Transportation delivery problems from China, combined with a continuing rise in the cost of raw materials, are maintaining solar panel prices at elevated levels, and, even more crucially, leaving the market dry.

According to PVInfoLink data, current price levels for silicon, the basic component for solar cells, have risen by 300 percent since July, 2020.

Container shipping costs have increased by 350 percent since April, 2020, reaching 12,000 dollars per container, while, according to some forecasts, will soon reach 15,000 dollars per container.

These developments have created unfavorable and unprecedented conditions for investors seeking to develop solar energy parks as they are unable to find panels that could be delivered within reasonable periods, even at higher prices.

Investors who had not placed orders for solar panels in anticipation of further price reductions now find themselves in big trouble. This is especially so for investors who face nearing electrification deadlines for solar energy parks.

According to projections by international analysts, PV price levels are not expected to start declining until at least the end of the first half of 2022.

Demand levels for PV panels will remain high, according to analysts, as investment plans in Europe and around the world are continuously growing in scale, and, even more crucially, the Chinese and Indian markets are moving ahead fast.