From pv magazine Germany
The situation on the market for residential rooftop PV systems has changed completely in the last 12 months.
“We are back in a buyer's market,” said Tim Rosengart, managing director of comparison site Selfmade Energy. He attributes this to two factors: the number of offers that potential buyers are now receiving, and the price.
The prices for rooftop PV systems have fallen by up to 25% in the past 12 months, Rosengart stated, citing evaluations of offers on his portal. However, there is a large price range on the market. The cheapest offers for a PV system with 10 kW of power without storage are just over €1 per watt, the most expensive are around €2 euros per watt.
Prices at the lower end in particular have been affected by the price decline in recent months. The maximum prices charged by installers, however, have recovered after a dip between March and July and are at a similar level to a year ago.
There is currently a wave of bankruptcies among PV installers. According to Rosengart, it is particularly difficult for companies that only offer simple PV systems and cannot differentiate themselves from the competition through added value. “There are certainly medium-sized and smaller installation companies with complete solutions, such as energy management systems or heat pumps, as well as decent advice and good service, and they are still doing well,” said Rosengart.
It is more difficult for those who, in the boom times after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, built up massive overhead in anticipation of further market growth, which now has to be financed. The situation is similar for so-called “fortune hunters” who discovered the photovoltaic market and the good margins for themselves in 2022 but have not created a financial cushion to bridge the currently rather difficult times, Rosengart added. “At the same time, it can be seen that customers are increasingly comparing prices.”
While in 2022 and 2023 the availability and installation time of roof systems were the top criteria for customers, now it is the price. “Customers are now getting 10 offers and looking for the cheapest price. A year ago it was more like one or two offers,” he explained. This is also difficult for the installation companies because the chance of getting an order is correspondingly lower. In addition, there is a great deal of reluctance among customers.”
Many customers prefer to wait because maybe it will get cheaper after all,” is his guess as to the reasons. Many customers are currently being inundated with very cheap offers, especially on social media. “Many customers are therefore probably still speculating on further falling prices and are more likely to wait,” Rosengart observed.
Pointing to the extremely low prices and the struggle for survival that is currently prevailing in the market, he noted that there are suppliers who are perhaps just offering their systems at a cost-covering level because their warehouses are full and they have to sell them off, also in order to be able to pay their employees.
When will the market situation ease again? Rosengart is not very optimistic that things will improve quickly. The price pressure will remain for the time being and there is also the communication disaster on the part of political leaders. The announcement of funding programs such as the one for wall boxes and photovoltaics via the KfW development bank would also lead to potential customers waiting. “Many people's trust in politics has disappeared in many areas. Only when there is reliable politics again will people make their investment decisions,” he added. Rosengart therefore does not believe that the market situation will fundamentally improve in the current legislative period.
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