Solar Power

The world’s largest reinsurer has recently introduced stricter requirements for PV warranty insurance to further de-risk insured PV parks and set a higher benchmark for industry wide reliability and production quality.

RenewaFLEXNL, a three-year Dutch initiative led by TNO, aims to accelerate long‑duration energy storage (8–100 h) to reduce grid congestion and better integrate renewable energy. pv magazine spoke with the project coordinator, Iraxte Gonzalez Aparicio, about diverse storage technologies, real-world applications, regulatory guidance, and energy management system tools to support large-scale solar‑plus‑storage deployment in the Netherlands and beyond.

Researchers in Spain surveyed 238 wine tourists in the Murcia region and found broad support for trellis-integrated agrivoltaics in vineyards, with 94% backing solar integration and most respondents seeing no landscape conflict.

New research finds that battery safety rankings are not universal but highly dependent on application scenarios, and shows that LFP batteries can emit high levels of hydrogen fluoride, challenging their reputation as the “safest” chemistry.

French startup Jane Energie has introduced a software platform to automate and manage collective self-consumption projects, targeting 100 kWp to 500 kWp installations as the segment moves from feed-in tariffs toward shared local consumption models.

The Germany battery manufacturer is expanding its portfolio with a modularly scalable LFP storage solution featuring a new energy management system. The new product comes with the company’s proprietary “Varta.iq” software, which is designed to detect consumption anomalies, integrate dynamic electricity tariffs, and enable bidirectional charging.

German researchers found that agrivoltaics costs far exceed agricultural benefits, raising doubts about subsidies and highlighting the need for more cost-competitive system designs.

The country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 1.59 GW at the end of December, according to new figures released by the Colombian administrator of the wholesale energy market.

Australian researchers developed a low-cost reflective coating for semi-transparent solar roof tiles that lowers surface temperatures by up to 20 C and boosts power output by up to 11.7%. Simulations across five global cities showed energy savings of up to 5.85%, highlighting the coating’s strong potential for improving both building cooling efficiency and solar performance in BIPV systems.

The Portuguese company said its new Drone AgroPV Cleaning Agent is scheduled for release in June. It has a safe formulation for crops and soil.