Retail Price Summary - January 2012 Update

Like other Balance of Systems (BOS) products, charge controller prices tend to move considerably less than solar module prices.

In this month's survey of 460 prices and 25 online retailers, there were 48 price moves, marginally up from 35 moves last month. There were 23 price increases and 25 decreases. The prior month, there were 16 price increases and 19 price decreases. The US index was unchanged at $5.93 per amp.

The cost of charge controller (also known as the battery regulator) is around 10% of the total installed cost of an off-grid complete solar system. Therefore, regulator prices are not as important a cost element of a solar energy system as the solar module, battery, or installation costs. A charge controller is usually required on systems that utilize a battery.

Unlike inverters and solar modules, where a relatively small number of companies have a large share of the total market, a wide range of companies manufacture charge controllers, often serving very local markets.

Methodology

The price index methodology is to aggregate the prices of all charge controllers on the survey and divide by the aggregate amp output of those same products. This produces a price per amp represented in US dollars and in euros.

Since this index aggregates on a global basis, it summarizes all prices in US dollars and in euros. It does not reflect the differences between product prices in North America and Europe. The dollar strengthened against the euro last month, so the euro index was up to €4.57 per amp.

This overall survey methodology only represents a guide to the direction of price, since there are other factors in addition to amperage that are relevant to the performance and technical capabilities of individual charge controller models.

Analysis by product model is available through our consulting services.