pv.index – August 2024

Stable demand amidst continuing price declines

The European PV market has shown resilience in August, with the PV Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) holding steady at 68, reflecting consistent demand despite ongoing industry challenges and the vacation season. However, prices across all major categories, including Monofacial and Bifacial modules, continued their downward trajectory, with significant declines noted in both N-type and P-type segments.

The PV PMI (PV Purchasing Managers’ Index), which tracks overall demand trends in the industry, provides valuable insights into the market’s direction based on input from sun.store buyers. As the largest solar marketplace in Europe, sun.store plays a central role in this landscape, boasting more than 15,000 registered users and over 6 GW of equipment available from a multitude of brands. 

In August, the PV PMI remained stable at 68, the same as in July, indicating that market confidence has remained consistent throughout the summer. This steady reading suggests that while some market participants are maintaining a cautious approach, the overall sentiment remains positive, with a significant proportion of buyers continuing to plan for stable or increased purchasing activities. 

While the percentage of respondents intending to increase their purchases saw a slight dip from July’s 50% to 49%, the proportion of those planning to maintain their current purchasing levels rose to 39%, up from 37%. This shift suggests a cautious yet positive sentiment among buyers, who are likely adopting a wait-and-see approach in anticipation of potential regulatory changes and further market developments in the fall. The number of those expecting to decrease their orders remained low at 12%, underscoring the underlying stability and confidence within the industry. 

pv.index – PV panel price trends – continuing downward trajectory: 

August brought significant changes in the pricing of PV panels across all categories. Notably, the prices for both monofacial and bifacial panels continued to decline, reflecting ongoing oversupply issues and competitive pressures in the European market.

Monofacial modules:  

N-type: Experienced a 6% reduction in the average price, dropping from €0.113/Wp in July to €0.106/Wp in August. 

P-type: Saw a more substantial decline of 12% in the average price, with prices falling from €0.114/Wp to €0.100/Wp. 

Bifacial modules: 

N-type: Marginally decreased by 1% in the average price, from €0.121/Wp to €0.120/Wp. 

P-type: too small sample to calculate the trend. 

Full black modules:  

This category saw a 6% decrease in the average price, moving from €0.116/Wp in July to €0.109/Wp in August.

Jinko Solar remains the top spot

Jinko Solar has once again emerged as the most popular brand on the sun.store platform, which highlights the brand’s strong presence and continued trust among PV buyers. 

Krzysztof Rejek, Head of Business Development at sun.store, shared his perspective on the current market dynamics: The ongoing pricing challenges, driven by the overstock of older modules and the overcapacity of new ones, remain a significant factor in the market. Although we’ve seen decreased shipping volumes, this has not yet translated into lower price levels for higher-performance modules. We anticipate that the effects of these reduced volumes will become more evident in the coming months. Meanwhile, lower-performance modules continue to experience a decline in value, with further sell-offs likely as suppliers seek to clear excess inventory.

August 2024 has proven to be a month of steady demand with continued price adjustments. Persistent oversupply and overcapacity have driven prices down, particularly in lower-performance segments. While the impact of reduced shipping volumes on high-performance modules is still unfolding, the market remains resilient. sun.store continues to support the industry by providing access to essential solar components and insights to navigate these challenges. 

About – pv.index & The PV Purchasing Managers’ Index (PV PMI) 

pv.index traces current trading prices for solar components on a monthly basis. Data is recorded on sun.store, the biggest online PV trading platform with 6 GW+ of components on offer. Trading prices are weighted by the power of components involved in the transactions to arrive at a reliable estimate for the whole market. 

The PV Purchasing Managers’ Index (PV PMI) is a measure indicating the overall sentiment towards the demand in the PV industry. PV PMI shows whether demand is expected to expand (above 50), remain stable, or contract (below 50), as perceived by purchasing managers.  

The PV PMI was calculated as: PMI = (P1 * 1) + (P2 * 0.5) + (P3 * 0), where: P1 = percentage of answers reporting an improvement, P2 = percentage of answers reporting no change, P3 = percentage of answers reporting a deterioration. Survey is based on a sample of 500+ sun.store buyers.