Tier 1 Cleantech Companies List

Each year, our clean energy technology experts identify the top suppliers based on equipment shipments and installation databases from the previous year. Then, each supplier is evaluated across multiple dimensions.

Companies must meet strict thresholds for four of the six criteria:  

• Market presence
• Market share
• Scale
• Global diversification
• Financial performance
• Sustainability

The 2026 Tier 1 Cleantech Companies edition introduces credit risk—through Risk Gauge™—as a core metric for assessing financial performance. 

Expressed through S&P Global’s letter-grade system, this metric provides a clear and comparable view of how companies perform relative to their peers. This addition is particularly important as the sector faces increasing financial pressure following years of rapid expansion, persistent oversupply and compressed margins across several key components. These dynamics have weighed on balance sheets and may continue to affect future performance. In this context, a clear and consistent assessment of financial strength and credit risk is essential to accurately classify cleantech suppliers as Tier 1 cleantech companies. 

Sustainability remains at the core of the S&P Global Tier 1 methodology. The Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) evaluates how companies manage sustainability risks and opportunities relative to industry peers. It draws on company disclosures, stakeholder input, media analysis, and direct engagement through the CSA process. This approach ensures transparency, traceability, and accountability across supply chains. As sustainability requirements tighten in Europe and other regions, such a framework is not only forward-looking—it is becoming essential. 

• For Manufacturers, Powerful Market Differentiation: In an overcrowded and oversupplied market, the Tier 1 distinction allows top cleantech manufacturers to stand out.
  
• For Developers and Investors, Reliable Procurement: For project developers, utilities, and financial institutions, the list helps to eliminate supply chain guesswork. It provides a stable, vetted roster of partners, enabling them to make confident, lower-risk sourcing and investment decisions.
  
• First-to-Market Sustainability Integration: As the only assessment of its kind to embed sustainability as a core criterion, it directly addresses growing pressure from regulators, investors, and customers. It helps market players ensure traceability, transparency, and accountability across their supply chains.
  
• Unmatched Credibility and Transparency: The S&P Global Energy methodology for this distinction is transparent, data-driven, objective and updated annually. This provides both buyers and sellers with a stable, credible reference point for long-term planning.
  

If you have any questions about Tier Cleantech Companies list, please reach out to us: tier1cleantech@spglobal.com

Do you want a more detailed picture? While the Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list of companies is made publicly available for the benefit of the industry, the full suite of data and company scorecards is available only to clients of our Clean Energy Technology service.

This comprehensive service offering provides extensive coverage of clean energy technologies and related clean energy supply chain, renewable energy solutions, environmental certificates and other alternatives to traditional energy commodities.

It helps clients understand technology development trends, make technology investment decisions, and assess different renewable energy solutions to source clean energy across geographies.