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.

A series of longitudinal studies of three solar-pollinator sites in Minnesota have demonstrated evidence of native prairie growing under solar panels, providing both soil benefits and habitat for wildlife and pollinators.

Chinese manufacturer JA Solar has agreed to build a 2 GW solar cell and module factory in Egypt with support from UAE-based Global South Utilities.

The US Department of Energy has revealed plans to allocate up to $1.2 billion for a hydrogen hub in Texas and the Gulf Coast and up to $1 billion for a similar project spanning Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says developers installed 181.3 GW of new PV capacity from January to October 2024, including 20.42 GW in October alone.

Up to €103 million ($107.2 million), from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Raiffeisen Bank International, will support the development of a fully-merchant, 237.6 MW solar project in southeastern Bulgaria.

BoucL Énergie says it will install wooden-framed parking canopies in southern France, as part of a future collective self-consumption plan.

A scientific group has proposed adding thermal solar panels to air-source heat pumps while also using grid heating to keep temperatures stable at night. The group modeled a system that could reportely achieve a coefficient of performance of 10.11 and represent an optimal solutions for cold climates.

Italy’s regional governments approved 6 GW of utility-scale solar projects between January and October 2024, according to updates from Terna’s Econnextion map. Most of these projects are concentrated in Sicily, Lazio, Puglia, Sardinia, and Basilicata.

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).

Research led by the University of Sheffield installed an off-grid agrivoltaic system in Tanzania and a grid-tied agrivoltaic system in Kenya. They found the installations helped boost crop yield and conserve water while generating electricity at a lower cost than the national grid.

Company co-founder Peter Carlsson steps down from CEO position at Northvolt in the wake of Chapter 11 announcement in the United States. The Swedish battery maker has embarked on a debt restructuring process and is seeking new sources of funding.

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.

German PV equipment company Coatema Coating Machinery says its roll-to-roll processing solutions cover from lab or pilot to production scale.

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%.

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.

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.

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

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.

Technology companies are the dominant corporates investing in solar and energy storage as electricity demand soars to keep pace with data center growth.

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.