North America

 The U.S. based manufacturer has completed certification of its latest adhesive-free, fluorine-free backsheet.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that solar irradiance levels were well below average in western and northern United States in November, while southern parts of the country and Mexico enjoyed strong positive anomalies.

Researchers in the United States found that shading from agrivoltaic systems reduces grain numbers in both sorghum and soybean, but sorghum can partially compensate by increasing grain weight while soybean cannot. The study shows that sorghum and soybean respond differently due to their physiology, offering guidance for crop selection and management to minimize yield penalties in agrivoltaics.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado as the National Laboratory of the Rockies, a change it says aligns the institute’s mandate with the Trump administration’s applied energy priorities.

Canadian Solar says it will take direct control of its US solar and battery manufacturing assets through a new joint venture, shifting assets from its China-listed subsidiary and valuing the transaction at about $50 million.

Researchers in the US tested the degradation of antimony chalcogenide solar cells exposed to proton radiation. The result indicated a robust tolerance and potential for use in space.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) says that battery storage capacity grew by 13,809 MW in the past 12 months and is projected to expand by another 22,053 MW as solar continues to dominate new utility-scale additions.

An international research team comprising scientists from Chinese module manufacturer Longi has investigated the resistivity distribution of antimony- and phosphorous-doped wafers used in solar cell manufacturing and have found that they offer comparable mechanical strenght. However, their work also showed that antimony-doped wafers have a more uniform resistivity, with a slight increase near the tail end.

Civ Robotics’ artificial intelligence (AI) powered navigation system tool is currently being tested at several large solar parks in the United States. The company says it eliminates the need for manual surveying with a sensor device fitted on a construction machine to guide operators to precisely place piles, pallets and PV modules.

The U.S. Trade Representative has extended the exclusion of 178 items from the Section 301 import tariffs that were put in place by the prior administration in 2024. The still standing tariffs include a 50% increase on solar cells.