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Published 12 times per year in English, pv magazine Global reports on global market trends, technology developments, major projects, and policy frameworks shaping the solar and storage industry worldwide. Stay informed with trusted, independent reporting.
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Notes from the field
Across Europe, North America and high-latitude regions in Asia, agricultural operators face rising energy demand, volatile markets and increasing dependence on electrically driven processes. So why isn’t agricultural solar more popular? Based on her observations on an alpine dairy farm in Austria, complemented by additional insights from other farms in the region, Austrian agriculture consultant Maria Weissenböck finds there is a gap in approaches. Farms tend to approach solar as a risk management decision rather than as an energy transition measure.
Jul 09, 2026
Who maintains Europe’s orphaned rooftop solar?
Europe added 65.1 GW of solar capacity in 2025. It also lost 40,000 solar jobs – the first workforce contraction in nearly a decade, according to SolarPower Europe. Behind those job losses is a wave of installer insolvencies that is creating a problem the industry has been slow to acknowledge: a growing population of residential solar systems with no warranty support, no maintenance provider, and no monitoring.
US solar trade and residential market continues to tighten
Following the recent Trump-Xi meeting, our industry checks suggest there is little indication that proposed Section 232 actions on polysilicon are at risk of being withdrawn. Most market participants continue to expect the policy framework to move forward, although potentially at a lower tariff rate than initially anticipated. Industry contacts generally do not believe solar-specific trade policy was meaningfully addressed during the summit, with broader anti-China trade positioning still expected to continue.
Documenting risk
PV projects rarely fail because of vision, permitting or demand issues. They fail because of missing proof. Documentation gaps are becoming a key source of financing and execution risk. Intertek CEA Chief operating officer Jeffrey Burkett sees a clear pattern across the market: technically sound and commercially viable projects are still unable to close financing. Not due to fundamental flaws, but because critical documentation was not built up along the way.
The aggregation imperative
Grid operators across the United States face an unprecedented dual challenge of surging electricity demand from data centers and frequent extreme weather events. These grid strains are forcing a structural shift in the US energy market, and decentralized generation capacity aggregated under virtual power plants (VPPs) is entering the mainstream.
Rapid shutdown explained
Rapid shutdown is a safety function that reduces the voltage of PV conductors if a system failure occurs. While it can be incorporated into module level power electronics (MLPE) devices – such as optimizers and microinverters – some markets require dedicated rapid shutdown devices (RSDs).
South Korea’s solar crossroads
South Korean solar is entering a new stage, where structural quality and sustainability are judged more important than speed of growth. The country’s annual solar installations in 2026 are projected to reach approximately 4 GW, similar to 2025 figures. Companies and public bodies see electricity as a long-term risk to be managed, rather than as an expense to be minimized, and the market is shifting from a supply logic centered on power generators to a choice logic centered on electricity consumers.
Time to talk electrification
Switching energy-hungry industries to processes that run on electricity is a key step in many regional decarbonization strategies, and one that will also ensure growing demand for renewable energy sources. For many industries electrification is already underway, and as grids gear up to better manage variable generation and supply shocks, the vulnerability of fossil fuel supply chains makes the case more compelling.
Lower temperatures, higher heat pump efficiency
A large-scale study of UK heat pump installations has revealed a major gap between hypothetical performance and real-world data. Changes to commissioning could make all the difference. pv magazine caught up with Oxford University’s Jan Rosenow and Heat Pump Monitor’s Trystan Lea to hear how installers can achieve higher seasonal performance factor (SPF) ratings for their customers.
Solar skills shortage intensifies
Solar plays an outsized role in skills and employment, as the largest growing employer in the energy sector worldwide. pv magazine looks at an investigative report into a European skills provider and digs further into the challenges of training workers for the solar industry.
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