This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Delfina Muñoz, Research Director & Strategic Project Manager at France’s CEA. She says diversity is a catalyst for faster, fairer clean energy innovation. Inclusion, mentorship, and authentic leadership don’t just support people, they build stronger, more resilient teams that power the energy transition forward.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that February saw a sharp East Asia solar divide, with southern China and Taiwan experiencing record-high irradiance due to clear skies and low aerosols, while maritime Southeast Asia faced heavy rainfall and below-average irradiance from enhanced tropical convection. The surplus in China was driven by atmospheric cleanliness, whereas Taiwan’s boost came mainly from persistently clear days, contrasting with widespread deficits across Indonesia, the southern Philippines, and nearby islands.

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.

Iran is widely known for its oil and gas resources, but its strongest long-term energy asset may be the sun. New research shows how solar PV could drive a cost-competitive transition across power, heat, transport, industry, and desalination, while opening the door to a broader Solar-to-X Economy.

Australia has become one of the world’s most attractive destinations for hyperscale data centers, ranking among the top five to 10 markets globally by capacity. Drivers include large land availability in Renewable Energy Zones, renewable penetration exceeding 40% across the National Electricity Market (NEM), geopolitical stability, Five Eyes membership, and proximity to Asia-Pacific demand hubs.

The fourteenth edition of Solar Solutions Amsterdam showcased the latest technologies across solar, storage, electric vehicle charging and green HVAC. This year saw energy storage systems dominate the show floor, ahead of the event’s rebrand to Sustainable Solutions Amsterdam from next year onwards, reflecting the Dutch market’s position as a mature market increasingly focused on flexibility and the connectivity of different technologies within a single system.

Germany’s solar sector is reporting a surge in inquiries following the military escalation between Israel, the United States, and Iran, with E.ON citing a doubling of demand for solar installations. Other industry participants are more cautious, attributing much of the increase to seasonal patterns rather than geopolitical anxiety.

Morocco has published the implementing decree for Law 82‑21, enabling self-producers to consume their own solar power and sell up to 20% of surplus energy back to the grid. The measure, effective 9 June 2026, sets clear tariffs and grid limits.

Investors have submitted applications for 12.15 GW of utility-scale, standalone merchant battery storage projects in Greece, far exceeding the 4.7 GW the country plans to approve. But with wrestling over financing and key policy details still unresolved, the path to construction remains unclear.

The Danish company said its configurable CO2 system delivers up to 4.8 MW per unit and is scalable to 50 MW for large industrial and commercial projects. The units offer hot water output of up to 95 C and compatibility with complex installations such as food processing, district heating, and commercial buildings.

Sandia National Laboratories conducted the first-ever blind comparison of seven commercial PV modeling software, revealing that differences in weather handling, system modeling, derates, and assumptions grow as system complexity increases. The study emphasizes that software choice should consider project complexity, workflow, and modeling features rather than relying on rankings alone.

A Japanese joint-pilot will test grid-scale BESS with a range of local and remote attack vectors, with cybersecurity monitoring to watch for indications of anomalies.

The Japanese government has set 2026 feed-in tariff (FIT) terms for solar below 250 kW, set the renewable energy levy at JPY 4.18 ($0.026)/kWh, and confirmed that feed-in premium (FIP) auctions for large-scale solar will end after 2026.

Pakistan’s Renewables First has explored the implications of a lack of official data collection from the country’s distributed solar market segment, which is estimated to have reached over 24 GW of installed capacity by the middle of last year.

The latest round of Japan’s carbon financing program, which provides financial support for low-carbon infrastructure projects in partner countries, is backing a 130 MW solar project being built in southeastern Tunisia.

Researchers in Brazil have developed a weighted PV inverter efficiency methodology that accounts for country-specific solar irradiance and operating conditions. The approach is designed to address the limitations of international metrics by incorporating variables such as input voltage and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance.

A random malware variant affected about 800 remote monitoring devices at ground-mounted PV plants in Japan in May 2024. Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm Girasol Energy has told pv magazine what happened and how PV asset owners can protect themselves against such incidents.

An international research team boosted triple-junction solar cell performance by enhancing perovskite crystal growth, increasing middle-cell light absorption, and adding reflective nanoparticles.

Researchers in Hong Kong Hong Kong fabricated a thermochromic bifacial photovoltaic glazing system prototype that passively regulates solar heat gain while harvesting energy from both sides. Experiments and simulations showed it significantly reduces cooling loads and indoor temperatures while boosting electricity generation.

The Italian heating solutions provider said its new Nuos Plus S2 Wi-Fi heat pump system offers up to 80% energy savings and a coefficient of performance of up to 3.51.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has expanded its Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) framework to include solar ingots and wafers, with mandatory compliance for new project bids taking effect from June 1, 2028.

The Nexis solution combines a flexibly configurable hybrid inverter with a modular high-voltage battery offering up to 14 kW charging capacity per stack. The inverter delivers 8–20 kW AC power, supports up to 200% DC oversizing, and features IP65-rated design with integrated backup power.

Rooftop solar company Solarium Green Energy has commissioned a 1 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, producing large-format G12 modules up to 725 Wp and serving both internal and external customers.

India added 119 GW of solar module capacity and over 9 GW of cell capacity in 2025, bringing total capacities to about 210 GW and 27 GW, respectively, according to Mercom India. Growth was driven by strong project demand and policy support, although supply-demand alignment is expected later in 2026 as domestic cell production ramps up.

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) says its new design and construction guidelines for flexible PV and perovskite solar installations will help ensure the safety and reliability of systems deployed on low-load rooftops and wall surfaces where conventional panels cannot be installed.

Scientists from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), RMIT University and the University of Melbourne have developed a quantum battery prototype that demonstrates rapid, scalable energy storage using collective quantum effects.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are increasingly used in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications for data centers and to speed grid connections, offering services beyond what gas turbines can provide, including emerging approaches such as bring your own capacity (BYOC) and flexible grid connections (FGC).

GBP K.K., a Japan-based clean energy infrastructure company, has launched perimeter fencing systems for grid-scale solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) sites, targeting security in difficult terrain and noise mitigation near residential areas.

Researchers at TU Delft propose using 2D carbon selenide as a sodium-ion battery anode, offering a theoretical capacity of 589 mAh/g with minimal volume expansion. Computational studies confirmed the material’s structural and thermal stability, as well as tunable electrochemical properties, making it a promising candidate for large-scale, renewable-linked energy storage.

The European Union’s NIS2 Directive is pushing PV operators to strengthen both cyber and physical security, treating solar assets as critical infrastructure. It also highlights the need for stronger physical protection measures, such as site surveillance, access control, and perimeter security to prevent tampering and intrusion.