As a key component of the power marketization reform, the construction of the electricity spot market is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of new energy industries such as photovoltaics, accelerating the construction of China’s new-type energy system, and ultimately achieving the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Focusing on the operation mechanism of the electricity spot market, a theoretical framework for analyzing the impact of the electricity spot market on the innovation of photovoltaic enterprises was proposed. Based on the panel data of A-share listed photovoltaic enterprises from 2011 to 2024, a staggered DID model was constructed to verify the effect of the electricity spot market on the innovation of photovoltaic enterprises, as well as the mechanism of enhancing operating income, optimizing market structure and promoting technological spillover. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis has found that the greater the potential of the electricity market, the higher the activity of the electricity market, and the stronger the innovation absorption capacity of enterprises, the more strongly the innovation of photovoltaic enterprises is stimulated by the electricity spot market.This paper provided micro-level empirical evidence of how electricity spot market affect innovation in China’s photovoltaic enterprises, and offering insights for more effectively leveraging the power spot market to stimulate the innovation of the photovoltaic industry and providing a solid industrial foundation for the construction of new-type energy systems.