Markets

Global solar growth is flattening in major markets as oversupply from China and India drives prices down and shifts competition from sheer volume to execution, policy alignment, and system integration. Across the U.S., Europe, and China, energy storage is becoming essential for project viability, making PV-plus-storage and strong EPC partnerships the new basis for winning projects in 2026 and beyond.

Solar farms in New South Wales led the way for Australia’s utility-scale PV energy output in December 2025, generating 1,052 GWh of renewable electricity.

Abu Dhabi-based developer Masdar has signed its first power purchase agreement in Angola, covering a 150 MW solar site that marks the first phase of a 500 MW multi-site project.

An international research group has conducted a literature review of capital expenditure-driven levelized cost of electricity optimization strategies for utility-scale PV systems. Tracking optimization, system voltage escalation, and advanced system design are identified as the most promising cost reduction areas. “The next wave of PV research must be LCOE-native, system-level, and deployment-validated,” a member of the research group said.

Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) has concluded a tender for 1.2 GW of interstate transmission system-connected solar projects paired with 600 MW/3,600 MWh of energy storage, with tariffs as low as INR 3.12 ($0.035)/kWh.

Scatec has inked a 25-year power purchase agreement in Egypt for a 1.95 GW solar, 3.9 GWh battery energy storage project, representing the developer’s largest investment to date.

A new Perspectives research study on the future of the global PV supply chain outlines how module prices, performance, and lifetimes could evolve over the next 25 years. The work reflects a collaboration among leading solar research institutions worldwide. One of the study’s authors, the director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), told pv magazine that solar module and cell efficiencies could exceed 35% by 2050, with panel prices expected to drop by a factor of two.

Germany added an estimated 6.57 GWh of stationary battery storage capacity in 2025, an increase of about 8% year on year, lifting total installed capacity to roughly 24 GWh. Growth was driven by industrial and large-scale systems, even as home storage installations declined alongside weaker rooftop solar demand.

China is on track to reach a fully renewable energy system by 2051, nearly a century earlier than the United States, according to a global study covering 150 countries.

India added an estimated 40 GW of solar capacity in calendar year 2025, driven by utility-scale projects and rooftop growth. Energy storage tendering also picked up pace.