Over a 30-year asset life, corrosion can evolve into a structural, electrical, and fire safety issue. Corrosion drives up operations and maintenance (O&M) costs, reduces resilience to extreme events, and in some cases, can force premature decommissioning or complete structural replacement Intertek CEA’s Nicholas Hudson and Ankil Sanghvi advise on best practices.

For years, the battery energy storage (BESS) story has followed a familiar script: costs fall, deployment accelerates, economics improve. Even when cell costs rose and system prices briefly flattened during the 2021-22 lithium price spike, the narrative largely held. Paola Perez Peña, senior principal analyst at S&P Global Energy, examines why the latest jump in lithium prices has only had limited impacts on overall BESS costs so far.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Sara Kapeller, CEO of Germany’s Twistor GmbH. She says building impactful careers in the renewable energy landscape requires courage, curiosity, and inclusion, turning setbacks into growth and empowering more women to lead technical innovation and shape the future.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, provides a June–August 2026 outlook indicating mostly neutral to positive solar irradiance globally, with stronger gains in regions like Australasia, South Asia, West Africa, and Central America—patterns consistent with a developing El Niño. Negative anomalies are limited and mostly early-season, while Europe and the U.S. show modest or mixed signals, with improvements or neutrality dominating as the season progresses.

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.

Spain and Portugal are 53% less exposed to gas price volatility than they were three years ago, according to a new report from Positive Money.

While the exact specifications of the new product, such as dimensions and weight, haven’t been disclosed, available imagery suggests potential transportation challenges.

The March 2026 Energy Sector Construction and Investment Projects Report, released by the Chilean Ministry of Energy, records 38 storage systems under construction, for 4,597 MW and 18,780 MWh.

In Q1 2026, grid-scale solar generation jumped 648 MW compared to the same period in 2025, recording an all-time quarterly high of 2,706 MW output, according to new figures released by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

The announcement of the company’s latest module power electronics project came alongside Q1 2026 earnings that showed a 20.6% decrease in year-over-year revenue numbers amid a steep decline in domestic demand.

Korea Rural Community Corp. (KRC) says it plans to increase floating solar capacity on agricultural reservoirs to 3 GW by 2030, from 105 MW currently in operation.

A UNSW-led research team proposed two low-power ride-through strategies for standalone PV–electrolyzer systems to maintain stability during sudden solar power fluctuations without using battery storage.

Solar Energy Corporation of India has invited proposals to set up interstate transmission system (ISTS)-connected renewable energy projects for assured peak power supply of 1,500 MWh (500 MW for three hours) under a contract-for-difference (CfD) mechanism.

Sungrow has released a mining microgrid power solutions white paper in partnership with TÜV Rheinland and the China Electrotechnical Society covering application scenarios from 2.5 MW up to more than 100 MW.

Grid-scale solar PV electricity generation surpassed 1 GW in mid-April, which marked a new record in Ireland according to the country’s high-voltage transmission system operator Eirgrid. Around 500,000 customers’ power needs can be met with 1 GW, Eirgrid estimates.

Indian scientists developed a cadmium-free CIS thin-film solar cell using indium oxide as an electron transport layer, achieving a simulated efficiency of 29.79% with SCAPS-1D modeling. Through sensitivity analysis, they showed that low defect density, optimized absorber thickness, and effective thermal management are critical for minimizing recombination losses and enabling high-performance, scalable devices.

Beijing has introduced a stricter national carbon evaluation system that formally holds provincial governments accountable for emissions reduction and energy transition targets.

A Vietnamese research team has developed a low-cost passive cooling system for PV modules based on hydrogel-coated paper that combines water flow and interfacial evaporation to reduce operating temperatures. Outdoor tests showed temperature reductions of up to 14 C and efficiency gains of up to 16.8%, with stable operation achieved using both freshwater and natural seawater.

Longi claims to have achieved the world’s highest efficiency for a silicon solar cell. The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH).

Researchers in Canada found that 69%-transparent crystalline silicon semitransparent PV modules can improve tomato greenhouse yields by up to 38% while maintaining healthy plant growth through beneficial partial shading. Their simulations also showed that combining rooftop agrivoltaics with heat pumps can fully eliminate fossil fuel heating.

Rosi has raised more than €20 million in a Series B funding round to scale its photovoltaic module recycling business and build a new 10,000-tonne-per-year facility in Teruel, Spain. The company uses pyrolysis-based technology to recover high-purity materials including silver, silicon, copper, aluminium and glass from end-of-life solar modules.

CATL has completed a roughly $5 billion share sale in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Chinese inverter and battery manufacturing giant Sungrow is making a second attempt at an IPO after its initial listing bid, launched in October 2025, lapsed.

The iSkim Ultra utilizes a 24 W monocrystalline solar array and a 10,000 mAh battery to provide 24/7 surface cleaning through an autonomous dual-path navigation system.

The Chinese manufacturer said its TOPCon-compatible hybrid back-contact solar cell achieved a power conversion efficiency of 28.0%. The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH).

The Indian manufacturer said its new all-black panel series features a power conversion efficiency of up to 23.32% and a bifaciality factor of up to 85%.

New federal data shows solar and battery assets will comprise nearly 80% of all new utility-scale power additions planned for the U.S. electric grid this year.

China’s first large-scale salt cavern hydrogen storage demonstration project has been commissioned in Henan province. The 1.5 million m³ facility validates geological hydrogen storage technology and supports renewable energy integration.

Supported by Toshiba, Bulgarian utility NEK is working to restart its 864 MW Chaira pumped-storage hydropower plant, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe. The facility has been offline since March 2022 following a turbine failure.

The two companies announced a 60 GWh supply agreement on Monday, marking a pivotal step in the commercialization of sodium-ion battery technology.

A market alert for the attention of installers, distributors and traders in the solar and storage market.