Solar PV system prices for April 2014

Average 1.5kW solar system prices appear to have plateaued between March and April after steadily rising over the course of the last 8 months or so, while prices for 2kW solar systems continued to increase in almost all cities. 3kW, 4kW and 5kW system prices remained steady, and 10kW system prices fell slightly.

Average solar system prices for April 2014

All prices in the table below incorporate the federal STC incentive which installers ordinarily bundle into final system prices.

Solar Choice solar system prices averages April 2014

Average, high and low $/W solar system prices for April 2014

Sydney and Perth are still home to the lowest solar system prices among installers included in the price index. This month, highs are split between Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart. Interestingly, Melbourne, seeing a dip in prices across all system sizes, no longer contends with Tasmania on high prices.

Solar Choice Solar System Prices High Low Avg Apr 2014

About STCs

STCs accounted for a price reduction of approximately 71c/W for Zone 3 cities (Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane), and around 61c/W for Melbourne & Tasmania (a slight dip from last month‘s 65c/kW).

Components used

The table below contains the brands of inverters and solar modules used in installations as listed by installers. ‘Premium’ options are not included.

City Panel brands used Inverter brands used
Adelaide, SA ReneSola, Hanover, Q-Cells, BenQ/AU Optronics, Lightway, Sun Earth, Canadian Solar
SolarMax, SMA, Power-One Aurora, Fronius, Growatt
Brisbane, QLD ReneSola, Perlight, Canadian, Yingli, Sun Earth, REC, LG, Seraphim SolarMax, JFY, Eltek, SMA, Samil, Zever, Fronius
Canberra, ACT ReneSola, Q-Cells, Phoenix, Sun Earth JFY, Growatt, Fronius, SMA, Power-One Aurora
Melbourne, VIC Trina, ReneSola, Q-Cells, BenQ/AU Optronics, SolarWorld, yingli, Jinko Solar, Canadian Solar, Sun Earth SolarMax, Power-One Aurora, Latronics, Fronius, SMA, Samil
Tasmania ReneSola, Canadian Solar, Q-Cells, Sun Earth SolarMax, Fronius, Power-One Aurora
Sydney, NSW ReneSola, Trina, Munchen, Phono Solar, Yingli, Tianwei, Sun Earth, Hanwha, Canadian Solar SMA, Power-One Aurora, SolarMax,  Fronius, JFY, KStar, Sharp, Delta
Perth, WA GY, Hanover, Canadian Solar, ReneSola, Sun Earth JFY, Growatt, SMA, Power-One Aurora, SolarMax, Fronius

Historic solar PV system prices (August 2012 – April 2014)

Solar Choice 1.5kW solar system prices historic Solar Choice 2kW solar system prices historic Solar Choice 3kW solar system prices historic Solar Choice 4kW solar system prices historic Solar Choice 5kW solar system prices historic Solar Choice 10kW solar system prices historic

About this data

Tables and charts included in this article were compiled using data from Solar Choice’s installer network database, which contains regularly-updated pricing and product details from over 125 solar installation companies across Australia. Prices do not ordinarily incorporate meter installation fees or additional costs for difficult installations. The discount available to Solar Choice customers is also excluded from calculations, as are prices for ‘premium’ installer offerings. Average pricing figures for all of Australia are not weighted.

About Solar Choice

Solar Choice is a solar PV installation and advice service based in Sydney, NSW, providing free Solar Quote Comparisons for residential solar customers Australia-wide. Solar Choice’s commercial wing, Solar Choice Commercial, manages tenders for medium- to large-scale solar projects for a wide range of clients. Solar Choice also develops large-scale and utility-scale solar projects of its own.

© 2014 Solar Choice Pty Ltd

Comments

    1. Hi Steve,

      At this point none of the pricing data in our PV Price Index articles comes from systems that use microinverters/DC optimisers. We will make a note of this if circumstances should change in future articles.

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