A Terrasmart Innovation Engineer looks at ways of overcoming weather challenges particular to the installing solar in Midwest states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that European solar generation displayed a sharp north-south divide in November. Southern Europe benefited from a stabilizing high-pressure system that deflected much of the Atlantic’s moisture-laden air masses northward.

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) is starting a new Task 20: Energy Hubs for Green Hydrogen. This joint effort with the IEA Wind and Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs) seeks to advance the integration of wind, solar, and hydrogen technologies into hybrid energy systems that produce green hydrogen efficiently and sustainably. Running from 2025 to 2028, Task 20 will address the practical, technical, environmental, and societal challenges associated with hybrid energy hubs, providing actionable insights for their implementation on a global scale.

In a new article for pv magazine, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) explains why the renewable energy industry should finally embrace equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEI). “At a micro level, networks like Women in Solar Europe are critical to creating the environments of belonging, psychological safety, and support that individuals need to thrive and contribute to the energy transition,” says Carmen Madrid, founder of the WiSEu Network.

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.

The Norwegian government says it is creating a new regulatory framework for energy communities. The new provisions will allow PV systems up to 5 MW in size to sell power and share surplus energy within specific industrial areas.

China’s Bslbatt has introduced the MicroBox 800, a modular energy storage solution designed specifically for balcony photovoltaic (PV) systems. The system has a storage capacity of 2 kWh and features an 800 W bidirectional inverter.

The French authorities have wrapped up a commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop PV tender with an average price of €0.09995 ($0.1055)/kWh. The government has allocated 253.3 MW of solar capacity in total.

The latest financial stability ranking keeps Tesla, Mustang Battery, Kung Long Batteries, Hyundai Electric and Eaton, in the top five spots in a report that includes 55 manufacturers.

Waaree Energies has signed an order from a developer to supply 1 GW of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) 580 W bifacial glass PV modules.

PV Hardware USA has developed a solar tracker algorithm to improve energy collection in overcast conditions. The algorithm could improve output by up to 20% on some days compared to traditional sun-tracking methods.

Hitachi Energy’s Nostradamus AI solution enables users to make better decisions by generating accurate forecasts for solar and wind generation, market pricing, and load projections.

Shizen Energy and Smfl Mirai Partners have jointly acquired energy company Mizuta Koichi from France’s Ciel & Terre, along with its portfolio of twelve floating solar assets located across Japan.

The UK government announced a new business model for hydrogen, based on dispatchable power agreements available to carbon capture technologies.

The SolarEdge Home Battery ‘USA Edition’ has a storage capacity of 9.7kWh and is designed to quality for domestic content bonus.

US startup DartSolar says its new roof rack attachment for electric vehicles adds up to 20 miles (32 km) of additional range per day.

An international research group has developed a light upconversion system that can reportedly improve crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency by up to 0.87%. The technology consists of multilayer nanoparticles that act as near-infrared absorbers across different spectral ranges.

A joint venture between Canadian perovskite solar startup Solaires Enterprises and China’s Genesis Technology has completed successful trial production of indoor perovskite PV modules in Jiaxing, China.

MicroQuanta, a Chinese perovskite solar specialist, has commissioned a 8.2 MW PV facility based on its 90 W perovskite panels in eastern China.

US semiconductor supplier Onsemi has unveiled silicon carbide power-integrated modules for utility-scale PV systems. It says the new modules increase solar inverter power from 300 kW to 350 kW and weigh 245 grams.

Mibet, a Chinese PV mounting system supplier, says it has started operating a 51 kW offshore PV pilot project in Xiamen, southeastern China. The 563.286 sqm system, which includes 112 panels, accommodates framed and double-glass PV modules with 60 and 72 cells.

Longi says its hybrid passivated back contact (HPBC) 2.0 dual-glass modules have been installed for the first time in a distributed generation project. The 2.2 MW solar plant in northeastern China is now in commercial operation.

China-based panel maker JinkoSolar says that its competitor VSUN and its related entities in the United States have infringed on one of its patents.

Scientists have developed a window that uses a semi-transparent amorphous silicon PV layer. The group tested the system in London at different inclination angles and found it can achieve a maximum electrical efficiency of 3.6% and a maximum thermal efficiency of 17.6%.

GoodWe has unveiled a new commercial and industrial (C&I) string inverter series, featuring models with output power ratings of 100 kW, 110 kW, and 125 kW, offering up to 10 maximum power point trackers (MPPT) and 21A DC input per string.

Sunstone Solar is a 1.2 GW solar, 1.2 GW battery energy storage project planned for eastern Oregon.

RWTH Aachen University in Germany has investigated the safety of battery storage systems and compared it with other household appliances or technologies. The study aims to create a reliable database for classifying fire risk for consumers and regulators.

The project adopts supercapacitor hybrid energy storage assisted frequency regulation technology, consisting of 60 sets of 3.35 MW/6.7 MWh battery energy storage systems and 1 set of 3 MW/6-minute supercapacitor energy storage system.

A report from the European Heat Pump Association finds evidence of grants, loans or tax rebates for industrial-sized heat pumps across the continent but calls for barriers to further installations, such as a lack of awareness of their potential, to be addressed.

The US government says electrolysis could reduce clean-hydrogen production costs to $1/kg by 2031, while ABI Research claims the global levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) will become cost-competitive by the end of this decade, dropping to $2.50/kg.