Europe

Solar canopy and EV charging station from 3ti available from Segen in a deal which gives the United Kingdom’s largest PV distributor exclusive rights for six months. The charging station comes with a 20 kW rooftop array and uses an existing grid connection.

France-based startup Carbon plans to partner with Chinese manufacturer Longi and adopt back-contact (BC) solar technology as it revises its roadmap for a gigawatt-scale solar module factory.

France’s Energaia trade fair drew record crowds and exhibitors last week, underscoring continued investment appetite in solar and storage, even as developers warn that policy delays and a residential slowdown could weigh on activity after 2025.

France’s certification body says it has withdrawn eligibility for a lower solar VAT rate from four Chinese-made modules after finding traceability errors that altered their carbon footprint calculations.

A document published by the European Commission on strengthening the EU’s economic security lists reliance on Chinese solar inverters as an example of high-risk dependency. It adds the commission plans to address such risks under its cybersecurity framework.

The italian government says it is fast-tracking utility-scale solar, approving about 710 MW of mainly agrivoltaic projects in Puglia while moving to curb regional limits on where PV plants can be built, sharpening tensions over land use and energy policy.

Subsidy support has driven heat pump adoption, with the pace of deployment increasing since early 2024. Second largest subsidy scheme to be wound down in 2026 leaving expanded boiler upgrade scheme as dominant support mechanism. Full details on UK government’s Warm Homes plan expected in early 2026.

Germany has connected the world’s first supercapacitor-based STATCOM to the grid, with Siemens Energy and transmission system operator TenneT positioning it as a blueprint to replace fossil-fuel generators in providing instantaneous reserve and reactive power.

Maxeon has filed a lawsuit in Germany claiming Aiko Solar, and four of its German product distributors, breached a patent related to its back contact solar technology. It is the third such lawsuit Maxeon has opened against Aiko.

Leading experts from quality assurance and balance-of-system manufacturing were joined by a trio of CEOs at pv magazine Week Europe for a revealing discussion on building bankable projects. From glass breakage and soldering errors to significant variations in EPC quality, panelists found detailed auditing, a commitment to processes and an active approach to fault prevention are key to solar project quality in Europe and beyond.