This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Brigite Gonçalves, Head of Utility-Scale PV Business Developer at Portugal’s EnergyCon. She says Women in the solar industry face unique challenges, such as underrepresentation in decision-making roles and the persistence of unconscious biases. “To achieve equity, the solar sector must prioritize structural changes, including accessible mentoring and sponsorship programs tailored for women,” she states.

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.

As the global solar energy industry grows, so does the need for accurate monitoring of performance and financial viability. The latest report by IEA PVPS Task 13, “Best Practice Guidelines for the Use of Economic and Technical KPIs,” provides a comprehensive framework to address this issue. This article explores the importance, methodologies, and applications of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), with a focus on their role in optimizing PV systems.

Solar and wind are being installed at a rate that is five times faster than all other new electricity sources combined. This offers compelling market-based evidence that PV and wind are now the most competitive and practical methods for deploying new generating capacity.

Markus Hoehner and Rajan Kalsotra, CEO and Senior Consultant at the Bonn-based EUPD Research, discuss the growth trajectory, challenges and opportunities within the EU solar PV market, focusing on policy support, pricing trends, module shipments and future projections.

The new 51.2 kWh modular storage system connects to European wholesale electricity markets such as NordPool and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to track and analyze dynamic tariffs. It offers three-phase backup and is virtual power plant-ready.

A rise in electricity demand led to an increase in electricity prices across some European markets last week, while a drop in gas prices contributed to lower prices in others, according to AleaSoft Energy Forecasting’s latest analysis.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation will begin once the fire is extinguished.

Clean Energy Associates says it has identified five looming risks to the US battery energy storage industry, as analysts predict significant policy shifts under US President Donald Trump’s upcoming administration.

China is building its first gigawatt-scale residential virtual power plant (VPP) in Jiangsu province. The project will connect millions of high-power household appliances to a cloud-based energy pool to improve grid stability and boost renewable energy use.

The African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) says utility-scale projects dominated Africa’s new solar additions in 2024, with storage installations surging tenfold.

Developed at the U. S. Ames National Laboratory, the novel magnetocaloric heat pump utilizes gadolinium as the working medium and reportedly matches current vapor-compression heat pumps for weight, cost, and performance. The system is based on a packed-particle bed active magnetic regenerator, a magnetic source composed of permanent magnets and high permeability magnetic steel.

The Chinese inverter said its new inverters have an MPPT current of up to 54 A and support more than a 150% DC/AC ratio. The new products also feature a maximum efficiency of 98.8% and a European efficiency rate of 98.3%.

The Tunisian authorities have launched tenders for two 100 MW solar plants.

The United Arab Emirates, Italy, and Albania plan to cooperate on gigawatt-scale renewable projects in Albania and a cross-border transmission link to deliver power to Italy.

A European project aims to develop flexible tandem perovskite-CIGS solar technology to make 25%-efficient 100 cm2 modules with a variety of substrates for decentralized solar PV applications. The project entails using processes that are scalable for roll-to-roll production.

The company has signed a long-term purchase agreement for solar gasoline with AMAG Group, which will purchase 50,000 liters of solar gasoline per year from Synhelion’s RISE plant in Spain starting in 2027.

Scientists have placed four PV panels in a 21-meter wind tunnel and run different tests regarding tilt angles, mounting height, spacing, and incoming flow direction. They found that when the spacing between panels exceeds twice the panel height, the mutual influence on dust deposition becomes negligible.

A group of scientists has developed an open-source dataset comprising three years’ worth of data from Hong Kong’s largest behind-the-meter rooftop solar power project. Power generation was collected at 5-minute intervals, and meteorological data at 1-minute.

Sunairio has launched software that features high-resolution historical climate data and high-resolution future climate models to provide insights into site-specific risks. It recently raised venture capital to expand into new markets for its solar and wind portfolio-oriented software.

Scientists in Iran have designed a CPV system that integrates a paraffin-based nanomaterials cooling system with fin, as well as thermoelectric generators that turns wast heat into electricity. Simulated results demonstrated that, with the cooling system in place, the PV efficiency improves by approximately 16.46% in clean conditions.

Researchers have constructed a miniature PV field at an altitude of 2,500 m in Switzerland. They tested it across 80 different positioning settings and compared the results to the guidelines provided by the Swiss government for a subsidy program. They found that the simulated yield was underestimated by up to 16%.

Researchers in China have investigated the impact of phosphorus diffusion gettering on industrial silicon heterojunction solar cell and have found that, with an optimized gas flow, higher efficiencies can be achieved.

Laser Tools Co. updated its laser-guided toolkits for ground-mounted solar installations.

Sungrow says its new SG150CX inverter, launched this week at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, achieves 98.8% efficiency and 98.2% European efficiency. It is designed for commercial and industrial (C&I) applications.

CGN New Energy has selected seven winners from 50 bidders in its 10 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) tender, with the lowest bid at CNY 0.458/Wh ($63/kWh).

The proposed distributed-asset network model involves energy communities and battery energy storage systems (BESS) that would eliminate the need for expensive facilities.

Polat Energy and Rolls-Royce are collaborating on Turkey’s biggest battery energy storage project, a 132 MWh system co-located with an operating wind farm.

A new report from GridBeyond examines how regulations and solar resources drive prices in the United States.

Neuron Energy has opened a 1.5 GWh lithium-ion battery plant in Chakan, India, to produce batteries for electric vehicles, energy storage, and telecom solutions.