In its latest module pricing report for March-May, solar and storage procurement company Anza noted a slight increase in prices between April and May, up 2%.

In addition to the slight increase in module prices, Anza added that some suppliers have raised prices for the first time since 2022 in response to new trade regulations, which include the elimination of tariff exemptions for bifacial solar modules.

The US International Trade Commission's decision to continue its investigation and the uncertainty of AD/CVD applications have made some suppliers' mid-term planning in the US market more complicated.

"It's hard to do this when you don't know what your actual costs and responsibilities are. That's the biggest impact of AD/CVD, it freezes the market," explained Anza President Aaron Hall.

Hall added that without the new AD/CVD applications and solar tariffs, prices would not have increased.

"There has not been any substantial rebound in polysilicon, wafers and cells. Internationally, the cost of upstream materials and supply remains low, and these trade cases have really wreaked havoc on the US market.

To a large extent, this means that the largest suppliers who have nowhere to go do not necessarily have a secure source of cells outside of these four countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia) and China. It is not easy for them to establish such a source."

Module prices bottomed out in April ($0.24/W)

Between February and May 2024, the median price fell from $0.279 per week to $0.25 per week.

In terms of weekly price changes, module prices hit their lowest level in the week of April 22 at $0.24 per watt, and then rose to the current $0.25 per watt, which remained at this price throughout May.

Mike Hall, CEO of Anza, said: "After years of record low prices, we are seeing the market begin to rebound as domestic manufacturers experience less price pressure from foreign producers affected by tariffs.

We expect this price increase trend to continue, and it is critical that new projects consider current pricing and potential tariff impacts when sourcing materials."

TOPCon favored, prices rise, PERC continues to fall

In terms of technology, TOPCon prices rebounded after several months of decline, while PERC continued to fall.

From February to May, TOPCon module prices fell from $0.29 per watt to $0.255 per watt, a drop of 12.8%, and monocrystalline PERC prices fell from $0.265 per watt to $0.228 per watt. From February to April, the price difference between the two technologies remained at about $0.02, and the gap began to widen last month. As the price difference has remained at a low level in the past few months, TOPCon continues to be favored compared to PERC.

Aaron Hall added: "There is still native demand for PERC compared to TOPCon, but generally speaking, when you have a choice between the two, you will choose TOPCon, especially when the price is very close."

Inventory growth, 700W modules begin to have "signs"

Hall also mentioned that although it is far from the situation in Europe last year, the module inventory in the United States is growing.

"Until recently, most of the inventory in the United States was old-fashioned 400W modules. The reason for such high capacity is largely because buyers were too eager to make money and bought more than they needed. In part, one of the driving forces was the ITC (solar investment tax credit) in 2019. At that time, we thought the ITC would go down."

The inventory of new technology modules with a power output of up to 700W has also begun to grow due to uncertainty in the procurement of certain components of the modules (mainly silicon wafers from China).trina solar panels