In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that solar irradiance in the British Isles reached up to 35% above the norm during the first half of May, while The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany each recorded irradiance levels around 25% above average.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

US-based software provider Solesca presents new ways of handling PV system unavailability and solar module degradation. Engineers have a key role to play in this evolution, ensuring more accurate and reliable energy predictions for solar projects.

To address the variability of renewable energy for a stable supply, 22 distinct types of flexibility options are found in 100% renewable energy systems research articles, categorized into power-to-X, energy storage, demand response, transmission and distribution grids, and curtailment.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) highlights the transformative potential of green hydrogen and hydrogen-derived ammonia for decarbonizing the maritime industry. According to its experts, hydrogen could be soon be used as a maritime fuel, as ongoing innovation is slated to make hydrogen storage and transportation more viable over time.

An electrician in South Australia has been convicted and fined for providing false or misleading documents in the nation’s small-scale renewable energy scheme.

Using Google Earth imagery and 2019-2022 Sentinel-2 datasets, Chinese scientists have developed a two-stage classification framework to obtain the annual global dataset of solar photovoltaic panels at 20-meter resolution from 2019 to 2022.

The Indonesian province of Bali plans to scale up rooftop solar installations across government buildings, public facilities, and businesses to reduce dependence on fossil-based electricity.

AleaSoft Energy Forecasting’s says weekly average electricity prices increased across most major European markets last week, despite an influx of negative prices over the weekend. Portugal, meanwhile, broke its all-time record for solar energy production.

Biwatt has unveiled a 155 kWh sodium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers.

Liberia has launched a tender for consultants to verify claims by off-grid companies deploying standalone rooftop systems, solar home systems, and isolated minigrids. Applications are due by May 22.

DIYers can assemble the frame and modules themselves, according to the supplier. A 5.34 kW system with glass-on-glass modules from Trina Solar is available in Germany starting at €5,999.

Scientists have developed a precursor formulation for different PV simulation tools that can help calculate the expected performance of solar farms deployed on hilly slopes. Validation tests against an experimental setup showed an error of less than 3%.

Researchers in Sweden and Italy analyzed the economics of one-axis, vertical, and elevated PV systems for agrivoltaic applications, finding that overhead agrivoltaic systems may perform better the further south they are installed. The discounted payback period and levelized cost of electricity were also calculated and compared.

Three year old Space Solar has completed an 18-month engineering design and development project for key parts of its modular space-based solar power system.

Qcells says its perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules have passed several independently verified stress tests. The South Korean module maker claims the results meet benchmarks for commercial acceptance of its tandem tech.

Axpo has started remotely controlling a 2.5 MW hydrogen production facility (HPF) in Switzerland, while Statkraft says it will halt new green hydrogen projects amid market uncertainty.

Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund says April output fell 10.2% below forecast across its Japan portfolio due to increased grid curtailments, especially on the island of Kyushu.

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 first part of the series aims to help homeowners looking to embrace PV identify the best installers on the market.

Australian perovskite cell producer Halocell Energy is partnering with University of Queensland researchers to accelerate the commercial production of lead-free solar panels based on record-breaking tin-halide PV cell technology.

China’s wind and solar capacity rose to 1,482 GW in the first quarter of 2025, overtaking coal for the first time, driven by 59.7 GW of new PV additions, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA).

At Intersolar Europe in Munich, several companies presented their concepts for high-performance perovskite tandem photovoltaics. The first modules are expected to be available in the second half of the year. The different approaches by manufacturers are evident.

Gstar has completed the first phase of its factory in the Philippines, set to produce 1 GW of solar modules and 1.5 GW of solar cells. The Singapore-based solar manufacturer says a planned second phase will take its solar module nameplate capacity to 2 GW.

Ciel & Terre has completed a 120 MWp floating solar project in India, introducing several company firsts in engineering and design, including rock bolt anchoring and a reinforced fiberglass inverter barge. The system also marks the French PV specialist’s first use of spin welding in its floating platform assembly.

New research from France has compared the performance of agrivoltaics in Spain and the Netherlands and have concluded that the former – a dry region with high solar radiation levels – offer more technical advantages over the latter, which is characterized by abundant rainfall and lower solar radiation.

Beam Global is launching in Europe a prefabricated and portable PV powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station that integrates a canopy-style structure, an inverter, a battery storage system, an EV charger and 14.3 KW of solar PV.

Researchers found multiple benefits after distributing free solar panels and battery systems with USB ports to 800 rural households in Ghana.

The Italian manufacturer said its new R32 heat pump has a coefficient of performance of up to 5.2 and a heating capacity of up to 16 kW. It is available in either single-phase or three-phase versions.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that approximately 175 TWh of hydrogen and compressed air storage capacity will be needed to fully decarbonize heating in the United Kingdom. Lead researcher Bruno Cardenas told pv magazine that, when domestic heat demand is 100% electrified, average annual electricity demand and peak load in the grid are 26% and 70% higher than current levels.

Europe’s largest solar power event filled 18 very large halls in Munich, and new launches ranged from balcony solar to cow poop innovations.