pv.index – May 2024

Solar market sees price changes  and stable demand in may

Following a robust start to the year, the pace of PV installations across Europe continues to stabilize with minor fluctuations. The PV Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for May shows a reading of 72, a slight increase from 68 in April, indicating a positive shift in market sentiment. Despite a moderate demand outlook, solar panel prices have seen a notable decline across various categories.

PV PMI –PV Purchasing Managers’ Index – a measure of overall demand outlook in the industry – reflects feedback from over 700 sun.store buyers.

May marked as a month in which sun.store became the biggest solar marketplace in Europe with more than 10 000 registered users and more than 5GW of equipment available across hundreds of brands.

The index, calculated based on responses about future purchasing plans, saw an uptick in May. This month’s reading of 72 suggests strong confidence in the market, with 57% of respondents planning to increase their purchases, 30% intending to buy the same amount, and only 13% expecting to reduce their orders. This trend is in line with the high season that’s starts in summer months.

pv.index – A Summary of May’s Prices

The pv.index tracks the average transactional prices on sun.store,  measured from the transactions made by registered users from more than 30 European countries.

The data for May reveals a significant decline in bifacial modules while monofacial and full black prices rises:

• Monofacial modules: Average price rises to 0.124 EUR/Wp from 0.123 EUR/Wp in April.
• Bifacial modules: Average price dropped to 0.128 EUR/Wp from 0.135 EUR/Wp.
• Full black modules: The price slightly rises to 0.134 EUR/Wp from 0.132 EUR/Wp.

For the first time since the start of pv.index, Jinko Solar wasn’t the most popular brand. JA Solar emerged as the most favoured brand among buyers. Brand was always in the TOP 5, but for the first time took the lead.

Market Insights

The current trend underscores a slight recovery in industrial demand as energy prices stabilize and market competition intensifies. Lower energy costs and inflation-induced financial constraints have continued to impact residential solar adoption.

Overall, May’s PV PMI reading would be considered robust in any industry, reflecting strong confidence among buyers. The slight increase in the index from April’s 68 to 72 suggests that the market expects a steady demand through the summer months.

Comments from the Industry

Agata Krawiec-Rokita, CEO & Co-founder of sun.store, commented: “The uptick in the PV PMI in May reflects the market’s resilience and adaptability.  We are currently experiencing a stabilization in transactional prices for modules, but the listed offer prices show a slight downward trend. There is still a significant stock of inventory in Europe and silicon prices falling, which suggests that many are holding off in anticipation of further price drops.  This situation is somewhat maintained by the high demand of the peak season. We are all eager to see what the upcoming months will bring to our market.

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 5 GW+ of components on offer. Trading prices are weighted by 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. It is calculated based on a questionnaire among 300+ sun.store buyers. 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 300+ sun.store buyers.

What is sun.store

sun.store is the biggest online trading platform for solar components. Its more than 10,000 registered users from 30+ countries have constant access to 5 GW+ of available components from 100+ manufacturing brands, located in more than 100 warehouses across Europe. This diversity ensures that the installers have constant access to the best deals on a wide range of equipment, from various manufacturers of modules, inverters, storage solutions, and all necessary accessories.

sun.store is currently available in 6 languages and provides its users with logistics services as well as safe payment options – all to make sure that PV component trading online becomes as smooth an experience as possible.