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 Rio de Janeiro recorded the sunniest June in over 18 years, with solar irradiance 15% above the long-term average. This was part of a band of higher than average sunshine extending through Bolivia, Paraguay, and parts of Brazil. Conversely, southern Argentina saw an irradiance drop of up to 30% below the long-term average as it experienced its cloudiest June in the same period.

Current market conditions are propelling grid-scale project deployment in a more diversified European energy storage market. Anna Darmani, principal analyst – energy storage EMEA, at Wood Mackenzie, examines revenue streams in different parts of Europe and emerging routes to the market.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Mary Riccio-Kjærgaard, CEO and owner of Danish PV installer Risskov Teknik & Solar Aps. She explains how the idea of leadership is still being negatively influenced by cultural stereotypes and says women can accomplish more and go further by simply being “female leaders.”

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the Tropical Storm Beryl caused a large but temporary dip in solar generation potential across Texas on July 8. However, cross-referencing with grid operator reports revealed that very little production went offline due to the storm, showing the resilience of Texas’ solar infrastructure.

India’s Union Budget will be presented next week. Developers in the country hope for lower goods and services tax (GST) and import duties on solar components, as well as a delay in enforcing the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) until domestic supplies improve.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ plan to build a “state-of-the-art” polysilicon manufacturing plant in Australia has taken a step forward, with Australian Silica Quartz starting a drilling program at a planned mine site that could provide feedstock for the proposed facility.

Romania is aiming to have at least 2.5 GW of energy storage installed by the end of next year and to exeed 5 GW only a year later.

China’s regulators are reportedly considering a comprehensive fire safety inspection and upgrades of operating energy storage facilities. For older storage stations, enhancing fire safety measures will significantly increase non-technical costs, potentially up to CNY 0.2 per Wh ($0.028/Wh).

The company’s share price fell below $1 as it announced it is halting some operations and ending its lease and power purchase agreement offerings, among other actions.

The rapid growth of renewable energy in Brazil has not been matched by transmission and distribution infrastructure. Connection restrictions for both “distributed-” and centralized-generation sites are leading companies to adopt new strategies to maintain expansion, reports pv magazine Brasil’s Livia Neves.

The European Court of Auditors says the European Union will likely fail to achieve its 2030 renewable hydrogen goals, while the US Department of Energy and Arches have agreed to build a $12.6 billion hydrogen hub in California.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) says 220,000 balcony PV systems were installed in the country in the first half of the year, reaching 200 MW.

Falling battery costs, shifting regulations and interest in energy independence are driving increased battery attachment rates on residential solar projects in California.

A research group has examined the potential for PV on building walls and rooftops across Norway. It says that up to 36% of the feasible solar energy, or approximately 31 GW, could be integrated into the national power system to match generation and consumption patterns.

A team of researchers in Germany has fabricated a non-fullerene acceptor-based organic photovoltaic cell featuring a bilayer solution-processed hole transporting layer. It recorded a power conversion efficiency of 17.1% and maintained 93% of its initial efficiency after 1,800 hours under continuous solar cell operation at 60 C.

Researchers in Italy have designed a water-source heat pump system intended for generating cooling, heating and domestic hot water in social housing stock built during the 1970s–1990s. The novel concept integrates photovoltaic-thermal energy with thermal storage and promises a seasonal coefficient of performance of 5.

First Solar has commissioned the Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation in Lake Township, Ohio. It includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line to produce full-sized prototypes of thin-film and tandem PV modules.

The U.K.-based technology company has launched Endurance, an electric transport refrigeration system with integrated battery and solar PV. It is built to compete with diesel-powered systems.

A computing pilot program, housed within Europe’s largest electricity utility, Iberdrola, found that some quantum and quantum-inspired algorithms matched or outperformed existing benchmarks for optimal placement of grid batteries.

A research group including scientists from Chinese module maker Longi has developed an undoped monocrystalline heterojunction cell that uses the promising MXene compound for the hole transport layer. The experimental device achieved an efficiency of 12.2% and was able to retain around 86% of its initial efficiency after 105-day exposure in ambient environment. 

Jupiter International has obtained $36 million to expand its PV manufacturing operations, including the construction of a 1.8 GW solar cell facility, as well as a joint venture with AmpIn Energy for 1.2 GW of integrated solar cell and module capacity each.

Yang Meng, Sungrow’s director of distribution in Europe, says that despite signs of slowing demand in parts of the residential segment, Europe’s overall solar and storage markets are on a stable path, with potential for growth in the commercial and industrial storage space.

The tool has been billed as the world’s first independent daily spot market price assessment for solar panels. S&P Global says it has been launched to aid transparency in technology pricing as solar modules become increasingly commoditized.

Despite global overcapacity, several factors may contribute to a slight increase in solar panel prices in Brazil, with shipping costs and quotas for fiscal exemptions on imported PV modules playing a key role.

Greece’s energy storage market is hot with a number of new policies paving the way to new applications in the market. The government is now working a new plan, which will allow the colocation of batteries with existing solar plants as well as standalone, in front of the meter battery energy storage systems.

Weiheng Ecactus has unveiled its new Myrtillo battery system, with 4.99-29.9 kWh of capacity, giving users the flexibility to connect up to five units in parallel.

Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has concluded a 1.2 GW solar and storage tender at an average price of $0.041/kWh, with Acme Solar Holdings, Hero Solar Energy, JSW Neo Energy, and Pace Digitek Infra emerging as winners.

Portuguese researchers have compared several applied machine learning techniques to detect faults in air-to-air heat pumps in cooling mode. The results showed a high level of performance based on four metrics.

The German government has granted €4.6 billion ($5 billion) for 23 green hydrogen projects, while BP has revealed separate plans to develop a 100 MW green hydrogen installation in Germany.