This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Rachele De Angelis, European Affair Officer at Italy’s Enel. She says bringing fresh ideas from new academic backgrounds and early career experiences can help companies achieve transformative insights. “These perspectives can challenge old assumptions and generate more creative and inclusive solutions,” she states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, FOB China TOPCon below 450 W modules for spot loading were stable at $0.093/W, with price indications between $0.087-0.100/W. Furthermore, it reveals that current price increases are not being uniformly adopted across all Chinese manufacturers, with significant price differences—often several euro cents— being observed between the Top 5 and Top 10 manufacturers.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that irradiance across England, the Benelux region, Denmark, northern France, northern Germany, and northern Poland surged well above long-term March averages. In the UK, aggregated solar irradiance reached its highest March value since 2014.

As the renewable energy sector rapidly evolves, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are emerging as a critical pillar for decarbonization. However, with capital constraints and rising market volatility, not all projects are equally viable. At ABO Energy, we’re witnessing a shift in the investment landscape, where preparedness is the key to success.

Will White, solar application specialist at Fluke Corporation, focuses on the important qualities of today’s mounting and racking systems in solar installations.

India added 23.8 GW of new solar capacity in fiscal 2025, up 58.5% year on year, according to JMK Research.

China’s polysilicon and solar module prices held steady this week amid low trading volumes, but softening producer quotes and rising output across the supply chain signaled mounting oversupply risks.

The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has started accepting bids for a turnkey engineering, procurement, construction, financing, and operations and maintenance (EPC+F+OM) contractor for a 5 MW solar project.

Meyer Burger has posted a CHF 210.4 million ($256.7 million) EBITDA loss for fiscal 2024, on sales of approximately €75 million. The Swiss PV manufacturer says its future is “highly uncertain” as it seeks new financing and works on restructuring plans to remain operational.

The system consists of a reversible compressor connected to a storage unit that can be installed indoors or outdoors. The compressor must be connected to the solar panels, with the whole system being controlled by an application that optimizes self-consumption.

Scientists in Spain have proposed a novel way to calculate the structure shading factor and mismatch losses for the rear side of bifacial PV modules using one-axis trackers. They tested the new methodology in a real PV system and found it is able to establish a linear fit based on distance from the torque tube.

Colombia’s energy regulator has approved new regulations allowing the creation of energy communities, aiming to add at least 1 GW of renewable capacity to the national grid.

ContourGlobal’s site features six-hour storage capacity alongside 221 MW of solar generation capacity. It is located in northern Chile and is part of a portfolio acquired from Spain’s Grenergy last year.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new heat pump system can continuously and stably provide hot water up to 75 C. At a temperature between 35 C and 55 C, the new product can reportedly achieve a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of 4.6 to 5.23, with COP values ranging from 3.86 to 5.63.

Tanzania Electric Supply Co. Ltd. (Tanesco) is seeking engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors for a 100 MW PV facility to be built in the country’s Shinyanga Region.

Solyco is developing a new low-temperature technology for the interconnection of solar cells. It consists of a round copper core with a diameter of 280 μm that is covered by a very thin layer of silver for corrosion protection and then surrounded by a 40 μm coating of an electrically conductive thermoplastic.

The customizable, compact sheet coater supports coating speeds from 1.2 mm/sec up to 33 mm/sec.

The Italian manufacturer said the new version of its silver module is ideal for grey roofs and buildings with modern architecture. It uses a 3.2 mm silver-coated glass and features a power conversion efficiency of 19.52%.

Scientists at the Korea Institute of Energy Research claim to have achieved the highest efficiency ever reported for a perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell with flexible, lightweight architecture. The device was also found to achieve “excellent” durability.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new utility-scale battery uses 314 Ah cells with a 15,000-cycle lifespan.

A research team in Iran has designed a four-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells with a 19.3%-efficient bottom heterojunction cell and a 12.7%-efficient perovskite top cell. Both subcells were conceived to have interdigitated back contacts, with the top cell reportedly helping to improve the tandem device’s light-trapping and efficiency.

The exclusive license agreement covers the manufacture or sale of perovskite PV products for the Chinese market. A statement from Oxford PV says the agreement “underscores the industry consensus that perovskite-based PV technologies are the future of solar.”

Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Fraunhofer ISE) has found that current UV testing methods overestimate degradation in tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar modules, as dark storage after UV exposure causes temporary efficiency losses that largely reverse under sunlight.

International PV module prices, driven by Chinese averages, will likely rise from $0.08/W to $0.10/W today to $0.11/W by the end of 2025 and potentially $0.13/W by 2027, says Clean Energy Associates (CEA), noting that heterojunction and back-contact technologies now make up 12% of global module capacity.

The defense and aerospace company’s vertical solar array technology (VSAT) reaches up to 19.8 m in length. Lockheed Martin says the technology is capable of providing continuous and sustainable power for a range of lunar operations.

Moldova is expected to launch a new tender for the construction of large renewable energy parks colocated with battery energy storage systems in October.

Octopus Energy Services has responded to the government’s decision to slash the payments made to solar home owners for their excess electricity by launching its SolarPlus, home solar-plus-battery product.

Fincantieri says it is building the world’s first hydrogen-powered cruise ship for delivery in late 2026, while Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan says it will debut the world’s first hydrogen-powered vending machine at the Kansai Expo this year.

Vanadium redox flow energy storage manufacturer Prolux Solutions said 50 l of vanadium electrolyte leaked from a residential unit in Arbon but no fire occurred.

Chinese researchers have developed a thermal battery prototype using composite sorbents and have scaled it up via simulation to operate in real world conditions. A compression ratio from 1 to 4 reporteldy boosts average output heat power by 300%.