Policy

Newly-implemented rules governing Ukraine’s energy market introduce solar-plus-storage systems as a separate auction category, ease regulatory barriers governing standalone storage projects and establish processes for renewable energy facilities located in Ukraine’s occupied territories.

Austrian researchers conducted a techno-economic analysis of agrivoltaic systems and found that 5%–16% of the country’s cropland would be required to meet its solar electricity targets.

An international research team developed CyberSentry, a software framework using advanced deep learning and optimization techniques to enhance cybersecurity in SCADA systems for power plants and critical infrastructure. It combines feature selection, hybrid anomaly detection, and dynamic parameter tuning to detect diverse cyberattacks with 99.5% accuracy while minimizing false alarms.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Sabina Blitek, General Counsel at Netherlands’ R.Power Renewables. She says women in male-dominated industries, like energy and finance, can overcome bias by consistently demonstrating competence, believing in their own potential, and leading by example.

The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project will be developed under a public-private partnership on a build-own-operate basis.

U.S. researchers developed a framework showing that wider spacing between solar PV rows can make agrivoltaic systems economically viable for large-scale mechanized farming. Their simulations in Colorado demonstrated that optimized row spacing maintains crop production while improving combined agricultural and energy revenues.

A new global dataset of 119 energy-sector cyber incidents from 2022–2024 shows EU and BRICS countries, followed by the US, are most affected. Attacks targeted power, oil, gas, and nuclear infrastructure, driven by both financial and political motives, with diverse threat actors involved.

The Japanese government has defined new standards for agrivoltaics as regulators begin tightening oversight in response to nearly one-quarter of projects reporting reduced crop yields or sub-standard cultivation beneath solar panels.

Heat pumps are increasingly used for domestic hot water in Europe due to their efficiency and compatibility with solar power, but their lower operating temperatures can create conditions where Legionella pneumophila may grow if systems are poorly designed. Proper hydraulic design, temperature control, and periodic thermal disinfection ensure both high efficiency and safe, hygienic operation.

GlobalData says Russia added an estimated 100 MW of solar last year, taking total installed solar to around 3.1 GW. The consultancy is forecasting annual additions of about 200 MW over the next ten years, taking the country’s cumulative solar capacity to 5.3 GW by 2035.