Curtailment creeps – 07-08 – 2026
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Table of content
Curtailment creeps – 07-08 – 2026
07-08-2026 / 2026
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Curtailment creeps – 07-08 – 2026
07-08-2026 / 2026
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Excerpt from the magazine
Solar’s infrastructure obstacle
During the development of a recent utility-scale project in Texas’ ERCOT grid interconnection zone, Levona Renewables CEO Fernando Queiroz found his team spending more time evaluating transmission infrastructure, interconnection requirements, equipment availability, and utility procurement processes than discussing solar modules – a striking realization affecting project developers in the United States and beyond.
5 hours ago
PV Progress across Latin America
InfoLink’s Jenny Lin shares the latest analysis on the key markets accounting for nearly 80% of Latin America’s total PV capacity as solar continues to grow its share of regional electricity generation. Following years of accelerating deployment, Latin America is entering a new phase – one requiring investment in energy storage and grid infrastructure.
Sep 03, 2026
New materials in the frame
Solar cells, encapsulants, glass, backsheets, and virtually every PV module component have seen rapid changes and improvements over the past 10 years. During that time, module frames have seen relatively little innovation and remain a simple piece of formed aluminum. However, quality concerns, supply chain diversification, domestic content rules, and emissions reduction requirements have frame manufacturers eyeing alternative materials. And while aluminum isn’t going away, suppliers of steel and glass composite frames argue these materials come with various advantages.
Sep 02, 2026
Shipping gigawatt-hours of battery storage
BW ESS has broken ground at the 5.7 GWh Klostermansfeld battery energy storage system (BESS), making a splash in the German market and building on utility-scale BESS experience gained in the United Kingdom. Now the company is targeting a 20-fold increase in deployed energy storage capacity, while expanding in more markets. Roberto Jimenez, executive director at BW ESS, spoke with pv magazine about what comes next.
Sep 01, 2026
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Buried junction box defects
Claire Kearns-McCoy and Michael Scott of Intertek CEA report a rise in junction box failures across utility-scale and rooftop solar sites – from performance-robbing solder defects to outright fires – and explain why the only reliable window to catch these problems closes as soon as the potting compound cures.
Aug 31, 2026
Chile’s hybrid heroics
In 2024, Chile passed a law incentivizing battery development paired with utility-scale solar. This move quickly led to a flood of big battery project announcements, as the capacity payments model combined with arbitrage revenue means hybrid solar and storage is very profitable. By the end of 2026, Chile is expected to surpass 6 GW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) capacity.
Aug 29, 2026
Grid upgrades critical for Colombian solar
Colombia’s cumulative solar capacity passed the 4.5 GW mark earlier in 2026, according to the government’s Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME). While it will likely fall short of the 6 GW target for non-conventional renewable energy set at the start of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s term, the country has seen an uptick in demand for solar, and is growing into one of South America’s leading PV markets.
Aug 28, 2026
Scaling up in Brazil
The 752 MW (AC) Assú Sol solar complex in northeastern Brazil is the largest operational PV project in multinational energy company Engie’s global portfolio. Guilherme Ferrari, renewable energy and storage director at Engie Brasil, spoke to pv magazine about the construction of the complex and the next phase of the nation’s solar rollout.
Aug 27, 2026
Argentina’s next era
Argentina’s solar sector is entering a new phase, writes pv magazine’s Luis Ini. As the country’s installed PV capacity nears 2.6 GW, demand is growing. This stems from the mining sector, projects connected to distribution grids, the upturn in self-consumption following tariff rises, and the first national tenders for large-scale battery storage. However, the market remains constrained by two structural limitations: transmission capacity and access to finance.
Aug 26, 2026
Brazil’s plan for a battery supply chain
Battery manufacturing in Brazil is being spurred by local content requirements for country’s December 2026 energy storage auction, as well as the financing terms from Brazilian development bank BNDES that are favorable to locally made products. Domestic and foreign suppliers are already announcing investments in battery manufacturing facilities.
Aug 25, 2026
AC-Coupled vs. DC-Coupled
Growing applications for battery storage mean the optimal system design may not be the most obvious. Jakir Hossain and Mujtaba Abdelwahab of Storlytics Energy Storage present a simulation-based comparison of AC vs. DC coupling showing how realistic dispatch modeling rather than generic assumptions fundamentally changes BESS sizing, levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) outcomes and architecture selection.
Aug 22, 2026
Solar powerhouse to storage leader
Chile is transforming in a bid to avoid becoming a victim of its own solar success. Developers have flooded the Atacama Desert with solar projects, turning Chile into a PV powerhouse but also drastically reducing revenues and driving some operators into bankruptcy. S&P Global Energy’s Ángel Cancino sees the country increasingly focusing on energy storage to rescue some of its overbuilt PV capacity.
Aug 21, 2026
India’s model solar villages
India’s installed solar capacity has surged from 7 GW in 2016 to more than 150 GW in 2026 – a more than twentyfold increase. Driven primarily by large-scale solar projects, this progress has transformed India’s electricity mix and shown its ability to deploy solar at scale and at competitive costs. The next phase of India’s solar journey may see increased deployment of distributed generation, bringing economic benefits to rural communities, according to Shantanu Roy of the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy.
Aug 19, 2026
Making the data center business case
A data center can be built in 18 to 24 months, but connecting it to the grid is another matter, writes Laura Hoffmann-Ostenhof, Europe industry lead at modeling software supplier Gridcog. Across Europe’s established hubs – the FLAP-D cluster of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin – the wait for a grid connection now runs from seven to 10 years, as data centers compete for capacity.
Aug 15, 2026
Off-grid in Angola
Portugal’s MCA group has switched on two large-scale off-grid solar-plus-storage projects in Angola since December 2025. Carlo Amado, the company’s chief operating officer of energies, spoke to pv magazine about how the projects fit into Angola’s rural electrification program, which aims to build 46 autonomous solar and storage minigrids to provide reliable electricity to 60 communities across six provinces.
Aug 14, 2026
Solar’s infrastructure obstacle
During the development of a recent utility-scale project in Texas’ ERCOT grid interconnection zone, Levona Renewables CEO Fernando Queiroz found his team spending more time evaluating transmission infrastructure, interconnection requirements, equipment availability, and utility procurement processes than discussing solar modules – a striking realization affecting project developers in the United States and beyond.
Aug 13, 2026
Microgrids can have macro impact
Solar microgrids can bring power and prosperity to communities across the Caribbean, according to Kiesha Farnum, head of partnerships and programs at the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). Modeling work on proposed systems examines how microgrids can impact riverine villages, forest settlements, small islands, fishing communities, and other locations lacking grid infrastructure.
Aug 11, 2026
