In January, module prices of products from Asia climbed across the board by a few percentage points. Only the figures of the few remaining German and European products remained stable.
The local market, mainland Europe at least, is still inadequately supplied with cheap modules. A disproportionate amount of goods is still ending up on the British Isles, where the last major projects are hastily being connected to the grid before the likely end to the free-for-all at the end of March.
The temporary boom in the United Kingdom has more or less singlehandedly brought the European market back to moderate growth following three years of decline. But, at a growth rate of 15%, it still lags far behind the global photovoltaics market, a market that grew by 25% in 2015 to over 50 GWp of newly installed capacity. The German market, which has continued its slide, accounted with 1.5 GWp for just 3% of the total. No wonder Asian manufacturers continue to lose interest in us.
And as if there was not already enough trouble for German PV sellers and installers, yet another scourge befell us at the beginning of the year in the form of the amended ElektroG2 law or, at the European level, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE). First came the punitive tariffs and minimum import prices for Chinese cells and modules, then mandatory tenders for ground-mounted systems, and now this new PV-blocking law!
What in principle is a well-meaning and basically welcome measure, a system for financing disposal and recycling of electronic waste from the polluter with insolvency protection, has unfortunately become a farce in practice. After the voluntary PV Cycle turn-in scheme failed to have the desired effect when nowhere near enough PV panel manufacturers signed on with that or similar services, a system has now been introduced which makes possible to intervene right down to the level of the solar installer. Installers are now responsible for organizing and financing the turn-in of all of the electronic devices they sell, unless otherwise arranged by an upstream member of the supply chain. Since 24 October 2015, not only inverters but also PV modules have been subject to the new regime; on 1 February the transitional period ended for the registration of all brands and products offered for sale.
What that means for the individual stakeholders is still difficult to predict. Although it is always possible to study the legislation, and there is now plenty of informational material (e.g. from the German Solar Industry Association, BSW), there is still plenty of room for interpretation, and finding qualified independent expertise is not easy. At the moment, there is just too little experience with the actual feasibility of implementation and the consequences of ignoring the rules. There is also too much chaos surrounding the EAR Foundation, the body responsible for product registration and administration of financial guarantees. Applicants sometimes wait months for a registration number, which is technically required now before goods can be brought to market.
In early February, of the hundreds of brands and products currently on the market, just 50 were officially registered. Mostly Japanese and European manufacturers with generally higher-priced products can boast a registration number, while their Chinese and Southeast Asian counterparts probably do not know or want to know about their "good fortune". To top off all this nonsense, each member of the European Union wants to implement its own national system for return and recycling. The likely outcome is that further international manufacturers will pull out of the EU market, causing the price level in to rise again in 2016, particularly if the cost of the newly organized system is transferred to products.
Here is an overview of the new price points – first time introduced in October 2015 - including changes:
| Module class | Price (€/Wp) | Change rel. to prev. month |
Description |
| High Efficiency | 0.69 | - 1.4 % | Crystalline modules 275 Wp and above with PERC, HIT, N-Type or back-contact cells, or combinations thereof. |
| All Black | 0.58 | + 1.8 % | Module types with black back sheet, black frame and a rated power between 190 Wp and 270 Wp. |
| Mainstream | 0.51 | + 2.0 % | Modules typically with 60 cells, standard aluminum frame, white back sheet and 245-270 Wp, represent the majority of the modules in the market. |
| Low Cost | 0.34 | - 8.1 % | Low-output modules, factory seconds, insolvency goods, used modules (crystalline), products with limited or no warranty. |
(The prices shown reflect average asking prices for duty-paid goods in the European spot market in the month of January 2016.)