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 a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the impact of Hurricane Milton on solar production will be minimal outside the southeastern United States, as the system quickly moves offshore.

There are thousands of extraordinarily good pumped hydro energy storage sites around the world with extraordinarily low capital cost. When coupled with batteries, the resulting hybrid system has large energy storage, low cost for both energy and power, and rapid response. Storage is a solved problem.

Solar powered water pumps are one of the most important ways for off-grid communities to gain access to water cheaply and cleanly. Standards are required to enable this market to continue growing and the IEC is working on the appropriate specifications.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, IEA PVPS provides a comprehensive overview of the recently released fourth edition of the “Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data”. The 530-page handbook, developed by IEA PVPS Task 16 in collaboration with NREL, elaborates on methods and models for accurately collecting solar data to plan and operate energy projects effectively.

Researchers in Denmark have found that using a large-scale air-to-water heat pump in solar district heating may significantly reduce its levelized cost of heat. The proposed system configuration was simulated for an existing district heating plant in Denmark and was found to improve the flexibility of the system in response to energy prices.

NHPC Ltd. has issued a tender inviting developers to set up 1.2 GW of grid-connected PV projects, with an option for an additional 1.2 GW under a “greenshoe option.” Bidders must submit their proposals by Nov. 4.

The US-based long duration energy storage startup has raised more than $1.2 billion to date, making it one of the top-funded players in the space.

JA Solar has filed two patent lawsuits against Astronergy in the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The proceedings are related to the tunneling silicon oxide (SiO2) layers, the doped polysilicon layer, and the electrodes used in tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar products.

A new policy paper from the African Policy Research Institute (APRI) recommends that Africa adopt a regionalized PV strategy to successfully integrate into the global solar value chain. It warns that without a coordinated approach, individual countries are unlikely to integrate into the global market.

The latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) says solar records were broken across the United States in 2023, as international trade issues decreased and financial certainty increased, driven by the implementation of the US Inflation Reduction Act.

The International Energy Agency says renewables are on course to meet almost half of global electricity demand by 2030, with solar accounting for 80% of the growth in capacity.

Researchers from China found that big solar power plants have a positive positive impact on the ecological environment of desert areas. Their testing was conducted at a 1 GW solar park located in China’s northeastern Qinghai province.

BlueWave has started working on three agrivoltaic community solar projects in Johnstown, New York, totaling 16 MW.

Researchers in Spain have created a new model to accurately estimate oil production and energy generation in agrivoltaic facilities built in hedgerow olive orchards. The proposed approach also allows the generation of mathematical equations estimating the influence of the system design variable.

The experimental device achieved an open-circuit voltage of 1.21 V, which is the highest value reported to date for highly efficient perovskite photovoltaics. The cell is based on a photo-ferroelectric 2D/3D/2D perovskite junction integrating a 2D ferroelectric perovskite single crystals in the perovskite bulk.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has given the Taiwan Excellent PV Award and Voluntary Product Certification (VPC) to AU Optronics’ (AUO) large-size, dual-glass PV module. The government said the bifacial panel, developed in collaboration with Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS), is notable for its high efficiency and weather resistance.

MCPV, a Netherlands based cell manufacturer, has secured €4.2 million ($4.6 million) of Dutch government support for a 4 GW solar cell plant to be built in the town of Veendam. It has also obtained electricity supply commitments for initial production lines and future expansion.

Researchers from Norway and Germany investigated the influence of impurities in fused quartz crucibles used in silicon PV ingot production. The results suggest that the key factors influencing crucible uniformity are sand quality, sand particle size, and aspects of the manufacturing process.

The Chinese manufacturer says its new frameless heterojunction panels rely on busbarless technology and 210 mm wafers. The new products also feature a temperature coefficient -0.29%/C and weigh only 12.3 kg.

Rayzon Solar currently has 4 GW of PV module manufacturing capacity and plans to add 3 GW by December, followed by another 5 GW by September 2025. This will increase its cumulative module capacity to 12 GW per year. The company also plans to build a 1.2 GW cell line by the end of 2025.

Heliene has obtained a $54 million investment from Transition Equity Partners to expand its solar cell and module production in the United States.

The proposed brackish water desalination system uses photovoltaic electrodialysis to enable direct-drive desalination at high production rates. It already operated for 6 months on real brackish groundwater and was reportedly able to use 94% of the extracted PV energy.

Researchers in France have investigated heterojunction solar module reliability in damp heat environment and have found that sodium ions are the main source of degradation.

New research from India shows that rooftop PV system may have “unintended” consequences on temperartures in urban environments. Rooftop arrays, for example, may potentially lower nighttime temperatures by up to 0.6  C.

Western Australian gas utility ATCO Australia has achieved a network distribution blend of up to 10% renewable hydrogen, produced by a solar-powered electrolyzer, for 3,000 homes.

SJVN has allocated 1.2 GW of renewables-plus-storage capacity in India at an average price of $0.051/kWh for firm, dispatchable renewable energy.

Futraheat has developed a 300 kW/1.5 MW heat pump that can reportedly deliver steam up to 130 C and reach a coefficient of performance of 6.2. The first prototype was deployed at a brewery in Sussex.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has approved a final investment decision and started construction of the Arena battery energy storage system (BESS) project, with the aim of supplying energy from the first quarter of 2026.

Infinity says it has delivered a fuel cell prototype to NASA for ground testing, aimed at demonstrating a regenerative energy storage system for potential lunar applications.