Magazine Archive

India is demonstrating real ambition when it comes to building out energy storage capacity sufficient to support hundreds of gigawatts of solar before 2030. Establishing a domestic battery supply chain is another long-term goal for the country, but India’s energy storage industry should focus on fundamentals like pack assembly and energy management systems before moving into upstream manufacturing, Vision Mechatronics Managing Director Rashi Gupta told pv magazine.

Millions of Australian households with rooftop solar are now rapidly adding batteries to maximize their generation and regain control over escalating power bills. This is energy democracy in action, writes Tim Lamacraft, general manager at the Smart Energy Council, who points out that batteries are becoming a key fixture of Australia’s decarbonization roadmap.

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.

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.

India surprised many with its rapid buildout of PV module manufacturing capacity, now standing at more than 100 GW. Domestic content policy rules for government-backed projects will soon require Indian-made cells in addition to locally assembled modules. Manufacturers are responding with big plans for new cell capacity, but challenges remain.

Some in the energy sector have suggested that a changing climate might actually be a blessing for solar power, claiming that higher temperatures will come with more sun, hence more energy. That may not be the case. Everoze Partner Nicolas Chouleur and climate expert Alberto Troccoli dive into the findings of a study conducted under the Copernicus Climate Change Service Enhanced Energy Service.

The problem of available grid connection capacity has been growing in Poland for several years. Energy law expert Piotr Mrowiec examines the latest developments, as Poland considers a comprehensive proposal to reform the process of connecting new projects to the grid. The proposal also includes solutions to curb the practice of blocking connection capacity, while a short amendment recently adopted by Poland’s parliament opens further possibilities for cable pooling.

Coordinated efforts to rationalize excess manufacturing capacity have pushed solar prices to multi-month highs across the Chinese supply chain, but skepticism lingers over the feasibility of such plans. Hanwei Wu of OPIS examines recent efforts to rein in oversupply in the upstream supply chain.

Hail damage has become a real headache for project developers in the United States, where growing deployment has increased exposure to weather-related risk. As project owners seek to limit the impact of hail on their bottom line, innovations in tracking systems and insurance can help.

Despite inverter shipments being projected to grow in 2025, the mood in the industry remains tense. S&P Global’s Liam Coman sees an evolving competitive landscape increasingly dominated by Chinese suppliers. With demand shifting to markets like Saudi Arabia, India and emerging residential markets, established players may still be left chasing a slice of a shrinking pie.