Since the Industrial Revolution, many countries have burned fossil fuels, emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. The resulting changes in the Earth’s climate and steadily-decreasing oil reserves have drawn the attention of countries around the world to the development of alternative energy sources. Photovoltaic solar energy has the advantages of low pollution, easy access, and the long lifetime of solar panels. In recent years, it has been actively developed by many advanced countries, including the United States, Japan, and a number of European countries. However, the cost of generating electricity via photovoltaic energy systems is much higher than that of traditional coal or nuclear power. As a result, various governments have proposed renewable energy policies for things such as feed-in tariffs, tradable energy quotas, renewable energy certificates, equipment grants and tax credits, allowing the photovoltaic industry to grow. Such preferential policies continue to drive up market demand and attract manufacturers to the industry, constantly changing supply and demand within the industry. Important factors currently affecting the photovoltaic industry in different countries include government subsidies, implementation costs, administrative efficiency of governments, and financial systems in each country. These factors have prompted businesses to develop new innovative business models, locating manufacturing operations in low-cost areas, developing diverse downstream manufacturing business models, developing brands for regional system developers, moving toward specialization via vertical integration, carrying out strategic cooperation, and accelerating consolidation.