In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that cloud-bearing weather systems dominated the British Isles, significantly reducing irradiance across the UK and Ireland between 9 and 18 February 2025, when solar generation reached in the region its lowest levels relative to capacity in at least a decade.
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.
Photovoltaics continues adding capacity at a rapid pace, and 2024 was another record year for solar PV deployment. In the meantime, despite recent hurdles to widespread adoption in some countries, electric vehicle uptake grew 25% last year. Assuming a 10 kWh/day energy requirement for every new EV, the 17 million new EVs sold in 2024 would have added another 50-70 GW of new PV generation worldwide.
This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Kristi Ghogh, a Clean Energy Associate at an energy advisory Trio. She says deep-rooted cultural biases can impact women’s choices, sometimes leading individuals to avoid entering male-dominated careers. “Overcoming these biases involves stepping outside our comfort zones and embracing new learning experiences, which can be challenging and time-consuming,” she states.
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that South America saw widespread above-average irradiance in January, despite weak La Niña conditions. However, storm systems fueled by Atlantic moisture suppressed solar generation in parts of Brazil and Bolivia.
In the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, an explosion tore away the outer wall of a show home equipped with solar panels and a residential battery. The badly-damaged building, which was vacant at the time of the incident, will likely be demolished.
Rho Motion noted big projects in Saudi Arabia and Hubei, China, and reported the only non-lithium-ion sites were three Chinese vanadium flow batteries.
Six Fraunhofer institutes are developing new electrocaloric heat pumps that use elastocaloric heat pipes instead of compressors to extract heat from the sources. The first pilot systems developed by the research team achieved an electrical efficiency of 99.74%.
India’s Enhanced Innovations has developed the Phloton active cooling vaccine carrier with a 14-hour lithium battery backup and solar charging support.
In an exclusive interview with pv magazine, ACWA Power CEO Marco Arcelli said the Saudi energy giant is currently exploring opportunities to build a hydrogen corridor between Europe and the Middle East and North Africa. He spoke about the company’s current 2 GW hydrogen project in Neom and presented the company’s plans for renewable energy and desalination.
The updated solar roof product from GAF Energy has purportedly 23% more power than previous units and has a depth of less than 0.6 cm.
A research group in Japan identified a correlation between damp heat test of 1,000 hours to 3–6 years of field exposure in humid areas and changes in acetic acid concentration in photovoltaic modules. Their analysis also showed that an acetic acid concentration over 10,000 μg/g can be critical.
Electricity distribution company Powercor Australia attended the scene of a solar farm transformer fire near Raywood, Victoria, which is now being investigated by Energy Safe Victoria.
Last year’s solar additions, led by installations in the commercial and industrial sector, took Slovakia’s cumulative solar capacity to over 1 GW.
The energy storage startup’s new plug-and-play modules will provide a kilowatt of storage in a small package.
The technology performance level chart is designed to help perovskite module manufacturers develop technical bankability and highlight the economic viability of their technology.
The Chinese module maker is preparing to bring to the market 25.97%-efficient heterojunction solar cells based on copper metallization. The new products are based on ultra-narrow 9-micron busbars, vacuum-deposited copper interconnects and proprietary interface engineering.
The RWTH Aachen University has simulated 27 scenarios of energy communities participating in the balancing market in Germany and has found that the business model behind an energy community is only feasible if battery storage is available.
Scientists in India have simulated a novel perovskite solar cell that combinies a Dion-Jacobson 2D layer with a 3D halide perovskite. The design showed improved stability compared to reference cells without the DJ-2D layer.
The result was confirmed by China’s National Solar Photovoltaic Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. The tandem device is relying on a bottom cell based on a heterojunction design.
Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) has announced plans to set up integrated solar equipment and battery manufacturing units.
The facility will manufacture TrinaTracker’s Vanguard series of solar trackers and smart control systems. Commercial operation is set to begin during the first quarter of this year.
Azul Pack has developed a new reflective membrane to increase albedo and energy yield in photovoltaic plants with bifacial modules. In a fixed structure plant located in Minas Gerais, the technology reportedly resulted in a 7% increase in energy at the inverter output.
Scientists in Indonesia have investigated early operational defects in a 24.9 MW solar PV system in Sumatra and have identified hotspot formation as the dominant defect. They also detected 282 cases of glass cracking, 350 cases of junction box failures and shading effects linked to module defects.
Longi filed the lawsuit in China at the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong, demanding an immediate halt to the manufacturing, sales, and offers to sell the allegedly infringing products. The lawsuit in the United States was filed at District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
India’s Ministry of Power has mandated all renewable energy implementing agencies and state utilities must incorporate a minimum of two-hour co-located energy storage systems (ESS), equivalent to 10% of the installed solar project capacity, in future solar tenders.
Slovenian electricity market operator Borzen has shared details of a forthcoming €20 million ($20.9 million) fund that will support the installation of heat pumps and solar thermal collectors, alongside other renewable energy devices. Applications for the subsidy will open Mar. 18, 2025.
Analysis by the European Heat Pump Association found sales of heat pumps across the 13 main European markets, that make up around 85% of the total European market, fell by an average of 23% year-on-year in 2024, with the UK the only one to buck the trend.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities has approved a rate change that allows large electricity customers, specifically large business customers, to pay a transmission coincident peak demand charge instead of a volumetric transmission charge.
Solar energy has been essential for survival in Ukraine during nearly three years of war since the Russian invasion in 2022. As citizens hope for peace, PV will be instrumental in supporting post-war recovery, whenever it comes.
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