Data brief · August 2026
The PES Solar Equipment Price Index 2026
What do solar panels actually cost per watt right now? We benchmarked 719 live competitor listings across 5 U.S. solar retailers (a1solarstore.com, altestore.com, renvu.com, unboundsolar.com, ussolarsupplier.com) and normalized everything to dollars per watt ($/W) so quotes can be compared apples-to-apples. We publish the same math for our own catalog (3,725 panel listings) so buyers can check us against the market.
Average price per watt by panel class
| Class | Listings | Market avg $/W | Market median $/W | PES avg $/W | PES median $/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential (≤450W) | 530 / 2,089 PES | $0.588 | $0.538 | $0.451 | $0.455 |
| Commercial (451–600W) | 164 / 1,012 PES | $0.442 | $0.399 | $0.428 | $0.425 |
| Utility (>600W) | 25 / 624 PES | $0.382 | $0.418 | $0.417 | $0.412 |
Observation window 2026-06-26 – 2026-07-23. Accessories, kits and non-panel items excluded; listings outside $0.15–$1.50/W treated as data errors and dropped.
Brand benchmark (competitor listings)
Average listed $/W by module brand across the retailers we monitor. Lower is cheaper at the listing level; freight, pallet minimums and warranty terms still apply.
| Brand | Listings | Avg $/W | Avg panel price | Seen at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SolarSpace | 7 | $0.277/W | $151.81 | a1solarstore.com |
| Astronergy | 7 | $0.326/W | $194.28 | a1solarstore.com |
| Talesun | 22 | $0.331/W | $163.99 | a1solarstore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Philadelphia Solar | 14 | $0.345/W | $168.56 | a1solarstore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Sunpro Power | 5 | $0.351/W | $174.52 | a1solarstore.com |
| Runergy / Hyperion | 26 | $0.362/W | $169.23 | a1solarstore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| CW Energy | 4 | $0.365/W | $183.09 | a1solarstore.com |
| Ht-Saae | 4 | $0.375/W | $180.99 | ussolarsupplier.com |
| LONGi | 12 | $0.415/W | $161.51 | a1solarstore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Sonali Solar | 9 | $0.417/W | $171.88 | a1solarstore.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Seraphim | 9 | $0.417/W | $181.10 | a1solarstore.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Jinko Solar | 37 | $0.437/W | $184.56 | a1solarstore.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| VSUN | 15 | $0.439/W | $184.17 | a1solarstore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| SEG Solar | 4 | $0.458/W | $191.11 | a1solarstore.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
| Hyundai | 8 | $0.469/W | $223.61 | altestore.com, renvu.com, ussolarsupplier.com |
Month over month: prices are flat
We re-matched 1,426 SKUs against our 2026-06-25 snapshot (1,387 re-crawled since): 40 rose, 5 fell, 1,381 were unchanged — an average move of +0.21%. The headline for buyers: module pricing has stabilized after the spring tariff shuffle; the action is in BOS hardware and clearance lots.
Biggest movers we tracked
| Item | Retailer | Jun 25 | Latest | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNIRAC SOLARMOUNT 320168M 168 14 MILL RAIL | ussolarsupplier.com | $69.91 | $49.06 | ▼ 29.8% |
| ASS030540010 | invertersupply.com | $119.57 | $88.40 | ▼ 26.1% |
| MIDNITE SOLAR MNEDC50 50A 150VDC 120VAC NON POLARIZED PANEL MOUNT CIRCUIT BREAKER | ussolarsupplier.com | $22.25 | $21.41 | ▼ 3.8% |
| USIN100-0253 | ussolarsupplier.com | $3497.24 | $3425.24 | ▼ 2.1% |
| USSSP110-1533 | ussolarsupplier.com | $11.14 | $10.99 | ▼ 1.4% |
| USMS100-0175 | ussolarsupplier.com | $23.59 | $34.94 | ▲ 48.1% |
| SDRPSKC | invertersupply.com | $119.57 | $170.85 | ▲ 42.9% |
| BAM030712000R | invertersupply.com | $119.57 | $158.95 | ▲ 32.9% |
| BAM030712000 | invertersupply.com | $119.57 | $158.95 | ▲ 32.9% |
| DISCO-1000-US | invertersupply.com | $119.57 | $149.13 | ▲ 24.7% |
How to use this index
- Quoting a job? Divide any panel quote by nameplate watts. Above $0.59/W for residential-class modules in mid-2026 means you should shop the quote.
- Buying commercial? Commercial-class modules averaged $0.442/W across the market; our catalog averaged $0.428/W over the same window.
- Journalists & researchers: you may cite this page with attribution (“PES Solar Equipment Price Index, Portlandia Electric Supply”). The underlying methodology and sources are documented in the page source.
Methodology
We crawl competitor storefronts on a rolling basis, extract listed price and nameplate wattage from each product listing, drop anything that is not a bare module (kits, racking, electronics) and any listing whose implied $/W falls outside $0.15–$1.50 or whose title wattage disagrees with its spec wattage. Panel classes follow common U.S. practice: residential ≤450W, commercial 451–600W, utility >600W. PES figures are computed identically from our own published catalog. This page is refreshed monthly; the current build covers 2026-06-26 to 2026-07-23.
Need project pricing? Wholesale buyers can request a quote from the PES team or browse current panel inventory. Press and data questions are welcome at the same address. (Internal links verified live 2026-08-09.)