Commercial & Industrial PV

The European Union Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) is running a public consultation on the evolution of the bloc’s power purchase agreement (PPA) market to identify existing initiatives and challenges.

An IEA-PVPS report finds that solar power above 60° North is not only viable but rapidly expanding, driven by cold-climate performance gains, bifacial technologies, and rising energy security needs. While challenges like extreme seasonality, snow, permafrost, and scarce data remain, Arctic PV is emerging as a critical—and technically distinct—frontier for global solar deployment.

A study of 20 solar parks in southern France found that soil biodiversity and respiration drop significantly under panels, especially in mown areas, while plant traits like height and leaf area can increase under grazing. The researchers highlighted that climate, management type, and solar shading all shape soil and plant responses.

Researchers in Brazil tested second-life polycrystalline PV modules for two years and found they retained 87–88% of their original power, with minimal degradation and stable performance. Despite strong sustainability and circular economy benefits, economic incentives remain limited due to the declining cost and short warranties of new state-of-the-art silicon PV modules.

Bhutan is seeking expressions of interest from private sector players interested in developing solar projects under a build-own-operate basis. The first deadline to register interest is April 30. 

The U.S. Department of Energy is deploying a research framework across four national laboratories to harden the domestic power grid against digital vulnerabilities as solar deployment accelerates.

Multi-year field trials conducted in Italy show that agrivoltaic systems can support healthy potato yields without major losses. Strategic shading and dynamic light management during critical growth stages proved key to maintaining productivity.

The UK government is proposing stronger cybersecurity rules for electricity and gas sectors, prompted by recent attacks on European energy infrastructure, including a recent incident involving solar power plants in Poland. The plans would extend baseline cybersecurity requirements to all licensed energy organizations and could also adjust compliance thresholds under NIS regulations.

Lithuania added approximately 600 MW of solar last year, taking total capacity to 3,040 MW. Technical permits have been issued for an additional 4 GW of solar but with grid congestion becoming a primary constraint, future deployments will be increasingly dependent on integration with storage technologies.

Kyocera Corporation will begin to supply electricity generated from its solar assets to Cosmo Energy Solutions from next month. It has also entered into a separate power purchase agreement with Cosmo Eco Power for energy generated from a 48 MW wind farm.