European businesses installed roughly 20 GW of commercial and industrial (C&I) solar in 2024, but only around 1 GW/2 GWh of C&I battery storage. The gap is striking. Both technologies promise lower energy bills, improved resilience, and decarbonization, but batteries are yet to achieve the same commercial traction that solar enjoys. LCP Delta’s Dina Darshini asks why the gap persists.

Affordability, project pipelines secured through safe harbor provisions, and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity are supporting US solar deployment despite policy and trade uncertainty.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Yolanda Hoyos, Chief Technical Officer at Spain’s Blacksalt. She says that inclusion, mentorship, and authentic leadership unlock talent, dismantle bias, and are critical to shaping the future of the energy transition. “When organizations respect individual circumstances, commitment and growth follow naturally,” she states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that January 2026 began with relatively mild, solar-favorable conditions across much of the eastern U.S., but ended with Winter Storm Fern, as a polar vortex disruption triggered widespread cold, clouds, and sharply reduced solar generation. A rare S4-level solar radiation storm was also recorded in mid-January, though it had no direct impact on photovoltaic performance or solar data quality.

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.

The country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 1.59 GW at the end of December, according to new figures released by the Colombian administrator of the wholesale energy market.

Switzerland-based Energy Vault has secured an initial 1.5 GWh of sodium-ion battery supply from Peak Energy to develop integrated storage systems for artificial intelligence-focused data centers.

Grid capacity constraints in major Australian metropolitan hubs are prompting data center developers to consider regional locations with integrated on-site gas and solar generation, according to renewable energy land brokerage Rok Solid.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has approved 3 GW of GREW Solar’s G12R module manufacturing capacity under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), enabling deployment in government-backed projects and supporting the company’s planned expansion to 11 GW by 2026.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has withdrawn from defending the executive order that paused certain tariffs on imported solar components, leaving private industry groups and companies to continue the appeal. The withdrawal increases legal uncertainty over potential retroactive duties tied to imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Portuguese company said its new Drone AgroPV Cleaning Agent is scheduled for release in June. It has a safe formulation for crops and soil.

Research analyzing surface solar radiation data across the past three and coming three decades finds Europe has gotten sunnier at an average rate of 2.4 W per decade. This increase in solar radiation is anticipated to slow in the next three decades.

Norwegian fire safety specialist Bridgehill has developed a fire-resistant roofing membrane designed for use beneath rooftop PV systems. The company says the product is intended to limit heat transfer and flame spread in commercial and industrial installations subject to strict fire safety and insurance requirements.

The Canadian Renewable Energy Association is forecasting Canada’s cumulative solar capacity, which stands at 5.4 GW today, could surge to around 21 GW by 2035, driven by a healthy procurement pipeline across most provinces. Official deployment figures for behind the meter solar installations last year, which are driving Canada’s solar market today, are yet to be finalized.

Fraunhofer CSP researchers in Germany are developing printing and color technologies to make conventional silicon PV panels less visible when installed on building façades, roofs, and balconies.

Won Kwang S&T has developed a mobile, on-site solar module recycling system for utility-scale PV plants. The SolreBorn unit can reportedly process up to 2.5 tonnes of modules per day and improve the economics of solar panel recycling through on-site dismantling and material recovery.

The EU-funded pilot – the first of its kind in Europe – demonstrated the ability of the company’s iron-air LDES technology to deliver multi-day energy storage in a real-world utility environment.

In a perspective paper in Joule, a group of U.S. researchers described technology and supply chain efforts required to reach worldwide annual cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar PV capacity of 100 GW by 2030.

Zendure has a new investor, new factory in China, and with a new product launch for the residential sector, is aiming to reclaim the crown of the top supplier for plug-in and balcony solar systems and storage.

An international research team reviewed agrivoltaic systems, highlighting challenges in design, crop performance, and PV efficiency, while mapping their global potential. They call for innovative layouts, targeted crop selection, and improved modeling to maximize energy yield and land-use efficiency.

New research from Italy has shown that agrivoltaic systems can reduce potato yield by up to 15% compared to full-light cropping. However, moderate early-season shading was found to delay soil-moisture depletion, extending biomass accumulation and improving water-use efficiency.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new OG02 series includes IP-65-rated inverters with an AC output power of 3 kW to 6 kW. The new products also feature a maximum efficiency of 97.6% and a European efficiency of 96.5%.

The Chinese manufacturer said it developed a new circuit-model–based method to accurately detect hot-spot risks in TOPCon back-contact modules, overcoming limitations of the IEC 61215 approach caused by low shunt resistance. Validated through indoor and outdoor tests, the method predicts temperature rise under shading and reportedly enables faster, more accurate hot-spot risk assessment.

The factory is located in Oman’s Sohar Freezone and will be capable of supporting the production of up to 40 GW of solar modules annually once at full capacity.

Wood Mackenzie ranked NextPower as the world’s top PV tracker manufacturer in the first half of 2025, with companies headquartered in the United States, China and Spain occupying all top 10 positions.

EnBW says it is seeking a new investor for its Senec storage subsidiary Senec to support further growth, though the company could remain wholly owned. The search comes after a comprehensive restructuring and aims to fund expansion in software, hardware, and international markets.

Battery leasing is gaining traction in Europe as a way for households with rooftop solar to increase self-consumption without the upfront cost of purchasing a storage system.

Greece’s energy regulator has launched two new auctions under the Apollo Program, covering up to 200 MW of solar with storage and a separate 400 MW wind tender, marking the scheme’s first operational rollout since becoming law in 2024.

The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy has introduced a policy designed to support deployment of solar systems for self-consumption, with the first phase of the policy targeting the agricultural sector.

LevelTen Energy says solar and wind power purchase agreement (PPA) prices in Europe continued to fall in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the most competitive percentiles in Spain below €30 ($35.65)/MWh, reflecting strong downward pressure.