What caused the Solar Panel Shortage?

[Gymmie Bob]

I have been tryin to locate a few panels lately and there is loads of them
in California they will not ship outside the state. There is also many
panels in the eastern states that are not allowed out of the USA.

 

[Windsun]

And a large percentage of US PV production is controlled by foreign
companies such as Shell Oil, Kyocera, Sharp and BP. As the dollar
sinks in relative value due to deficit spending, the non-US markets
will be even more profitable for US factories. I do not think we in the
US have seen the end of increasing PV prices.
Bill Kaszeta
Photovoltaic Resources Int'l
Tempe Arizona USA
[email protected]

I agree. I expect another 5-10% increase by Summer. Especially if they don't
get silicon wafer production up to meet demand.

 

[Windsun]

Solarbuzz has NOT digested the latest round of large price increases, most
of which took place in mid to late January. In the past 4 weeks we have seen
multiple price increases from ALL manufacturers. The smallest was around 7%,
the largest around 12%.

Also, Solarbuzz is not that accurate, as it get's most of it's info from the
internet, and I know of at least half a dozen of what they show as the
lowest prices for panels are over two years old. If people don't update
prices on their sites, the information is not accurate.

Trust me, prices ARE up a lot - and the supply is short.

And I expect more - Silicon is in very short supply, and manufacturers are
bidding against each other for what there is. I expect by June panel prices
over all will be 10-15% higher than they were in December.

 

[Landline]

Panels are short in Australia and we have another shipment landing tomorrow
which is I think all sold.
However, no price increases from the factory and no hint of price increases.
We are actually expecting prices to fall shortly.
Presently we are selling at $AU6.50 a watt which includes 10% sales tax
$US5.12
and without tax $AU5.90 and $US4.65.
These are for multicrystalline panels, but monocrystalline is only a
$AU0.08c more per watt.
How does that compare with your prices per watt.

 

[Windsun]

I suspect that you are buying "old" stock panels - that is panels that were
shipped or purchased before the price increases hit in the past 6-8 weeks.
Prices in the US have gone up an average of around 30 to 40 cents per watt,
just as a rough estimate, since January this year.

 

[Landline]

I don't think that is right, as from the time the panels are ordered from
the factory till the stock arrives is generally three to four weeks.

The factory has to give sixty days notice of a price increase, and there is
no mention so far of a new price list. As a matter of fact, they have just
revamped their price list with new sizes and replaced some size with larger
sizes and introduced some new 155w panels, and the price per watt reduced on
the 155w panels.

What is the best price there in the market for crystalline panels.

 

[Windsun]

Hmm.. maybe it is mainly US prices that have gone up to match world prices,
since for a while the US had by far the cheapest prices around.