Purchasing power – 04-2025

Germany’s situation is also one to watch. Volatile energy prices are the main culprit; the country recorded around 460 hours of negative power prices in 2024. Prices are slowly returning to normal, and pv magazine Deutschland’s Sandra Enkhardt provides a snapshot of the evolving market.

Policy makers in Europe are working on adapting legislation and market structure to aid PPA recovery as the frequency of negative price hours in wholesale electricity markets grows. We hear what Pexapark expects from the PPA market in 2025 and the role energy storage might play in a recovery.

In India, commercial and industrial solar PPAs are driving growth with some predicting the sector could account for close to a third of new solar installations over the next five years, writes pv magazine’s Indian editor Uma Gupta.

China’s rooftop segment faces a struggle. Grid constraints, market and policy adjustments have caused the rooftop sector to hit a ceiling, as Vincent Shaw reports. China added a record amount of new solar capacity in 2024, but the share held by small-scale arrays declined sharply.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has been threatening tariffs on various markets from Mexico to Canada, but what could really unsettle solar is the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into Southeast Asian products and a potential expansion of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. CEA’s Christian Roselund, who is also founding editor of pv magazine USA, takes a closer look at the risks.

Other topics in this issue:

• Supply and demand in Brazil: The energy sector is diversifying after a record year for installations.
• Powerful sounds: Live events are getting a boost with batteries.
• The installer robots are coming: Staff shortages, safety concerns and rising costs are driving interest.
• Next-gen PV materials: Research efforts to accelerate efficiency discovery underway in Australia.
• 24/7 PPAs meet their match: How hourly-matched power purchase agreements can become less costly.