Policy

pv magazine is compiling a guide to home solar installations, aimed at those who are interested in installing but are new to the market and want to make an informed decision. We have spoken to associations, installers and industry specialists in major solar markets across the globe to compile best practice guidance and advice that aims to be applicable to home solar installations anywhere in the world.

The International Solar Energy Society’s (ISES) Solar World Congress (SWC) has been held biennially since the 1970s, and in November 2025 will take place in Brazil. With the sharp and continuous drop in PV costs, photovoltaics has become the lowest-cost solution in Brazil and worldwide, and this is reflected in the number of articles accepted for presentation at the SWC. The Solar World Congress program has traditionally been dominated by presentations on solar radiation and solar thermal applications, but this year, photovoltaics is the focus of most of the accepted papers. In Brazil, where large-scale hydropower plants have traditionally dominated the electricity generation mix, PV is now the second-largest generating source, and the country is adding every year the equivalent of its largest hydropower plant Itaipu, which took more than 10 years to build and reach installed capacity.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) says developers plan to add 21 GW of solar in the second half of 2025 alone.

US President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on July 4, striking down key Inflation Reduction Act measures for energy storage and leaving the sector bracing for turbulence.

Eskom has launched a renewable energy offtake program in South Africa, opening a 291 MW solar tender for large consumers through power purchase agreements on utility-owned sites.

Portugal’s solar capacity reached 6.17 GW in May, according to the country’s renewable energy association. While distributed generation is steadily expanding, a quicker rate of deployment across all market segments will be needed to meet 2030 targets.

The latest report from the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (Absolar) says Brazil’s operational solar fleet consists of 42.1 GW from small and medium-sized systems and 17.9 GW from large-scale solar plants. Solar currently represents 23.5% of all installed capacity in the Brazilian electricity grid.

Solar is so scalable, so versatile, that every single country in the world, every single human on the planet from the frozen North to the deepest rainforests, from the dry, arid plains of the Atacama to the buzzing metropolises of New York, Paris, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo can benefit from it.

The Austrian government had budgeted €12 million ($14 million) for a second funding round but wants to finance successful applications and bring 220 MW new solar and 200 MWh of storage online.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded billions in Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants for solar projects. Secretary Brook Rollins said the agency will no longer deploy funds to solar and wind projects.