Leading photovoltaic materials company GCL Technology Holdings (03800.HK) released its 2025 annual results on March 31. According to the report, the company recorded revenue of RMB 14.425 billion last year, compared with RMB 15.098 billion in the previous year, representing a slight year-on-year decline of 4.5%. Net loss narrowed to RMB 2.868 billion, compared with a net loss of RMB 4.75 billion in 2024, reducing losses by nearly RMB 2 billion.

Based on the annual report and comments made by the company’s management during today’s earnings briefing, the narrowing losses were mainly driven by the recovery in profitability of its core business, as well as gains from a non-recurring asset disposal.

The financial report showed that GCL Technology’s average cash production cost for granular silicon (including R&D expenses) in 2025 was RMB 25.12/kg, down 25.1% from RMB 33.52/kg in 2024. The average external selling price excluding tax was approximately RMB 35.4/kg. In the fourth quarter of 2025, average cash production cost further declined to RMB 24.03/kg, while the selling price rose to RMB 48.49/kg, contributing to the recovery of gross margins.

In addition, in 2025, the company sold a 24.55% stake in Jiangsu Xinhua Semiconductor Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (“Jiangsu Xinhua”) to the independent third-party Hefei Guocai No. 3 Fund for RMB 1.472 billion, recognizing a disposal gain of RMB 790 million.

However, a representative of GCL Technology Holdings told reporters from Yicai that the company’s performance last year was still affected by policy-related factors, mainly due to delayed government subsidy payments, which led to significant provisions for accounts receivable and asset impairment related to its power plant business, weighing on profits.

At the company’s 2025 earnings briefing held today, Chairman Zhu Gongshan responded to questions regarding the listing progress of GCL Optoelectronics. He expected that “GCL Optoelectronics will complete its Hong Kong IPO this year, with all preparations progressing smoothly and in an orderly manner.” As the company’s perovskite business platform, GCL Optoelectronics launched the world’s first GW-scale perovskite production base in June 2025 and rolled out the world’s largest mass-produced perovskite module in October of the same year.

Beyond the IPO progress of GCL Optoelectronics, the company’s developments in space photovoltaic applications became another major focus of today’s earnings briefing.

According to management, in the first quarter of 2026, GCL Optoelectronics initiated its first batch of perovskite sample testing with Institute 811 under the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and jointly advanced perovskite solar wing and in-orbit application solutions with Shanghai Shangxing. The company also plans to conduct near-space environment verification missions using high-altitude balloons with Institute 811 in the fourth quarter of 2026.

“The company plans to achieve mass production of space-specific modules between 2027 and 2028,” a business executive stated candidly. However, he also acknowledged that many technical challenges remain for perovskite photovoltaic products in space applications. While basic power supply functions are relatively easier to achieve, reaching a service life of more than five years will still require continuous technological breakthroughs.

It is worth noting that last month, Liu Yiyang, Deputy Secretary General of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, said in a media interview that space photovoltaic technology is still in the early stages of exploration and validation. “No matter how different technology routes evolve, true commercialization depends on mature, replicable high-efficiency manufacturing capabilities and long-term reliability verification systems.”

In addition, from an economic perspective, the current levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for space photovoltaics remains far higher than that of ground-based solar power.

According to brokerage estimates, even under optimistic assumptions, the current LCOE of space photovoltaics is around US$2–3/kWh, while the LCOE of terrestrial photovoltaics has already fallen to US$0.03–0.05/kWh. Analysts pointed out that unless future launch costs can be reduced to less than one-tenth of current levels and photoelectric conversion efficiency can be doubled, space photovoltaics will struggle to achieve economic viability for large-scale commercialization.