New tool aims to cut costly hail losses in utility-scale solar
Hail damage accounts for just 2% of filed solar insurance claims but more than 50% of total costs, according to VDE Americas.
U.S. Commerce Department slaps unexpectedly high tariffs on solar imports
Coalition trade lawyer says the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final tariffs on solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are among the highest rates he’s ever seen.
Net metering policies see significant revision in states across the U.S.
The recent 50 States of Solar report from NC Clean Energy Technology Center identifies three trends in state policy activities and the top five distributed solar actions in Q1 2025.
Virtual power plant for renewables trading under development in Greece
Optimus Energy has announced a virtual power plant for renewables trading on the Greek wholesale electricity and balancing market. Work is already underway, with Germany-based emsys VPP connecting over 3,500 solar and wind power plants in Greece to its software suite.
California proposes break to rooftop solar contracts, raising average bills $63
Over one million California homes that invested in rooftop solar may have their net metering contracts rescinded under the proposed bill AB 942.
Almost 9 GW of utility-scale solar under construction in Africa
The Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) says utility-scale solar projects are under development in 45 of Africa’s 54 countries, with more projects pairing solar and storage and emerging from direct negotiations between private developers and host governments.
Ireland hit new daily peak with over 750 MW of grid-scale solar in March
March 2025 was a record month for solar generation on Ireland’s electricity grid, according to provisional real-time data from the country’s transmission systems operator EirGrid. Solar accounted for 2.8% of the country’s total electricity generation during March.
PV-driven heating, cooling system for supermarkets
Scientists in China have developed a novel PV-powered cooling and heating system that combines a water-cooled gas cooler and an air-cooled gas cooler. The system went through a series of simulations and showed it can potentially achieve a coefficient of performance of up to 7.34.
Tariffs the least of U.S. solar market’s worries
While President Donald Trump’s sweeping levies on foreign imports have captured global headlines, antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigations into Southeast Asian products, along with a potential expansion of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), could pose even greater risks for US solar and energy storage.
Women in leadership should not adopt a ‘tough’ character
This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to María del Puy Ayerra, Head of Business Development Iberia at Spain’s Zelestra. She encountered isolated experiences that reflected subtle gender bias – particularly the assumption that women in leadership must adopt a “tough” character to survive in a male-dominated environment. “These stereotypes can be limiting and disheartening, especially for women who lead with empathy, collaboration, and strength of vision,” she states.
