Articles written by Mark Hutchins

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Markets & Policy
Avoiding IP issues Recent disputes involving tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell technology illustrate how patent enforcement can shape manufacturing strategy, constrain technology adoption, and create downstream ripples. Solar cell technology provides a useful lens for understanding how intellectual property (IP) risk operates across the US solar industry, as Isaku Begert, an associate at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, explains.
Isaku Begert
10 hours ago
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Large industrial polysilicon facility in Oman.
Markets & Policy
United Solar completes $1.6 billion raise for Oman polysilicon factory United Solar announced financial close on a $50 million equity investment from the International Finance Corporation. With this, the company says it has completed the $1.6 billion funding for the polysilicon factory it is currently working to bring online in Oman’s Sohar Free Zone.
Mark Hutchins
Jul 13, 2026
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Technology & Products
Spain targets wafer production Spain-based Sunwafe is planning a 20 GW ingot and wafer factory. The project is progressing quickly, with a site secured in northern Spain and a €200 million ($232.6 million) grant, newly appointed CEO Michael Pinto tells pv magazine.
Mark Hutchins
Jul 13, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Notes from the field Across Europe, North America and high-latitude regions in Asia, agricultural operators face rising energy demand, volatile markets and increasing dependence on electrically driven processes. So why isn’t agricultural solar more popular? Based on her observations on an alpine dairy farm in Austria, complemented by additional insights from other farms in the region, Austrian agriculture consultant Maria Weissenböck finds there is a gap in approaches. Farms tend to approach solar as a risk management decision rather than as an energy transition measure.
Maria Weissenböck
Jul 09, 2026
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Markets & Policy
Who maintains Europe’s orphaned rooftop solar? Europe added 65.1 GW of solar capacity in 2025. It also lost 40,000 solar jobs – the first workforce contraction in nearly a decade, according to SolarPower Europe. Behind those job losses is a wave of installer insolvencies that is creating a problem the industry has been slow to acknowledge: a growing population of residential solar systems with no warranty support, no maintenance provider, and no monitoring.
Ben Hayden
Jul 08, 2026
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Markets & Policy
US solar trade and residential market continues to tighten Following the recent Trump-Xi meeting, our industry checks suggest there is little indication that proposed Section 232 actions on polysilicon are at risk of being withdrawn. Most market participants continue to expect the policy framework to move forward, although potentially at a lower tariff rate than initially anticipated. Industry contacts generally do not believe solar-specific trade policy was meaningfully addressed during the summit, with broader anti-China trade positioning still expected to continue.
Jesse Pichel and Lev Seleznov
Jul 07, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Documenting risk PV projects rarely fail because of vision, permitting or demand issues. They fail because of missing proof. Documentation gaps are becoming a key source of financing and execution risk. Intertek CEA Chief operating officer Jeffrey Burkett sees a clear pattern across the market: technically sound and commercially viable projects are still unable to close financing. Not due to fundamental flaws, but because critical documentation was not built up along the way.
Jeffrey Burkett
Jul 06, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Time to talk electrification Switching energy-hungry industries to processes that run on electricity is a key step in many regional decarbonization strategies, and one that will also ensure growing demand for renewable energy sources. For many industries electrification is already underway, and as grids gear up to better manage variable generation and supply shocks, the vulnerability of fossil fuel supply chains makes the case more compelling.
Mark Hutchins
Jun 29, 2026
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Markets & Policy
Escaping the energy straitjacket Europe’s split grid infrastructure and lack of central planning mean it fails to use its renewables. It is stuck in volatile prices driven by reliance on imported fossil fuels. Treating the system as one network rather than separate national grids would unlock PV, storage and wind, says Christian Kjaer, executive director at Supergrid Europe.
Christian Kjaer
Jun 24, 2026