Europe

With lithium prices reaching a two-year high in early 2026, sodium-ion batteries are once again in the spotlight, as innovators on both sides of the Atlantic announce major milestones.

The consortium expects to reach Final Investment Decision (FID) on the full-scale project in the Ain Sokhna Industrial Zone in the coming months, while Brazil’s Federal Court provisionally ordered the suspension of construction activities of Solatio’s project in the State of Piauí.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Bárbara Linares Turnkey Engineer Director Iberia & Latam at Sunotec Iberia. She says diverse and inclusive teams in the renewable energy sector drive innovation, resilience, and long-term success by combining technical expertise with collaboration, empathy, and clear communication. “I have encountered subtle biases, particularly in international and multicultural environments. At times, there was scepticism linked to being a young woman, assumptions that I was not the decision-maker, or complex discussions being directed toward male colleagues,” she states.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Central Europe, led by Germany, experienced strong solar generation in December due to clear skies from a blocking weather pattern, while Iberia, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe saw reduced irradiance from storms and cloud cover. Late-month Arctic cold and snowfall further suppressed PV output in Eastern Europe through snow soiling, exacerbating already weak solar conditions.

UNSW researchers found that some POE encapsulants can trigger severe corrosion in TOPCon solar modules, causing up to 55% power loss under damp-heat conditions. Their study highlights that module reliability depends on the exact encapsulant formulation, not just the polymer type.

Axinar has launched SolBox, a direct PV water heating system that powers electric resistance accumulators without thermal collectors. It’s designed for homes and businesses, offering real-time monitoring, MPPT optimization, and automatic grid backup.

Abu Dhabi-based developer Masdar and Montenegro’s state-owned power company EPCG have entered into a framework agreement that could see a joint venture company belonging to the two parties develop, build, own and operate large-scale solar projects in the country.

Scientists have analyzed the competition between photovoltaics and agriculture for land use in Spain by studying 134 different crops in 15 regions. Using a real options framework, they found that falling solar PV costs and high irradiance in southern Spain could make solar more profitable than farming by the mid-2040s, highlighting growing land-use competition.

Basquevolt and Bcare have successfully developed and integrated the first solid-state cells into a module for stationary applications, accomplishing this within the Iberdrola-led ASTRA-CC project (2023–2025).

The Italian company said the manganese-hydrogen battery it has developed represents an advanced solution for long-duration energy storage. The technology enables energy to be stored for many hours or even days, overcoming the structural limitations of lithium-ion batteries.