Renewables

NAtrium Super Ionic CONductor (NASICON) materials continue to show their potential for sodium-ion anodes in high-performance batteries, with fresh research out of India delving more into the materials.

Scientists in China have outlined a mission proposal for the China Academy of Space Technology space solar power (SSP) development program. It includes three solar arrays, microwave power transmission, and laser power transmission. The roadmap predicts this demonstration mission cound be attempted before 2030.

Offshore PV technologies were tested for the first time under the severe wave loads generated by Delta Flume, a 300 m long man-made flume with a wave generator that is capable of producing waves as tall as five meters. The testing is intended to standardize testing and certification processes for offshore floating PV systems.

A 160 kW / 250 kWh standalone battery system installed by Spanish manufacturer Zigor Corporación ensured uninterrupted power for the village of San Vicente del Monte during a major blackout that affected the Iberian Peninsula on 28 April 2025. The system, connected to the low-voltage (400 V) grid, supplied electricity to the entire village for more than five hours.

This week Women in Solar+ Europe gives voice to Jessimiela Usidame, Procurement Manager at UK-based Elgin. She says creating equity means making space for women to speak, lead, and shape outcomes at every level. “Still, many women in commercial and project-facing roles must prove themselves — again and again. There’s often an unspoken presumption about what we can’t do, before anyone sees what we can,” she states.

Researchers in Spain have warned that nest-box installations at PV plants are often poorly planned or used for greenwashing, with boxes placed in unsuitable locations, installed incorrectly, or lacking post-installation monitoring.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that smoke from ongoing Canadian wildfires has continued to suppress irradiance levels across Canada and the Eastern US into June, with impacts stretching as far as Europe.

French renewables producer Unite has completed two solar-aviary projects selected by France’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) in recent tenders for innovative PV solutions.

Scientists in Germany have analyzed the thermal runaway behavior of sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries inside a 10-L reaction vessel. They have thermally abused 30 samples, each under a different state of charge level, and have found that both types suffered from runaway when the charge is at least 50%.

MET Group has switched on Hungary’s largest battery, a 40 MW/80 MWh system, at the site of a power station near Budapest.