Warnings about the need to decentralize Ukraine’s electricity grid, made 10 years before the Russian invasion, fell on deaf ears at the time. In the wake of war, nations across Eastern and Central Europe are alive to the risks embodied in traditional energy networks.

Solar module prices have never fallen so sharply in such a short period of time. One reason for this is the “PV module glut” in warehouses in Europe, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, explains that the climatology of Africa leads to very different seasonal generation patterns from what European solar producers experience. Data analysed by Solcast, via the Solcast API, shows this seasonal variance from summer to winter in 2023.

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.

Calls for barriers and duties are resurfacing in Europe as solar module prices sharply fall. German PV analyst Karl-Heinz Remmers recalls the 2009-13 period, when the European Union introduced anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. This drove the loss of 80,000 jobs in the solar industry, despite or perhaps because of the tariffs on PV modules and raw materials.

SolarPower Europe says in its latest report on EU solar jobs that the European solar industry employed 648,000 people at the end of 2022, up from 466,000 the year prior. It says the sector will reach 1 million full-time employees within three years.

Scatec has turned on two solar-plus-storage facilities in northern Cameroon, with 30 MW of solar and 20 MW/19 MWh of energy storage.

Germany advanced its hydrogen ambitions this week with a fresh call for the International Green Hydrogen Promotion Program in Latin America, a collaborative deal with the UK government, and a tie-up between DHL and Sasol for sustainable aviation fuels based on green hydrogen (eSAF).

Abu Dhabi-based Masdar and PLN Nusantara Power, an Indonesian state-owned electricity generator, have agreed to more than triple the size of the Cirata floating PV power plant in West Java so it can generate 500 MW.

This week, Longi and TCL Zhonghuan reduced slightly the prices of their wafer products. Meanwhile, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association reports strong ouput growth for the solar industry.

Fluke aims to take the PVA-1500HE it acquired from Solmetric to the global market. It claims the new hardware will fill a gap in the worldwide market with a U.S.-preferred tool.

LG Energy Solution will soon release its lithium iron phosphate batteries in the European market, featuring compatibility with single-phase and three-phase inverters. The South Korean manufacturer will offer two configurations, with capacities of 12.4 kWh and 15.5 kWh.

New statistics from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator show that 2023 could be another record year for distributed solar.

Germany’s new solar installations surged to 1.05 GW in August, contributing to 8.99 GW of newly installed PV capacity for the first eight months of this year. This marks significant growth from the 4.8 GW installed during the same period in 2022.

An international research group has analyzed a vertical bifacial agrivoltaics system in a drought-stricken part of Chile. They say that the solar array can improve water efficiency for crop irrigation, while the vertical system configuration optimizes PV power generation throughout the day, minimizing curtailment.

UK researchers have developed ultra-thin nanoribbons, just 1 atom thick, by combining phosphorus and arsenic alloys. The nanoribbons offer excellent conductivity, even at temperatures exceeding -143.15 C, and have the potential to enhance charge flow in solar cells.

Panasonic unveiled its new residential solar modules – including half-cut heterojunction (HJT) models, along with a home battery system and energy management device – at the recent RE+ trade show in Las Vegas.

TSE has installed a 2.9 MW agrivoltaics plant in northern France with sensors to trigger an irrigation system. The irrigation setup can reportedly achieve significant water savings. The company is selling the electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Honeywell purchased $27.5 million in ESS common stock and intends to purchase $300 million in ESS product, with $15 million prepaid. The collaboration enables Honeywell to integrate ESS technology into its global offering, and ESS gains license to Honeywell’s flow battery intellectual property.

Researchers in Sweden investigated the complex non-linear tradeoffs between capacity expansion costs and reliability levels of off-grid PV mini-grids and found that capacity expansion based solely on cost-minimization may result in several reliability issues.

Swiss-German company Luxra Group and India’s Rayzon Solar have agreed to set up a joint venture for PV module production in India. The partnership will combine Luxra’s technology and Rayzon’s operational expertise in PV panel manufacturing.

Riello Solartech has developed new hybrid inverters for rooftop PV, designed for commercial and industrial applications The Italian manufacturer says they have a European efficiency rating of roughly 98%.

The two research institutes said the multijunction solar cell is based on silicon, gallium indium phosphide (GaInP) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). The device utilizes a specially designed metal/polymer nanocoating that reportedly optimizes the distribution of light scattering beyond the total internal reflection critical angle in the cell.

S&P Global Commodity Insights says it expects China to install 170 GW of solar in 2023, with global capacity additions to potentially surpass 400 GW.

Researchers from the Netherlands have assessed the potential integration of heat pumps, electric vehicles, and PV systems into distribution grids. They have discovered that suburban grids could face a higher risk of overload. By using actual data from Dutch distribution grid operators, they believe their methodology could be applied to study energy systems in other nations.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) has submitted a proposal for the “Project Coyote” green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Tesla has submitted a proposal to the Indian government to set up a Powerwall battery storage factory in India.

Energy storage is rapidly expanding as the sector scales to match growing renewable energy supplies, according to a new report by Interact Analysis.

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, while the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has identified hydrogen seeps in South Australia.

The battery packages include a battery, an inverter and a control system. The US manufacturer claims its storage systems have a lifespan of over 10,000 cycles and a depth of discharge of 80%.