Solar Module Panels Pricing Trends

Summary

The intensity of the downward price moves continued unabated in the
August survey. There were 131 price reductions compared to 108 in July.

This is now three months in a row where the number of price
reductions has exceeded 100. The last time that happened was in July
through September 2009 as the market had to adjust to large solar
incentive policy changes in Spain. This time the decline is caused by a
range of European markets that have been making aggressive cuts in
incentives.

The outcome is that cell and module production has got out ahead of
market demand growth, resulting in excess inventories. This, in turn,
has caused major cuts in factory gate prices, which are the prices
charged by manufacturers. This has quickly affected the retail prices
that end-consumers pay.

The retail prices in this survey are the prices for a single solar
module. These numbers are much higher than factory gate prices, which
are separately tracked by Solarbuzz. The average retail prices in this
survey are currently just over twice the prices that can be currently
obtained from the leading module manufacturers. The difference between
the two sets of numbers is the downstream margin to distributors
(wholesalers) and system integrators.

The price decreases are having the desired effect on market demand, which will recover strongly in the second half of 2011.

For the survey result this month, there were 131 retail price
decreases with only 24 increases. This compares with 108 decreases and
57 increases the prior month.

Currently, 443 solar module prices are below $3.00 per watt (€2.10
per watt) or 42.4 % of the total survey. In July, there were 486 price
points below $3.00 per watt (€2.10 per watt), which was 39.4% of the
survey.

The lowest retail price for a multicrystalline silicon solar module
is $1.52 per watt (€1.06 per watt) from a US retailer. The lowest retail
price for a monocrystalline silicon module is $1.48 per watt (€1.04 per
watt), from an Asian retailer. Brand, technical attributes, and
certifications do matter. The lowest thin film module price is at $1.40
per watt (€0.98 per watt) from a US-based retailer. As a general rule,
it is typical to expect thin film modules to be at a price discount to
crystalline silicon (for like module powers). This thin film price is
for a 60 watt module.

Price Index Context

The module cost is 50-60% of the total installed cost of a solar
energy system. Prices are based upon the purchase of a single solar
module and are exclusive of sales taxes. Information on volume
discounts, factory gate, and PV system pricing is available as part of
our consulting services.

Source: http://solarbuzz.com/facts-and-figures/retail-price-environment/module-prices