PES Price Index Press Kit

What's new this week (2026-W36 · published September 2, 2026)

Launch edition: the PES Solar Price Index is live — computed weekly from the real, sellable Portlandia Electric Supply catalog, not from surveys or estimates.

• The n-type premium is quantifiable from shelf prices: TOPCon ($0.41/W, n=385) and bifacial ($0.41/W, n=476) modules carry a ~22% premium over the all-panel composite ($0.33/W, n=5,411).
• Wattage class no longer prices a module — cell technology does: residential 370–460W and commercial 500W+ modules both sit at a $0.34/W median.
• Generators: commercial/industrial sets (30 kW+) price at $439/kW — +34% above standby ($328/kW) on a capacity basis; portables are cheapest per kW at the median ($299/kW) but show the widest band ($69–$996).
• Sample base: 15,555 solar-panel listings scanned → 5,411 eligible single modules; 1,035 generator listings → 243 eligible sets. Week-over-week change tracking begins with the 2026-W37 edition.

Downloadable charts (free to use with attribution)

1. All-Panel Composite Index Card

The headline number: $0.33/W median list price across 5,411 modules, with residential, commercial, TOPCon and bifacial sub-readings.

Download PNG

2. Technology Split — TOPCon/Bifacial vs Standard

Cell technology sets the price, not wattage class: n-type and bifacial modules hold a ~22% premium over the composite.

Download PNG

3. Generator $/kW Index Card

Median $/kW by generator class: portable $299, standby $328, commercial $439 — 243 generator sets indexed.

Download PNG

Copy-paste embed badges

Drop these snippets into any article, blog post, or video description. Every badge links back to the live index with a followed link.

Badge A — composite index card (image embed):

Badge B — technology split chart (image embed):

Badge C — generator index card (image embed):

Badge D — text ticker (for newsletters, show notes, and AI answers):

How to cite

Cite the index in text as:

Charts on this page may be republished with the visible "Source: PES Supply Price Index" credit intact and a link to the live index. Please always include the week — the index refreshes weekly and older readings are superseded.

Methodology

The index is computed weekly from the live Portlandia Electric Supply catalog: median list price per watt (modules) or per kW (generator sets), with data-quality filters and minimum sample sizes. Full methodology, eligibility rules, and every weekly reading are documented on the index page.

View the live index & methodology Browse the catalog behind the numbers

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