Solar has never been so profitable. In two years, the price of electricity has doubled while that of solar panels has fallen significantly. Installing solar panels thus becomes the smart move par excellence to reduce your energy bill. However, individuals are still poorly informed about the real cost of a solar installation, and certain players take advantage of their lack of knowledge of the sector to offer them quotes well beyond market prices.
Hello Watt therefore collected around fifty quotes in order to analyze the prices charged on the French market. This study highlights the large price disparities for residential photovoltaic installations in France. A lesson: it is essential to choose the company to which you entrust your project, in order to guarantee a fair price.
The price of equipment falls but not that of all installations
Currently, individuals are poorly informed about the real cost of a photovoltaic installation. Many still remember the high prices of the 2010s.
However, the price of hardware has fallen sharply over the past decade. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recorded a 69% drop in the cost of photovoltaic modules on the French market between 2013 and 2019.
This downward trend accelerated further in 2023: in France, the prices of solar panels and inverters have fallen by at least 25% since January 2023.
A strong price disparity between installers
6 kWp installations
Hello Watt began by analyzing the prices charged for a 6 kWp installation, the most common installation size for self-consumption in 2024.
3 kWp installations
Subsidiaries of energy suppliers charge between €16,000 and €26,000 for 6 kWp
Subsidiaries of energy suppliers, who take advantage of their brand image and often practice field sales, tend to charge prices up to twice as high as national installers. EDF ENR, for example, offers 6.3 kWp for €26,600.
The prices offered by local players are extremely variable
Prices offered vary greatly depending on the local company quoting. Among the local players, there are both reliable craftsmen and less scrupulous others, and it is often difficult for the individual to distinguish them.
In the 6 kWp quotes, the prices range from €12,000 (very reasonable price) to €26,000 – a quote for total self-consumption accompanied by an unfavorable credit offer.
Prices offered door-to-door, at fairs and exhibitions can vary from single to double
The prices offered at fairs and exhibitions, as well as by players who practice door-to-door canvassing, can vary by one to two and the quote is often made at the customer’s expense, which can result in very high prices.
When door-to-door, high prices are encouraged by sellers’ commissions, which can represent more than 30% of the sale amount.
Prices range from €20,000 to €27,000 for a 6 kWp depending on the quotes.
Finally, sales at fairs and exhibitions do not allow customers to benefit from the legal withdrawal period of 14 days.
National installers therefore offer better prices
Individuals who request quotes online can compare them and therefore choose the most competitive offers.
Individuals who call on national installers obtain a better offer: between €11,600 and €17,000 for a 6 kWp installation.
In addition, online, the price is the same for everyone, unlike sales at fairs, exhibitions and door-to-door, where it is more often established at the customer’s head. Players using field sales must pay traveling salespeople and are therefore generally more expensive.
In October 2024, Hello Watt offers quotes from €11,600 for an installation of 6 kWp (approximately 16 solar panels) with DMEGC panels. Other national installers offer installations of this power at prices ranging from €12,000 (Qualiwatt) to €16,600 (Nouvel’R Énergie).
Prices that have a direct impact on the profitability of projects
Such disparities have a direct impact on the profitability of projects: it is common to hear that the profitability of a photovoltaic installation mainly depends on the sunshine rate of the department, or self-consumption rate. This is true, however, the profitability of an installation also depends largely on the prices charged by the installer from whom it is purchased.
Hello Watt’s recommendations to protect consumers and accelerate the deployment of residential solar in France
6 measures inspired by our European neighbors and aid for energy renovation to lower the price
- Lower VAT to 5.5% and standardize it for all powers.
- Target aid to less well-off households, like MaPrimeRenov’, and allow installers to deduct the self-consumption bonus from the quote rather than paying it one year after the work.
- Put in place aid for access to batteries and solar production monitoring tools to increase the rate of self-consumption.
- Extend the zero-rate eco-loan (eco-PTZ) to photovoltaic solar
- Simplify administrative procedures, particularly complex in France and without equivalent in Europe, by eliminating the prior declaration of works
- Change the purchasing obligation system which considerably slows down individual projects, and make it independent of EDF.
4 measures to protect consumers and avoid excessively high prices
- Ban door-to-door sales.
- Allow withdrawal for 14 days for sales at shows and fairs.
- Prohibit credits for solar installation amounts that are too high.
- Sanction fraudulent VAT recovery practices.
« For residential solar to develop massively, prices must be competitive and fair,” recalls Sylvain Le Falher, co-founder of Hello Watt.
Methodology
The Hello Watt study was carried out by collecting and analyzing quotes from different types of installers, including local players, national installers and subsidiaries of energy suppliers, for 3 and 6 kWp installations.
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