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.
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.
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)
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
can you update your prices to include systems that use micro inveters
cheers
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.