After a prolonged period of rock-bottom prices and manufacturing oversupply, solar PV pricing is starting to shift – and the implications could ripple across the global industry in 2026.
In this episode of The smarter E podcast, host Jonathan Gifford digs into what’s changing beneath the surface of the PV supply chain, and why pricing dynamics are becoming impossible to ignore.
In the first part of the episode, Jonathan is joined by Alex Barrows, Head of PV at CRU, and Molly Morgan, Senior Analyst, for a deep dive into the forces reshaping module costs. From surging silver prices to China’s VAT rebate changes, they unpack how upstream pressures are feeding through to cells, modules, and manufacturer margins – and what this means for technology choices in the years ahead.
The conversation also explores the evolving competitive landscape between TOPCon, heterojunction, and back-contact cell architectures, and asks whether pricing discipline can realistically return to a sector still wrestling with structural overcapacity.
In the second segment, recorded in London, Jonathan speaks with Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council, to zoom out to the global deployment picture. They discuss the rapid rise of residential solar-plus-storage, the political power of distributed energy, and the market and grid reforms needed to unlock the next phase of solar and battery growth worldwide.
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About The smarter E Podcast
The smarter E podcast is all about the current trends and developments in a renewable, decentralized and digital energy industry. Our host welcomes and interviews personalities who shape our industry and drive developments forward. A new episode is published bi-weekly on Thursdays.
Alex joined Exawatt (now CRU) in 2017, and is based in CRU’s Sheffield office. Prior to joining Exawatt, Alex worked as a Research Scientist at a materials science company. He holds a PhD in perovskite and organic solar cells, and obtained both this and his Masters from The University of Sheffield.
Molly is a Senior Research Analyst in the solar PV team at Exawatt (now CRU). Molly oversees CRU’s tracking and forecasting of PV module efficiency and architecture. In addition, she undertakes analysis of capacity, production and financial data for PV manufacturers.
Molly joined Exawatt as an analyst in 2020 whilst finishing her studies. Molly has an undergraduate degree in Physics and postgraduate masters degree in solar cell technology from the University of Sheffield.
Sonia Dunlop is CEO of the Global Solar Council, where she represents the world's solar PV industry with respect to policy-makers, other sectors and the media. She previously worked for SolarPower Europe, Solar Energy UK and the RE-Source Platform. Previously she was for five years part of the senior management team of global climate politics think tank Third Generation Environmentalism (E3G) and worked for the COP26 Glasgow organising team in the UK government.