The IEC Conformity Assessment System for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components (IECEE) has been building trust for industries making and selling electronic equipment for the last 40 years, one the most important of them being the solar PV panel industry.

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.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that solar generation in parts of Eastern Australia is set to face significant disruptions as Cyclone Alfred hits the Queensland coast. Other areas may benefit from enhanced solar irradiance due to stabilizing atmospheric conditions on the cyclone’s periphery.

In the first anniversary of the series and International Women’s Day, Women in Solar+ Europe, WiSEu, gives voice to Emiliano Bellini, News Director at pv magazine, to reflect on the topics and the impact of the series. He says the series features diverse real experiences of women in the renewable energy sector, engaging readers as each story offers a unique perspective. Emiliano highlights that the series emphasises the importance of mentoring for all genders and showcases women’s assertiveness and struggles with imposter syndrome. Emiliano advocates for refinement and the need to evolve DEI while freeing language in debates to allow for open conversations without fear of offense, encouraging growth from mistakes.

Stanford University professor Mark Z. Jacobson explains how the areas of Los Angeles that were recently hit by fire have now the opportunity to reduce energy bills and reconstruction costs by rebuilding only all-electric homes. “There is no reason to have both electricity and fossil gas in a building at the same time. There is nothing gas does that electricity doesn’t do better,” he states.

The Guyana Energy Agency is looking for solar installers to transport, deploy and commission solar arrays with accompanying battery storage at selected public buildings located across four regions of the country. The deadline for applications is April 1.

Electricity generated by water moving across a surface can be 10 times more powerful than previously thought, according to Australian researchers who say their finding could boost energy storage and charging rates and improve safety in fuel-holding systems.

Solar may have had a peak year in 2024, as persistent challenges in interconnection labor and more are forecast to lead to 1% annual declines through 2035, said a report from Wood Mackenzie.

Long duration energy storage (LDES) support scheme will have eight-hour minimum. First application round opens to well-established technologies, such as lithium-ion battery technology, with at least 100 MW capacity in April 2025. Flow batteries, compressed air, and liquid air likely to progress in second round, says regulator.

Adani Renewable Energy has secured the largest slice of 600 MW. Other winners include Mahindra Susten (240 MW), Avaada (210 MW) and Sprng Energy (150 MW).

Hyundai Motor says it plans to build its first hydrogen fuel cell systems plant in South Korea by 2028, pending union consultations, expanding beyond its existing facility in China.

TBEA says it will invest CNY 10.16 billion ($1.4 billion) in 3 GW of solar and wind projects with storage, backed by equity and syndicated loans, as part of plans to complete the solar plant by 2025 and wind project by 2026.

The French authorities have concluded a commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop PV tender with an average price of €0.0982 ($0.1067)/kWh. The government allocated 220 MW of PV capacity in total.

The Chinese solar manufacturer entered the heat pump business with a new product that can reportedly provide hot water up to 75 C and achieve a coefficient of performance of up to 5.0. It uses propane as a refrigerant and has sound levels of 48 db(A) to 66 db(A).

To make it easier to adopt building integrated PV (BIPV) as a glazing material, a group within the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) has tackled the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) calculation for BIPV. It is part of IEA PVPS Task 15 international standardization efforts.

The equipment with a processing speed of up to 10,800 pcs/h can be used to upgrade existing super multi-busbar (SMBB) and multi-busbar (MBB) equipment made by China-based Wuxi Autowell Technology (ATW). It is suitable for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon), heterojunction (HJT), and back-contact (BC) cell technologies.

Sweden’s Green14 is sampling material from its pilot reactor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The pilot has a 100 kW plasma capacity with 5 kg/h of silicon.

Swiss-British university spinoff, GraphEnergyTech, is developing graphene electrode technology to replace silver and other metals traditionally used in solar cell manufacturing.

The Pila Energy home battery is a portable, renter-friendly backup-power battery with enough energy storage to power a refrigerator for up to three days.

The battery features four MPPTs and can take up to 2,600 W of PV input. It also has an AC nominal output power of 800 W.

Atess Power has released a 1,500 kW battery for commercial and industrial (C&I) solar, with up to eight units operating in parallel for 12 MW of capacity. The Chinese inverter manufacturer also offers 1,000 kW and 1,200 kW models.

Atmoce’s new combiner boxes can handle up to 30 kW of PV input and offer 42 kWh of battery storage. Its microinverters support PV modules up to 700 W.

AE Solar has launched bifacial solar modules with 560 W to 580 W of power output, designed for vertical installations and agrivoltaic projects. The German company says the modules offer up to 10% backside power gain.

Aleo Solar says it will halt production at its solar panel factory in Prenzlau, Germany, affecting 110 employees. The manufacturer is a unit of Taiwan’s Sino-American Silicon.

After finding a way to make spiro-OMeTAD, a popular perovskite solar cell hole transport layer, less prone to heat-induced crystallization, researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology are now seeking partners to scale the technology for large-area PV cells.

The aid will take form of direct grants which will cover up to 50% of the investment cost of supported projects.

The information was confirmed by Francesco Del Pizzo, president for grid development strategies and dispatching at the Terna Group.

More than 16 GW of solar and wind generation and approximately 6 GW of energy storage projects could benefit from an accelerated environmental approvals process as the Australian government works to deliver critical infrastructure needed to achieve its clean energy targets, including 82% renewable electricity by 2030.

The new product features a coefficient of performance of 4.9 and sound levels of 52–56 db(A).

The Moroccan government has approved six projects by a range of foreign companies, while the European Hydrogen Bank’s second auction for renewable hydrogen production has attracted 61 bids from projects in 11 countries.