Herald, in response to these rumors, a reporter contacted JinkoSolar, a leading photovoltaic module manufacturer, to verify as an investor. The staff responded that the company has indeed had recent contact with a delegation related to Musk’s team. The delegation inquired about the company’s technological reserves and production equipment, but details about cooperation intentions and specific investigation details are not convenient to disclose. The staff also revealed, “Mainstream domestic photovoltaic companies are also being visited.”

On the afternoon of February 4th, the photovoltaic sector collectively rose, with JinkoSolar’s stock price hitting the daily limit.

Elon Musk Supports Space Photovoltaics

Recently, Musk’s remarks have sparked enthusiasm in the space photovoltaic industry.

On January 22nd, during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Tesla CEO Elon Musk explicitly supported space photovoltaics during a discussion with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and disclosed key capacity plans. He stated that SpaceX and Tesla are simultaneously advancing solar capacity expansion, aiming to achieve 100 GW of solar manufacturing capacity annually within the next three years for ground data centers and space AI satellites.

“What does 100 GW mean? It’s nearly half of China’s total new photovoltaic installed capacity for the entire year,” said Hu Qimu, a specially appointed researcher at the China Enterprise Confederation, to Securities Daily. More importantly, Musk is expanding the application scenarios of photovoltaics from ground to space—a blue ocean market that has been underestimated by the market.

“Space photovoltaics” refers to deploying large solar power stations in space, converting solar energy into electricity, and transmitting it back to Earth via microwaves or lasers, or directly powering satellites, space stations, and even future lunar or Mars bases. Compared to ground-based photovoltaics, space photovoltaics have natural advantages such as no day-night cycle, no weather interference, and higher sunlight intensity.

As AI large models’ demand for computing power grows exponentially, high-energy-consuming data centers are becoming major energy consumers. Musk’s proposal to power AI data centers with photovoltaics is a response to the green energy trend and opens up new possibilities for the photovoltaic industry chain.

JinkoSolar Expected to Post a Loss of Over 5.9 Billion Yuan Last Year

JinkoSolar released an institutional research memo on February 3rd, stating that photovoltaic is the future trend for long-term energy in space scenarios. Space photovoltaics have an energy density 7-10 times higher than ground-based systems, generate 4-7 times more hours of electricity, and do not occupy land resources. Compared to gallium arsenide, perovskite has advantages in efficiency, future efficiency growth potential, ability to withstand extreme space environments, lightweight flexibility, and cost. If perovskite technology can be breakthrough in the future, it will significantly enhance space photovoltaic applications.

Recently, JinkoSolar disclosed its 2025 annual performance forecast. According to preliminary calculations by the finance department, the company expects a net profit attributable to the parent company of between -6.9 billion and -5.9 billion yuan in 2025. In contrast, the previous year, the company achieved a net profit of 99 million yuan, turning from profit to loss year-over-year.

JinkoSolar’s full-year 2025 performance shows an increasing loss trend. Data indicates that from the first to the third quarter of 2025, the net profits attributable to the parent were -1.39 billion yuan, -2.909 billion yuan, and -3.92 billion yuan, respectively. The annual forecast shows the total loss expanding to over 5.9 billion yuan, with an estimated quarterly loss of more than 2 billion yuan in the fourth quarter, further worsening the loss.

Regarding the reasons for the expected loss, JinkoSolar stated that during the reporting period, global photovoltaic industry chain prices fluctuated more intensely, coupled with trade protection policies in overseas markets, which put overall pressure on the profitability of all segments of photovoltaic module integration.

Specifically, during the reporting period, photovoltaic module prices were generally low, and the company’s high-power product shipment proportion was relatively low. Additionally, based on prudence, the company conducted impairment tests on long-term assets showing signs of impairment, and after careful assessment, it recognized asset impairment provisions according to enterprise accounting standards, which impacted performance.

In its latest credit rating report, Dongxing Securities maintained JinkoSolar’s credit rating at AA+ with a stable outlook. The report also pointed out that the photovoltaic industry faces fierce price competition. In 2024, driven by strong global installation demand, the company’s photovoltaic module sales increased year-over-year. However, due to temporary supply and demand imbalance, module prices declined significantly, leading to decreased profitability and increased pressure. Media reports indicate that several photovoltaic companies have been in continuous losses for nine consecutive quarters, and the supply-demand imbalance issue remains unresolved.

Additionally, Dongxing Securities noted that JinkoSolar’s overseas sales account for a high proportion, mainly settled in foreign currencies such as US dollars and euros, which exposes the company to risks from exchange rate fluctuations, geopolitical issues, and trade protection policies. The company faces risks of overseas operational losses.