In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, provides a June–August 2026 outlook indicating mostly neutral to positive solar irradiance globally, with stronger gains in regions like Australasia, South Asia, West Africa, and Central America—patterns consistent with a developing El Niño. Negative anomalies are limited and mostly early-season, while Europe and the U.S. show modest or mixed signals, with improvements or neutrality dominating as the season progresses.

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.

UK-based consultancy Ricardo, part of the WSP Group, explains how solar PV has compounded at 17% annually since 2016, defining the EU’s clean-energy trajectory. However, straightforward merchant returns are disappearing, and battery storage and grid expertise are now essential.

In 2025, solar and wind dominated global energy growth, delivering around six times more new capacity than all other power sources combined and supplying nearly all new electricity demand. With rapid expansion led by countries like Australia and several European nations, solar and wind are now the fastest-growing and central drivers of the global energy transition.

Q4 2025 in South Australia saw grid-connected loads with spot price exposure actually being paid to use electricity about half the time (46%) – and that electricity was overwhelmingly (80%) supplied by renewables. This demonstrates a shift from managing demand to quietly needing it. Particularly in regions like South Australia, there is growing demand for demand.

Supported by Toshiba, Bulgarian utility NEK is working to restart its 864 MW Chaira pumped-storage hydropower plant, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe. The facility has been offline since March 2022 following a turbine failure.

Cox has acquired Iberdrola México for $4 billion, adding 2,600 MW of capacity and becoming Mexico’s largest private power supplier with a 12 GW renewable project pipeline.

The two companies announced a 60 GWh supply agreement on Monday, marking a pivotal step in the commercialization of sodium-ion battery technology.

A market alert for the attention of installers, distributors and traders in the solar and storage market.

Huaneng has commissioned the 5.43 GW Xiaowan Hydropower–Solar Hybrid Project in Yunnan, combining 4.2 GW of hydropower and 1.23 GW of solar under a coordinated “hydro–solar intelligent control” system integrating 16 PV plants.

Nusku has developed a prototype of a fully integrated air-source heat pump system that combines the heat pump with a hot water cylinder and controls into a single outdoor unit. The design aims to simplify installation and reduce space requirements by replacing separate indoor and outdoor components with one pre-packaged system.

Through an agreement with Overview Energy, Meta is seeking to bypass terrestrial grid constraints by beaming near-infared light from space to terrestrial solar plants to power high-density AI workloads.

The move seeks to reverse aspects of the Nepra Prosumers Regulations 2026, which centralized approvals and is creating delays and financial barriers for rooftop solar adoption.

A two-year field study in a 100 MW photovoltaic plant in semi-arid Inner Mongolia combined ground-based sensors, radiation measurements, and UAV thermal imaging to quantify how large-scale PV installations alter local air temperature, surface temperature, and energy balance compared with nearby non-PV areas. Results show consistent site-scale warming of 0.8 C.

India’s renewable power generation from solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy rose by a record 98 TWh (+24%) in 2025, driven by strong growth in solar and wind, according to Ember. The increase was twice the country’s electricity demand growth of 49 TWh, which was relatively low due to milder temperatures and slower industrial activity. As a result, India’s fossil power generation fell by 3.3%.

The Chinese manufacturer said its TOPCon-compatible hybrid back-contact solar cell achieved a power conversion efficiency of 28.0%. The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH).

Oxford PV has joined Nissan’s SUITE consortium, advancing perovskite-silicon tandem solar tech that could boost vehicle-integrated solar EV range by an additional 3–5 km per day and push total daily solar driving range toward 15–20 km.

The research team developed a plasma interface engineering method to improve indium tin oxide layers, solving adhesion, contact resistance, and stability issues for copper electroplating. The optimized process enabled uniform copper metallization and boosted device efficiency to 25.2%, significantly outperforming untreated reference cells.

Transpower’s latest assessment of New Zealand’s balance between electricity supply and demand suggests an energy gap could emerge in the early 2030s, even if all committed and likely investments are delivered without delay.

Australia’s Energy Market Commission says introducing a new distribution planning framework and undertaking enhanced data reporting will help to reduce rooftop solar curtailment.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued preliminary anti-dumping determinations for three key solar-exporting nations, establishing duties of up to 123% on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate of the Netherlands has identified a planned polysilicon factory in the country as of strategic importance under the Net Zero Industry Act.

The four-terminal tandem device relies on FAPbI₃ nanoparticles and a spectral splitting design, combining a 24.4% wide-bandgap top cell and a 21.5% narrow-bandgap bottom cell to reach 30.2% efficiency. The system improves light utilization by directing different wavelengths to optimized subcells.

The Swedish thin-film solar specialist produces 50 MW of modules at its Bari facility, using its proprietary DUO system for cell manufacturing. The company says it sources all materials from the EU and other countries in the global North.

DK Electronic Materials (DKEM) plans to raise up to CNY 3.0 billion (USD 413 million) via a private placement to fund PV paste, metal powder expansion, R&D, and debt repayment. The company is advancing high-copper PV paste toward volume production for TOPCon 3.0 cells.

Colombia has launched a 15-year auction scheme to procure solar, storage, and hybrid capacity, with delivery starting in 2030. The mechanism introduces time-of-use products and aims to improve reliability while expanding renewable energy uptake.

Airengy Ltd., listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire a 51% stake in Green-Go, an Israeli PV developer and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor with expertise in agrivoltaics.

Atome PLC has taken Final Investment Decision on a 60,000 tpa green hydrogen-based fertilizer plant in Villeta, Paraguay. The $665 million project is financed by DFIs and equity partners and is targeting production by 2029.

Published in the French Official Journal on April 22, a new decree aims to speed up the handling of appeals against strategic environmental projects, particularly in the renewable energy sector. It introduces direct access to administrative courts of appeal and tightens rules on deadlines and procedures for challenging projects.

The program comprises six projects with a cumulative power output of 3 GW, each designed to provide four hours of storage duration.