This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Aleksandra Gabryjalowicz-Watla, Head of Partnerships Wind & Solar Germanyat Statkraft Erneuerbare GmbH. She explains how being out “in the field” may mean more exposion to occasional opposition or bias, but she also says how to properly react to bias or even disrespect.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Giorgia Epicoco, Senior EU Affairs Manager | Sustainability Lead at Huawei. She believes that the renewable energy sector is now poised to welcome a growing number of talented female professionals in technical, sales, marketing, operations, logistics, and public affairs roles. “However, reaching top-level positions isn’t feasible for everyone, and this is where skills development becomes crucial,” she warned.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that, thanks to warm temperatures and relatively sunny skies, Finland and Sweden had irradiance up to 30%, which unusually resulted in higher total irradiance than the more southerly UK and France. On the other side of the Baltic Sea, Poland, the Baltic States, and neighbouring countries also experienced irradiance up to 30% above the long-term average.

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 its second monthly column for pv magazine, the IEC highlights the research on flexible crystalline silicon solar cells led by researcher Zhengxin Liu, the Vice Chair of IEC Technical Committee 82, which prepares standards for solar PV energy systems.

Cliantech Solutions says it will install a 1.2 GW,Cliantech to supply 1.2 GW automated production line for Alpex Solar
fully automated solar panel production line for Alpex Solar’s new factory in India.

A UK-based research team has calculated the global potential of deploying floating solar arrays on almost 68,000 lakes and reservoirs. It found some countries could generate the majority of their electricity needs from floating solar panels, while five could meet all their electricity demand.

Electricity system operator (ESO) plans to expand Demand Flexibility Service, financially rewarding consumers and businesses in Great Britain for reducing consumption at times of peak demand.

The Austrian authorities have offered €17.9 million ($19 million) to fund medium-sized electricity storage systems, with €10 million from the climate action protection ministry and €7.9 million from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Construction to begin imminently at commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the United Kingdom. Major investors include Centrica, which joins as a strategic partner.

SNCF Energie, a unit of French railway group SNCF, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Neoen for 172 GWh of annual solar power. The deal supports financing for a new 139 MWp solar park set to start operations in 2028, alongside 150 hectares of land for sheep farming.

The Chinese manufacturer claims its new MIT-5000-8T product is currently the largest and the most efficient microinverter on the market. It can accomodate eight solar modules and is said to be particularly suitable for large-size residential PV systems or commercial applications.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new photovoltaic air conditioner is available in three versions with a cooling capacity ranging from 12.1 kW to 16 kW and a heating capacity of 14 kW to 18 kW. It can be used for both residential and commercial applications.

Insolight, an agrivoltaic specialist, has inaugurated a 3,000 sqm greenhouse project for a strawberry farm in France. The facility combines solar panels, shade screens, and rainwater harvesting.

China’s Utmo Light showcased its first full perovskite PV module at this week’s SNEC PV trade fair in Shanghai, underscoring the technology’s ongoing shift toward commercialization.

A team of researchers from two Chinese universities achieved a bifaciality factor of 99.1% with a semitransparent organic cell, the highest reported bifacial factor in such cells to date. The cell also achieved a power conversion efficiency of 12.5% and an average visible light transmittance of 22.9%.

Maxeon’s Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar panels were found to disperse heat evenly, leading to lower operating temperatures in the shade and reduced degradation.

Soltec has developed a floating PV tracker with pumps in the central tank for mobility and ballast, enabling operation in wind gusts above 100 km/h.

A research team including scientists from Italian module manufacturer 3Sun has tested new zirconium-doped indium oxide electrodes in commercial heterojunction solar modules. The new electrodes reportedly achieve the same performance as their counterparts based on indium tin oxide and paves the way for lower indium consumption in heterojunction products.

JinkoSolar says its 182 mm tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar module has achieved a conversion efficiency of 25.42%.

University of New South Wales researchers have created vortex generators that can reportedly reduce the operating solar module temperature by up to 2.5 C. They built two different prototypes, based on aluminum and a conductive 3D printable polymer, and tested them under several scenarios in an experimental setting deployed in Sydney.

German organic PV manufacturer Heliatek has announced a new series of lightweight modules. The Heliasol 436-2000-CFE-45-600V panels are IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 certified and have a 20-year lifetime warranty.

Modular solar specialist 5B’s pre-assembled and relocatable Maverick solar solution has been unfolded in another off-grid hybrid renewable energy project as the decarbonisation of Australia’s mining sector continues.

Pennsylvania and Minnesota have joined six other states in requiring smart inverters for distributed solar and storage. Certain utilities in 13 states and Puerto Rico also require smart inverters, while six states are considering the requirement. Smart inverters enable more solar on distribution circuits.

An international research group has analyzed the most important barriers preventing antimony trisulfide solar cells from reaching satifsfying power conversion efficiencies and has suggested a series of optimization parameters that could get them closer to commercial production.

Renewables developer Frontier Energy has boosted the storage duration of its 80 MW Waroona Renewable battery by 12% to 4.5 hours

The latest analysis from SolarPower Europe reveals that, in 2023, Europe installed 17.2 GWh of new battery energy storage systems (BESS), up from up from 8.8 GW in 2022. While this marks the third consecutive year of doubling the annual market, much slower growth is expected in the years to come.

Solarwatt says it has developed a DC version of its Battery flex PV storage system. The new version offers backup power and is optimized for the Steca SolBrid hybrid inverter.

Nexa Advisory says sluggish rooftop solar and battery storage uptake by businesses in the Australian state of New South Wales points to a 7 GW missed opportunity, and 28 GW nationally.

New research from the United Kingdom shows how during the Covid-19 crisis homeowners relying on PV and storage were able to considerably reduce grid electricity reliance, while increasing self-consumption rates. The analysis included 100 houses equipped with solar arrays ranging in output from 1.71 kW to 4.86 kW and batteries ranging from 2.5 kW to 3.3 kW.