Up to 13% drop! European n-type module prices fell across the board

Prices for n-type solar modules in Europe continue to fall due to oversupply and “intense competition” among manufacturers, according to new reports.

Solar wholesaler sun.store’s July report shows that the average price of monofacial n-type solar modules in Europe fell 13% in a month, from €0.128/Wp to €0.113/Wp.

Bifacial n-type module prices also fell 11% to €0.121/Wp; all-black module prices fell 6% to €0.116/Wp.

Agata Krawiec-Rokita, CEO and co-founder of sun.store, attributed this to global manufacturing trends: “In July, we saw a continued downward trend in prices, especially for n-type and all-black modules. This was mainly due to the persistent overstock problem across Europe, in addition to the fierce competition between manufacturers to clear stocks.”

Surprisingly, p-type module products rose, with an average increase of 11% from €0.103/Wp to €0.114/Wp. Sun.store said this was due to a “surge in demand for specific p-type products” that may soon be discontinued.

In fact, the solar manufacturing industry is generally shifting from p-type products to n-type products. The latest version of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV) predicts that n-type TOPCon modules will account for more than 50% of the market share by 2034.

The pv.index report is based on transaction data from sun.store, which the company claims is the "largest" online trading platform for solar equipment.

Buyer confidence remains stable

Sun.store also publishes the PV Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a program that measures market demand and confidence. The system measures buyers' plans on a point basis, with a score above 50 indicating expected growth, 50 indicating stable growth, and below 50 indicating an expected decline.

The July score was 68, unchanged from June but down slightly from 72 in May. Sun.store said the score remains "robust."

In July, 50% of respondents planned to increase purchases, 37% intended to maintain existing purchase levels, and only 13% expected to reduce orders. These percentages are very similar to the June report.

So far this year, the monthly PMI has fluctuated between 73 and 68.

Krawiec-Rokita said: "The seasonal slowdown caused by the summer holidays also contributed to the reduction in installation activity. Despite these factors, market sentiment remains positive, as evidenced by the stability of our PMI index. We are closely monitoring the development of the situation.

We expect that the regulatory changes expected in September will bring new vitality to the market in the coming months. The resilience of the industry remains a bright spot and we are optimistic about future developments."