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, while much of the Americas will see cloudier weather than normal for the season, particularly in the eastern United States and parts of central Brazil, Europe’s solar outlook is split with high pressure over central regions bringing clearer skies to the Iberian Peninsula. Across Asia, cloud cover is expected for India and the Far East, while Australia’s northern and eastern regions are likely to enjoy abundant sunshine.

The fossil fuel rich Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces mounting pressure to diversify its energy mix. While solar is cheap, it faces significant sociopolitical and economic challenges.

Prices across the solar supply chain remained in bearish territory into the fourth quarter of 2024. Trade and regulatory developments have continued to preoccupy the industry and dampen trading activity.

This week, Women in Solar Europe gives voice to Eyerusalem Mekuria Wondemu, Project Engineer at Switzerland’s Gruner Stucky SA. She says changes in career paths are slow due to entrenched cultural norms and unconscious prejudices, but growing advocacy and representation drive progress. “Mentorship, continuous learning, and networking are critical,” she states.

A scientist in Sweden has developed a new hybrid local features-based method using thermographs to identify faulty solar panels.

Greece is pursuing an ambitious island energy transition program. pv magazine visited the island of Tilos for a firsthand account of how one community has blazed a trail in the energy transition.

Allegro Energy has secured a AUD 2.1 million ($1.3 million) grant from the New South Wales state government to develop an Australian-made, water-based battery prototype capable of storing energy for more than 10 hours.

Sonnedix has secured €3.25 billion ($3.38 billion) through two refinancing transactions. The renewable energy producer says the transactions will be instrumental in accelerating the growth of its pipeline across Europe.

Pexapark, a Swiss renewable energy market intelligence provider, says European developers signed 18 power purchase agreements (PPAs) totaling 1,054 MW in November.

The latest report from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) says the building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) industry is facing significant challenges due to a lack of clear testing and certification procedures. It says international consensus and the harmonization of certification processes will be crucial for widespread adoption of the technology.

Solar installations grew 4% year on year in the European Union in 2024, down sharply from 53% growth in 2023. The slowdown coincides with a decline in solar investment, marking the first such drop this decade. SolarPower Europe now forecasts annual growth of 3% to 7% in solar installations from 2025 to 2028.

SDIC Gansu New Energy has commissioned the 750 MW Akesai Huidong CSP-PV plant in Jiuquan, China’s Gansu province, combining a 110 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) tower and a 640 MW solar array to form China’s largest hybrid solar facility.

Germany installed 1 GW of solar power in November, bringing its cumulative capacity to 97.55 GW by the end of the month.

ABB has agreed to purchase Gamesa’s power electronics and storage business, which produces doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) wind converters, industrial battery energy storage systems (BESS), and utility-scale solar inverters.

South Korea-based solar module manufacturer Qcells has set a new efficiency world record for a commercially scalable perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell, produced at its pilot line in Germany.

Trina Solar has achieved a world-record 27.08% efficiency rating for a new n-type fully passivated heterojunction (HJT) solar cell. The Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH) has verified the result.

The proposed cell is based on indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) and germanium (Ge) and has an active area of 0.25 mm2. It can be used for applications in micro-concentrator photovoltaics (CPV).

The German wafer manufacturer said the efficiency was achieved with an unspecified M6 HJT commercial production line, without specifying if the result was certified by an independent third party.

Battolyser Systems’ (BLS) product is a patented dual-purpose electrolyzer with a battery function.

DMEGC Solar says its new solar panels weigh only 15.3 kg and have a power output of up to 270 W. The new products combine a double-glass design with TOPCon cell technology.

Deye, a Chinese inverter manufacturer, says it will invest $150 million to build a new production facility in Malaysia.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Fraunhofer UMSICHT) say their new facade combines PV modules, weather protection, and thermal insulation. It eliminates the need for a substructure and uses insulation made from sustainable raw materials.

Sino-American Silicon (SAS) says it will suspend production at its solar cell factory in Taiwan from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4.

A research team in the Netherlands investigated how copper planar air-core inductors can yield the required inductor properties to support sub-module power conversion in PV modules. The scientists claim that implementing MPPT at the sub-module level can increase the panel’s tolerance to shade.

Australian industrial battery company Switch Technologies has unveiled what it describes as the world’s first operational vehicle powered by Echion Technologies’ ultra-fast charging XNO technology.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) and EDF are leading an international consortium developing AI-driven heat pumps that adapt to environmental conditions and learn from changing circumstances.

India is likely to follow in the footsteps of China and mandate the inclusion of battery storage capacity for future wind and solar energy projects.

Wood Mackenzie says the United States will dominate the blue hydrogen market by 2025, driven by policy shifts and large-scale investments, while Siemens Mobility says it has secured approval for its Mireo Plus H hydrogen trains to begin passenger service in Germany.

Epeu Next Level unveiled a hydrogen-plasma heating system at a recent event in Germany, its home market. It claims the system can easily replace gas boilers in apartment buildings, but it has failed to explain why it apparently contradicts the first law of thermodynamics.