The pace of PV installations across Europe is now beginning to slow slightly. This trend is reflected in the PV Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which returned to April’s levels in June after a rise in May. The June reading stands at 68, down from 72 in May. Additionally, there has been a significant decline in solar panel prices across all categories.
PV PMI – PV Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) is a measure of overall demand outlook in the industry – reflects feedback from sun.store buyers.
Last month sun.store became the biggest solar marketplace in Europe with more than 11 000 registered users and more than 5GW of equipment available across hundreds of brands.
The index, calculated based on responses about future purchasing plans, saw a slight decline in June. Despite the decline, this month’s reading of 68 still suggests strong confidence in the market, with 51% of respondents planning to increase their purchases, 35% intending to buy the same amount, and only 14% expecting to reduce their orders.
Overall, June’s PV PMI reading is strong, with half of the respondents planning to increase their purchases in July compared to June. This high PV PMI result instills confidence that demand will remain high across Europe despite industry challenges. Notably, the decrease in prices is primarily attributed to oversupply in the market.
pv.index – A summary of June’s Prices
The pv.index tracks the average transactional prices on sun.store, measured from the transactions made by over 11 000 registered users from more than 30 European countries.
Starting this month, with the growing number and value of transactions made on sun.store, it has become possible to provide a more detailed breakdown for the monofacial category, including N-type and P-type modules, as well as N-type modules for the bifacial category.
Monofacial modules:
N-type: Average price dropped by 5% from 0.135 EUR/Wp to 0.128 EUR/Wp;
P-type: Average price dropped by 6% from 0.110 EUR/Wp to 0.103 EUR/Wp;
Bifacial modules:
N-type: Average price dropped by 5% from 0.135 EUR/Wp to 0.128 EUR/Wp;
P-type: Average price dropped by 6% from 0.110 EUR/Wp to 0.103 EUR/Wp;
Full black modules:
The price dropped by 8% from 0.134 EUR/Wp to 0.123 EUR/Wp.
Agata Krawiec-Rokita, CEO & Co-founder of sun.store, commented: “We have observed a general decline in prices, with the most notable drop occurring in full black modules. This decrease is largely attributed to persistent overstock in Europe and intense competition among manufacturers to clear their inventories. Some manufacturers are even operating below their profitability thresholds to remain viable, resulting in market consolidation and significant challenges for some, such as Akcome. The current PMI likely reflects the summer period, when high temperatures and holidays across Europe make installations more difficult. Additionally, many countries appear to be in a ‘waiting period' for new solar support regulations anticipated in September. Despite these challenges, the market remains resilient, and we are eager to see how these developments will influence the market in the coming months.”
