Residential PV

Brazil’s solar sector is entering a new phase marked by curtailment, grid constraints, and regulatory shifts, with growth increasingly tied to new business models and market dynamics. Industry leaders say storage will be central to this transition, enabling system integration, mitigating risks, and unlocking future demand.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that April 2026 brought mixed solar irradiance conditions across South America, with above-average GHI along Colombia’s Pacific and Caribbean coasts and parts of southern Argentina, while eastern and northern temperate regions — including Buenos Aires to Bolivia — saw reduced irradiance due to persistent cloud cover and wetter-than-average conditions.

Escalating Middle East tensions and global energy supply risks are accelerating Europe’s shift toward solar and storage, particularly in commercial, industrial, and utility-scale segments where energy security, resilience, and price stability are becoming central investment drivers. At the same time, expanding manufacturing capacity in China and India is redirecting surplus solar and storage supply toward Europe, creating a highly competitive and increasingly selective market where long-term success depends on quality, reliability, ESG alignment, and strategic market positioning.

Researchers in Canada designed an air-source heat pump integrated with an air-based solar collector and radiant floor heating for cold climates, showing that the proposed system configuratuon could improve the coefficient of performance from 2–4 to 2–6 and reduce significantly annual energy consumption.

The system features AI-driven energy management, 10,000-cycle battery life, and scalable expansion up to 126 kWh.

Spain and Portugal are 53% less exposed to gas price volatility than they were three years ago, according to a new report from Positive Money.

In Q1 2026, grid-scale solar generation jumped 648 MW compared to the same period in 2025, recording an all-time quarterly high of 2,706 MW output, according to new figures released by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

A UNSW-led research team proposed two low-power ride-through strategies for standalone PV–electrolyzer systems to maintain stability during sudden solar power fluctuations without using battery storage.

A Vietnamese research team has developed a low-cost passive cooling system for PV modules based on hydrogel-coated paper that combines water flow and interfacial evaporation to reduce operating temperatures. Outdoor tests showed temperature reductions of up to 14 C and efficiency gains of up to 16.8%, with stable operation achieved using both freshwater and natural seawater.

The Indian manufacturer said its new all-black panel series features a power conversion efficiency of up to 23.32% and a bifaciality factor of up to 85%.