Magazine Archive 10 2025

Already, 2025 is turning out to be the year in which energy storage takes a front seat ahead of solar and related matters, in our minds if not yet in installation figures.

US solar stocks enjoyed double-digit growth in August as industry leaders gathered in Las Vegas for RE+. Roth Capital hosted its 12th annual solar and storage symposium at the exhibition, where despite talk of near-term challenges, there were also signs of a sector with strong growth potential.

Renewable energy (RE) in India is set to become costlier, writes Crisil’s Sehul Bhatt, as the government begins a phased withdrawal of a waiver on charges for connecting to the country’s inter-state transmission system (ISTS).

India has made significant strides toward its goal of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel generation capacity by 2030. However, this progress could be undermined if more focus is not placed on the integration of renewables. Rystad Energy analyst Uttamarani Pati examines India’s progress on storage and transmission upgrades.

Australia is the third-largest market worldwide for large-scale energy storage by capacity and is blitzing the field in per capita battery storage installations, with more than 1 GWh per million people – double that of nearest rival the United Kingdom. With a current approximate capacity of 14 GW and a pipeline of 154 GW, the outlook remains strong. In the wake of coal-fired power plant closures, utility-scale batteries are rising to the challenge of guaranteeing network reliability, as pv magazine Australia’s Ev Foley reports.

India’s solar sector is moving from headline growth to a more complex phase where record installation volumes, burgeoning domestic module capacity, and emerging trade frictions interact. In the first half of 2025, S&P Global’s Baldesh Singh observed a step-change in deployment: solar dominated renewable additions and helped push clean generation to new heights. While the sector continues to grow, the same export and trade dynamics that were previously advantageous for manufacturers now pose near-term risks to merchant revenues, global market access, and long-term project economics.

China’s downstream solar market is showing early signs of recovery, lifted by a wave of recent policy announcements and a decisive shift toward stricter regulatory enforcement. OPIS analyst Brian Ng examines the early impacts of new production and pricing controls in the upstream sector.

India has rapidly emerged as one of the world’s most prominent PV markets, driven by policy support and rising domestic electricity demand, with solar becoming the core of its energy transition. InfoLink Consulting’s Jonathan Chou examines the adjustments and localization process of India’s PV industry by analyzing import data for cells and modules.

The Netherlands’ solar market is one of Europe’s largest, and most of its generation comes from residential rooftop systems. But years of rapid PV growth without equivalent smart meters and battery storage deployment has wreaked havoc on the country’s electricity grid, affecting the market overall. Efforts to improve the grid by abolishing net metering have caused householders to abandon solar en masse, but local analysts say scrapping the incentive is necessary to improve flexibility.

Bangladesh was once home to the world’s biggest off-grid solar initiative. The Solar Home System program changed millions of lives from 2003 to 2021. Four years and one political revolution later, Bangladesh wants more from solar than rural electrification. Challenges abound, but there are signs of a market with huge potential if the right pieces fall into place.