In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that January in South America featured dramatic weather contrasts with persistent floods and cloud cover in northern regions sharply reducing solar irradiance, while extreme heat, drought and wildfires in the south boosted sunlight yet also generated aerosol smoke that complicated irradiance outcomes. Severe storms, tornadoes and industrial fires further punctuated the month’s highly variable irradiance patterns across the continent.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Charmaine Coutinho, Director – EMEA Energy Transition at UK-based FTI Consulting. She says the energy transition requires inclusive systems that actively involve underrepresented groups, ensuring diversity and equity at all levels. Drawing on decades in the sector, she emphasizes intentional mentorship, sponsorship, and transparent leadership as essential for meaningful change and career impact.

Whatever decision the U.S. Department of Commerce makes on polysilicon imports, some market segments are in for a bumpy ride in 2026 as the expiration of tax credits and other policy levers change the trading environment faced by residential installers and others. Jesse Pichel and Lev Seleznov of Roth Capital assess what lies ahead for U.S. solar.

A systems approach is essential for smart energy standardization, ensuring interoperability, avoiding overlaps, and addressing complex interactions across the grid, appliances, and infrastructures. The IEC System Committee for Smart Energy (SyC SE) applies system-level thinking, using tools like reference architectures and roadmaps to coordinate standards, support innovation, and tackle emerging areas such as EV integration, digital twins, and zero-emission technologies.

Protran Solutions says a battery-electric refrigerated trailer charged by onboard solar panels has completed a 1,671 km Sydney-Brisbane round trip without diesel use, demonstrating depot-to-depot cold-chain capability.

As AI-driven data center demand tightens grid capacity across the United States, investors are shifting toward de-risked, late-stage solar-plus-storage portfolios to secure firm capacity in a higher interest rate environment, according to Deloitte.

Daikin has introduced two new propane heat pump lines for industrial and district heating applications, combining monobloc units from 20 kW to 85 kW with modular systems scalable up to 2 MW.

Aurora Energy Research says uncompensated PV curtailment will remain elevated in 2026 and 2027, reaching 3.05 TWh next year and 3.38 TWh in 2027, as grid constraints persist despite planned reinforcements.

The PV facility transforms a coal-subsidence zone into one of China’s largest utility-scale solar and transmission hubs. It is part of a 6 GW solar cluster, of which 4 GW are now operational.

French grid operator RTE says almost 3 TWh of renewable energy was curtailed in 2025, driven by higher solar output and more frequent negative-price market periods.

India installed around 37.8 GW of solar capacity in 2025, according to JKM Research. This comprised about 28.6 GW of new utility-scale solar, a 54.6% increase from 2024, and 7.9 GW of rooftop solar, up 72% year on year. Off-grid additions stood at 1.35 GW, compared to 1.48 GW in 2024.

HydrogenPro says its 220 MW ACES Delta project in Utah is nearing completion, with all electrolyzers operating at full load, while the hub will store hydrogen in salt caverns with energy capacity two to three times that of all US grid-connected batteries combined.

Greece’s distribution grid operator will begin accepting applications for agrivoltaic systems on March 4, marking the first step in implementing a new law targeting 130 MW of capacity nationwide.

A survey of more than 800 Spanish C&I PV installations following the 2019–2022 self-consumption boom found significant administrative, technical and monitoring deficiencies in all audited systems, with 13.2% of businesses reporting savings far below expectations.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will place sodium batteries at the center of its work on the EU’s industrial strategy and is calling for swift action. pv magazine has compiled a list of manufacturers developing this technology in Europe.

The transparent four-terminal perovskite solar cell employs an ion-modulated spiro-MeOTAD hole transport layer, which passivates interfacial defects, enhances carrier dynamics, and allows for a tunable work function in wide-bandgap perovskites. When integrated into mechanically stacked 4T tandems with an n-TOPCon cell, the device achieved an overall efficiency of 28.4–30.2%, along with improved open-circuit voltage and fill factor.

Premier Energies Ltd today unveiled India’s first zero-busbar (0BB) TOPCon solar cell at Intersolar India. The 0BB design marks a structural shift from traditional 10BB and 16BB architectures, replacing thick silver busbars with a dense matrix of ultra-fine silver lines to collect current.

The APX HV Battery 2.0 supports 5–30 kWh capacities and up to 15 kW of output. The IP66-rated system features a stacked, cable-free design.

The Bluetti Elite 300, packing more power than ever into a small form, will be available with early-bird discounts from March 8.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) says polysilicon production has fallen to 32% of capacity, sustaining oversupply, while wafer prices weaken as post–Chinese New Year demand fails to recover.

The cell was fabricated using a new interfacial phase equilibrium strategy that suppressed uncontrollable metal ion migration. The device achieved an exceptionally high open-circuit voltage of over 600 mV at a bandgap of 1.10 eV.

The polymer solar cell is able to retain 97% of its performance after 2,000 hours in air. By blending small-molecule acceptors into polymeric matrices, the research team improved molecular packing, enhancing both stability and charge transport for “ultra-stable” flexible devices.

Kardinia Energy has secured AUD 2.15 million from the Australian government’s Industry Growth Program to scale up its flexible, low-cost printed solar technology from university proof-of-concept to pilot manufacturing.

Swedish researchers developed two novel single-axis solar tracking strategies that dynamically adjust panel tilt based on crop light requirements, balancing photosynthesis and energy production. One strategy prioritizes daily light integral targets before shifting to energy capture, while the other uses the light-response curve to optimize photosynthesis, offering improved dual-use efficiency compared with conventional tracking methods.

Osaki Electric says it has signed an agreement to formalize joint development of its AI-based energy management system (EMS), integrating solar generation and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery storage. It aims to sign a final contract by December 2026.

Department of Energy (DOE) order sets out new rules for mandatory energy storage, including a minimum capacity of at least 20% of the generating plant’s installed capacity. DOE also calls for energy storage systems (ESS) installations to have grid supporting capabilities, such as grid-forming inverters to help stabilize voltage and frequency.

China brings online 300 MW/1,200 MWh grid-forming energy storage facility in Inner Mongolia, integrating lithium-ion and vanadium flow battery technologies.

Viridi batteries have been deployed in New York to replace diesel generators, accelerating a trend where batteries replace and complement generators of all sizes.

The UK-based manufacturer has expanded its Ecomod 290HT range with a new 65 kW monobloc air-source heat pump using R290 refrigerant, offering flow temperatures up to 70 C, a COP of 4.6, and cascade capability of up to 7 units.