Magazine Archive 04 – 2025

Robots on solar sites are not new; they have been deployed to automate everything from operations and maintenance to inspection and cleaning. In recent months, there has been an uptick in interest in robots for installation, particularly among utility-scale solar developers dealing with staff shortages, safety concerns, rising costs, and pressure to build.

It’s a remarkable achievement by the global scientific and engineering community that silicon solar cell technology is now approaching the fundamental limits of its efficiency. The search is now on for the next generation of photovoltaic materials that can take efficiencies to 30% and beyond. Anthony Chesman, a research scientist and group leader in renewable energy systems at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), reports on efforts to accelerate discovery.

When it comes to module durability, we need to think differently, according to research from Austria’s Polymer Competence Center Leoben (PCCL). Researcher Chiara Barretta reveals study results that saw modules in a tropical environment suffer significant degradation. Even stabilizer materials in the encapsulants had a limited effect.

George Touloupas, vice president for environmental, social, and corporate governance and new services at Clean Energy Associates, and Huatian Xu, director of technology and quality, analyze the February 2025 results from the pv magazine outdoor test installation in Yinchuan, China.

Artificial intelligence-powered technology can manage electrical demand, bringing production and consumption closer together. François Puthod, of pv magazine France explains how that market is using AI to monitor the consumption of water heaters, electric vehicles (EVs), and other household devices to contribute to better grid balance.

A number of US green hydrogen projects have had previously approved federal grants withheld recently but innovation, opportunity, and demand remain strong. Leading the way is California, as Will Crampton, CEO of TreasureBeam, tells pv magazine.

Despite debates in some parts of the world, we can expect environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) regulation to continue making headlines in 2025. Everoze Partner Ragna Schmidt-Haupt demystifies the key sustainability risks and opportunities for solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects.

Hourly-matched power purchase agreements (PPAs) offer sustainability benefits and are cost efficient up to 80% to 90% hourly matching, although 100% matching is still costly. pv magazine caught up with Tim Höfer, senior consultant at Enervis Energy Advisors, to discuss 24/7 PPAs and findings from the consultancy’s recent white paper.

The Polish market is shifting toward greater integration of photovoltaics and energy storage. Cable pooling with wind turbines is also gaining traction and installations exceeding connection capacity are becoming standard.

The Sunrise Arabia Clean Energy Conference, hosted by pv magazine and Solarabic, returned to Riyadh for its second year in February.