The average price of a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in Europe fell to €55.05/MWh (US$64.83/MWh) in the first quarter of 2026, a 4% quarter-on-quarter decline that marks five consecutive quarters of price declines.
This is one of the takeaways from LevelTen Energy’s latest report on the European solar PPA market, which shows a 13% decline in average solar PPA price between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The average solar prices continue to be notably lower than for wind PPAs (€85.38MWh) and blended deals (€70.21/MWh), as has been the case for several years.
Try Premium for just $1
- Full premium access for the first month at only $1
- Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
- Cancel anytime during the trial period
Premium Benefits
- Expert industry analysis and interviews
- Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
- Exclusive event discounts
Or get the full Premium subscription right away
Or continue reading this article for free
Solar also reported a greater decline in prices than the other technology types, both in terms of absolute numbers and percentage change. The 4.2% quarter-on-quarter decline seen in solar compares to a 0.7% decline for wind over the same period and a 1.49% decline for blended PPAs.
These figures also come as appetite for PPA prices in Europe remains cool. LevelTen described 2025 as a “slow year” for the PPA market, and interest in new deals has “remained tepid” in the first quarter of 2026.
Earlier this year, a report from SolarPower Europe found that appetite for corporate PPAs in Europe had cooled in 2025, and experts from the trade body told PV Tech Premium that a more “complimentary” relationship between national auctions and corporate PPAs as financing mechanisms would be to the benefit of the European renewables sector as a whole.
Indeed, the LevelTen report adds that offtakers are “adopting a more diverse array of contractual arrangements” to secure project finance amid global geopolitical disruptions, such as the conflict in the Middle East; figures from fellow analyst Pexapark show that the conflict has increased European solar PPA prices by as much as 35%.
The LevelTen report also attributes this hesitance to sign deals to lower, even negative, prices and suggests that developers are more keen to add storage to their portfolios rather than new electricity generating assets, as a way to enhance stability. This week, PV Tech Premium heard from Sonnedix about how working with both solar and storage auctions in Italy had become a “crucial” part of the company’s financing practices.
North American solar PPA price up 13% year-on-year
LevelTen also released its latest report into the North American PPA space this week, which notes that solar PPA prices increased by 4.6% between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. This equates to a 13% year-on-year increase, and means that European and US solar PPA prices have moved in opposite directions for the last year.
Market-averaged solar PPA prices in North America reached US$64.49/MWh in the first quarter of the year, seven dollars cheaper than blended PPAs and almost US$15 cheaper than wind. There is a similar trend for the continental index—which shows PPA value across the region, regardless of ISO—where solar is the cheapest form of power, with an average selling price of US$55.51/MWh.
This is a notable change within the last year; as recently as the second quarter of 2025, solar was the most expensive technology type on the continental index, but has since seen its price fall to below US$55/MWh, before rebounding again in the first quarter of 2026.
The report adds that CAISO saw “potent price increases” in the first quarter of the year, which helped push the overall solar PPA price up further, but that demand for solar remains high as “buyers are pursuing electrons and clean energy attributes from wherever they can be sourced”.
