Market pressure in the solar and storage sectors often favors low-cost solutions, but long-term success depends on balancing price, quality, and reliability for assets designed to operate for decades. Numerous examples, from low-grade silicon modules to residential hydrogen and redox flow storage, show how technically ambitious products can fail when costs, complexity, or durability are misjudged.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, IEA PVPS shows that with climate-specific site selection, robust design, proper installation, and proactive O&M, most PV systems can be made resilient and remain reliable despite intensifying weather risks.

This week, Women in Solar+ Europe features Sonia de Sales, Director of Development at Spain’s Altano Energy. She emphasizes that implementing an equal-opportunities plan is key to ensuring open and fair recruitment, including balanced shortlists and actively sourcing female candidates when they are underrepresented, while hiring on merit and making it clearly visible

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Europe’s solar generation potential in November showed a strong east–west split, with Eastern Europe experiencing 15–20% below-normal irradiance due to persistent storms, while much of Western and Central Europe recorded 15–20% above-average levels under clearer conditions. The Atlantic coast was an exception, as Storm Claudia reduced irradiance to near or below average in Portugal, the British Isles, and parts of France and Spain.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) explains how Australia’s rapid expansion of solar and wind energy has not increased wholesale electricity prices, which have remained stable since 2016. Rooftop solar, now widespread and highly cost-effective, provides the country with resilient, low-emission power, making all-electric homes increasingly independent from the grid.

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.

Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries has bought Sydney-based energy gentailer Alinta Energy from Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises in a AUD 6.5 billion ($4.3 billion) transaction.

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.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Gemma Buckley, Chief Legal Officer at UK-based Solarport. She says that one of the most persistent barriers wome are witnessing is how they are socialised. “Research shows men apply for promotion or a new role when they’re 60% qualified; women wait until they’re 100% qualified. I’ve watched this play out throughout my career,” she states.

The devastating impact of Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 fundamentally transformed how the electric power industry approaches cold weather preparedness, exposing critical Bulk Electric System vulnerabilities and catalyzing sweeping regulatory changes, including new mandatory NERC standards, that renewable energy facilities must now navigate.