A recent report by the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVSP) reviews the current regulatory and industrial landscape for end-of-life PV management in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, and the United States.

A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E’s Elkhorn large-scale battery storage facility in Monterey County, California, in the early hours of September 21. The fire was brought fully under control by the late afternoon, and its cause is under investigation.

The southeast Asian country is currently applying a monthly capacity fee on rooftop PV systems and the government may halve it in an effort to spur more solar installs. Several more hurdles, however, should be removed to ensure further growth.

Almost half of the workers were employed in China, around 280,000 in North America, over 260,000 in Europe, and some 50,000 in Africa, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The vast majority of workers were employed in manufacturing and installation of new capacity, with solar jobs paying lower wage premiums than the nuclear, oil, and gas industries.

Researchers at the University of Leicester have developed a new method of extracting silver and aluminum from end-of-life PV cells using iron chloride and aluminum chloride dissolved in brines. According to them, the cheap solvents retrieve up to 95% of the metals within 10 minutes, achieving a 98% purity of silver chloride.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has announced a mandatory electricity usage reduction of at least 5% during peak price hours. Electricity market restructuring measures and a €3 billion ($2.9 billion) investment for a new green hydrogen bank were also on the agenda.

Swedish researchers have developed a model to analyze the microclimate parameters of a vertically mounted agrivoltaic system. They validated their model by comparing its estimations with measurements of solar irradiance, PV module temperature, and ground temperature.

Prime Infra recently acquired a 500 MW pumped storage hydropower project in Rizal province in the Philippines. The company is also developing a 1.4 GW facility in the country.

Sola Group and Tronox have finally reached financial close on two 100 MW solar projects in South Africa, roughly six months after signing power purchase agreements.

Lithuanian energy company Ignitis has purchased a 200 MW hybrid solar-wind project in Latvia. The installation is in the early stages of development, with construction scheduled to begin in 2025.