About PV Price Navigator
How does the PV Price Navigator work?
Price developments and trends, which can be analyzed with the PV Price Navigator (PPN), are based on offers from a broad range of sellers, who use the world’s largest spot market for PV modules: pvXchange. The data comprises the entire value chain from factory gate to the local installer. The PPN takes into account the whole database of offers that are available through the spot market. Since 2005, pvXchange GmbH has been successfully running this market segment. In 2010, the team consisting of 80 experts has brokered sales with a total size of over 180 MW of modules and more than 7.000 PV companies are currently using the service pvXchange. The competitive advantage of PPN compared to other price information services is, that it allows looking into future price developments, since many offers traded through the marketplace have a future delivery date. A 4 to 8 weeks forecast is no exemption. Another advantage is that PPN price information is based on real offers, instead of other price information services that rely on surveys or interviews.
What to consider when looking at prices from PV Price Navigator
Offers traded via pvXchange that are included in the price index of the PV Price Navigator have the following characteristics:
- The prices quotes are end customer prices. The average module quota size ranges between 100 kWp and 250 kWp.
- Commission for pvXchange is always included.
- Offers that are included in the price index always refer to modules stocked in Europe with customs paid. As a result approx. 80% of the offered modules are available immediately or at least within a short time frame.
- A large amount of offers are placed by downstream PV companies like wholesalers, system integrators and installers. Thus logistic and (re-)packaging costs as well as margins incurred by the upstream and midstream PV sector are already included. Sometimes containers or pallets get repackaged to form smaller quotas which results in additional packaging costs. This is especially true for very small quotas (<30kW).
- As a result, module prices on PV Price Navigator can be 15 to 20ct/Wp more expensive compared to factory gate price quotes you can get from e.g. Chinese manufacturers.
~10ct/Wp downstream margin and commission
~8ct/Wp logistics and packaging
= 15 - 20 ct/Wp
How reliable is the data on this website?
Prices on PV Price Navigator refer to offered prices and sold offers; the system however in each week includes the five lowest offers as basis for the answer to the individual request. Hereby the offered prices are nearly identical to those actually sold. This is specifically the case for module brands, which are often traded on the platform.
In addition, the pvXchange team has deep knowledge of the module market and is consulting module sellers that are active on the spot market. This service alone ensures that only few offers are actually significantly overpriced or underpriced.
About Manufacturers and Regions
From which module producers can I receive price information? Will there be information on new manufacturers in the future?
Apart from the permanent update of offers, the list of available producers is continually expanded. In the context of the market development we assume that more and more international brands will be present in future. In addition, the number of different module brands changes over time and may decrease and increase regularly.
Why is it not possible to select „Manufacturers“ and „Regions“ at the same time?
This function in the PPN tool is an ‘either-or’ option. You can either manually select different module brands or select different countries of origin. It is not possible to combine both categories, since both categories can be conflicting. On the other hand the categories ‘manufacturer’ and ‘regions’ can be combined with all other selections.
Although I can select many different manufacturers, price indices are not displayed for every available manufacturer and technology. Why is that the case?
PPN data are updated on a daily basis. Besides that, also the list of manufacturers is continually expanded. But because many of the newer modules brands are not yet offered regularly and for reasons of data protection, a price curve cannot be displayed for every single manufacturer. As soon as a sufficient amount of offers are in place, a price curve will be displayed.
Although I can select many different technologies, price indices are not displayed for every available technology. Why is that the case?
The PPN database gets updated on a daily basis. Besides that, also the list of different technologies is continually expanded and covers every technology ever traded on the platform. But because many of the more exotic technologies are not offered regularly a price curve cannot be displayed for every single technology. As soon as sufficient offers are in place, a price curve will be displayed.
About Supply Chain and Country of Seller
Can I analyze all price levels along the value chain?
In principle, PPN enables you to separately analyze offered prices of manufacturers, whole-sale traders, importers, or installers. For reasons of data protection it is not possible to analyze factory gate prices for a single manufacturer. The category „Factory Gate“ displays price curves only when filtered according to one technology.
What type of configuration should I use in order to generate a reasonable price analysis?
In order to get solid results, in the first place, it is important to correctly define the size of the offer. We have pre-defined a useful offering size (20-1.000 kW) for you to avoid major faults. Smaller or larger contingents would distort the analysis, because smaller volumes are offered at higher, and larger volumes at lower €/kW prices. If you decide to compare different manufacturers or if you want to build an index of several manufacturers, you should select those manufacturers who provide the same technology. Another criterion is the origin country of the modules (the brand respectively). In general, Chinese module brands range below the price level of German brands.
What does average calculating operation mean?
The system only delivers an output when at least 3 offers stemming from 3 different vendors within one week can be found. If the system cannot compare three offers, it uses the calendar week before and after in order to find 3 hits. For price calculation these are then weighted by 50%. This search and weighing system is termed „average calculating operation“ and can be de-activated in the full version by the user, as it may slightly distort the price calculation.
How long into the past do prices on PV Price Navigator reach? Is it possible get price trends for the near future?
An advantage of the Price Navigator is that it allows looking into future price developments, since many offers traded through the marketplace have a future delivery date. A 4 to 8 weeks forecast is no exemption. For past oriented analysis, it is possible extract data up to 7 months into the past. With the possible one month forecast you get a maximum time frame of 8 months.
Can I download the data?
The Price Navigator allows downloading the requested data via csv. files, that are compatible with a range of spreadsheet software. You can choose to enable or disable the averaging option for the data contained in the csv. files. For easy implementation into presentations you can download the price chart and directly copy it into your presentation document.