This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Carla Vico, CEO of France’s Green Solver. She says building an inclusive culture means valuing people for their work, accountability, and commitment, rather than their gender or background. “I do not believe in positive discrimination; I believe in creating equal opportunities and making merit-based decisions,” 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.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that March in Australia was unusually wet and disrupted, with frequent tropical cyclones, polar air intrusions, and repeated low-pressure systems causing widespread cloud, storms, and record cold in the southeast. Solar irradiance was mixed: below average in the south due to persistent cloud and storms, but near or above average on some northern and coastal regions where breaks between systems allowed recovery.

Photovoltaic module prices have risen for the fourth consecutive month, driven by strong demand for energy independence despite falling upstream costs such as polysilicon. At the same time, production cuts in China and tighter supply conditions are limiting availability, reinforcing price increases across all technologies.

The move toward decentralized energy resources offers resilience and flexibility in power generation, but it also introduces new complexities that demand proactive security measures.

The country’s seventh green energy auction is set to procure rooftop, ground-mounted and floating solar projects across the Philippines, with increased allocation in Mindanao. The Department of Energy plans to release the auction’s terms of reference during the second quarter of this year.

A new metric for assessing total system costs puts a least-cost mix of offshore wind and solar at about €46 ($54.20)/MWh in a future climate-neutral energy system for Denmark. Researchers tell pv magazine that figure is less than half the equivalent cost of nuclear under the same conditions.

A study from the University of Naples Federico II finds hydrogen production at Mediterranean ports could cost €5.7–8.6/kg using only renewables and €2.5–13/kg in hybrid systems, with solar emerging as the most reliable resource and wind outperforming it in select locations. Alongside these findings, major industry developments include new hydrogen and e-fuel projects, advanced electrolyser technologies, and EU-backed infrastructure expansion supporting large-scale decarbonization.

The country reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of 44.9 GW at the end of March, according to recent figures from Italian PV association Italia Solar.

New figures from grid operator Enedis reveal that France added 1,418 MW of new PV capacity in Q1 2026, roughly matching Q1 2025, despite a broader sector slowdown linked to regulatory changes and delayed tenders.

A research team in Germany developed a dynamic model of spray cooling for floating PV systems that couples thermal behavior, electrical performance, and active cooling, and validated it against a 750 kW installation. Simulations across four climates showed that spray cooling reduces module temperatures by up to 42% and improves energy yield by up to 3.8%, with benefits strongly dependent on local conditions.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that thermostatic radiator valves can reduce air-source heat pump space heating energy use by 6–8% without affecting system efficiency when used correctly. TRVs must be applied carefully in well-designed, balanced systems with at least one open flow path, as they mainly serve as a secondary tool for room-level comfort control rather than a replacement for proper heat pump design and low flow temperature operation.

Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec has revealed the long list of bidders in its 300 MW solar tender. A total 60 bids were submitted with a cumulative capacity of 481 MW.

India-based Pur Energy has launched the PuREPower 3.0 Lite, an all-in-one lithium battery-based power backup solution positioned as a cleaner and more compact alternative to conventional inverter and lead-acid battery combinations for the residential segment.

Florida-based Terra Energy offers solar subscriptions to homeowners on an initial 36-month agreement and seeks to retain those customers for the long-term by proving it can offer something better than the alternative.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has invalidated all claims of two TOPCon solar cell patents previously asserted by Trina Solar against Canadian Solar subsidiaries.

The Swiss federal government has launched a funding call for research projects on energy and resource-efficient industrial processes, including the circular economy related to solar modules, batteries, heat pumps and electrolyzers. The deadline to submit pre-proposals is June 30.

Researchers have analyzed the biomass and nutritional value of grasses and legumes for grazing dairy cattle, growing in agrivoltaics fields. The results showed that forage quality may be maintained or even enhanced in agrivoltaic environments.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island explored why citizens who voiced pro-solar sentiments voted against a solar project development in a 2019 municipal referendum. Their analysis found objections over land use greatly outweigh proximity concerns.

Denial-of-service attacks overwhelm networked systems with massive traffic from compromised devices, disrupting communication and making critical services like PV system monitoring and control unavailable. They can cause operational instability, reduced energy production, and safety risks, requiring layered defenses such as filtering, redundancy, and automated mitigation to maintain system resilience.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) has formally registered Genuine Renewable Energy and Eco-Friendly Energy Network Corp. (GREEENC) as an ecozone enterprise to manufacture and export PV modules, with the European Union as the primary target market.

South Korea has extended investment tax credits to solar module manufacturing facilities meeting carbon footprint thresholds, in the latest step in a policy trajectory that increasingly uses procurement and tax measures to support domestic manufacturers.

Media outlets in South Korea are reporting that Malaysia’s OCI TerraSus, a subsidiary of Seoul-headquartered chemicals company OCI Holdings, is in talks with SpaceX for a multi-year polysilicon supply contract.

Researchers in Spain have identified a new source of underperformance in utility-scale PV plants caused by “suboptimal backtracking” on slightly uneven terrain. The study shows that real tracker control systems deviate from ideal flat-terrain assumptions, reducing irradiance capture and causing measurable energy losses compared with simulations.

A new report from Metal Focus reveals that global silver market remains structurally tight, with elevated prices, a fifth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2025, and ongoing mine and recycling constraints despite modest production growth. At the same time, PV-driven silver demand is falling sharply due to cost pressure and thrifting.

Germany could break the gigawatt-hour mark for the first time on a monthly basis. Around 45,000 new residential photovoltaic storage systems have been registered in the market master data register so far in March.

The decree represents a shift in grid operations with storage seen as improving reliability and enabling higher renewable energy penetration.

The two companies will develop XFRA, a distributed network of compute nodes connected to homes with smart panels, batteries and optional solar generation, in partnership with Nvidia and homebuilders like PulteGroup,

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) says distribution grid investment has risen 51% since 2021, but warns that fragmented planning rules and regulatory distortions could limit efficiency and slow the energy transition.

The government of Togo is running a tender for the construction of solar minigrids in 27 rural localities. The deadline for applications is May 26.