Indian Solar Module Makers Now Publicly Admit to Raising Module Prices

Amid rising input costs in the manufacturing of solar cells and modules, several Indian solar module makers have publicly acknowledged increasing module prices. The impact of these revisions is now being felt most acutely by EPC companies and solar project developers, as the trend is becoming evident across the market.

Indian solar module and encapsulant manufacturer RenewSys, for instance, recently announced a 25 percent increase in its module prices on a per-Wp basis. The company made the announcement publicly through its social media channels, citing higher raw material costs as the primary reason.

Why Are Prices Rising? 

“In light of recent market developments, including a rise in key raw material costs such as silver, polysilicon, aluminium, and copper, as well as the withdrawal of export rebates on solar cells, wafers, and certain bill-of-materials (BOM) items from China, solar module prices have seen an upward revision,” the company said in a social media post.

Similarly, another ALMM-enlisted solar module manufacturer, which operates a module manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, announced a comparable price hike in a recent newsletter sent to suppliers and customers. The company said it is raising module prices by around 25 percent per Wp, citing increased costs of silver, polysilicon, aluminium, and copper, along with China’s withdrawal of export rebates on solar cells, wafers, and select BOM items.

Effect On Solar PPAs

In an interaction with Mint, Prashant Mathur, CEO of Saatvik Green Energy, also acknowledged a sharp rise in solar cell prices and spoke about its likely impact on higher solar tariffs for upcoming projects in India.

The overall increase in solar cell—and consequently solar module—prices points to a period of adjustment for developers and EPC companies, who are facing fresh cost pressures. At the same time, module and cell manufacturers are attempting to mitigate these challenges by deploying technological improvements to offset the impact of rising silver and other raw material prices.

For example, the top management of Bengaluru-based Emmvee Photovoltaics, during its latest earnings call, discussed how the company has managed to limit the impact of rising silver paste prices on its solar manufacturing operations.