Africa has abundant sunlight, arable land, and innovative farmers, and agrivoltaics offers a long-term strategy to boost food security, climate resilience, and energy access simultaneously. Success depends on coordinated policy, inclusive community engagement, and patient, innovative finance to build a viable, scalable market.

In its second monthly column for pv magazine, the Becquerel Institute explains that Europe has vast commercial and industrial rooftops suitable for solar, but decades-old structural limits block conventional PV panels, creating an 85 GW untapped potential. Lightweight PV modules, commercially available and up to 50% lighter, can unlock this constrained market, meeting regulatory, economic, and technical needs for solar deployment across the continent.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now an investable asset class, and infrastructure funds are acquiring developer platforms and financing large portfolios to accelerate deployment across Europe. Carlos Candil and Carlo de Haas of Lincoln International break down the trend

The electricity grid is a real bottleneck for energy in the United States, and it’s not only utilities and grid operators who are struggling. Grid congestion also puts pressure on renewable energy project owners and is as much a business problem as it is a technical one, writes Alon Mashkovich, CEO of energy management business software supplier enSights.

Malaysia’s rising power demand, driven by industrial growth and data centers, is exposing grid and capacity constraints, prompting policies like Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) to enable corporate renewable procurement while maintaining system cost recovery. A key factor is the System Access Charge (SAC), whose uncertain future trajectory affects long-term solar PPAs and investment decisions, making scenario-based modelling crucial for assessing project bankability.

Sweeping import tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made waves for the US clean energy industry in 2025. While solar developers chase safe-harbor deadlines, US energy storage manufacturing could benefit from rules encouraging onshoring – provided there is policy certainty to bank on

China has deployed its first 1.25 MW urban vanadium flow battery (VFB), supporting peak AC loads and offering a safer alternative amid tighter lithium-ion storage regulations in dense urban environments.

Morocco’s state energy agency and national utility have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) and begun construction on six Noor Atlas solar plants totaling 305 MW. The project – financed by KfW, the European Investment Bank and Bank of Africa – aims to expand renewables, support local industry and create regional jobs.

Bifacial PV modules, string inverters and advanced trackers are becoming the preferred technologies in utility-scale solar project design, according to new data from RatedPower.

Beazley has agreed to acquire US renewable insurance specialist kWh Analytics to strengthen data-driven underwriting for solar and energy storage projects.

The new prototype ranks among the most advanced sodium‑ion battery systems reported worldwide.

California appellate court has affirmed the Public Utilities Commission decision to sharply cut compensation for homeowners and businesses that export rooftop solar electricity production to the grid.

The Chinese manufacturer has launched a fire-resistant version of its Hi-MO X10 module for distributed PV applications, featuring back-contact technology and up to 24.8% efficiency. The company says the module adds enhanced fire-safety design to address rooftop PV risks such as hot spots and DC arcing.

An Algerian research team has developed a smart water-spray cooling system for PV panels that activates only when temperatures exceed a set threshold, boosting efficiency while minimizing water use in desert conditions. The system raised power output and reduced module temperatures, offering similar efficiency to continuous cooling but with far lower water consumption, pump operation, and costs.

Japan has allocated 79 MW of PV capacity in its latest procurement exercise. The lowest price in the auction was JPY 0/kWh.

Researchers have developed a PFAS-free dual-layer sol-gel and hydrophobic silica coating that repels water, dust, and dirt while maintaining high light transmission for solar panels. The transparent, self-cleaning coating improved photovoltaic efficiency from 13.90% to 14.56%, demonstrating strong durability and potential for future commercial applications.

Researchers from Nanchang University and Trina Solar found that TOPCon solar modules exhibit metastable “degradation–recovery” under UV exposure, with light soaking fully restoring performance and no impact on real-world energy yield. Their findings highlight the need to refine UV testing standards to better reflect field performance and guide PV reliability assessments.

Canadian researchers proposed a laminate-free solar module using polycarbonate instead of EVA and glass. The new encapsulation technique reportedly enables easy disassembly, reuse of solar cells, and open-source local manufacturing.

TU Berlin researchers say early demand for round-the-clock carbon-free electricity could help bring advanced energy technologies to market faster through technology learning effects. Grant funding for the research was provided by Google, which has since announced plans to build the world’s largest iron-air battery.

The new product line covers 124–644 kW in heating and 128–632 kW in cooling, operates down to -15 C, and supports various configurations with R454B or R410a refrigerants.

Swedish thin-film solar manufacturer Midsummer has secured its largest-ever order for production equipment, covering a complete solar cell factory. It follows an initial order in May 2025 for a 15 MW line producing thin-film copper, indium, gallium and selenide (CIGS) solar cells.

The 3 kW N3300S inverter combines a pure sine wave inverter with an integrated MPPT solar charge controller for small residential and hybrid PV systems. The unit supports multiple power sources, flexible battery chemistries, and rapid grid/off-grid switching.

In an interview with pv magazine, Empa scientist Mirjana Dimitrievska explains that the CIGS photovoltaic technology, while promising for efficiency and flexible applications, faces persistent challenges in scaling lab-level performance to cost-effective, high-throughput industrial production, limiting its ability to compete with crystalline silicon. She also emphasizes that long-term stability, reliability, and material sustainability, rather than peak efficiency, are crucial for commercial viability, especially in niche markets like building-integrated and lightweight PV.

Researchers tested a solar PV-powered system to gasify dried cattle dung, achieving higher energy recovery than grid-powered setups.Their techno-economic-environmental analysis shows the approach can cut emissions and be economically viable, though system utilization and operational factors strongly affect profitability.

Qcells says it has resumed solar panel production at its Georgia manufacturing facilities after US Customs and Border Protection released seven solar cell shipments from South Korea that had been held under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), forcing a furlough of 1,000 workers and temporarily halting output at the second-largest module factory in the United States.

Volkswagen has connected its first 20 MW/40 MWh stationary storage system in Salzgitter, Germany, marking the start of its plan to integrate battery production, storage, and energy trading within a single corporate structure.

The “Battery Atlas 2026” report shows consolidation in Europe’s battery market. More than 2,000 GWh of cell production capacity was announced in 2023, but the realistic forecast for early 2026 is around 1,190 GWh, including approximately 673 GWh led by Asian companies.

Australia’s rooftop solar market has bounced back into record-setting territory with 281 MW of new capacity registered across the country last month, marking the largest February total on record.

Key – The Energy Transition Expo was held last week in Italy, featuring 1,065 exhibitors and 530 buyers. The event focused on energy-as-a-service and agrivoltaic projects, with operators saying agriPV standardization should be reached by 2030-32. Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin told pv magazine that coal and gas are strategic assets, noted that the “PV sector is maturing,” and urged the European Union to coordinate on gas storage and supply chains for modules and storage solutions.

Researchers in Sweden have developed an air-based photovoltaic-thermal system that can preheat ventilation air and domestic hot water, cutting district heating demand by up to 16% for ventilation and 7% for hot water while also reducing peak heating loads in cold Nordic climates.