Asia

The world of batteries needs alternative chemistries to skirt weaknesses with lithium-ion. Sodium-ion is a big hope, and in portable power, Bluetti’s new product shows promise, and limitations.

High-resistivity silicon wafers offer superior efficiency potential but are highly sensitive to edge recombination and mechanical damage, limiting their commercial use compared to more robust standard wafers. Researchers from Longi and Sun Yat-sen University demonstrated that integrating in-situ edge passivation unlocks this potential, significantly boosting back-contact solar cell fill factor and efficiency.

The Chinese manufacturer said its 15 kW three-phase low-voltage hybrid inverter is paired with the stackable BP5000 5 kWh battery supporting up to 120 kWh. It features three MPPTs, 150% oversized PV input, and smart load management for optimized self-consumption.

The Philippines has unveiled plans for its next four green energy auctions, one of which will focus on rooftop solar and solar-plus-storage in selected areas of the country. Another forthcoming auction will concentrate on solar on canals, agrisolar and solar on stilts over fish ponds.

India added 36.6 GW of solar capacity in 2025, up 43% from the previous year, with large-scale projects accounting for 81% of installations, according to Mercom India.

EVE Energy says a 200 MW/400 MWh battery energy storage project in China has entered operation, which it describes as the world’s first utility-scale deployment of 628 Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

Cambodia has set a 30 MW allocation window for rooftop solar this year, with large-scale electricity consumers required to seek approval for installations from the country’s electricity authority. 

Jupiter International Ltd has commissioned a 1 GW mono passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cell manufacturing facility in India, increasing its total installed capacity to nearly 2 GW from 959 MW.

Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL)) has issued a letter of award to Pace Digitek for a 250 MW solar project with a 250 MW, 1.1 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka, India, with an interim tariff of INR 5.51 ($0.061)/kWh adopted by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has approved 3 GW of GREW Solar’s G12R module manufacturing capacity under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM), enabling deployment in government-backed projects and supporting the company’s planned expansion to 11 GW by 2026.