This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Olga Kovalchuk, Head of Finance and Investment – Managing Director at Germany’s Goldbeck Solar. She says that the underrepresentation of women in STEM subjects affects the pipeline of women entering both the renewable and traditional energy sectors, though this is gradually improving with more targeted educational initiatives. “The gender pay gap is ever-present and, given how much pay is linked to performance in senior positions, the underrepresentation has a knock-on effect on the gender pay gap for the industry,” she stated.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that, while in June Western Europe experienced below-average irradiance, Eastern Europe and the Balkans in particular saw a notable increase, resulting from persistent and static weather patterns.

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.

China, with an 18% share of the global population, uses 26% of the world’s primary energy and emits 33% of the world’s energy-related CO2. The energy transition unfolding in the country isn’t merely a national affair as its ramifications echo globally, explains Mahnaz Hadizadeh, a researcher for consultancy DNV.

As bifacial modules proliferate, estimations of albedo are becoming more important and with developers not prepared to install weather stations to assess solar resource, a popular option has become third-party, on-site measurements over periods as short as a day. Is this an acceptable compromise between costly on-site measuring and less accurate satellite data? Everoze’s Stefan Mau discusses the potential benefits and limitations of this approach.

Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com, says that solar module prices are falling across the board, while batteries and inverters are hitting historically low prices due to market oversupply.

In recent years, the Baltic countries have experienced a solar generation boom as the region seeks to kill two birds with one stone. These nations aim to break away from years-long energy dependence on Russia amid growing security concerns while also continuing to prioritize the green energy transition.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Annemarie Schouten, Head of Solar Development Netherlands at Vattenfall. She says establishing herself in a male-dominated sector was not always easy and explains how finding mentors may offer good support in dealing with unequal treatments. “I would say to younger colleagues entering this industry to surround themselves with different people,” she stated. “People that are not just like you. We need this variety of views, insights and ways of working to tackle the challenges ahead.”

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that summer weather and a heat dome have brought increased irradiance to both US coasts. As a result, much of the continental United States saw irradiance moderately above average, 5-10% above historical June averages, with the increase most notable along the East Coast.

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.