Opinion & Analysis

India’s renewable energy industry is urging the government to use Union Budget 2026 to unlock stalled projects, lower financing costs, and accelerate domestic manufacturing across solar, storage, and grid infrastructure.

Renewable generation supplied more than half of Australia’s electricity in the fourth quarter of 2025, driving wholesale power prices down by nearly 50% and coinciding with record battery output, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Coal-fired generation fell 4.6% year on year to a record quarterly low, while gas-fired output dropped 27% to its lowest level in 25 years.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Alba Sande, lawyer at Spanish law firm ASande Legal. She states that, despite progress, women remain underrepresented in the renewable energy industry. “As a woman and a mother, I have often encountered the unspoken assumption that professional ambition must take a backseat to family life, a bias rarely applied to men,” she says.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that in January most of East Asia experienced normal to above-average solar irradiance, with southeastern China seeing surges due to reduced clouds and low aerosol levels under lingering La Niña effects. In contrast, the Philippines faced below-average irradiance from early Tropical Storm Nokaen, while other regional cities like Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei recorded modest gains.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Melodie de l’Epine, Senior Project Manager/ Head of Research & Innovation at France’s Becquerel Institute. She says that ncouraging men to shift from strict hierarchy to informal exchanges fosters more equitable rapport. Women can benefit from noticing how men address each other and consciously joining in, since subtle forms of address strongly shape power perceptions.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reveales that last year extreme Canadian wildfires drove aerosol levels around 30% above normal, sharply reducing solar irradiance across Canada and even impacting Europe, while the Congo Basin also saw worsening aerosol conditions. In contrast, China and South America experienced unusually low aerosol levels, supporting stronger solar irradiance due to cleaner air, reduced fires, and favorable climate and policy conditions.

In all ages, humankind decided to spend considerable amounts of the available productivity on special monumental projects. Managing climate change and rebalancing within the planetary boundaries is such an activity. The enormous energetic productivity of solar PV may evolve as the central pillar to create a sustainable civilization.

Energy storage for homes — anchored by hybrid inverter systems — will lead the next phase of solar growth in India. Not as an upgrade, but as a necessity for a nation building toward energy independence by 2047.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.