Western Europe

The country reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of 43.5 GW at the end of December, according to new figures released by Italian grid operator Terna.

Researchers from KAUST, TU Delft, and LMU Munich have improved the performance of monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells by modifying the physical structure at the front of the bottom heterojunction solar cell.

Rising silver prices are pushing PV manufacturers toward copper-based metallization, with DK Electronic Materials targeting 2026 for large-scale deployment of high-copper paste solutions, while Fraunhofer ISE warns efficiency trade-offs remain unacceptable.

Researchers in Spain have tested the erosion resistance of common galvanized coatings using both free-falling sand and forced-air sand-impingement methods. The study found that continuously galvanized steel coatings showed the lowest erosion rates, outperforming HDG and Zn-Al-Mg coatings.

Scientists from the University of Seville have developed real-time optimization models showing that electricity storage in Spain may be approaching its economic limit, with cumulative capacities above 32 GWh depressing prices and undermining project profitability.

France-based IT services provider Cyllene has developed the RC-DC4/5G “Cyllene Box,” a network device for PV power plants that manages multiple internet connections, encrypts data, and supports compliance with the European Union Network and Information Security Directive (NIS 2).

Researchers have used multivalent amidinium ligands to boost perovskite solar cell efficiency to 25.4%, achieving over 95% stability after 1,100 hours at 85  C. The proposed approach enables controlled low-dimensional passivation layers, offering a practical route for durable, large-area perovskite devices.

A research group from the European Commission Joint Research Centre has developed a new PV climatic classification, the first to address annual yield and performance ratio. Their work resulted in 10 globally applicable clusters. “It challenges the assumption that many more classes are needed to capture PV-relevant climate,” the researchers said.

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.

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.