Markus Hoehner and Rajan Kalsotra, CEO and Senior Consultant at the Bonn-based EUPD Research, discuss the growth trajectory, challenges and opportunities within the EU solar PV market, focusing on policy support, pricing trends, module shipments and future projections.

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.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) reflects on the need for tangible DEI practices and inclusive leaders who understand the meaning of equity and diversity to create inclusive environments that acknowledge individual needs and systemic barriers. Addressing these aspects is critical to fuel innovation, creativity, and resilience to overcome the challenges of our sectors in the energy transition.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the US Midwest enjoyed exceptional conditions with irradiance up to 10% above normal across the year, while areas along the Gulf Coast and much of the West Coast experienced slightly below-average sunshine.

The IEC has launched a new portfolio of carbon footprint verification services to help build trust and credibility in companies’ commitment to monitoring and reducing their emissions.

Elera Renováveis has commissioned the third phase of the 1.6 GW Janaúba solar complex in Brazil. The facility, which went online this week, consists of 27 solar parks spread across 3,800 hectares.

A new report says sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), made from abundant materials, could help India to reduce its dependence on imports to meet its energy storage needs.

Solar panel supply is no issue, but other installation bottlenecks have emerged, said a report from Clean Energy Associates.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) has launched a wind and solar energy improvement plan in a bid to reach an existing target of 20 GW of deployed solar by the end of next year.

After tumbling to record low in 2024 on the back of lower metal costs and increased scale, lithium-ion battery prices are expected to enter a period of stabilization.

Romanian utility Electrica Group has launched two solar tenders, including a 62.5 MW project open for applications until Jan. 31 and a 77.6 MW project open until Feb. 17.

The Solar Energy Association of Ukraine says the country installed 800 MW to 850 MW of solar capacity in 2024, driven mainly by business and residential installations.

Carrier, a US-based heating solutions provider, has introduced a new 4-14 kW line of heat pumps with a coefficient of performance of up to 4.90. The system use propane as the refrigerant and can reportedly reach leaving water temperature of 75 C.

New research from Belgium shows that energy-sharing alone is not attractive enough for citizens and businesses willing adopt solar through an energy community. According to the study, policy support for energy communities should take the form of network tariff adjustments reflecting the community’s measurable benefits for the distribution grid.

Researchers in Switzerland investigated different setups to maximize energy yields per area for PV Systems on flat roofs. Their work revealed that using horizontal single-axis tracking and reflectors could add up to 5% greater performance.

The proposed bilayer is used as a hole contact material that ensures an improved adhesive contact with the perovskite film. It consists of a phosphonic acid self-assembled monolayer with an upper layer made of an organic compound known as triphenylamine.

Researchers from the UAE and Singapore have assessed how wind-induced vibrations increase mechanical stress in PV panels and have found these vibrations could lead to microcracks, more serious mechanical failures, misalignments, and ultimately to the system collapse.

The nanocellulose film can be used for light management as its light scattering is adjustable. It also exhibits a transmittance of over 80% at 550 nm.

Microvast says its new True all-solid-state battery (ASSB) eliminates liquid electrolytes to achieve voltages of 12 V to 21 V, with a bipolar stacking design that cuts interconnections between cells, modules, and packs.

A Chinese research group has created a new radiative cooling technology for photovoltaic devices. It consists of a chamber made of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene and polydimethylsiloxane that, when placed above the solar cells, can reportedly achieve an average cooling power of approximately 40 W/m2.

Conventional silicon solar cells degrade rapidly in space, and gallium arsenide cells are heavy and inflexible. Research from the University of Michigan suggests carbon-based solar cells could be a good fit for space applications.

Italy has expanded incentives for PV projects using EU-made modules under its Transizione 5.0 Tax Credit scheme, offering up to 35% coverage and higher calculation bases for high-efficiency cells and modules.

Aiko Solar has started production at its Jinan factory, its third facility for n-type all-back-contact solar modules. The plant is designed for 30 GW of solar cell and panel capacity, with the first 10 GW phase set to reach full output by late 2025.

The fire, which affected a photovoltaic installation in a container with batteries at the port of Gandia, started at 6:14 p.m. on January 4.

Researchers from Belgium and the University of Cyprus have completed outdoor stability tests of perovskite solar mini-modules providing two-years of data on stability performance. The tests showed that the modules’ performance loss rates during the burn-in period of perovskites ranged between 7% and 8% per month.

While China, South Korea, Europe, and the United States are also engaged in active development of all solid-state batteries, Japan is leading the charge, offering generous subsidies to technology proponents.

An international study led by Flinders University in Australia has advanced nanoscale chemistry to further develop sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power.

The proposed system uses waste heat by thermally coupling a water lithium bromide absorption heat transformer with a water vapor compression heat
pump. It reportedly achieved a temperature elevation of up to 110 C and ultra-high temperature heating of up to 180 C.

The controller integrates selected third-party products into the SolarEdge EMS ecosystem by connecting to a household’s internet router via the local area network (LAN). It can communicate with inverters, electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and SolarEdge’s servers.

The plant features 12 reversible pump-turbine units, each with a capacity of 300 MW, including two variable-speed units, bringing the total installed capacity to 3.6 GW.