InvestSMART

Solar PV price check - October

Continued slimming of installer margins in the shadow of ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Renewable Energy Target has rooftop solar system prices down across most capital cities.
By · 20 Oct 2014
By ·
20 Oct 2014
comments Comments
Upsell Banner

With the exception of Brisbane and (in some cases) Perth, average solar PV prices have continued to drop across all of the cities included in Solar Choice's monthly analysis, falling down to $1.84/W from $1.89/W between September and October.

As mentioned in last month's article, this decline appears to be a function of slimming installer margins, with companies vying to increase competitiveness as consumers move to install solar before a final decision is made about the future of the Renewable Energy Target.

October 2014 average solar PV system prices

All prices in the table below include the federal STC incentive which installers ordinarily include in final system prices. GST is also included.

Solar Choice average pv system prices October 2014

*Click images to enlarge

Solar system prices for October: Dollar-per-watt averages, highs and lows

Solar Choice pv system prices per watt high low avg Oct 2014

About STCs

STCs accounted for a price reduction of approximately 70c/W for Zone 3 cities (Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane) and around 66c/W for Melbourne and Tasmania.

Components used

The table below contains the brands of inverters and solar modules used in installations as listed by installers. ‘Premium' product offerings are not included.

City

Panel brands used

Inverter brands used

Adelaide, SA

ReneSolaQ-Cells, Lightway, Jinko, BenQ/AU Optronics, Solar Juice,Trina, Yingli

SolarMax, SMAFronius, Growatt, Power-One Aurora, Samil, Xantrex-Schneider, Delta

Brisbane, QLD

ReneSola, Canadian, Yingli, LG, Luxen, Solar Juice, Jinko, Suntech

SolarMax, JFY, Samil, Xantrex/Schneider, Fronius, SMA, Growatt, Power-One Aurora, Eltek, Zever

Canberra, ACT

Jinko, Solar Juice, ReneSola, Q-Cells, Yingli, Trina

JFY, Growatt, Fronius, Power-One Aurora, Samil, Delta, SMA

Melbourne, VIC

Solarworld, Jinko, ReneSola, Canadian, Solar Juice, Yingli

Power-One Aurora, Fronius, Samil, SolarMax

Tasmania

ReneSola, Jinko, Solar Juice, Yingli

Fronius, Power-One Aurora, SolarMax, Samil,

Sydney, NSW

ReneSola, Hanwha, Yingli, Trina, Top Solar, Jinko, Solar Juice, Munchen, Canadian

Growatt, Eversolar, UNO, SMA, Samil, Fronius, SolarMax

Perth, WA

ET Solar, TN 250, Trina, Jinko, Solar Juice

JFY, Goodwe, Power-One Aurora, Delta, Fronius, Samil

Historic solar PV system prices (since August 2012)

Solar Choice 1.5kW solar pv system prices Oct 2014Solar Choice 2kW solar PV system prices Oct 2014Solar Choice 3kW solar pv system prices Oct 2014Solar Choice 4kW solar pv system prices Oct 2014Solar Choice 5kW solar pv system prices Oct 2014Solar Choice 10kW solar pv system prices Oct 2014

Indexed $/W solar system prices (historic)

The chart below provides an at-a-glance look at solar PV system pricing trends since September 2012. Data points are the average of average $/W for each system size (1.5kW-5kW until November 2013, then also including 10kW from December 2013).

Solar Choice indexed pv system prices October 2014

About this data

Tables and charts included in this article were compiled using data from Solar Choice's installer network database, which contains regularly-updated pricing and product details from over 125 solar installation companies across Australia. Prices do not ordinarily incorporate meter installation fees or additional costs for difficult installations. The discount available to Solar Choice customers is also excluded from calculations, as are prices for ‘premium' installer offerings. Except in the final chart, average pricing figures for all of Australia are not weighted.

About Solar Choice

Solar Choice provides an impartial solar energy Quote Comparison service for Australian consumers by delivering market transparency from a network of over 100 leading installers nation-wide. Since 2008, we've delivered our free Solar Quote Comparisons to over 80,000 Australian households. Solar Choice's commercial wing, Solar Choice Commercial, compares the market for systems from 30kW to 100kW, and manages tenders for projects up to 2MW. Solar Choice also develops its own very large-scale solar farm projects.

Share this article and show your support
Free Membership
Free Membership
James Martin
James Martin
Keep on reading more articles from James Martin. See more articles
Join the conversation
Join the conversation...
There are comments posted so far. Join the conversation, please login or Sign up.