Events

Around 100 exhibitors presented their products at the Vienna trade fair. Visitor numbers were limited, partly because the event coincided with the launch of the first funding call for photovoltaic systems and storage this year.

Expo ER+ 2026 in Guadalajara highlighted Mexico’s accelerating photovoltaic and energy storage market, with strong industry participation and a clear focus on grid integration and digitalisation. Experts emphasized that future growth will depend on storage and transmission expansion.

The 18th SolarEx Istanbul showcased Türkiye’s expanding solar ecosystem, bringing together hundreds of exhibitors and reinforcing its role as a rising global hub for PV manufacturing and innovation. At the same time, strong growth in distributed solar and emerging battery storage highlights both the market’s potential and its key challenges, including regulatory constraints, grid limits, and increasing global competition.

A pavilion dedicated to electric vehicles, a dominant Chinese presence and limited European representation shaped the solar trade show held Feb. 10 to 12 in Casablanca, Morocco. Local distributors warned of rising prices for Chinese solar equipment, while a booming commercial and industrial (C&I) segment, a nascent residential market, emerging storage demand and largely untapped solar potential underscored the sector’s direction.

France’s Energaia trade fair drew record crowds and exhibitors last week, underscoring continued investment appetite in solar and storage, even as developers warn that policy delays and a residential slowdown could weigh on activity after 2025.

Italy’s PV industry raised concerns over new regulatory measures and funding cuts as Gestore dei servizi energetici (GSE) published results of the FER X auction showing significant price reductions and strong participation in Sicily.

In its latest monthly column for pv magazine, the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) promotes the biennial Solar World Congress (SWC), which took place in Fortaleza-Brazil in November 2025, a few days before the COP30. The SWC scientific program has traditionally been dominated by presentations on solar radiation and solar thermal applications, but this year, photovoltaics was the focus of most of the presentations. This reflects the massive adoption of PV all over the globe, which, at the current pace, will dominate the electricity mix by the end of the decade.

Spain’s Genera 2025 trade fair highlighted advances in solar, storage and grid-forming technologies, along with industry calls for clearer regulation, stronger market design and faster permitting to support future deployment.

At the Modules and Material Worksop in Konstanz, organized by solar manufacturing engineering company RCT Solutions and ICS Konstanz, experts from the European PV equipment production industry gathered to discuss the current and future trajectory of manufacturing costs, technology advancements and equipment and raw material capabilities. RCT Solutions CEO, Peter Fath, told pv magazine that a European 1 GW module assembly facility using the same supply chain as Chinese Tier 1 counterparts could reach module manufacturing costs of €0.11-0.12/W.

A smaller-than-expected trade show underscored mounting exhibitor fatigue, even as high-integration and safety-focused storage products showcased where the industry is heading.