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Summary
This page highlights the movements of Charge
Controller (also known as "regulator") prices
on the Internet over recent years.
Across
this month's survey of 563 prices and 37 online retailers,
there were 56 price moves, up from 36 last month.
These
moves translated into 31 increases and 25 decreases. This
result compares with 29 increases and 7 decreases last month.
Like other Balance of Systems (BOS) products, charge controller
prices tend to move considerably less than solar module
prices.
Once again, these moves left the US Index unchanged at $5.87
per Amp, three months in a row now at this level.
The Battery Regulator cost typically represents 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
which utilize a battery. There are a few exceptions to this,
though.
The Price Index methodology is to aggregate the prices of
all Charge Controllers on the survey and divide by the aggregate
Amps output of those same products. This produces a price
per Amp, which is represented in US dollars and euros on
the right.
Since
this Index aggregates on a global basis, the indices simply
represents all prices summarized in US dollars and Euros
- it does not represent the differences between product
prices in North America and Europe. The dollar strengthened
significantly against the euro again this month, which left
the euro index up to €4.64
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.
Unlike Inverters and Solar Modules, where a relatively small
number of companies represent a large share of the total
market, there is a wide range of companies that manufacture
Charge Controllers, often serving very local markets.
Our analysis by product model is available through our consultancy
services.
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