PV is a sellers market.

I guess it depends what you mean by region.
 
I would break it down a lot smaller than West or Northwest. Oregon and Washington are generally less expensive than California, although in all three states, property within 20-50 miles of the coast tends to be more expensive than properties further inland.  Larger cities also tend to be more expensive than smaller towns. The worst is a large city in the coastal zone.

You can tie a lot of costs directly to real estate, including paying higher wages.

Labor laws and taxes can also impact costs. Some of the large chains find it less expensive to locate their distribution centers in Oregon or Nevada, and truck to California, versus operating a distribution center here.

While there are sellers that are gouging people, you need to look at the sellers margin.  It is quite possible that my local suppliers are operating on a smaller per unit margin than some guy in midwest, even though his listed prices are less.

Paying more to keep the people that you trust and can count on in business makes sense. The cheapest price from whomever, can cost you in the long run.

Ken

PS If you want a California on-line store that carries Kyocera, Wholesale Solar. Its on the solarbuzz list.

I don't know all of the plants. The panels could come from a number of places.  But, Kyocera does have a big maquiladora facility in Tijuana, Mexico. It produces about 35 megawatts of panels a year.  It is currently being expanded. They hope to have capacity for 150MW by 2011. Not sure where they currently are in between those two figures.

Ken