The "Next Stop" for PV Going Global: Southeast Asian Market Surges, Ushering in an Era Where "Adaptability is King" for

At the start of 2026, Chinese photovoltaic companies have, without prior coordination, turned their attention to the same region—Southeast Asia. From a succession of domestic companies making inroads into Malaysia and Vietnam, to the grid connection and operation of a state-owned enterprise's megawatt-scale photovoltaic project in Laos, a clear signal has emerged: Southeast Asia is rapidly becoming the "new home market" for Chinese PV going global.

The surge in the Southeast Asian market is the result of three overlapping variables.

• First, the concentrated release of policy dividends. Malaysia has set a target of 70% renewable energy in its power mix by 2050. Vietnam, in its latest power development plan, has placed strong emphasis on rooftop PV. Indonesia and Thailand are also increasing their efforts through tariffs and subsidies. This is not an opportunity limited to a single country—it is a region-wide, synchronized release of policy support.
• Second, exceptional resource endowments. Most of Southeast Asia enjoys over 2,000 annual sunshine hours. A combination of vast undeveloped land and dense industrial rooftops means the region has both abundant solar resources and ready-to-use application scenarios.
• Third, the energy crisis driving transformation. At the beginning of 2026, oil prices in Thailand surged by more than 25%, turning photovoltaics from an environmental choice into an energy necessity.

However, opportunity does not guarantee success for all. Distributed PV in Southeast Asia faces severe challenges: the hot, humid climate causes severe corrosion of color-coated steel roofs; curved domes and lightweight steel structures leave rigid modules nowhere to be installed; and perforated mounting introduces leakage risks. As a result, many rooftops remain "unfit for installation"—and this is precisely where flexible PV finds its breakthrough.

Lightweight flexible PV technology offers a different answer.

• It is light enough – weighing only about 30% of traditional modules, requiring no racks and using direct adhesive application, making it easy even for aging roofs to bear the load.
• It is flexible enough – bendable and conformable, perfectly adapting to curved roofs, cylindrical surfaces, domes, and any other irregular shapes.
• It is smart enough – requiring no drilling throughout the entire installation process, leaving the original waterproofing structure intact and completely eliminating the risk of leakage.

In dense Southeast Asian megacities like Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila, rooftop space is limited—but every building has four idle exterior walls. Using high-strength structural adhesive, flexible PV modules can be attached directly to concrete surfaces, metal curtain walls, or even old ceramic tiles, with no need for any penetrating fasteners.

A wall that was originally designed only to shelter the building from wind and rain thus becomes a small-scale power station. The building is no longer just an "electricity consumer" that uses energy, but becomes an "electricity generator" that actively produces power. From the "fifth façade" to the building envelope, flexible photovoltaics are transforming every overlooked urban surface into a source of green electricity.

In Malaysia, curved solar roof tiles have been installed on high-end villas.

Pitched roofs with tile structures are a standard feature of luxury homes in Southeast Asia—and also a "no-go zone" for traditional photovoltaics. Xingsheng Energy's BIPV curved tiles achieve a design with "no visible brackets, no visible cables," seamlessly integrating photovoltaics with the roof. Homeowners enjoy green electricity, and any surplus power can be sold back to the grid.

At domestic steel plants, curved shed roofs are no longer a no-go zone for photovoltaics.

The curved roofs of raw material sheds were long considered "completely uninstallable" for photovoltaics. Xingsheng's flexible modules adopt a "slope-following" installation approach, conforming to the curved surface like laying a cloth—no penetration, no complex brackets required. Every kilowatt-hour of green electricity captured directly offsets the enterprise's carbon emission allowance.

In China’s old industrial factories, three major problems are solved at once.

Insufficient load-bearing capacity, corroded color-coated steel tiles, and high leakage risk—these are the common pain points shared by countless aging factory buildings. With its lightweight, penetration-free design and the ability to be installed directly over existing steel tiles, Xingsheng's flexible modules grant PV freedom to roofs that had once been written off.

These successfully completed projects prove that it was never the roofs that were inadequate, but rather the old solutions. Flexible photovoltaics offers an answer that works.

The surge in Southeast Asia's PV market is the result of a convergence among three key drivers: policy, resources, and energy security. However, for Chinese companies, going global is no longer about simply relocating domestic products to new markets. The shift must be from selling standardized goods to providing adaptable, solution-oriented systems.

Whoever can make PV "soft" enough to adapt to a wide variety of building forms, and whoever can make installation "simple" enough to solve practical pain points like leakage and load constraints—that is who will gain a firm foothold in Southeast Asia.

With its lightweight, flexible modules, Xingsheng Energy—rooted in the core capabilities of being light, flexible, and adhesive—enables every idle rooftop and every unused wall to generate green energy value under the Southeast Asian sun.