SNEC 2026 Trends: 120+ BESS Firms Shift from Price War to Anti-Plagiarism & Tech Innovation

On June 5, 2026, the 19th SNEC International Photovoltaic and Smart Energy Conference, which lasted for three days, concluded in Shanghai. As the absolute "top stream" of the exhibition, this year's exhibition sends a strong signal of industry changes: AI Energy Storage has officially become a high-frequency word in the exhibition, grid forming technology has also ushered in a comprehensive explosion, and Long duration Energy Storage has undoubtedly become a new focus of competition among giants. The intensive competition among more than 120 participating companies has torn open a new card for the industry - the energy storage industry is accelerating to bid farewell to irrational low price competition and shift towards a "hardcore technology war" centered on technology premium and scenario value.

More than 120 energy storage companies, including CATL, Sunac Power, Chint Power, Haichen Energy Storage, Aisiwei, Weiheng Energy Storage, Solis, Nanrui Jibao, Artus, Kehua Shuneng, Xieneng Technology, Paineng Technology, BYD Energy Storage, Goodway, Deye, Midea Kelu Electronics, AUX, Ganfeng Lithium, and Xinwangda, made a concentrated appearance.

Anti plagiarism, intelligent splicing, heavy scene: Huawei, Sunshine Power, Ningde each have their own characteristics

It has been observed that this year, in addition to traditional energy storage giants, home appliance cross-border forces represented by Midea's Kelu Electronics and AUX have also made their grand appearances. Perhaps deeply rooted in the genes of home appliances, the design styles of each booth are slightly similar, but compared to conventional energy storage companies, their booth construction and product industrial design are clearly superior in terms of fashion and visual aesthetics.

Unlike regular booths, Huawei's exhibition strategy this time combines uniqueness and high privacy. At the same time as holding new product launches in the Golden Hall, its booth has implemented separate and isolated management. The optical wind storage base and intelligent microgrid area, which focus on core technology, have set extremely high entry barriers. Only those who have passed security checks and hold specific permissions can enter, creating a strong sense of brand mystery.

Sunshine power supply is even more hardcore, and all exhibits this year are strictly prohibited from being photographed to prevent technical plagiarism. Even with full protection, the booths of Sunac Power and Huawei are still very popular, showing the strength of the leading companies.

Unlike Huawei's mystique, battery giant CATL has shown great openness and confidence. And Haichen Energy Storage has taken innovation to the extreme, throwing a bombshell directly: the world's first native 8-hour long-term energy storage solution (Power 6.9MWh system) made a heavyweight debut, and showcased the Cell 650Ah high-capacity battery and Power 10+MWh solution, instantly capturing the attention of the audience. During the entire exhibition period, Haichen Energy Storage demonstrated its technological breakthroughs and industrial hard core strength in different application scenarios to the industry with a product matrix covering 1-8 hours of full scenarios.

In addition, we also noticed the presence of the national team, such as Nanrui Jibao showcasing the company's latest series of inverters, battery compartments, and other energy storage equipment with the Ideal Synchronous Power Grid technology (NR ISGrid) as the core, and comprehensively demonstrating integrated solutions for multiple scenarios using energy storage equipment as a carrier.

In various scenarios, Nanrui Jibao AIDC Intelligent Computing Center's green power solution, mining new energy power system, and new energy hydrogen production electric hydrogen collaborative integration system are very eye-catching.

There is another company that has also overturned our previous impression of him, which is Solis. This year's booth adopts a semi enclosed structure, with a unified entrance for visitors to enter and display energy storage products and inverter products in various scenarios. It has VIP conference rooms, peripheral communication rooms, S-shaped visitor channels, and a unified exit.

The photovoltaic leading army has formed its own faction

In addition to the conventional energy storage exhibition hall, the photovoltaic exhibition area located in exhibition halls 5.2-8.2 upstairs also performed well. This exhibition area gathers iconic solar energy storage enterprises such as Artus, Chint Power, JinkoSolar Energy Storage, Trina Solar, and Longi Green Energy, forming an industrial cluster with distinct sector characteristics.

In the light storage exhibition area, JinkoSolar made a high-profile appearance with its Blue Whale SunTera G5 battery energy storage system. Tianhe Energy Storage has demonstrated its strength in all aspects, focusing on launching a full stack energy storage solution that runs through battery cells, DC and AC systems, and system level verification capabilities. There are many highlights on its booth, including 587Ah high-capacity energy storage cells, Elementa 3 energy storage platform, and Electra 13.8MW AC side solution. It also deeply focuses on the practical application strength of Grid Forming energy storage and AI data center (AIDC), two cutting-edge scenarios.

CHNT Power has launched three ground intelligent photovoltaic storage generators, which accurately cover the needs of large, medium, and small photovoltaic storage projects with differentiated power levels, suitable for both incremental photovoltaic storage and existing photovoltaic technology transformation scenarios; We also exhibited industrial and commercial solar energy storage generators, including 125kW/261kWh outdoor cabinets, distributed inverters, and anti backflow boxes.

Artus has not only launched the SolBank 4.0 high-density long-term energy storage system, string type overall solution, and self-developed string type network technology, but also closely focused on the global market, launching three energy storage tools that combine differentiation and customization. Specifically, SolBank 4.0 has two major tracks: precise card slot long-term storage and AI computing power center; The grid connected PCS directly addresses the grid connection vulnerability of the new power system; For the industrial and commercial storage microgrid solutions that bloom at multiple locations both domestically and internationally, we will jointly build a comprehensive product map covering large-scale storage, power grid side, and industrial and commercial sectors.

New energy storage product explosion: Tearing off labels, are we still playing 'copy and paste'?

Based on on-site research of various exhibition halls, this exhibition presents significant product iteration and technological differentiation. On the product side, it covers a wide range of diversified new product intensive outputs including household storage, industrial and commercial, and grid level; On the technical side, network building technology, AI energy systems, and high-capacity long-term energy storage have become the core evolutionary directions. The above situation indicates that the energy storage industry is undergoing a profound driving force transformation - accelerating from early price competition to a new stage of technology premium and scenario value realization.

However, for household storage, commercial storage, and small machine products, the stacked design has become ubiquitous, and it is difficult to distinguish which company it is by covering the logo.

Since the initial launch of this product category by Sige New Energy, on the one hand, it shows that this design has won the favor of the market, and on the other hand, it also indicates that product homogenization competition has reached a new height. Hardware competition has reached its end, and intelligent centers that can think have become a necessity. Global debut! SigenAgent intelligent agent for new energy is coming

When it comes to the concept of AI, it has been observed that few companies at this exhibition have stated that they do not have AI capabilities. From top system integrators to PCS manufacturers, and then to battery cell manufacturers, most companies have demonstrated their "AI" related strength. AI is everywhere, and everyone is shouting in unison, 'Let energy enter the era of tokens'.

The era of technological premium is approaching, and the energy storage industry is ushering in a new cycle of scenario based development

The three-day SNEC 2026 has come to a successful conclusion, but the thinking left for the energy storage industry is far from over. From the cross-border aesthetics of home appliance giants, to the formation of a group of leading light storage companies, and to the hardcore output of state-owned enterprise "national teams" in heavy scenarios such as mining and hydrogen energy, all demonstrate that energy storage applications are developing towards full scenario and deep customization.