This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Carla Vico, CEO of France’s Green Solver. She says building an inclusive culture means valuing people for their work, accountability, and commitment, rather than their gender or background. “I do not believe in positive discrimination; I believe in creating equal opportunities and making merit-based decisions,” she states.

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.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that March in Australia was unusually wet and disrupted, with frequent tropical cyclones, polar air intrusions, and repeated low-pressure systems causing widespread cloud, storms, and record cold in the southeast. Solar irradiance was mixed: below average in the south due to persistent cloud and storms, but near or above average on some northern and coastal regions where breaks between systems allowed recovery.

Photovoltaic module prices have risen for the fourth consecutive month, driven by strong demand for energy independence despite falling upstream costs such as polysilicon. At the same time, production cuts in China and tighter supply conditions are limiting availability, reinforcing price increases across all technologies.

The move toward decentralized energy resources offers resilience and flexibility in power generation, but it also introduces new complexities that demand proactive security measures.

Researchers in the United Kingdom found that thermostatic radiator valves can reduce air-source heat pump space heating energy use by 6–8% without affecting system efficiency when used correctly. TRVs must be applied carefully in well-designed, balanced systems with at least one open flow path, as they mainly serve as a secondary tool for room-level comfort control rather than a replacement for proper heat pump design and low flow temperature operation.

Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec has revealed the long list of bidders in its 300 MW solar tender. A total 60 bids were submitted with a cumulative capacity of 481 MW.

Hoshine Silicon reported 2025 revenue of CNY 20.499 billion ($2.82 billion) and a CNY 2.991 billion net loss driven by PV disruption and impairments. Meanwhile, polysilicon and wafer prices continued to decline in mid-April amid high inventories and weak demand.

The Swiss federal government has launched a funding call for research projects on energy and resource-efficient industrial processes, including the circular economy related to solar modules, batteries, heat pumps and electrolyzers. The deadline to submit pre-proposals is June 30.

India-based Pur Energy has launched the PuREPower 3.0 Lite, an all-in-one lithium battery-based power backup solution positioned as a cleaner and more compact alternative to conventional inverter and lead-acid battery combinations for the residential segment.

Florida-based Terra Energy offers solar subscriptions to homeowners on an initial 36-month agreement and seeks to retain those customers for the long-term by proving it can offer something better than the alternative.

Figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency state that Vietnam’s cumulative solar capacity reached 19,252 MW by the end of last year, indicating a 586 MW increase in 2025.

Researchers have analyzed the biomass and nutritional value of grasses and legumes for grazing dairy cattle, growing in agrivoltaics fields. The results showed that forage quality may be maintained or even enhanced in agrivoltaic environments.

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island explored why citizens who voiced pro-solar sentiments voted against a solar project development in a 2019 municipal referendum. Their analysis found objections over land use greatly outweigh proximity concerns.

The government’s electrification plan, presented last week, includes a goal to double heat pump deployment in France by 2030, potentially benefiting the residential photovoltaic sector.

A Spanish-Chilean research team has found that microbial biofilms in the Atacama Desert can significantly contribute to the soiling of photovoltaic modules, reducing short-circuit current by up to around 30% under accelerated laboratory conditions. The study highlights microorganisms as active agents in PV soiling and suggests they may influence optical losses, cleaning efficiency, and future mitigation strategies in arid, high-irradiance solar regions.

RWE has scrapped its 99.9 MW Butterfly solar‑plus‑storage project in Wales after determining that grid connection availability made it unviable, in a move that comes amid sharply rising connection demand and mounting pressure on the United Kingdom’s queue reform process.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) says distribution grid investment has risen 51% since 2021, but warns that fragmented planning rules and regulatory distortions could limit efficiency and slow the energy transition.

Credential compromise attacks allow adversaries to gain unauthorized access to PV systems by stealing or guessing valid login credentials, enabling them to manipulate operations, disrupt monitoring, or take control of critical assets. These attacks can lead to operational instability, reduced energy production, and safety risks, making strong authentication and access control essential for system resilience.

Researchers in Spain developed a porous silica anti-reflective coating for solar panels that boosts optical transmission while balancing durability and mechanical stability through optimized sol–gel chemistry.

South Korea has extended investment tax credits to solar module manufacturing facilities meeting carbon footprint thresholds, in the latest step in a policy trajectory that increasingly uses procurement and tax measures to support domestic manufacturers.

Media outlets in South Korea are reporting that Malaysia’s OCI TerraSus, a subsidiary of Seoul-headquartered chemicals company OCI Holdings, is in talks with SpaceX for a multi-year polysilicon supply contract.

Researchers in Spain have identified a new source of underperformance in utility-scale PV plants caused by “suboptimal backtracking” on slightly uneven terrain. The study shows that real tracker control systems deviate from ideal flat-terrain assumptions, reducing irradiance capture and causing measurable energy losses compared with simulations.

A new report from Metal Focus reveals that global silver market remains structurally tight, with elevated prices, a fifth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2025, and ongoing mine and recycling constraints despite modest production growth. At the same time, PV-driven silver demand is falling sharply due to cost pressure and thrifting.

The German manufacturer has launched an integrated energy system combining inverter, storage and energy management in a modular, scalable solution for new and existing PV installations. The system supports AC/DC coupling, backup power and smart energy optimization.

Germany could break the gigawatt-hour mark for the first time on a monthly basis. Around 45,000 new residential photovoltaic storage systems have been registered in the market master data register so far in March.

From pv magazine Latam The Colombian government has issued Decree 0393, establishing public policy guidelines for the integration of energy storage systems (ESS) into the National Interconnected System (SIN) and Non-Interconnected Zones (ZNI). The decree defines criteria for their deployment, enables participation in electricity markets, and sets the basis for remuneration, in the context of […]

The two companies will develop XFRA, a distributed network of compute nodes connected to homes with smart panels, batteries and optional solar generation, in partnership with Nvidia and homebuilders like PulteGroup,

The government of Togo is running a tender for the construction of solar minigrids in 27 rural localities. The deadline for applications is May 26.

The German manufacturer said that its new air-to-water heat pump system uses propane as a refrigerant and is available in three variants with outputs of 5 kW, 7 kW, and 11 kW. The new product can reportedly achieve a coefficient of performance of up to 4.93.