Magazine Archive

Spain’s solar industry stands at a critical juncture. After years of remarkable expansion, the sector faces a complex landscape, where past successes have paradoxically created new obstacles that demand urgent solutions.

Gathering robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) data and using it to implement effective company policy is far more than a box-ticking exercise. Everoze Partner Ellie van der Heijden sees its growing influence as a strategic differentiator for the renewable energy industry. Projects that embed ESG thinking from the outset build investor confidence and navigate regulatory and reputational risks with agility.

With impressive and still improving efficiency results, perovskites have caught the solar industry’s attention in recent years. Most market observers now forecast widespread commercial use of the material group in solar cells beginning in the early 2030s, but there’s still a lot of work to do for that to become reality.

While photovoltaic systems operating at 2,000 V DC have become a reality in China and North America, Europe’s transition is in its infancy. There is no product standard, and without one, the market remains blocked. Perhaps Europe’s standardization bodies could catapult the market directly to 3,000 V, reports Marian Willuhn.

There are signs that the energy sector’s transformation is accelerating, driven by renewables and digital technologies. Yet integrating new digital tools into solar asset management and O&M is rarely straightforward, despite their very clear advantages, writes Guy de Macedo, product manager for meteocontrol’s mc Assetpilot.

September was a strong month for US solar stocks, with the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) outperforming leading stock indexes. However, forthcoming action on polysilicon imports could increase cost pressures on solar developers, as Jesse Pichel of Roth Capital Partners explains.

Tariffs continue to reshape the US storage market. Rising costs for overseas systems have created new incentives to integrate equipment domestically, and many developers are turning to US firms to assemble battery systems. Integration capacity can scale faster than battery cell manufacturing, but not without risk. Unlike cell plants, where automated processes keep variations in check, battery assembly and integration depends on people, as Jeff Zwijack from Intertek CEA explains.

Glory Oguegbu, a renewable energy entrepreneur, has garnered many accolades. An Obama Scholar, she was named one of The Economist’s top five women changing the world in sustainability. She advocates building local capacity and implementing renewable energy solutions for underserved communities and partners with global organizations to accelerate Africa’s clean-energy transition. Carrie Hampel of pv magazine spoke with her about building infrastructure in the smallest off-grid communities and recalibrating geopolitical engagement in Africa.