pv magazine test: November-December 2026 results
George Touloupas, vice president of ESG and new services at Intertek CEA, and Huatian Xu, the company’s director of technology and quality, analyze the December 2025 results from the pv magazine test outdoor installations in Yinchuan, China, and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Strength in unity
Integrating battery energy storage systems (BESS) with wind and solar has become widespread. The next challenge for asset owners is to ensure they are getting the maximum payback from the ancillary services their hybrid portfolios can provide, says Ricardo Wigman, chief delivery officer at US energy management software provider Power Factors. This requires more than the traditional site-by-site approach to asset management, he argues.
Setting the stage for US energy storage
Sweeping import tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made waves for the US clean energy industry in a tempestuous 2025. While solar developers chase safe harboring deadlines, US energy storage manufacturing could benefit from rules that encourage onshoring, provided there is policy certainty to bank on, as Phoebe Skok reports.
Solving California’s grid financing dilemma
California’s residential electricity rates remain persistently high, putting real pressure on households. Fixed grid costs account for a large and growing share of consumer bills, with charges covering necessary work such as wildfire risk mitigation, grid hardening, and resiliency upgrades. As much as 55% of a typical residential bill now goes to these fixed costs, and that share has been rising quickly. Yujia Han from the Clean Energy Leadership Institute calls for a different approach.
On the road
Catch up with the pv magazine team at a solar event near you.
Storage solutions to solar gridlock
Brad Heavner, Executive Director, California Solar and Storage Association argues distributed solar paired with storage can ease congestion on the grid.
