In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that solar production across much of Europe is expected to dip over the weekend as a significant low-pressure system draws polar air across the continent, bringing the first large widespread snowfall of the season.

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.

Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com, says the 8% price drop in November for solar modules could mark the end of sustained declines, as market signals are pointing to a possible recovery.

“The MENA region – the next hot market for energy storage?” I asked in an article back in October 2017. It took a bit longer than I expected, but seven years later it’s time to replace the question mark with an exclamation mark. It’s hot indeed.

Radiative cooling is an emerging technology that holds the potential to enhance the performance and longevity of PV modules. Researchers from the Institute of Nanotechnology of Lyon explain how this technology may reach commercial maturity.

Brazil’s largest microgrid has gone online at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). The CampusGrid project combines a 565 kW solar system with a 1 MW high-capacity battery energy storage system (BESS).

Serbia’s upcoming second renewables auction, scheduled for later this month, aims to procure 124.8 MW of solar power with a ceiling price of €72 ($75.30)/MWh. This price is lower than the €90/MWh ceiling offered in the country’s first renewables auction last year.

German manufacturer Solarwatt says its new battery can be flexibly configured as an AC or DC system. It also features an emergency power function and can only be combined with Solarwatt inverters.

The sites, with a total 9.6 MWp generation capacity and 13.5 MWh of energy storage, were built in the Loreto department by Amazonas Energía Solar for Electro Oriente.

Silfab Solar has secured $100 million to scale solar cell production in South Carolina. The funding includes a $50 million equity investment and a matching green loan.

China-based Envision Energy says that its 5.5 MW /14 MWh grid forming energy storage demonstration platform is the first and biggest single-unit grid-forming energy storage system globally to receive certification under rigorous, full-scenario testing standards.

The 940 MW solar installation, deployed above fish ponds to create a complementary fishery-pv project, features over 1.9 million of DMEGC’S infinity series n-type solar modules.

Panasonic has launched its new R32 heat pumps, introducing the EXTERIOS Z and ClimaPure XZ series. The models offer heating capacities ranging from 10,900 Btu/h to 28,800 Btu/h, depending on specifications.

China’s Universal International Holding Ltd. has secured a contract to build 100 MW of solar in eastern Azerbaijan, after submitting the lowest bid of $0.0354/kWh in the country’s first renewables auction.

Developed by researchers in South Africa, the proposed technique is based on the water cycle algorithm (WCA), a population-based metaheuristic optimization algorithm that is inspired by the water cycle process in nature and how streams and rivers flow into the sea.

An international research team has developed a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with a hole transport layer based on methyl-substituted carbazole and submicron-sized textured silicon bottom heterojunction cells. The proposed cell configuration uses commercially available Czochralski silicon wafers and promises efficiencies over 30%.

The U.S. solar microinverter provider introduced a 1500 Wh portable battery bank.

Trina Solar says it has achieved a record efficiency of 26.58% for a tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell. The Chinese manufacturer says Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) has independently verified the result.

The research group led by Professor Martin Green has published Version 65 of the solar cell efficiency tables. There are 17 new results reported in the new version.

Researchers in China have created a balloon-integrated photovoltaic system that reportedly represents a feasible solution for emergency PV power generation in mid-to-high latitudes. It consists of a customized balloon, 19%-efficient thin-film cadmium telluride solar cells, an exhaust valve, control and storage modules, fixed ropes, and a cord reel, as well as an upper hemisphere and a lower arc surface.

Researchers from Germany and India have demonstrated an inkjet printing method to fabricate formamidinium tin-lead perovskite solar cells, achieving 10.26% power conversion efficiency and a 1.25 eV energy bandgap.

The Barcelona City Council is piloting two solar system prototypes designed to provide shade, generate power, and filter air.

Sunways’ new three-phase inverters have efficiency ratings of up to 98.6% and European efficiency ratings of 98.2%. They are available in five versions, with power outputs ranging from 15 kW to 30 kW.

Colombian researchers have designed an agrivoltaic system integrating hydroponic growing towers. The modular array, consisting of stackable 20 cm rings, creates a structure up to 2.5 meters tall, optimized for cultivating approximately 80 plants per square meter.

Researchers in China have fabricated a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell that utilizes an indium oxide sputtering buffer layer to protect the perovskite absorber and the electron transport layer from potential damages arising from the electrode deposition process. The new layer not only ensured this protection but also showed strong optical and electrical properties.

The Romanian Ministry of Energy has launched a grant program for battery energy storage systems developed in conjunction with existing renewable energy facilities – wind, solar, or hydro.

Juwi says it will construct a $33.2 million solar-plus-storage project in Senegal, integrating a 20 MW solar plant with 11 MWh of battery storage. The system will meet 20% of the energy needs of the Grande Côte mineral sands mine.

The European Commission, Austria, Lithuania, and Spain have announced new financial support measures for renewable hydrogen development as the European Union prepares for the second European Hydrogen Bank auction.

The kit includes four solar modules, a power controller, dual maximum power point trackers, two batteries with expandable storage, a microinverter and a smart meter current transformer.

HyWatts has developed the Powerplant-in-a-Box system, a reversible high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell that can also work as an electrolyzer, ensuring energy supply anywhere and anytime.