In its first monthly column for pv magazine, the Becquerel Institute explains how solar PV continues its global expansion despite political uncertainty and market turbulence. In Europe, 2025 was a record year — but the underlying dynamics are becoming increasingly complex.

The world’s largest reinsurer has recently introduced stricter requirements for PV warranty insurance to further de-risk insured PV parks and set a higher benchmark for industry wide reliability and production quality.

Carbon dioxide removal is most likely needed for rebalancing the climate to comply with the 1.5 C target set in the Paris Agreement, as data suggest this level has already been breached on an annual basis. Beneath natural climate solutions and land use change, technological and bio-technical solutions are most promising. Solar PV may play a key role in minimizing area demand and supporting cost optimization even in unexpected places such as Iceland.

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.

Cambodia has set a 30 MW allocation window for rooftop solar this year, with large-scale electricity consumers required to seek approval for installations from the country’s electricity authority. 

Jupiter International Ltd has commissioned a 1 GW mono passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cell manufacturing facility in India, increasing its total installed capacity to nearly 2 GW from 959 MW.

A white paper from Enteligent says an 800V direct current architecture linking solar and storage directly to data centers can cut capital costs, reduce copper use and improve efficiency compared with conventional alternating current systems.

New research finds that battery safety rankings are not universal but highly dependent on application scenarios, and shows that LFP batteries can emit high levels of hydrogen fluoride, challenging their reputation as the “safest” chemistry.

Hungary has opened applications for a program offering up to HUF 2.5 million ($7,820) per household to support residential battery storage, prioritizing grid-exporting solar users and small rural settlements.

The First Light project is billed as the first industrial-scale solar power plant built entirely for self-consumption in the South Caucasus region.

German researchers found that agrivoltaics costs far exceed agricultural benefits, raising doubts about subsidies and highlighting the need for more cost-competitive system designs.

The Germany battery manufacturer is expanding its portfolio with a modularly scalable LFP storage solution featuring a new energy management system. The new product comes with the company’s proprietary “Varta.iq” software, which is designed to detect consumption anomalies, integrate dynamic electricity tariffs, and enable bidirectional charging.

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.

Australian researchers developed a low-cost reflective coating for semi-transparent solar roof tiles that lowers surface temperatures by up to 20 C and boosts power output by up to 11.7%. Simulations across five global cities showed energy savings of up to 5.85%, highlighting the coating’s strong potential for improving both building cooling efficiency and solar performance in BIPV systems.

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.

By combining semi-solid-state battery technology with immersion cooling, the new battery cells and energy storage solutions from Wanxiang A123 Systems Corp. exhibit both robust thermal safety and strong economic performance.

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.

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.

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.

Indian manufacturer Pahal Solar has secured inclusion on India’s Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 2023 certification for expanded module capacity and has started building a new solar cell and aluminium frame manufacturing complex.

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.

Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL)) has issued a letter of award to Pace Digitek for a 250 MW solar project with a 250 MW, 1.1 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka, India, with an interim tariff of INR 5.51 ($0.061)/kWh adopted by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission.

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.

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.

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.

The Chinese company said its modular system supports up to 64 kWh of storage, multiple PV inputs, and 0 ms backup switching for uninterrupted operation.