This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Margarita Licht, Product Manager BESS & Charging at Germany’s Goldbeck Solar. She says diverse perspectives and cognitive styles are essential in the solar and energy storage sector, enabling smarter solutions, effective problem-solving, and long-term planning. She also emphasizes that creating inclusive environments, fostering allyship, and choosing workplaces that value authentic strengths empower growth and drive meaningful impact.

An IEA-PVPS report finds that solar power above 60° North is not only viable but rapidly expanding, driven by cold-climate performance gains, bifacial technologies, and rising energy security needs. While challenges like extreme seasonality, snow, permafrost, and scarce data remain, Arctic PV is emerging as a critical—and technically distinct—frontier for global solar deployment.

Achieving a system cost of $0.65/W through the secondary market and do-it-yourself assembly demonstrates a viable pathway for US plug-in solar to provide immediate utility bill relief to renters and apartment dwellers.

An industry analysis argues that agrivoltaic systems using trackers or vertical designs can outperform conventional solar on both revenues and land use, challenging conclusions from a recent German study.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Irene Mihai, Policy Director at the Romanian Photovoltaic Industry Association (RPIA). She says her personal experiences show how mentorship, collaboration, and inclusive workplace practices are essential for attracting and retaining talent while empowering the next generation to contribute to a sustainable future.

The Colorado House of Representatives has passed a bill to legalize plug-in solar systems for renters and multifamily residents, establishing a regulatory framework for portable arrays that connect directly to standard home outlets.

South Australia has opened up more than 11,000 square km of land for the potential development of renewable energy projects as it continues the march to its target of 100% net renewables by 2027.

In an interview with pv magazine, Carolina Novac, Secretary of State at Moldova’s Ministry of Energy explains how the country raised its solar capacity to 1 GW while advancing wind, storage, and regulatory reforms to strengthen energy security and reach 30% renewables by 2030. The Moldovan government is now focusing on scaling BESS, modernizing the power market, and enhancing cybersecurity through stronger policies and international cooperation.

The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) have signed an agreement to strengthen traceability and sustainability standards across solar supply chains.

Median solar module pricing in the United States reached $0.28 per watt as the market adjusted to intensified trade enforcement and new Foreign Entity of Concern compliance requirements, according to the Q1 2026 Quarterly Pricing & Domestic Content Report from Anza.

Spanish researchers found that semi-transparent silicon PV greenhouses boosted tomato fruit weight by 25% while generating 726.8 kWh over two seasons, outperforming cadmium telluride PV and shaded controls. The PV-Si system balanced sunlight, temperature, and energy, showing strong agrivoltaic potential.

Reports from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS) indicate Malaysia added over 1.4 GW of solar in 2025, with more than 5.7 GW now deployed across multiple government schemes.

Hydro-Québec has introduced a grant offering up to CAD 1,000 ($718.40) per kilowatt installed, covering up to 40% of eligible costs to accelerate rooftop solar adoption and reduce payback periods for residential and business customers in the Canadian province of Québec.

The first bid window of Zambia’s new Carbon Feed In Premium Program plans to develop 300 MW of solar across projects that are connected to on-site battery energy storage systems. The deadline to submit expressions of interest is May 31.

Distributed solar additions have vastly outpaced all other forms of generation as Puerto Rico’s overall power generation capacity continues to grow.

A UNSW-led team found that annealing conditions significantly affect stress, strain, and microstructure in copper-plated heterojunction solar cell contacts, with fast annealing increasing microstrain in both copper and indium tin oxide.

New Time has outlined a four-year roadmap to industrialize perovskite solar cells in Italy, with pilot production planned within three years and full-scale output to follow.

Agratas, the global battery business of the Tata Group, has completed the steel frame of its Sanand facility in India, with production expected to begin in 2027.

The German manufacturer said its new back-contact solar panel has a power conversion efficiency of up to 23.52%.

An international reserch team developed two deep learning-based IDS models to enhance cybersecurity in SCADA systems. The hybrid approach reportedly improves detection of complex and novel cyber threats with high accuracy, adaptability, and efficiency, outperforming traditional methods across multiple datasets.

Japanese researchers developed a molybdenum-based spin-flip emitter that efficiently harvests triplet excitons from singlet-fission tetracene dimers, producing strong near-infrared emission. This approach could boost solar cell efficiency and enable new quantum technologies by converting otherwise “dark” excitons into usable light.

The Dutch research institute has presented what it describes as the world’s first perovskite-based roof tile, achieving up to 13.8% efficiency on standalone modules and 12.4% when installed on a curved surface. The flexible modules were produced using TNO’s experimental roll-to-roll platform,

The French authorities announced they will assign 288 MW of PV in the 2026 tender for projects ranging from 100 kW to 500 kW in size and 925 MW in the procurement exercise for PV systems exceeding 500 kW. The tenders will include cybersecurity requirements as well as provisions to support European manufacturing.

New research from the University of New South Wales shows that PV module degradation varies widely with system design and location, driven by UV exposure, temperature, humidity, and atmospheric conditions. Tropical and desert regions face the highest stress, highlighting the need for climate-specific testing and system design.

Solar Fabrik has introduced a 400 W red-brown glass-glass PV module designed to meet strict aesthetic requirements for historic and protected buildings, offering a 20.02% efficiency and compatibility with traditional tiled rooftops.

India-based EV battery manufacturer Neuron Energy plans to enter the grid-scale storage market with a 5 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturing facility in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Hybrid power purchase agreements (PPAs) combining solar and storage are proving harder to close with industrial offtakers than standard solar deals, despite growing market interest.

Switzerland startup Evolium Technologies’ subscription-based business model offers residential battery owners a lifetime guarantee on second life batteries. The startup tests and remotely monitors each battery cell so it can alert customers when a cell is under-performing.

A team from Nankai University and the Shanghai Institute of Space Power-Sources has developed a hydrofluorocarbon electrolyte enabling lithium-metal cells to operate at temperatures as low as -70 C.

The two major developers plan to establish a joint venture company with equal ownership that will be their sole vehicle for building, owning and operating both existing and future solar, storage and wind projects across nine Asian countries.