photovoltaics

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reveales that last year extreme Canadian wildfires drove aerosol levels around 30% above normal, sharply reducing solar irradiance across Canada and even impacting Europe, while the Congo Basin also saw worsening aerosol conditions. In contrast, China and South America experienced unusually low aerosol levels, supporting stronger solar irradiance due to cleaner air, reduced fires, and favorable climate and policy conditions.

In all ages, humankind decided to spend considerable amounts of the available productivity on special monumental projects. Managing climate change and rebalancing within the planetary boundaries is such an activity. The enormous energetic productivity of solar PV may evolve as the central pillar to create a sustainable civilization.

Ikea is expanding its energy offerings in Germany with a dynamic electricity tariff in partnership with Svea Solar, changing every 15 minutes based on day-ahead market prices and available even to customers without its PV systems, storage solutions, or heat pumps.

CHN Energy, via its subsidiary Guohua Energy Investment, is constructing a solar project above a tea plantation in southwestern China, with the first 32 MW now connected to the grid. 

Wood Mackenzie highlights a groundbreaking 5.2 GW solar-plus-storage project in the UAE capable of delivering 1 GW of continuous baseload power, signaling a potential shift in renewable energy deployment despite high costs. The report also forecasts strong global solar growth through 2030, including the rise of residential “balcony solar” in the U.S. and expanded solar shares in Asia Pacific and the U.S.

EU solar generation increased by over 20% for the fourth year running in 2025, with its share in the energy mix surpassing coal and hydro. For the first time in history, solar and wind generated more energy in the EU than fossil fuels.

A research team from Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a donor-acceptor-donor molecule that can spontaneously self-assemble into nanoscale structures and offer a more stable route to built-in p/n heterojunctions in organic solar cells.

A Chinese-Swedish research team has boosted the performance of tin-lead perovskite solar cells by modifying additives and post-treatment processes. The device also demonstrated improved stability, retaining 60% of its initial efficiency after 550 hours at 85 °C under maximum power point conditions.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

With silver prices rising, more large solar manufacturers are expected to switch to copper for cell metallization. Radovan Kopecek of ISC Konstanz tells pv magazine that he expects the entire industry to follow. Ning Song of the University of New South Wales says a small efficiency tradeoff may be acceptable if the cost savings are significant and do not introduce new reliability risks.