US Startup Begins Manufacturing Grid-Scale Flywheel ESS
Qnetic, a SOSV‑backed startup, is launching low‑volume production of its Q500 solid‑state flywheel energy storage system at a new Sacramento factory. The Q500 is designed for 500 kWh capacity, 125 kW power, and up to twelve hours of discharge at lower power, though initial units will be derated to 100‑200 kWh for qualification. The company plans a $20 million funding round in 2026 and will collaborate with the National Lab of the Rockies to validate the technology across multiple grid applications. A next‑generation Q1 model is already on the roadmap.
Multi-Year Field Study Finds that Agrivoltaics Can Support Healthy Potato Yields
A four‑year field trial in northern Italy examined potato production under agrivoltaic (APV) systems with varying shading patterns. The study found that moderate shading (around 20%) caused only a 12% yield drop, while high shading (>35%) reduced yields by more...
Adani Green Commissions 951 MW Solar, Hybrid Capacity in India
Adani Green Energy Ltd. commissioned 951 MW of renewable capacity in western India, comprising 926 MW of solar and 25 MW of hybrid projects across Baiya, Rajasthan and Khavda, Gujarat. The plants began commercial operation on March 30 after receiving clearances. This addition lifts...
Sodium-Ion Cells Launched for Energy Storage by Another Chinese Mid-Tier Battery Company
Chinese mid‑tier battery maker Bosa Energy announced the launch of 175 Ah sodium‑ion cells for stationary energy storage. The cells deliver 110 Wh kg‑1 and 206 Wh L‑1, weigh 4.75 kg, and match the dimensions of the company’s existing 314 Ah lithium‑ion module. Bosa’s four factories covering...
Lithuania’s Solar Capacity Surpasses 3 GW
Lithuania’s solar capacity hit 3.04 GW at the end of 2025, adding roughly 600 MW in the last year. Prosumers—about 170,000—produced around 70% of that output, delivering 1.79 TWh and covering 14.2% of national electricity demand. Technical permits for an additional 4 GW of...
Portable Data Centers Target Curtailment, Grid Constraints
Australian startup WinDC, together with US‑based Armada, will install 11 MW of modular, container‑sized data centers at solar, wind and battery sites across New South Wales and Western Australia. The portable units run entirely on renewable power, can be moved by...
The Hydrogen Stream: Capacity Outlook Grows, Deals Shift
GlobalData projects global low‑carbon hydrogen capacity could reach 82.3 mtpa by 2030, up from 2.2 mtpa active in early 2026 across 460 projects. Only 2% of that future capacity is operational, with most projects still in feasibility or early stages. Meanwhile, Topsoe...
China PV Industry Brief: China Adds 32.48 GW Solar as Polysilicon Prices Fall
China’s National Energy Administration reported 32.48 GW of new solar capacity installed in January‑February 2026, a 17.7% year‑on‑year decline, while total generation capacity reached 3.95 TW, with solar climbing to 1.23 TW (+33.2%). Polysilicon prices fell sharply, with weekly drops of up to...
Agrivoltaics with Trackers, Vertical Systems Offer Economic Upside
A new analysis by Jochen Hauff challenges a German Thünen‑Institut study by showing that agrivoltaic systems with trackers or vertical configurations can be financially viable and even outperform conventional ground‑mounted solar. Tracker‑based agrivoltaics add roughly 12‑13% to capital costs but...
Bluetti Targets Home Backup with Fridge-Focused Battery System
Bluetti has launched FridgePower, a plug‑and‑play battery system aimed at keeping refrigerators and other essential home devices running during power outages. Unlike fixed residential storage like Tesla Powerwall, FridgePower requires no permanent installation and can be moved within the house....
‘Be Kind to Yourself and Patient with Your Journey’
Irene Mihai, Policy Director of the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association, highlighted the critical role of mentorship, collaboration, and inclusive workplace practices in attracting and retaining talent in the solar sector. She noted that women now represent roughly 40% of the...
European Prosecutor Investigates Suspected Solar Tender Fraud in Slovenia
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has opened a fraud investigation into an unnamed Slovenian solar company that allegedly violated EU tender rules for Cohesion Fund co‑financing of small solar plants. Police searches in Celje seized documents and electronic data...
Brazil PV Module Imports Fall 24% to 17.9 GW in 2025
Brazil imported 17.9 GWp of photovoltaic modules in 2025, a 24% drop from 2024’s 22.3 GWp. Distributed‑generation projects absorbed 79% of the volume, even as new installations slowed to 8.8 GW, down from 10 GW a year earlier. The decline coincided with a sharp...
US ITC Opens Section 337 Probe Into Global TOPCon Supply Chain
The US International Trade Commission has opened a Section 337 investigation into TOPCon solar cells, modules and related products after First Solar filed a complaint naming 47 respondents across 11 countries. First Solar alleges infringement of patents 1, 2, 4 and 8 and seeks...
Inland Rail Deploys Solar-Powered Level Crossings in Australia
Australia’s 1,600‑km Inland Rail freight corridor has installed standalone solar power systems at two level crossings in northern New South Wales, eliminating the need for grid connections during construction. The solar‑powered installations include battery storage, LED warning lights, audible alarms...
Electrospray Cooling Can Boost PV Panel Performance with Minimal Water Use
Researchers at Turkey’s Artvin Çoruh University refined electrospray cooling for photovoltaic (PV) panels, pinpointing optimal irradiance, coolant flow, voltage, and nozzle distance. Using a response‑surface method, they determined that 1,000 W/m² irradiance, 94.34 mL/h flow, 17 kV voltage, and a 5.5 cm nozzle gap...
China Solar Cell Prices Fall for Third Consecutive Week as Upstream Costs Ease
China's TOPCon M10 solar cell prices slipped for a third week, falling 0.36% to $0.0558 per watt as polysilicon and wafer costs eased. N‑type M10 wafer prices dropped 3.92% to $0.147 each, reflecting broader upstream price pressure. Production in January‑February...
Germany Classifies Cybersecurity Threats for Energy Infrastructure
Germany’s Federal Network Agency will adopt a new classification framework developed by Fraunhofer IOSB‑AST to evaluate cybersecurity incidents in the energy sector under the EU NIS 2 Directive. The methodology introduces a three‑stage, risk‑based model that moves from initial incident reporting...
Austria Deploys 1.63 GW of Solar in 2025
Austria installed about 1.63 GW of new photovoltaic capacity in 2025, a 22% decline from 2024’s 2.08 GW. The slowdown leaves total solar capacity at roughly 9.9 GW, well short of the 2 GW per year needed to meet the country’s 100% renewable electricity...
German Pilot Shows 700 EVs Can Provide Redispatch Services
TransnetBW and Octopus Energy’s OctoFlexBW pilot proved that 700 private‑EVs can provide grid‑flexibility services through Germany’s Redispatch 2.0 process. The fleet shifted about 2 MWh of load per day, demonstrating a fully automated chain from system‑operator dispatch signals to household chargers, including...
Hysolar Moves to Take Control of Suntech
Hongyuan Green Energy (Hysolar) is set to acquire control of Wuxi Suntech Solar Power through a court‑led restructuring that creates a new entity, New Suntech, and transfers core assets while isolating legacy debt. The new company will be capitalized at...
Agrivoltaics for Turnips
Researchers at the University of Western Ontario tested 13 photovoltaic modules, including semi‑transparent cadmium telluride (CdTe) and low‑transparency crystalline silicon (c‑Si), in field‑scale agrivoltaic trials with turnips. The 60 % transparent CdTe panel delivered the highest fresh root weight (176.5 g) and...
UK Solar Deployment Hits 22 GW as More Large Projects Commissioned
The UK added 2.5 GW of solar capacity in the 12 months to February 2026, pushing total installed PV to 22 GW – the fastest annual increase in a decade. Large‑scale projects (≥25 MW) drove most of the growth, with CfD‑backed capacity jumping...
Croatia to Invest €40 Million in Household Solar, Batteries, Heat Pumps
Croatia announced a €40 million ($46.2 million) package to co‑finance residential solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps, targeting up to 15,000 applications. The scheme will cover 50 % of costs, rising to 70 % for households at risk of energy poverty, and is...
France Lowers PV Feed-In Tariffs for Systems up to 100 kW
France’s energy regulator (CRE) announced lower feed‑in tariffs for photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 100 kW, effective April‑July 2026. The 9‑36 kW tier now receives €0.805 (≈$0.93) per kWh, while 36‑100 kW gets €0.70 (≈$0.81) per kWh, and surplus electricity is compensated at €0.473 (≈$0.55) per kWh....
Spain Enables 50-Plus Renewable Plants for Real-Time Voltage Control
Spain’s grid operator Red Eléctrica and regulator CNMC launched real‑time, setpoint‑based voltage control services on March 17, enabling renewable generators to adjust reactive power on demand. More than 50 installations are already active, with 365 applicants and 74 qualified units...
Global PV Equipment Market to Reach 2.6 Times Current Size by 2035
A study by Germany’s VDMA and Fraunhofer projects global capital expenditure on photovoltaic manufacturing equipment to rise from about $16.6 billion in 2025 to $43.8 billion by 2035, roughly 2.6 times current size. The growth mirrors an expected 2.5‑fold increase in annual...
Sekisui-Led Consortium Testing Film-Type Perovskite Solar for Agrivolatics
A Japanese consortium led by Sekisui Solar Film has launched a three‑year agrivoltaic pilot that places film‑type perovskite solar cells over rice paddies at Chiba University. The study will monitor electricity generation, rice yield, methane emissions and overall commercial viability....
How Many Solar Projects Have Been Backed by the UK Government?
Since the July 2024 election, the UK government has backed at least 780 solar projects, spanning rooftop installations on schools and hospitals to utility‑scale farms over 500 MW. The contracts‑for‑difference (CfD) scheme accounts for 247 projects with 8.1 GW capacity, including 90...
South Korea Targets 2,500 Community Solar Cooperatives by 2030
South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety launched the Sunlight Income Village program, aiming to create more than 2,500 community‑owned solar cooperatives by 2030. Over 500 villages will be selected this year, with installations ranging from 300 kW to 1 MW...
France Proposes Linking Solar Subsidies to Storage as Prices Turn Negative
France’s energy regulator, the Commission de Régulation de l’Énergie (CRE), is proposing to tie subsidies for large‑scale photovoltaic projects to the inclusion of energy‑storage systems. The rule change targets installations above 100 kW and aims to curb revenue erosion caused by...
Solar Curtailment Reaches Tokyo, Japan’s Last Holdout Grid Area
Tokyo’s grid experienced Japan’s first economic solar curtailment as solar output outpaced system flexibility. Tepco Power Grid ordered generators to cut up to 1.84 GW between 11:00 and 16:00 JST on March 1, 2026, marking the capital’s entry into a nationwide issue. The...
GCL Optoelectronics Wins China’s First Commercial Perovskite-Silicon Tandem PV Module Order
GCL Optoelectronics secured a 1.2 MW contract from China Huaneng to supply commercial perovskite‑silicon tandem solar modules. The tender required mass‑producible, IEC‑certified modules delivering at least 26% efficiency and a 25‑year performance warranty, with delivery by June 2026. GCL is the sole...
Slovakia Deploys 243 MW of Solar in 2025
Slovakia installed 243 MW of new solar capacity in 2025, bringing cumulative photovoltaic capacity to 1.357 GW. The additions comprised 124 MW residential, 102 MW commercial‑industrial and 17 MW utility‑scale, largely fueled by the Green for Households subsidy and EU Resilience and Recovery Fund support....
Molecular Solar Battery Stores Energy for Days, Yields Hydrogen on Demand
Researchers at Ulm University and Friedrich‑Schiller‑Universität Jena have created a water‑soluble redox copolymer that functions as a molecular solar battery, achieving over 80% charging efficiency and storing energy for several days. The stored electrons can be released on demand as...
PVT-Driven Tower Heat Pump for Building Retrofits
Chinese researchers demonstrated that coupling an energy‑tower heat pump with either an evaporator‑side boiler or a solar‑thermal system dramatically improves winter heating efficiency in commercial retrofits. The two configurations achieved the highest coefficients of performance—1.904 and 1.891—far surpassing the 1.595...
SolaX Power Validates System Level Safety Through Extreme Testing
SolaX Power’s ORI 5 MWh large‑scale energy storage system successfully completed the world’s first UL‑led system‑level deflagration test under the proposed UL 9540A:2025 framework. Real lithium‑ion cells were driven into thermal runaway while the emergency ventilation remained closed, forcing the pressure‑relief structure...
Spain Completes Testing of Europe’s Largest Research Vanadium BESS
Spain’s Fundación Ciudad de la Energía (Ciuden) has finished operational testing of a 1 MW/8 MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) at its Cubillos del Sil technology centre. The €6.4 million (~$7.4 million) system, built by CYMI using H2 Inc technology, is the largest vanadium...
European Residential Heat Pump Sales Increased in 2025
Residential heat pump sales across 16 European nations rose to 2.62 million units in 2025, a 10.3% year‑on‑year increase and the third‑largest annual total on record. The growth follows a reversal of a 23% decline seen earlier in the year, driven...
Ghana Plans to Procure 200 MW of Battery Storage
Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition announced a plan to procure 200 MW of battery energy storage through competitive bidding. The initiative aims to bolster the national grid’s capacity during nighttime peak demand. Currently, Ghana operates only 10 MWh of battery...
Brazil’s LRCAP Battery Auction Demand Estimated at Nearly 3 GW
Brazil’s second 2026 Long‑term Reserve Capacity Auction (LRCAP) secured 501.3 MW of thermoelectric capacity, primarily from diesel, fuel‑oil and biodiesel plants. The auction follows a March 18 tender that awarded 19 GW of capacity, underscoring a rapid build‑out of reserve resources. Analysts...
German Startup Offers Team of 22 Specialized AI Workers for PV Plant O&M Operations
German startup Invertix has introduced a suite of 22 specialized AI "workers" that autonomously handle key operation and maintenance (O&M) functions for photovoltaic (PV) plants. The agents process SCADA telemetry, classify alarms, and perform grid analysis, while escalating high‑risk decisions...
Türkiye’s Solar Capacity Surpasses 25 GW
Turkey’s solar capacity hit 25.8 GW by the end of January 2026, marking a record start to the year. The nation added roughly 4.7 GW of solar in 2025, pushing the share of solar in total generation from 0.1% in 2014 to...
When Tiny Magnets Attack PV Systems
Cybersecurity researcher Mohammad Al Faruque demonstrated that low‑cost magnetic, electrical and acoustic perturbations can manipulate current and voltage sensors in photovoltaic inverters without physical access. Using a $45 kit of Arduino, MOSFETs, Zigbee and an ultrasonic sensor, his team generated controllable...
Why BESS Insurers Are Sweating Transformers and Contractor Errors over Battery Fires
Insurers covering gigawatt‑scale battery energy storage systems are moving beyond thermal‑runaway concerns to scrutinize balance‑of‑plant components such as high‑voltage transformers and EPC integration errors. Rapid product evolution, exemplified by a jump from 3 MWh Megapack enclosures in 2019 to 14.5 MWh units...
‘The Barriers I Encountered Were Never Dramatic, They Were Cumulative’
Women in Solar+ Europe featured Delfina Muñoz, CEA research director, who argues that diversity is a catalyst for faster, fairer clean‑energy innovation. She describes how everyday micro‑biases accumulate to create barriers for women, and stresses that inclusion must be embedded...
Why Technical Due Diligence Is Becoming the Backbone of Europe’s Solar-Storage Boom
Europe’s hybrid solar‑plus‑storage projects are scaling rapidly, turning isolated PV and battery assets into integrated systems that deliver firm capacity and grid services. The added electrical, mechanical and digital interdependencies raise failure risks, making superficial technical due diligence a liability....
Iran Conflict Stirs Solar Demand Debate in Germany
Germany’s residential solar market is seeing a sharp uptick, with E.ON reporting that inquiries for rooftop installations have roughly doubled since the Israel‑U.S.-Iran escalation in late February. Other installers such as 1KOMMA5° and Enpal echo the surge, while some industry...
Clean Winter Air Drives Major Irradiance Surplus Across China and Taiwan in February
February delivered a stark East‑Asia solar divide: southern China and Taiwan recorded record‑high irradiance, driven by exceptionally clean air and persistent clear skies, while maritime Southeast Asia suffered 10‑20% below‑average irradiance due to heavy rainfall and enhanced tropical convection. In...
Greece Receives 12.2 GW of Merchant Battery Applications for 4.7 GW Program
Investors have lodged applications for 12.15 GW of utility‑scale merchant battery storage in Greece, far surpassing the 4.7 GW capacity earmarked in the country's new program. The applications split into roughly 10 GW for the transmission grid and 2.15 GW for distribution networks. The...