In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, reports that pessimism in the global polysilicon market has deepened, driven by a persistent oversupply that exceeds buyers’ total monthly purchasing volumes. Several global polysilicon buyers have confirmed maintaining substantial inventories, which has contributed to the current subdued trading activity.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that atmospheric particulates from both Saharan dust and Canadian wildfire led to reductions in solar irradiance and increased panel soiling in the Mediterranean region over the last week.

Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere, powering everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, residential PV storage systems, and, more recently, mitigating curtailment in large-scale wind and solar power plants. EVs are driving large-scale demand for Li-ion batteries which will result in substantial volumes of spent batteries in the near future. This scenario highlights the potential for repurposing EV batteries for second-life stationary applications, which could maximise their value before recycling. However, to fully realise this opportunity, several economic, technical, and regulatory challenges must be addressed and resolved.

PV module prices remain largely flat despite slight increases for high-efficiency products, as sluggish supply has yet to signal a clear trend, says Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Christelle Mirailles, Business Development & Strategy at France’s Equans Solar & Storage. She says women should embrace their uniqueness rather than to conform to traditional leadership molds. “We should champion authenticity and individuality, viewing differences as strengths rather than liabilities,” she states.

The recent discovery of unexplained components in Danish energy equipment highlights the urgent need for stronger EU solar cybersecurity rules, according to SolarPower Europe.

Hydro-Quebec has launched a 300 MW solar tender. Interested applicants have until July 21 to register to the tender and will be given until March 31, 2026 to submit their bid.

A tender in Namibia is searching for a consultancy to support the installation of solar at the site of an existing embankment dam. The deadline to submit expressions of interest is July 8.

Based on the the heat pump-organic rankine cycle, scientists in Portugal have created six different models of Carnot batteries for stationary storage. They investigated 16 different combinations of working fluids and created a multi-objective optimization for the best candidate.

Live fire tests aim to demonstrate physical containment technology.

Scientists in Spain studied electricity demand data for the Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia to optimize several minigrid scenarios, also integrating the use of electric pressure cookers. Their analysis showed that introduction of the cooker required an increase in PV capacity of up 68%.

More than 8,000 people attended the recent CleanPower 2025 clean energy event held by the American Clean Power Association (ACP) in Phoenix, Arizona.

The California State Assembly’s Appropriations Committee passed a bill that would renege more than a million commitments to the state’s rooftop solar customers.

At The smarter E Europe 2025, pv magazine Editor Mark Hutchins explored Fraunhofer ISE’s latest integrated PV innovations, including color-customizable flexible modules for buildings, and new agrivoltaic research combining solar with crop cultivation.

Next2Sun AG executives spoke with pv magazine at Intersolar Europe 2025 on the growing momentum of agrivoltaics. The company doubled annual installations to 40 MW in 2024, underscoring vertical PV’s value in markets like Italy, Germany and France.

A team of São Paulo-based researchers have found incorporating formamidinium cations into methylammonium-based lead iodide perovskite films increases the durability of perovskite solar cells when fabricated and measured under ambient conditions.

Q3 Energie showcased a new string combiner box at Intersolar Europe 2025. The generator junction box can detect and isolate faults in photovoltaic systems.

Jinko ESS has launched a new modular 520 kWh battery energy storage system for commercial and industrial users. The product will be available for global shipment in Q3 2025.

Scientists have developed a way to compare the data given by PV manufacturers based on standard test conditions (STC) to the real conditions in the field. The proposed technique is based on the single-diode model and the Newton-Raphson algorithm. The maximum relative error was found to be at 1.37%.

Scientists have placed mist nozzles inside a bifacial PV module and measured it under an extremely hot climate. The module was found to generate up to 37% more electricity on sunny days and up to 46% more on cloudy days compared to standard monofacial panels.

Back contact cells, long seen by many as too complex or costly for mainstream PV manufacturing, are a growing industry trend in 2025. Mark Hutchins stopped by Aiko’s booth, where Claudio Godinho, Europe Service Director at Aiko, treated us to live demonstrations of how the company’s back contact PV modules perform under conditions including partial shading, high temperatures, and mechanical stress.

pv magazine visited Longi’s booth at Intersolar in Munich and had a quick chat with Charles Yiang, President of Distributed Generation Business Group. He visually showed both sides of the 27.81% hybrid interdigitated back contact (HIBC) crystalline silicon solar cell that a few weeks ago achieved the world record efficiency for single-junction silicon solar cells.

Join Cormac Gilligan, Associate Director of Clean Energy Technology at S&P Global Commodity Insights, and Marian Willuhn, Senior Editor, pv magazine, as they walk through the halls of The Smarter E Europe 2025 in Munich, exploring the latest trends in the power electronics field. In this video, Cormac shares insights from major inverter manufacturers, including Sungrow, Solis, GE Vernova, Solaredge, and Gamesa.

Japan-based startup PXP Corporation and JGC Japan Corporation, a unit of JGC Corporation, are collaborating on a 1 kW one-year project to trial lightweight chalcopyrite panels in Yokohama City.

pv magazine is compiling a guide to home solar installations, aimed at those who are interested in installing but are new to the market and want to make an informed decision. We have spoken to associations, installers and industry specialists in major solar markets across the globe to compile best practice guidance and advice that aims to be applicable to home solar installations anywhere in the world.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new heat pump systems have a heating capacity of 4 kW to 16 kW and a coefficient of performance of up to 5.05.

The European Commission has selected projects for €992 million ($1.1 billion) of EU public funding, while the Japanese government has agreed to provide $4.80 in subsidies for hydrogen fuel cell trucks.

China and Chile led battery storage deployments in a more evenly distributed scene than in previous months, but a lower overall total was installed at grid-scale.

Mozambique is seeking two to four minigrid developers to build, own and operate solar minigrids with accompanying battery energy storage.

The Aachen-based company has further developed its energy management system (EMS) under real-world conditions, to minimize the cyclic aging of its batteries.