Policy

Northern Ireland turned down 16.9% of its solar in 2024, up from 7.9% in 2023.

Belgian smart energy firm Innovoltus is challenging a new rule from the Flanders energy agency in Belgium capping plug-in solar panels at 800 W per meter, arguing the region lacks authority to impose the limit. The move comes as the country begins sales of plug-in solar panels and home batteries ahead of an April 17 connection date.

Japanese researchers have engineered a 100 cm² perovskite solar cell module featuring a robust single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) electrode to improve durability and enable dual-sided light absorption.

Bangladesh is seeking to overhaul its net-metering policy to encourage rooftop PV deployment by allowing 100% power injection and expanding eligibility to all grid-connected users, including those with single-phase and prepaid meters.

Pairing solar plants with battery energy storage systems (BESS) will be the main strategic focus for the country’s upcoming renewable energy auction. Each project must have a minimum storage duration of four hours to ensure sufficient grid support and energy reliability.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Miriam Rodríguez, President of Spain’s Electra Energy S. Coop. She says one of the most striking inequalities she encountered throughout her career was the difference in salaries between men and women in similar roles, the gender pay gap. “At one point, I discovered that a male colleague at my same business level was earning a higher salary. Fortunately, he realized the unfairness, and the salaries were adjusted,” she states.

The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) says it will study how energy companies are incorporating home solar costs into prices, as feed-in costs have risen 10% over the past month.

The rate of solar installations slowed in the Belgian region of Wallonia last year, as government incentives for residential solar came to an end. Brussels-based renewable energy federation Edora says deployment will need to accelerate across all market segments if the region is to meet its 2030 solar targets.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have found that widespread deployment of rooftop solar could cover the vast majority of the world’s electricity consumption, while lowering global temperatures by up to 0.13 C.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has ruled that solar cells made with imported diffused silicon wafers, known as “blue wafers,” do not qualify for government programs requiring domestically manufactured PV cells.