[RE-wrenches] module pricing

[Keith Cronin]

Marco

Take a look in this months Home Power. There are many examples of mod manus and pricing to compare. Other websites that offer products point to the decline as well.

One direction the manus seem to be taking is how to adjust to the commodity like fluctuations in pricing their products. It is a challenging environment for them now. When you consider that all of the 2009 manu capacity has been essentially pushed off the assembly line and only half of it has been sold, it puts tremendous pressure on them to turn inventory. The thinning of margins is hurting them and we could see some consolidation in the near future.

My sense is this will be a cyclical thing and will sort it self out in the next 12-18 months as they regain pricing power as our economy stabilizes and confidence grows internationally.

This is actually good for one subset of the market- the client. They are getting unprecedented deals that would have been unheard of two years ago, when we all were looking for product, but waited in line as the manus rumored to have shipped their products to higher margin places, like Spain that had robust FIT programs and pricing power.

Time will tell whether micro cracks in cells and other maladays erupt in subsequent years for all and any manus. We should all hope for limited recalls. REC is doing it right, costing them a bunch, but this can happen in a hyper growth industry. Other manus might not have strong enough balance sheets to weather this type of storm and could be the Darwinian end to their operations as not having enough financial runway to sustain flight.

Aloha

Keith




________________________________
From: Marco Mangelsdorf <marco at pvthawaii.com>
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 2:12:15 PM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] module pricing

 
I’d like to do an unscientific poll and welcome any
participants.
 
Please to fill in the blanks.
 
These two manufacturers are currently selling the highest
priced PV modules at present (in terms of $/watt):  _________________ and
________________.
 
I’ll go first.
 
SunPower and Sanyo.
 
While there’s been this pretty much manic race to the
bottom as far as module pricing, I’m curious as to which manus are trying
to make their stand on quality, high efficiency, power tolerance and premium
pricing for an ostensible premium product.
 
Thanks,
marco
Marco Mangelsdorf, President
69 Railroad Avenue, A-7
Hilo, Hawai'i96720
(808) 969-3281, 934-7462 facsimile
www.provision-solar.com
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