Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

A new report from Metal Focus reveals that global silver market remains structurally tight, with elevated prices, a fifth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2025, and ongoing mine and recycling constraints despite modest production growth. At the same time, PV-driven silver demand is falling sharply due to cost pressure and thrifting.

Researchers in Spain developed a porous silica anti-reflective coating for solar panels that boosts optical transmission while balancing durability and mechanical stability through optimized sol–gel chemistry.

Credential compromise attacks allow adversaries to gain unauthorized access to PV systems by stealing or guessing valid login credentials, enabling them to manipulate operations, disrupt monitoring, or take control of critical assets. These attacks can lead to operational instability, reduced energy production, and safety risks, making strong authentication and access control essential for system resilience.

The expansion will bring the company’s total domestic cell capacity to 5.5 GW, cementing its position as the largest merchant solar cell manufacturer in the United States.

Scientists in Chile have developed a low-cost, easy-to-deploy hydrogen system powered by end-of-life solar panels. The residential solution reportedly achieves a levelized cost of hydrogen of approximately $5.8/kg.

Atmoce’s new MI microinverter series connects two PV modules per unit while still providing module-level power optimization.

Reliance Industries Ltd has become the first company to secure the inclusion of heterojunction solar cells in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) published by India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Indian scientists have fabricated perovskite mini-modules with reduced graphene oxide interface engineering, achieving 16.6% efficiency and over 1,300 hours of stable operation. The graphene oxide layer improves film quality, reduces defects, enhances charge transport, and enables scalable fabrication, offering a promising route toward efficient and durable perovskite solar modules.

An ongoing collaboration between Australia’s Halocell Energy and U.S-based Sofab Inks finds that perovskite modules incorporating Sofab’s Tinfab electron transport layer maintain approximately 100% of their normalized efficiency after 1,300 hours under accelerated combined light and damp-heat testing.

Researchers in Austria discovered a wasp nest inside the junction box of a 1998 rooftop PV module, illustrating how insects can exploit even sealed electrical components. The affected module showed significant degradation and partial failure, though overall results confirmed the surprising durability of older PV module designs.