Empirical Analysis of Factors Influencing Price of Solar Modules

Abstract

The solar energy market has seen huge growth in recent years with a vast increase in solar cumulative capacity worldwide. One of the key drivers behind this growth is the decline in solar module prices. Thus, the price reduction mechanism in solar modules has become an important topic as the role of solar electricity in the overall energy supply and the market value of solar modules grow globally. Many empirical analyses have been carried out to unveil the mechanism behind this price reduction. However, the researches performed on the price reduction mechanism of solar modules over the years have focused purely on the technological aspect of the manufacturing. When analyzing price, the influence of economic factors such as interest rate and exchange rate must also be taken into consideration to achieve a precise analysis. In this paper, an oligopolistic model and econometric method are used to determine the economic factors that have an influence on solar module prices.