Now that many are enjoying the summer recess and the pressure may be a little off, it is good to analyze and look ahead. Within the PV industry we are used to a bit of chaos, it has never really been quiet in recent years and we have always faced challenges together. Yet we have not often experienced the situation that has occurred in recent months within our industry, the explosive demand for PV systems in combination with shortages in the supply chain ensure long delivery times and rising prices. Supply to Europe remains under pressure in Q3 and shortages are expected.
Anyone who is active in the solar market recognizes this, as soon as you announce to your circle of acquaintances that you work in the industry, you will be asked whether you can supply solar panels or whether you know a good installer. Add to this the fact that large commercial projects continue to increase and you will understand that we will certainly continue to face challenges in the coming months.
We have often experienced shortages in stocks and supplies within the industry. Yet we could always count on that when an order was placed it would also be delivered. Lately we have been hearing more and more often that manufacturers and distributors have to disappoint customers and orders are changed and/or canceled. This is an extremely annoying situation for installers, who cannot carry out projects in this way and/or have to postpone them.
At Search4Solar we also face challenges. As you may know, we search for stocks and availability throughout Europe and put them on our platform. We have a large partner network of distributors and manufacturers and in this way we have already been able to help many installers at home and abroad with products. Yet we are also faced with greater demand than supply from a number of brands. We receive requests for inverters from Enphase, Huawei and SolarEdge every day and as soon as we have found availability, they are gone just as quickly. Our advice is to keep a close eye on our platform, and we also send a newsletter once or twice a week containing availability.
Platform 2.0
Behind the scenes we have been working on our platform 2.0 for some time. A major improvement to our current platform is underway, which will allow us to switch even better and faster and provide insight into availability within the market. In addition, we are continuing to expand our partner network so that we can put even more offerings on the platform and we are also growing as an organization. In short, we are busy making it more transparent and easier for the installer, so that they can also carry out their projects in Q3.
Looking forward
It looks like there will remain a shortage of products in Q3. The question is how the market will continue to develop if projects continue to be increasingly postponed. Prices have increased by about 7 to 14% since January 2022 to date. On average about 7.5% for bifacial and N-type TOPCon solar cells and about 14% for PERC cells, for example. Will prices continue to rise or will price increases come to a standstill? We will try to keep you well informed of developments in the near future. So keep a close eye on our news!