Modules & Upstream Manufacturing

Japan’s oil giant Idemitsu Kosan and U.S.-based Source Energy Company announced a collaboration to develop copper indium gallium-selenide solar modules and arrays for satellite and space applications.

Tests conducted by a research team in outdoor environments in Spain and Poland have demonstrated a strong correlation between perovskite solar cell degradation and the combined effects of climatic and operating conditions. The scientists found that open-circuit operation accelerates degradation, whereas operation at the maximum power point and under short-circuit conditions has a lower impact.

Qcells says component shipments delayed under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) have forced temporary production cuts at its Georgia solar manufacturing plant.

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) says its new solar module testing laboratory in Dhaka marks a major step toward enforcing quality standards and supporting the nation’s export ambitions.

Scientists in China have developed a new deep learning model based on the so-called “You Only Look Once” algorithm, which requires only one forward propagation pass through the neural network to make predictions,

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University have demonstrated a method to integrate chemically inert low-dimensional interface materials into the fabrication of inverted perovskite solar cells. Their prototype solar cells retained over 93% of the initial power conversion efficiency of 25.1% after 1,000 hours of operation, and 98% after 1,100 hours at 85 C.

Open Climate Fix says its Quartz Solar tool saves Great Britain’s grid operator GBP 30 million ($39 million) per year through more accurate forecasting, which reduces the reserve capacity needed for balancing the electricity system. The non-profit company has used machine learning techniques with satellite, weather and historical generation data to reduce forecasting errors by half.

Italy’s 2026 budget law limits its “Iperammortamento2026” fiscal incentive to European-made heterojunction (HJT) and tandem perovskite solar panels. Experts say the move gives Italian manufacturer 3Sun a strategic advantage and warn that the exclusion of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and back-contact (BC) technologies could distort competition and create market inefficiencies.

A group of scientists in China conducted a comprehensive review of existing low-cost photovoltaic monitoring approaches. They found that only 11 out of 88 studies related to PV monitoring incorporate machine learning. The researchers urge the scientific community to place greater emphasis on lightweight machine learning solutions and smartphone-based integration.

The researchers have used computational fluid dynamics-based modelling of snow patterns in an effort to establish best practices to mitigate snow accumulation in alpine PV plants.