The cost of a photovoltaic system is a primary consideration when purchasing. The purchase price includes the cost of the PV modules, inverter and installation system, as well as the cost of module assembly and equipment commissioning.

A typical photovoltaic system in a single-family home is a 10kWp photovoltaic system. In addition to components, costs include planning and assembly.

Below, we’ve summarized for you the prices for the main cost items you’ll receive when purchasing a photovoltaic system.

Photovoltaic module

Currently, module prices range from €0.20 to €0.40 per watt. Therefore, a typical monocrystalline photovoltaic module with a power of 400-450 watts currently costs 85-150 euros. Therefore, for a 10 kW peak system, a pure module cost of around 3500 Euros would be incurred. Choose polycrystalline or thin film modules to reduce costs by 20% to 40%. However, these module types are also significantly less efficient and are less optically attractive than black monocrystalline modules.

converter

Inverter prices generally range from 1,500 yuan to 4,000 yuan. How much it actually costs depends largely on the features and manufacturer of the device.

power storage

Electricity storage prices for private residences will range from €6,000 to €15,000 in 2024. There can be significant price fluctuations based on manufacturer and storage size.

Smart Meter

A smart meter costs approximately €300 for a small PV system. Without smart meters, the photovoltaic system must be dynamically adjusted at 70% of rated power. The smart meter records your consumption in real time and can use up to 100% of the device's rated power (e.g., 30% consumption and 70% power). In a few years, smart meters will be a must-have for all homes.

energy storage converter

Most modern photovoltaic power plants have energy managers. It connects various components of the home energy system (for example: B. photovoltaic power generation, charging columns, heat pumps, storage), monitors their energy flow and performs intelligent control.

Electrical Installation & Module Installation

The cost of electrical installation and module installation depends greatly on site conditions and the size of the equipment. Roughly speaking, for a system of 8-12 kWp, the electrical installation costs €1,000 - €3,000 and the module installation costs €2,500 - €4,000.

repair

Maintenance of the photovoltaic system is not necessary as the system has no moving parts. Failures are rare and can usually be detected quickly through equipment monitoring. If you choose scheduled maintenance, you can choose between 1% and 1.5% of the asset cost. For equipment below 15 kWp, the annual cost is approximately €200 – 400. If you sign a fixed maintenance contract with remote device monitoring, it will cost you about 300 euros per year. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the factory runs smoothly.

The economics of photovoltaic systems have changed dramatically in recent years due to falling module and system prices. Just a few years ago, purchasing a PV system was only guaranteed for 20 years. Electricity compensation is much lower, and self-consumption of solar energy is the best value.

Currently, the cost of solar power generation is only 11-13 cents. On the other hand, buying electricity from the grid costs about $1 to 32 cents. Therefore, you can save 20 cents per kilowatt hour of your own electricity consumption. Nonetheless, electricity offsets are a great source of additional revenue for solar surplus.

annual income

Most interested people ask one question: How much money can I make each year from the electricity I produce? The key is the current cost of electricity which is the savings brought by photovoltaics. Additionally, excess electricity generated can be sent to the grid for sale. Photovoltaic systems coupled with an electricity storage can achieve up to 90% self-sufficiency from the grid, thus minimizing electricity costs. Below we give you an example of the economics of photovoltaic power generation using a 10 kWp system using storage.

hypothesis

Photovoltaic 10 kWh (10 kWh storage), output 10,000 kWh, electricity cost 0.32 euros, electricity compensation: 0.0811 euros (February to July 2024), electricity consumption 5,000 kWh

Save electricity costs with self-consumption of solar energy

Without memory (17% power consumption = 1,700 kWh): €544
Including memory (38.5% power consumption = 3,850 kWh): €1,232

Annual income from excess electricity supply (food compensation)

Without memory (83% electricity = 8300 kWh): €673.13
With memory (61.5% power = 6.150 kWh): €498,765

Total revenue

Without storage: €1,217,13
With storage: €1,730,765

cost of investment

Without storage: €14,000
With storage: €19,800

depreciation year

Without storage: €14,000 / €1,217.13 = 11.5 years
Including storage: €19,800 / €1,730,765 = 11.44 years

profit

After depreciation, you can only earn profit until the end of operations of your plant, but starting from the 21st year of operation, since from here the income will be deducted from the supply. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, in our example we assume that the life of the equipment is only 20 years (in reality, the life of PV systems is much longer than 30 years). It earns the following net profits from this facility.

Profit after 20 years

Without memory: 8.5 x 1.217.13 € = 10.34.61 €
With memory: 8.6 x 1.730.765 € = 14.884.58 €

Note: In the example calculations we did not take into account rising electricity prices and ongoing costs, but these must be taken into account in order to make realistic calculations.

Overall, solar panel production has declined sharply due to technological advancements and increasing production capacity. 13% per year since 2006, for a total of 75%. This makes solar panels more valuable than they were 10 years ago.
In the future, however, prices are expected to fall at a significantly slower pace. So no need to wait for future price drops.

power grid

In 2011, photovoltaic systems achieved grid parity. Here, grid parity means that photovoltaic electricity costs the same as electricity from the grid. Since then, the gap between grid electricity prices and photovoltaic electricity prices has grown wider, making photovoltaic systems increasingly more expensive to operate.

Since 2016, PV systems with storage also have grid parity. Therefore, it is worth mentioning that combining photovoltaic systems with storage can save even more on electricity bills.