In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that North and South America are set to experience an annular eclipse on October 14, which means that some regions could lose a significant portion of their daily solar energy production. The path of the eclipse tracks across the southwestern United States, from Oregon to Texas, before continuing through Mexico, Central America and ending in Brazil, though impacts will be seen across all of the contiguous US and the top of South America.

The current module oversupply market dynamic has coincided with efforts to bolster manufacturing outside of China by national governments and manufacturers alike. pv magazine consultant and contributor Götz Fisbheck was a part of discussions regarding made-in-Europe production, to find that protectionist measures are being called for by some.

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 the third week of September, European electricity markets prices fell compared to the previous week. The decline was due to lower demand and a significant increase in wind energy production in several markets, which offset increasing gas and CO2 prices. On September 25, TTF gas futures reached their highest level since early April and on September 18, Brent reached its highest settlement price since November 2022.

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.

Encouraged by lab results and a feasibility study, Swedish startup, Green14, in collaboration with Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) plans to build a pilot-scale reactor to make solar grade silicon with a hydrogen plasma process. The company sees the pilot as a step towards using a more sustainable method to produce solar grade silicon for the PV industry at its own gigawatt-scale plant.

SolarPower Europe’s board members have issued a joint statement calling for three measures to safeguard the European solar industry, as they claim that tariffs and trade barriers are not viable solutions.

Germany has concluded a new renewables tender, securing 408 MW of capacity at an average price of €0.0833 ($0.09)/kWh.

‘It is a project that stands as an example of energy transition,’ Duarte Bello, CEO of EDP Renewables’ Europe and Latin America operations told pv magazine. The new 200 MW solar PV plant is now generating energy on a former brown open-pit lignite site.

A research team in Spain has developed an hourly mathematical model that reportedly allows for the optimal management of grid-connected renewable generation facilities and pumped hydro-energy storage with reversible pump turbine. The scientists tested the model on a potential pumped hydro-solar-wind complex in northern Spain and found that the combination of the three technologies may achieve considerable savings.

According to recently published employment report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global solar industry employed around 5 million people at the end of last year. The report also reveals that women’s employment in the industry was “uneven”, with females mostly hired for administrative positions (58%) followed by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (38%) and non-STEM technical positions (35%).

Brazil’s Fortlev Solar has created a new polyethylene mounting structure to significantly cut installation times. It weighs 15 kg and uses the weight of natural and manmade materials for anchoring, rather than relying solely on fixed supports.

Jaebin Choe, renewables permitting team researcher at environmental advocacy organization Solutions for our Climate (SFOC), told pv magazine that some South Korean regional governments have been forced to pass exceptional clauses to allow the construction of solar PV arrays in their municipalities despite federal regulation. The association claims this represents the ‘biggest bottleneck’ in the country’s solar pursual.

As the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies underlines the delays in hydrogen storage investments, a group of researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, speaking at the European Heat Pump Association’s (EHPA) Heat Pump Forum this week, has reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to decarbonizing heat.

A research team in Bangladesh has simulated a perovskite-CIGS PV device that can reportedly achieve a remarkable tandem cell voltage of 2.48 V. The proposed method is also applicable for tandem cells composed of other materials.

A Spanish research group says air flux variations over different parts of solar plants could also lead to mismatch losses. Past. studies have only looked at the benefits of high wind speed on PV arrays, which enhances module cooling.

We Drive Solar and MyWheels have announced plans to transform the Dutch city of Utrecht into the world’s first municipality with a “neighborhood battery on wheels.” The system will feature 25 Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech from Hyundai Motor.

TotalEnergies has become the sole shareholder of French agrivoltaics specialist Ombrea, in a transaction that builds upon the partnership they started in 2019.

Fraunhofer ISE researchers utilized a new front metallization technique to produce a III-V gallium arsenide solar cell. For mask and plate front metallization, they used a new two-step printing scheme that reportedly allows for the realization of extremely narrow mask openings.

Plummeting module prices are weighing on European manufacturers, but the impact on wholesalers is differently, as warehouse conditions are showing signs of improvement.

BAJsolar has finished building a 10 GW solar cell factory in eastern China. It has invested CNY 2.6 billion ($355.75 million) in the new facility.

RCT Power says it has expanded its production capacity to 600 MW with two new hybrid inverter lines in Germany.

Solarstone, an Estonian producer of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar roofs, has opened a 60 MW manufacturing facility in Viljandi, Estonia, to produce a broader range of design and performance specifications.

Mondragon Assembly says it has won a patent dispute in China, marking its second successful case in the country in relation to its patented continuous string process.

Munich-based startup 42watt will expand its fee-based services to simplify building energy efficiency renovations for homeowners and enter new market segments after raising an undisclosed amount of seed funding.

Dragonfly Energy is using lithium hydroxide recovered from recycled batteries to manufacture battery cells, with Aqua Metals leading the way in recycling solutions for materials in the supply chains for energy storage and electric vehicles.

EnergyAustralia’s plans to install a 500 MW/2,000 MWh big battery storage system in the Australian state of New South Wales are gaining momentum, as the Hong Kong-owned generator has secured approval to conduct site investigation works.

Brussels-based heat pump advocacy organization, the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), issued a stark warning today claiming that the industry is being largely impacted by inconsistent European laws and ‘unfavorable’ electricity to gas price ratios.

Hydrostor has signed a deal with miner Perilya to build a 200 MW/1,600 MWh advanced compressed air energy storage facility in a disused mine cavity in New South Wales, Australia.