Utility Scale PV

Research from Lund University has explored how Sweden is building out utility-scale solar in the absence of an overarching national strategy. The researchers told pv magazine that without clearer national direction, projects will cluster in areas with favorable conditions while stalling elsewhere.

Hourly ENTSO-E data show the summer midday-to-evening gap in French nuclear output has grown nearly eightfold since 2019. The reactors have adapted. The rest of the European power system has some catching up to do.

The Solomon Islands Electricity Authority and Asian Development Bank have signed an agreement aimed at developing the country’s first large-scale solar project.

Genex has announced plans to reconfigure the first stage of its 2.5 GW Bulli Creek multi-stage development in Australia from a 775 MW solar farm to 300 MW, adding a 425 MW / 1,700 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

A machine learning model uses cloud type and cloud cover to predict rapid changes in surface solar irradiance, including short-term “ramp” events that affect grid stability. When tested across 15 global sites, it showed strong generalizability, with most locations matching or exceeding the original model’s predictive performance, though extreme climates performed less consistently.

New research identified the most suitable areas for offshore floating PV deployment in Italy using a geospatial multi-criteria assessment model. The study found that exploiting just 2% of Italy’s technically feasible offshore solar area could theoretically generate enough electricity to meet the country’s annual power demand.

Global solar PV capacity reached around 2,974 GW by end-2025, with nearly 698 GW added in 2025. The sector, however, is shifting from rapid deployment to integration challenges, as high penetration rates drive curtailment, storage demand, grid constraints, and evolving policy and market designs.

Low-cost solar PV enables to turn CO2 from an unwanted burden into a precious raw material and sequestered in materials with many applications. This effectively reframes carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration as a monetizable carbon dioxide removal option. Three recent studies on electricity-based carbon fiber, silicon carbide, and graphene aimed at enabling large-scale negative emissions by 2050.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) has arranged a JPY 9 billion ($57 million) syndicated loan for Q.ENEST Holdings, the power business spun out of Hanwha Japan in 2023, to finance an 80 MW portfolio of distributed low-voltage solar assets across Japan.

The massive renewable energy complex will include 8 GW of solar, 4 GW of wind, 2.04 GW/8.16 GWh of energy storage, and 2.64 GW of coal-fired power. The project is planned to be located in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and deliver clean electricity to the energy-intensive Jiangsu province.