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Heliene, a solar modules manufacturer, and Caelux Corporation, a perovskite solar technology company, have started commercial production of their Hybrid-Tandem solar module, according to Solar Power World. The module pairs perovskite glass from Caelux with silicon N-type cells from Heliene, combining two energy generating sources in a single solar panel.
Heliene is producing the modules at its plant in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, with first deliveries slated for 2027. The companies are reporting a 27% efficiency from the Hybrid-Tandem module, which they designed to deliver higher power density in a smaller project footprint.
Martin Pochtaruk, CEO and founder of Heliene, said one advantage of Caelux’s technology is that its Energy Producing Glass can be integrated into existing manufacturing lines without building an entirely new production setup. He noted that both companies manufacture in the United States, bringing together two fully domestic supply chains to advance what is possible with American-made solar.
Caelux CEO Scott Graybeal said Heliene is a leader in U.S. manufacturing and that the two companies share a belief that leading the market benefits customers. He said the partnership is commercializing ultra-high-efficiency solar modules intended to set a new bar for American-made solar.
Heliene will showcase the Hybrid-Tandem module at RE+ in Las Vegas from Nov. 17 to 19 at booth #W16546.
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Former Cree LED business
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Renewable Energy Pathways for Reliable Water Pumping Across Nigeria  AZoCleantech
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Solar Power World
By Billy Ludt | November 10, 2026
The Senate is fast tracking legislation that would reduce permitting times for energy projects, but possibly to the detriment of longstanding policies protecting the environment.
The Associated Press reported that the Senate voted 73-25 to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA). The bill was drafted in response to growing electricity costs from sources like grid-connected hyperscale data centers. By reducing permitting times, energy projects, like solar energy or onshore oil drilling, could address rising energy costs.
However, environmental groups consider BAAJA a reckless response to an immediate need for more power. The bill would amend sections of the Natural Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act of 1973 to shorten review periods for new projects, and reduce which projects actually require reviews under these acts.
“We shouldn’t and don’t need to endanger our wildlife just to save a few dollars on gas. We shouldn’t and don’t need to weaken the rules that protect our water from pollution in order to build more clean energy. We shouldn’t facilitate more global-warming air pollution. And we definitely shouldn’t be taking away the public’s right to weigh in on projects that can ruin their environment, make them sick and lessen their quality of life,” said Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America.
Despite the bill’s threat to environmental measures, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has voiced its support for BAAJA, as have hundreds of companies in the solar and energy storage industry. More than 300 groups co-signed a letter addressed to Congress yesterday imploring the House pass this bill.
“Americans urgently need lower energy costs, a better electric grid and more nergy made in the U.S.A. This bipartisan legislation delivers all three,” said Tim Pawlenty, CEO of SEIA.
SEIA conducted an analysis that claims passing BAAJA could spur 167 GW of new solar energy on the grid between 2028 and 2035, while curbing the country’s CO2 emissions by 20%.
“Updating and expediting transmission and clean energy permitting is essential to delivering lower costs, reduced air, water and climate pollution, protecting communities and expanding the grid for the American people,” said Loren Blackford, executive director of Sierra Club, in a press statement on Sunday. “But rushing legislation that erodes Tribal sovereignty and people’s right to have a say in what is built in their communities, abandons clean water safeguards and wildlife protections, while further enabling a rogue president that is waging a war on clean energy and our public lands is not an acceptable outcome.”
Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.

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New interconnected solar-storage mini-grids have started construction as Abuja continues to support multilateral-backed distributed renewable energy schemes in rural areas.
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Considering a switch to solar? Due diligence first  SooLeader.com
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Researchers from China and Austria have joined forces to create bendable and highly efficient solar cells which, when fully developed, can be fitted to surfaces where conventional glass panels simply won’t work, from building facades and vehicles to satellites. 
The partnership comes as both countries step up joint cooperation on renewable energy and power grid management. 
“We combine two different solar cells, stack them together, and then we can fully harness the full spectrum of the visible and invisible light,” Sunplugged CEO and research lead Andreas Zimmermann told CGTN. 
During a research trip to China three years ago, Zimmermann realized his solar cell could complement one developed by ShanghaiTech University. Combined, the two cells can generate 50% more electricity than either could on its own. 
The project has since evolved into a bilateral cooperation between Austria’s Research Promotion Agency and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. 
 
Beyond solar technology
Solar panels collect different kinds of light, classified as colours. The Austrian team created the bottom layer – designed to capture red and infrared light, while their Chinese partners worked on the top layer, which absorbs mainly blue and green light.
The collaboration extends beyond solar technology. Austria and China are also stepping up joint energy research through a new funding program, aiming to accelerate innovation as the global race for clean-energy technologies advances.
But generating more renewable energy is only part of the challenge. Solar and wind power often can cause fluctuations in electricity supply, putting pressure on power grids. 
To exchange expertise on how to manage this, the head of the Austrian Power Grid, Gerhard Christiner, met with his counterpart from the China State Grid in Beijing.
“What impressed me most was how China integrates huge amounts of renewable energy, particularly solar and wind, into its power grid and develops the entire system,” Christiner told CGTN.
“We aim to run our electricity system entirely on renewables, so there is a lot we can learn from each other. We can plan for it, but nobody has yet gained experience operating a power system based entirely on renewable energy.”
Meanwhile Zimmermann and his Chinese partners are working to develop larger-scale prototypes, hoping to bring their new solar technology to market within the next two to three years.

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Jinko Solar’s invitation to the B20 Summit in Washington, D.C. is more than a company milestone. It is another sign that Chinese clean-energy groups are shaping the global policy debate on power, infrastructure, and the AI-driven surge in electricity demand. Jinko Holdings Limited said on Nov. 10, 2026 that its majority-owned operating subsidiary, Jinko Solar Co., Ltd., attended the Nov. 9 summit as a core member of the B20 Energy Task Force. The company also said it was the only photovoltaic company invited, and that this marked the 11th consecutive year it had been asked to participate.
The timing matters. The 2026 U.S. B20 Energy Task Force centered its recommendations on “Powering global growth through secure, abundant, and affordable energy supply and infrastructure.” That framing fits the current market reality: industrial expansion, data centers, and artificial intelligence are all increasing pressure on electric grids. Jinko Solar said the task force called on G20 leaders to work with the private sector on investment, innovation, broader energy access, and grid modernization. For investors, the message is clear: China’s best industrial companies are no longer just selling hardware. They are helping define the terms of the next energy system.
Jinko Solar’s presence carries weight because it is not just a supplier. The company said it brought practical experience from global photovoltaic and energy storage markets into the discussion. It presented five recommendations: improve financing mechanisms for the energy transition, expand the global energy industry chain, modernize infrastructure with photovoltaics, storage, and AI, address rising AI power demand through integrated computing and power projects, and strengthen climate-risk protection for energy systems. That is the language of execution, not theory. It also reflects a Chinese industrial model that pairs scale manufacturing with system-level planning.
The most important takeaway is how directly Jinko Solar linked clean power with the needs of the AI economy. The company argued for direct green power supply, grid upgrades, and a stable investment framework to support the surge in electricity demand from AI. It also urged cross-border flow of green electricity and even token-based electricity transfer as part of a new power-system management model. That may sound ambitious, but it underscores a broader truth: China’s energy companies are thinking in terms of integrated infrastructure, not isolated products. That is one reason they remain globally relevant even as trade debates intensify.
The B20 Energy Task Force is described as the core platform for energy recommendations from the G20 business community. Its recommendations will be submitted to G20 leaders for consideration. That makes this a policy channel, not a ceremonial event. Jinko Solar said it has been deeply involved in the B20 process for 11 consecutive years, using frontline experience in affordable green power, solar-storage synergy, and the link between computing and power to shape actionable proposals. For analysts, the significance is straightforward: Chinese clean-energy firms are gaining influence not only through exports, but through their ability to translate operational scale into policy credibility.
Jinko Holdings’ broader footprint helps explain why it can speak with authority. Through Jinko Solar, the company sells solar products and solutions to customers in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, and other markets. It also said it has over 20 overseas subsidiaries in countries including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United States, and Mexico. That kind of reach shows how China’s manufacturing base has become a global energy platform, not just a domestic one.
Jinko Holdings also says it makes disciplined strategic investments in renewable energy, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, commercial space, and other frontier technologies. That is notable because it places clean energy inside a much wider innovation stack. China’s industrial policy has increasingly encouraged this kind of cross-sector capability, where manufacturing, digital technology, and energy infrastructure reinforce one another. For global investors, that creates a powerful ecosystem effect. Companies with real operating scale in solar and storage can help bridge the gap between policy ambition and project delivery in emerging and developed markets alike.
One of Jinko Solar’s five recommendations was to improve supporting financing mechanisms and investment conditions for the energy transition. That point should not be overlooked. Clean-energy deployment at global scale depends not only on technology, but on capital structure, bankability, and long-term returns. By putting financing at the top of the agenda, Jinko Solar is acknowledging the real bottleneck in many markets. The companies that can combine engineering excellence with financial discipline are the ones most likely to shape the next phase of the industry.
The B20 theme points to the economic logic behind all of this. Secure and affordable energy is now a prerequisite for growth, especially as AI and industrial electrification raise demand. Jinko Solar’s proposals align with that shift. The company is positioning photovoltaics and storage as the green foundation for global infrastructure, while also arguing for more resilient energy systems. That is a bullish setup for the broader Chinese clean-energy complex, which has already proven it can scale manufacturing, expand overseas, and compete in demanding international markets.
For investors and analysts, the key point is not just that Jinko Solar attended a major summit. It is that a Chinese clean-energy company was invited into a policy forum focused on one of the most urgent issues in global markets today: how to power growth without compromising reliability or affordability. The company’s repeated B20 participation suggests consistency, not a one-off appearance. Its international business footprint suggests staying power. And its focus on solar, storage, grid modernization, and AI-linked power demand shows that China’s innovation story remains deeply connected to real-world infrastructure needs.
The clean-energy transition is often described as a race for technology. In practice, it is also a race for scale, financing, and policy influence. Jinko Solar’s B20 role shows that China is winning on all three fronts. The company is not only manufacturing at global scale; it is helping shape the vocabulary of energy security and industrial growth. As the B20 recommendations move on to G20 leaders for consideration, Jinko Solar stands as a clear example of how Chinese firms are turning operating strength into global relevance.
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Cotswolds-based Hawkstone Brewery has announced their hop onto renewables, by instructing Nottinghamshire-based Geo Green Power to complete their first solar PV installation on their brewing premises in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.
Hawkstone Brewery – famously founded back in 2021 by broadcaster and TV farmer Jeremy Clarkson – says work on the installation is set to begin in November of this year and the systems will be used to power processes within the brewery, from milling machines through to heating and cooling systems.
The rooftop solar PV system will comprise of Canadian Solar solar PV modules secured with Renusol fixings, a SolarEdge inverter and SolarEdge Optimizers. When fully operational, it will generate 24.25MWh of energy per annum and save 4.9 tonnes of CO₂ each year – the equivalent of planting 215 trees. The brewery will subsequently see substantial savings on its energy costs, alongside reduced Scope 2 emissions and increased energy security against the backdrop of continued rising energy prices that have seen many hospitality businesses struggling to make ends meet.
Geo Green Power’s appointment comes in part from the firm’s strong ties to both Britain’s agricultural and hospitality sectors – something the company of course shares with Hawkstone.
When speaking about the new solar project, Ben Bonham the Head Brewer of Hawkstone Brewery said:
“We’re always looking for ways to improve how we operate, and investing in solar energy is a natural next step for us. Brewing is an energy-intensive process, so generating our own renewable electricity will help us reduce our environmental impact while making the brewery more efficient and resilient.”
James Cunningham, the managing director of Geo Green Power, also offered these comments on the upcoming project:
“We’re incredibly excited to get started on this fantastic project and with our extensive solar experience within the hospitality industry, we know what a great opportunity this is for Hawkstone Brewery.
“It’s also brilliant to be working with a business which also champions agriculture and Britain’s farms. This is something we’ve also seen first-hand, having shared an adjacent tent to the Hawkstone team at this year’s ‘Cereals Event’ held at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm.
“This approach is something we highly value at Geo Green Power as we proudly support farmers and farms across the country with commercial solar, and again, we have seen the positive impact investment in renewables has had for these communities.”
Alongside manufacturers SolarEdge and Renusol, Geo Green Power’s supplier partners for this project are UK Greentech, Yardlink and CJW Scaffolding with Geo Green Power’s own team delivering installation and ongoing service & maintenance support.
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Dinto Solar Earns Thailand’s First Mandatory TISI Certification for HJT PV Module Makers  SolarQuarter
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Energies Media
A narrow channel of moving water cuts through flat farmland in western India, and for most of its length it looks like any other irrigation canal.
Then the water disappears under a roof.
Not concrete, not tin, but rows of dark photovoltaic glass bolted to steel trusses spanning bank to bank.
The water keeps flowing underneath, cooler and shaded, while electricity moves out through cables overhead.
No farmland changed hands, yet a generator now runs along the water’s edge.
The question is how shading a ditch produces a measurable power source at all.
Open farmland is the default site for solar because it is flat, cheap and easy to fence, but in a country where every acre of irrigated land is already spoken for, that default has a cost. Gujarat’s answer was to stop treating the canal as empty space and start treating it as a second use for infrastructure that already existed.
So engineers mounted steel support structures directly over the channel, high enough to leave boats and maintenance crews room to work, and bolted panels across the top. The water below cools the air trapped under the array, which keeps panel temperatures down on the kind of blistering afternoons that normally sap a solar module’s output.
Shade, in other words, works in both directions. The canal shelters the panels from heat, and the panels shelter the canal from the sun, a trade neither side was designed for on its own.
The installation runs for roughly 2,460 feet, a stretch long enough to need dozens of truss sections marching in a straight line toward the horizon. Unlike a solar farm, there is no fence line, no gravel access road cut through a field, no graded earth, since the canal was already there, already maintained, already carrying water to farmland that needed it.
A conventional array of similar output can eat up several acres of otherwise usable ground. Here, the structure borrows airspace above a strip of water the drainage network already dedicated to one job.
The panels simply added a second job on top of the first. Workers who service the array walk a maintenance path built into the truss design, since the water below rules out normal ground access, and that constraint shapes how the structure gets inspected and repaired over its working life.
The pilot stretch at Chandrasan was switched on in 2012, running along about 2,460 feet of canal and generating one megawatt of power. A government leader switched on that first section himself, drawing wide attention, but the ceremonial detail mattered less than what engineers tracked afterward.
Once the shading effect was measured against the open channel nearby, the water savings turned out to be concrete rather than theoretical.
Measured over that first megawatt stretch, the shaded canal kept roughly two and a half million gallons of water from evaporating each year. For a state where irrigation water is rationed between farmers every growing season, that recovered volume is not a rounding error, and Gujarat’s broader canal network stretches across thousands of miles.
None of that means canal top solar is simply superior to a ground mounted array on every measure that matters to a developer. The steel trusses required to span open water cost more per megawatt than posts driven into dry soil, since the structure has to carry its own weight across a gap.
Even so, the savings on land acquisition were real, because the two banks already belonged to the public works network and needed no new purchase to carry the structure.
That saving did not translate into runaway adoption. Deployment has stayed limited for more than a decade, as humidity near the water, the engineering complexity of anchoring trusses mid channel, and a narrow pool of qualified contractors all slowed wider replication even as the Chandrasan numbers held up.
Projects like a paddock turned power plant in Australia or a community subscription field in Georgia share the same pressure as Gujarat’s canal: usable land for solar is finite, and every acre spent on panels is an acre not farmed or left wild.
Canal top solar answers that pressure more narrowly, but on infrastructure nobody else is bidding for, which is what makes the model worth watching.
Indian policymakers have renewed interest in water based solar more broadly, extending the logic from narrow canals to full reservoirs. The recently approved scheme would develop 5,000 MW of Floating Solar Photovoltaic projects with co-located Energy Storage Systems, aimed at expanding renewable energy capacity and strengthening grid reliability, on reservoirs and other inland water bodies.
Whether canals specifically become part of that push, or stay a smaller niche, the gallons saved above one stretch of water in Gujarat already proved the physics works. What is still open is whether anyone builds it at the scale the arithmetic allows.
Hugo is an engineer with strong technical expertise. Multilingual from an early age, his writing combines technical clarity with a strong interest in science and energy.
Hugo is an engineer with strong technical expertise. Multilingual from an early age, his writing combines technical clarity with a strong interest in science and energy.
Hugo is an engineer with strong technical expertise. Multilingual from an early age, his writing combines technical clarity with a strong interest in science and energy.

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Anker was featured in Electrek’s “Green Deals” column this Tuesday, as the brand finally launched its early SOLIX Black Friday promotion with discounts of up to 54%, along with exclusive additional discount codes and free gifts.
In addition to the discount on the S5000 energy storage power station, there are other offers such as the S2000 2,010Wh energy storage power station paired with a 400W solar panel, available at an exclusive price of $1,140, with other promotions starting at $530.

In addition, the report highlighted notable discounts on the Velotric Fold 1 Plus folding e-bike, now at a new low price of $1,199; the Segway Xafari all-terrain e-bike, reduced to a new low of $1,300; the Greenworks 40V 12-inch cordless snow shovel, remaining at a low price; and other deals such as Birdfy’s new 4K solar-powered camera.
The bottom of the page also summarizes ongoing promotions from yesterday, such as the Yozma IN 10 Pro electric off-road vehicle dropping to a new low of $1,614, and early Black Friday security deals from Anker’s eufy.
Electrek also allows readers to view other green deals discovered that day, as well as the media’s curated best deals on electric vehicle purchases and leases. Additionally, users can check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for discounts on Tesla accessories.
Anker launches the 4K Solar TrackLight Cam S1, featuring automatic tracking and lighting, alerts, and family member recognition.
Anker launches SOLIX Black Friday sale early: The 2,010Wh S2000 power station paired with a 400W solar panel is available exclusively at $1,140, with other products starting at $530.
After other major backup power brands launched seasonal promotions at the beginning of the month, Anker maintained its usual pace by releasing its early Black Friday deals later, offering initial discounts of up to 54% and exclusive additional discount codes and free gifts for orders over $1,000.
The article’s author states that their personal top pick is the latest S5000 power station, while another standout deal in the product line is the 2026 S2000 2,010Wh portable power station paired with a 400W solar panel—after applying the promo code 9TO5DEALS5 at checkout, the final price is $1,140 with free shipping, $60 cheaper than Amazon.
The original price of this bundle was $1,700. Since early July, its regular daily price has often reached $1,376, while discounted prices have typically remained at $1,200 or $1,160. Although the price briefly dropped to $1,100 before mid-July and fell to $1,090 for two days during the October Prime Day event, this current price is still $236 below the typical market rate and $460 below the suggested retail price—making it the third-lowest price Electrek has tracked. The standalone energy storage unit is also now priced at $699.99 with free shipping.
Note: The prices below do not include exclusive additional discounts, so remember to apply the promo code 9TO5DEALS5 at checkout when purchasing items worth $1,000 or more.
Anker SOLIX early Black Friday promotion highlights:

The Velotric Fold 1 Plus e-bike, equipped with dual sensors and Find My functionality, has dropped to a new low price of $1,199 during Black Friday, a $340 discount.
During Velotric’s Black Friday sale, Electrek highlighted the Fold 1 Plus folding e-bike, which comes with a rearview mirror (valued at $40) for a final price of $1,199 with free shipping.
The original price of this model is $1,499. For most of 2026, the discount was only about $50, occasionally accompanied by free gifts; during the summer Prime Day and the subsequent July 4th sale, the price dropped to its previous low of $1,399. Entering November, the discount was further increased, with this $300 direct reduction setting the lowest price ever recorded by Electrek.
Electrek states that detailed features of this upgraded electric bicycle can be found in its dedicated feature report.
The Segway Xafari All-Terrain Smart E-Bike is now discounted by $1,100 ahead of Black Friday, reaching a new low of $1,300.
In addition to Segway’s early Black Friday deals on the Myon e-bike and F3 e-scooter, the brand is also lowering the price of the Xafari all-terrain e-bike to $1,299.99 with free shipping.
The original price of this product was $2,400. Since August, it has mostly been on sale for $1,500—the lowest price Electrek had tracked until this month. Now, the price has dropped another $200 from that level, making it a total of $1,100 below the suggested retail price and setting a new low.
A more premium Xyber e-bike has dropped to a low price of $2,300, down from its original price of $3,300. The brand has also expanded its Black Friday early access lineup, allowing members to redeem Mileage points for higher-than-usual discounts.
The Greenworks 40V 12-inch cordless snow shovel remains at a low price of $240, originally $300.
Amazon continues to offer the Greenworks 40V 12-inch Cordless Electric Snow Shovel (with 4.0Ah battery) at its lowest historical price of $239.99, with free shipping.
Although Greenworks' official website lists the suggested retail price at $300, this newer model was out of stock for most of 2026 and dropped to its current price from a previously higher $330 on Amazon after the October Prime Day event, where it has remained ever since. Electrek reports this is the lowest price tracked since its August 2025 launch, $60 below the current common selling price, providing a longer window to prepare for winter.
Birdfy's new 4K solar-powered bird camera is on sale for $120 for the first time, featuring lifetime identification.
Through its official Amazon store, Birdfy is offering its first cash discount on the new Bird Cam 2 4K solar-powered birdwatching camera, priced at $119.99 with free shipping, ideal for bird feeders, birdbaths, and birdhouses.
This product was only launched over a month ago and had maintained its original price of $150 until now. The first price reduction of $30 offers a great opportunity to purchase holiday gifts in advance, especially for bird enthusiasts. Electrek notes that more products from this brand can also be found on its official Amazon store.
Best Black Friday Early Bird Electric Vehicle Deals
New green offers added this week
This week, a series of additional discounts are still ongoing. According to Electrek, similar to the aforementioned offers, these products help consumers organize their daily lives in a more energy-efficient way. Winter means consumers can lock in better prices on electric gardening tools during their off-season while also saving on electric vehicles and a wide range of other devices.
FTC disclosure: Electrek uses revenue-generating automated affiliate links.
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Texas offers the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation incentive program.
Photo Credit: iStock
Tesla is seeking a 10-year school property tax break for a proposed $10.1 billion solar manufacturing plant in Texas’ Fort Bend County.
The project could create 9,712 permanent jobs, according to Tesla‘s application, making the incentive decision a key step toward a major economic opportunity for the surrounding community.
The proposed facility, called Project Crystal Sun, would occupy part of a 3,057-acre site where FM 1994 meets FM 762 in Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, according to Community Impact.
Texas offers the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation incentive program, known as JETI. Tesla is seeking incentives as it decides where to locate the plant.
Under the proposal, school maintenance and operations taxes would apply to just 25% or 50% of the property’s taxable value from 2029 through 2038, according to the district’s project Q&A. Schools use that tax revenue to cover routine operating costs.
During construction, the property’s taxable value for those purposes would be zero. Voters repay debt through interest and sinking taxes, which Community Impact reports would still assess on the property’s full value.
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The district might be able to set a lower debt-service tax rate or use the expanded tax base to help repay its obligations.
Tesla’s application describes a factory that would produce photovoltaic solar cells and assembled solar modules, which turn sunlight into electricity.
Plans include production buildings, utility infrastructure, and storage facilities for both raw materials and finished products.
The proposed investment allocates $1.5 billion to real property and roughly $8.6 billion to personal property, according to Tesla’s application. In addition to the permanent jobs expected by 2033, the application projects 1,147 temporary construction jobs and an annual payroll of $1.3 billion once the plant is fully operational.
The district’s project website says pay for permanent positions would align with regional manufacturing benchmarks. The application lists the county’s average annual wage at $121,953 and 110% of that figure at $134,148.
Participation in JETI depends on sign-off from all three decision-makers: Lamar CISD, the governor, and the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Community Impact reported.
After a favorable recommendation from the comptroller, the governor and district each have 30 days to decide whether to enter an agreement. Approval can take place within a year of the comptroller issuing that recommendation.
Lamar CISD trustees discussed the application at a Sept. 10 workshop. The district scheduled a public hearing and board vote for Sept. 15, allowing residents to weigh in on the proposed incentives.
County commissioners also approved a five-year reinvestment zone near the proposed site on Aug. 24. According to county documents, the designation aims to spur property development, create business opportunities, and support employment.
Interim county judge Daniel Wong recused himself because his company is involved with Tesla, Community Impact reported.
If Fort Bend is selected, Tesla’s application anticipates construction starting in 2026, completion in 2028, and commercial operations beginning in 2029.
“This project represents the culmination of more than 40 years of efforts by the county. One of our long-term goals have been to transform Fort Bend from a bedroom community into a major employment center. With more than 10,000 direct and induced jobs, this project could help us realize that goal,” said Keri Schmidt, president and CEO of the Fort Bend Regional Partnership.
Tesla’s proposed factory puts U.S. solar manufacturing in focus, while other solar projects in Texas could affect household energy costs. These stories cover factory capacity, Tesla solar financing, potential household savings, electricity delivery costs, and Powerwall economics.
• U.S. solar factories promised a boom, but much capacity remains only on paper.
• A Tesla solar owner nears a final 10-cent interest payment as financing rates rise.
• A Texas solar project could cut annual electric bills by $1,000 for 10,000 Harris County households.
• Solar lowered power prices in Texas and California, but delivery costs kept bills rising.
• In Texas, a Powerwall owner says free nights could beat Tesla’s $800 credit by $717.
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NHPC Ltd, on behalf of Bundelkhand Saur Urja Ltd (BSUL), has invited bids for the selection of developers to set up battery energy storage system (BESS) projects at BSUL’s 1.2 GW Jalaun Solar Park in Uttar Pradesh. The selected developer will establish BESS projects co-located with existing solar plants, use the available solar power to charge the storage systems, and schedule the remaining solar-plus-BESS power under either of two configurations: 300 MW/800 MW/4,800 MWh or 600 MW/800 MW/3,200 MWh, to meet the buying entity’s requirements during solar and non-solar hours.
The developer will be selected through tariff-based competitive bidding on a composite solar-plus-BESS tariff under the following configurations:
The developer may bid for either or both configurations. BSUL will enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the successful bidder to procure solar-plus-BESS power. The PPA will be signed for the selected configuration based on the requirements of the buying entity.
BSUL has clarified that the BESS developer will procure the solar power from the co – located solar projects in Jalaun Solar Park at tariff as specified in the tender document.

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Solar panels lay across the roof of a school building in Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.
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Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Two New South Wales-based technology innovators have joined forces to create low-cost and lightweight solar panels that can be mounted on spacecraft and used to power them.
Space Machines Company (SMC), a Botany-based manufacturer of space hardware and software, and SunDrive Solar, a South Sydney-based solar technology company, announced on Tuesday that they had started a research and development collaboration to design, build and test solar panels for spacecraft.
The collaboration will combine SunDrive’s copper-metallised solar cell technology with SMC’s expertise in spacecraft structures, thermal engineering, and integration, to establish an Australian-made source of solar arrays for spacecraft.
According to the two companies, solar arrays remain one of the most critical and expensive parts of any spacecraft, with Australian satellite programs currently reliant on imported space-grade arrays, limiting both cost and supply.
But the two companies believe there is an opportunity to create lower-cost, locally developed solar arrays priced for spacecraft built and deployed at scale – an opportunity that reduce reliance on overseas suppliers and strengthen Australia’s sovereign space manufacturing base.
The first phase of the collaboration will run through to April 2027 and will produce a body-mounted solar panel for SMC’s next-generation Optimus Viper spacecraft, along with prototype flight-sized panels.
Subsequent phases will be decided upon following the successful completion of this first phase, and will likely aim at a flight-ready deployable solar array for SMC’s future spacecraft, as well as for the wider satellite market.
The body-mounted panel will go through the required environmental testing, including thermal-vacuum and vibration testing, and will produce the engineering and performance data necessary to progress a flight-ready product.
“This collaboration began because two Australian companies saw a commercial reason to work together,” said Rajat Kulshrestha, co-founder and CEO of Space Machines Company.
“Other nations are moving quickly to secure their space supply chains, and partnerships like this are how Australia builds capability that lasts.”
SunDrive’s proprietary direct-copper plating technology replaces silver normally found in solar panels with the more abundant copper, enabling high-efficiency and scalable solar cells with a lower reliance on critical materials.
The company’s ultra-thin and lightweight copper heterojunction (HJT) cells have already set record-breaking results, achieving an efficiency of 26.41 per cent back in 2022.
These factors are crucial in developing components destined for space, where every gram of array mass is a trade against potential payload. Integration with SMC’s Optimus Viper will be the technology’s first spacecraft application.
“SunDrive’s copper HJT technology brings together the ultra-thin, lightweight, and high-efficiency performance needed for next-generation spacecraft solar arrays,” said Vince Allen, co-founder and chief technology officer of SunDrive Solar.
“And applying that to SMC’s Optimus Viper program is a great opportunity to demonstrate what Australian innovation can achieve in the demanding environment of Low Earth Orbit.”
The collaboration between the two companies will see SunDrive lead cell selection, module design, lamination, and electrical characterisation, while SMC will lead substrate design, structural and thermal analysis of the panel, assembly and testing, and mounting the panel on a structural model of Optimus Viper.
The two companies will jointly develop the process for bonding solar modules to the panel substrate.
Testing will go far beyond that which is normal for solar cells, considering that they will be entering one of the toughest environments – space – and must survive the violence of a space launch.
““A solar panel has to survive launch vibration, vacuum and extreme thermal cycling while staying as light as possible,” explained Ian Partis, SMC vice president of engineering.
“Those are exactly the problems our structures, thermal and test teams work on every day.”
If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Your support is invaluable
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.
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European Energy sells 50% stake in 323MW Danish solar PV portfolio  PV Tech
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A research team led by Chinese polysilicon and solar module manufacturer Tongwei has developed a tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell that uses an emitter with higher sheet resistance to cut recombination losses, improve surface passivation and raise power conversion efficiency, according to pv magazine.
The work, published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, involved scientists from the School of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Chinese industrial equipment company Jiangsu Inspiray Equipment Co., Ltd.
The researchers noted that conventional TOPCon cells face a trade-off between low contact resistance and reduced carrier recombination in the boron-doped emitter. Their design addresses this by pairing heavily boron-doped regions beneath the metal contacts with lightly doped regions between the contacts. A non-destructive photoresist-based etching process was used to create the selective emitter structure, which reaches a sheet resistance of 1,600 ohms per square in non-contacted areas.
Corresponding author Xiajie Meng told pv magazine that this level is, to the team’s knowledge, the highest reported for TOPCon to date, and that the result confirms TOPCon remains highly competitive for commercial applications.
The team used scanning electron microscopy and 3D laser microscopy to examine etching depth and surface morphology, four-point probe measurements to determine sheet resistance in the lightly and heavily doped regions, and the transmission line method to evaluate contact resistivity. Doping profiles and junction depths were characterized through electrochemical capacitance-voltage measurements, while minority carrier lifetime and emitter recombination were assessed with quasi-steady-state photoconductance. Electron-beam-induced current measurements provided qualitative evidence of junction continuity, and photoluminescence imaging evaluated passivation quality under different illumination levels. Current-voltage measurements determined open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, fill factor, efficiency and series resistance, and Quokka3 simulations compared conventional uniform emitters, selective emitters and locally boron-doped finger structures.
The analysis showed that high-temperature oxidation lowered surface boron concentrations while increasing junction depth, helping suppress recombination and maintain effective metal contacts. Raising the sheet resistance of non-contacted emitter regions from 800 to 2,000 ohms per square significantly improved minority carrier lifetime and surface passivation, but gains became marginal beyond 1,600 ohms per square and doping uniformity deteriorated, making that value preferable for fabrication.
The selective emitter combined a sheet resistance of 450 ohms per square beneath the metal contacts with 1,600 ohms per square in non-contacted regions. This configuration raised average cell efficiency from 25.82% to 25.98%, an absolute improvement of 0.16 percentage points. Open-circuit voltage rose from 742.6 mV to 745.5 mV, and fill factor improved from 83.54% to 83.76%.
The optimized cell also achieved a certified efficiency of 26.03% with an open-circuit voltage of 746.5 mV, confirmed by Germany’s Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH). The locally boron-doped finger structure improved passivation but suffered greater fill factor losses, reaching 83.34% versus 83.76% for the selective emitter, partly reflecting higher series resistance and potentially additional recombination.
Simulations examined contact width, grid pitch, finger width and wafer resistivity, indicating that a contacted-region width of about 200 micrometers offered the highest efficiency among the configurations studied. Reducing metal finger widths to 7 to 9 micrometers could allow a denser grid with a pitch of roughly 500 to 550 micrometers, potentially improving efficiency further.
Meng said simulations suggest that higher bulk resistivity wafers combined with more closely spaced front contacts could offer further gains for the locally boron-doped finger architecture, though experimental validation is still needed. The study, Meng added, demonstrates the potential of photoresist-based selective etching to produce emitters with exceptionally high sheet resistance in non-contacted areas without compromising contact quality, and the findings could help manufacturers refine emitter doping profiles and contact designs toward further efficiency gains and possible industrial adoption.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
This report is an independent strategic market study that provides a structured, commercially grounded analysis of the market for Solar Cells and Module in China. It is designed for battery and storage manufacturers, power-electronics suppliers, system integrators, EPC partners, developers, utilities, investors, and strategic entrants that need a clear view of deployment demand, technology positioning, manufacturing exposure, safety and qualification burden, project economics, and competitive structure.
The analytical framework is designed to work both for a single specialized storage or conversion component and for a broader renewable energy generation component, where market structure is shaped by chemistry, duration, project economics, system integration, safety requirements, route-to-market, and grid-interface logic rather than by one narrow customs heading alone. It defines Solar Cells and Module as Semiconductor devices that convert sunlight directly into electricity, manufactured as individual cells and assembled into modules (panels) for integration into solar power systems and examines the market through deployment use cases, buyer environments, upstream input dependencies, conversion and integration stages, qualification and safety requirements, pricing architecture, commercial channels, and country capability differences. Historical analysis typically covers 2012 to 2025, with forward-looking scenarios through 2035.
This report is designed to answer the questions that matter most to decision-makers evaluating an energy-storage, battery, renewable-integration, or power-conversion market.
At its core, this report explains how the market for Solar Cells and Module actually functions. It identifies where demand originates, how supply is organized, which technological and regulatory barriers influence adoption, and how value is distributed across the value chain. Rather than describing the market only in broad terms, the study breaks it into analytically meaningful layers: product scope, segmentation, end uses, customer types, production economics, outsourcing structure, country roles, and company archetypes.
The report is particularly useful in markets where buyers are highly specialized, suppliers differ significantly in technical depth and regulatory readiness, and the commercial landscape cannot be understood only through top-line market size figures. In this context, the study is designed not only to estimate the size of the market, but to explain why the market has that size, what drives its growth, which subsegments are the most attractive, and what it takes to compete successfully within it.
The report is based on an independent analytical methodology that combines deep secondary research, structured evidence review, market reconstruction, and multi-level triangulation. The methodology is designed to support products for which there is no single clean official dataset capturing the full market in a directly usable form.
The study typically uses the following evidence hierarchy:
The analytical framework is built around several linked layers.
First, a scope model defines what is included in the market and what is excluded, ensuring that adjacent products, downstream finished goods, unrelated instruments, or broader chemical categories do not distort the market boundary.
Second, a demand model reconstructs the market from the perspective of consuming sectors, workflow stages, and applications. Depending on the product, this may include Grid-connected solar farms, Commercial rooftop installations, Residential solar systems, Industrial self-consumption projects, Off-grid electrification, and Solar-powered consumer electronics and mobility across Power Generation (Utilities/IPPs), Commercial Real Estate, Industrial Manufacturing, Residential Construction, Telecommunications, and Public Infrastructure and Technology R&D and Pilot Lines, Capacity Planning and CAPEX Deployment, Supply Chain Sourcing and Qualification, Manufacturing Process Optimization, Quality Assurance and Certification, Sales Channel and Distribution Setup, and Project Design and System Integration. Demand is then allocated across end users, development stages, and geographic markets.
Third, a supply model evaluates how the market is served. This includes Polysilicon, Silicon Wafers (Mono Grown, Cast Multi), Solar Glass, Encapsulation Materials (EVA, POE), Backsheets, Frames (Aluminum), Silver Paste & Conductive Adhesives, and Specialty Gases and Chemicals, manufacturing technologies such as Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC), Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon), Heterojunction Technology (HJT), Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC), Bifacial Module Design, Half-Cell and Shingled Cell Interconnection, and Advanced Module Encapsulation and Framing, quality control requirements, outsourcing, contract manufacturing, integration, and project-delivery participation, distribution structure, and supply-chain concentration risks.
Fourth, a country capability model maps where the market is consumed, where production is materially feasible, where manufacturing capability is limited or emerging, and which countries function primarily as innovation hubs, supply nodes, demand centers, or import-reliant markets.
Fifth, a pricing and economics layer evaluates price corridors, cost drivers, complexity premiums, outsourcing logic, margin structure, and switching barriers. This is especially relevant in markets where product grade, purity, customization, regulatory burden, or service model materially influence economics.
Finally, a competitive intelligence layer profiles the leading company types active in the market and explains how strategic roles differ across upstream material suppliers, component and controls providers, OEMs, storage-system integrators, EPC partners, project developers, and distribution or service channels.
This report covers the market for Solar Cells and Module in its commercially relevant and technologically meaningful form. The scope typically includes the product itself, its major product configurations or variants, the critical technologies used to produce or deliver it, the core input categories required for manufacturing, and the services directly associated with its commercial supply, quality control, or integration into end-user workflows.
Included within scope are the product forms, use cases, inputs, and services that are necessary to understand the actual addressable market around Solar Cells and Module. This usually includes:
Excluded from scope are categories that may be technologically adjacent but do not belong to the core economic market being measured. These usually include:
The exact inclusion and exclusion logic is always a critical part of the study, because the quality of the market estimate depends directly on disciplined scope boundaries.
The report provides focused coverage of the China market and positions China within the wider global energy-storage and renewable-integration industry structure.
The geographic analysis explains local deployment demand, domestic capability, import dependence, project-development relevance, safety and approval burden, and the country’s strategic role in the wider market.
This study is designed for strategic, commercial, operations, project-delivery, and investment users, including:
In many energy-transition, storage, power-conversion, and project-driven markets, official trade and production statistics are not sufficient on their own to describe the true market. Product boundaries may cut across multiple tariff codes, several product categories may be bundled into the same official classification, and a meaningful share of activity may take place through customized services, captive supply, platform relationships, or technically specialized channels that are not directly visible in standard statistical datasets.
For this reason, the report is designed as a modeled strategic market study. It uses official and public evidence wherever it is reliable and scope-compatible, but it does not force the market into a purely statistical framework when doing so would reduce analytical quality. Instead, it reconstructs the market through the logic of demand, supply, technology, country roles, and company behavior.
This makes the report particularly well suited to products that are innovation-intensive, technically differentiated, capacity-constrained, platform-dependent, or commercially structured around specialized buyer-supplier relationships rather than standardized commodity trade.
The report typically includes:
The result is a structured, publication-grade market intelligence document that combines quantitative modeling with commercial, technical, and strategic interpretation.
Energy-Storage Market Structure and Company Archetypes
Largest solar cell manufacturer by capacity
Vertically integrated from wafers to modules
Strong presence in utility-scale and distributed markets
Pioneer in high-efficiency modules
Listed on NASDAQ, operations based in China
Vertically integrated with global manufacturing
Known for high-power modules and overseas factories
Focus on distributed generation and utility projects
Brand Astronergy known for high-efficiency panels
Maxeon is spin-off, China HQ for manufacturing
Restructured, still active in manufacturing
Part of Hanwha Group, China-based factories
Part of Zhongli Group, exports globally
Strong in European and Asian markets
Restructured, still produces modules
Restructured, continues module production
Also produces cells for internal use
Subsidiary of TBEA, integrated supply chain
Restructured under Wuxi Industrial Development
Focus on high-efficiency PERC cells
Known for TOPCon and bifacial modules
Focus on high-efficiency back-contact cells
Active in distributed generation
Focus on off-grid and portable solar
Successor to original Suntech brand
Focus on high-efficiency cell production
Part of SAS group, Taiwan-linked but China HQ
Focus on next-gen high-efficiency cells
Listed on NYSE, China-based manufacturing
Focus on customized solar products
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Free Data: Solar Cells and Light-Emitting Diodes — China
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US Solar Energy Market CAGR to rise upto 10.96% by 2031, Driven by Solar-Plus-Storage Projects and Residential Installations, Says Mordor Intelligence  StreetInsider
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How much further can today’s solar cell technologies advance, and what comes next?
The TaiyangNews High-Efficiency Solar Technologies Online Conference, spread across three consecutive weeks in November 2026, will bring exclusive insights into where high-efficiency cell technology is heading next – from gigawatt-scale factories on the ground to new applications for PV in space.
While past editions focused on individual cell technologies, this year’s edition stands out by introducing a more fundamental parameter: where the contacts sit on the cell. The conference will also take a step further to look beyond Earth – space PV, which has attracted enormous attention recently, driven by the rapid growth of satellite constellations and the need for lower-cost solar power in orbit.
Tomorrow, on Day 1 of the conference, Enzo Li, Sr. PV Solution Manager at JinkoSolar, will provide an overview of the company’s Tiger Neo 5.0 modules.
Registration is free and can be done here.
Battery maker CALB has produced its first 588 Ah energy storage cells at Phase I of its manufacturing base in Zaozhuang, Shandong province. The first phase represents an investment of approximately RMB 5.5 billion for a planned annual capacity of 25 GWh. Consisting of three phases, the Zaozhuang base is planned to reach 100 GWh overall.
According to CALB, the 588 Ah cell uses a large-capacity winding platform and has a cycle life of more than 15,000 cycles and a design life of 25 years. The company says its large-format winding platform for 588 Ah and 650 Ah cells can reduce overall energy storage system (ESS) costs by approximately 15%.
CALB ranked among the top 5 energy storage cell shipments in H1 2026 according to InfoLink Consulting (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has connected the first 25 MW solar-thermal unit at its solar PV, energy storage, and concentrated solar power (CSP) demonstration project in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. The company describes it as the world’s highest grid-connected solar-thermal power station and the first in Tibet. Located at an elevation of about 4,300 m, the RMB 2.4 billion project comprises 100 MW of solar PV and 50 MW of solar-thermal capacity. The PV portion is already fully grid-connected.
The solar-thermal system includes 14 hours of molten-salt storage and combines off-grid PV, electric molten-salt heating, and asynchronous lithium-battery interconnection to support overnight power generation and heating. CGN plans to connect the second 25 MW unit within the year. Once fully operational, the project is expected to generate about 270 GWh annually.
Recently, another Chinese company, CGDG, put its 100 MW molten-salt tower CSP project into trial operation (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Hebei Maritime Safety Administration, the provincial development and reform and transport authorities, and seven other departments have jointly issued an action plan for 2026-2030. It sets out 20 tasks across five areas, including low-carbon shipping, green ports and upgrades to port-adjacent industries. The plan calls for offshore wind, PV, and port clean-energy projects along the coasts of Qinhuangdao, Tangshan, and Cangzhou.
Hebei plans to advance 1.8 GW of offshore PV projects in Qinhuangdao and 2 GW of offshore PV co-located with wind power, taking the combined planned capacity to 3.8 GW. The province will also explore combining offshore wind and solar with marine ranching, computing infrastructure, seawater desalination, hydrogen production, and offshore oil fields. The Shanhaiguan Phase I, Hebei Construction Investment Tangshan, and Tangshan Shunhuan offshore wind projects will be developed in phases. Direct green electricity supply from offshore wind projects to coastal steel and chemical plants is also under consideration.
A consortium led by Wuhan Tianyuan Group Co., Ltd. has signed an integrated equipment supply and installation contract worth RMB 3.64 billion for the 1,000 MW/4,000 MWh Lingwu Huaxin centralized shared energy storage project in Ningxia. The consortium also includes Ningxia Communication Construction Co., Ltd. and Inner Mongolia Yinhe Electric Power Installation Engineering Co., Ltd.
Located in Baitugang Township, Lingwu City, the project will include a 330 kV step-up substation, 4 km of transmission lines, and 13 towers, connecting it to the Lingzhou 750 kV substation. Construction is scheduled to run from November 2026 to April 2027.
TaiyangNews 2024

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Heliene, Caelux launch US-made perovskite glass tandem module  PV Tech
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Solar Power World
By Billy Ludt | November 10, 2026
Heliene, a solar modules manufacturer, and Caelux Corporation, a perovskite solar technology company, are starting commercial production of their Hybrid-Tandem solar module.
This module combines perovskite glass from Caelux and silicon N-type cells from Heliene, placing two energy generating sources in a single solar panel. Heliene is producing the modules in its plant in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, with first deliveries slated for 2027.
“One of the advantages of Caelux’s technology is that we can integrate its Energy Producing Glass into our existing manufacturing lines without having to build an entirely new production setup,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO and founder of Heliene. “With both companies manufacturing in the U.S., we’re bringing together two fully domestic supply chains to advance what’s possible with American-made solar, besides the fact that partnering with true friends also makes it fun.”
The companies are reporting a 27% efficiency from the Hybrid-Tandem module. Heliene and Caelux desiged this module to have a higher power density in a smaller project footprint.
“Heliene is a true leader in U.S. manufacturing, and we share a belief that when we lead the market, our customers win. Together, we’re commercializing ultra-high-efficiency solar modules that will set a new bar for American-made solar,” said Caelux CEO Scott Graybeal.
Heliene will showcase the Hybrid-Tandem module at RE+ in Las Vegas from Nov. 17 to 19, at booth #W16546.
News item from Heliene
Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.

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Sydney startups SunDrive and SMC team to build solar panels for space  InnovationAus.com
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GreenYellow buys two rooftop photovoltaic plants totaling 4.1 MWp from Nordic Solar  energynews.pro
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The global energy transition took centre stage on the second day of COP31, as countries explored how to move away from fossil fuels, accelerate clean energy and overcome financial and infrastructure barriers standing in the way.
Energy and Transport Day at COP31 got off to a somewhat ironic start on Tuesday. With world leaders descending on Antalya and security tightened, roads were clogged, buses packed and journeys to the venue stretched for hours. 
The chaos outside, however, did little to overshadow the bigger challenge being tackled inside: transforming how the world produces and uses energy, and ending its dependence on fossil fuels. 
Three years after countries agreed in Dubai (COP28) to transition away from coal, oil and gas, Brazil, COP30 lead, presented a roadmap aimed at turning that promise into reality.
“It’s long past time to stop treating the transition away from fossil fuels as taboo or intractable,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the launch of Brazil’s COP30 initiative setting out how countries can transition away from fossil fuels.
But he also had a warning: fossil fuel dependence is not just bad for the climate. It is becoming an increasingly expensive liability.
Since the current escalation in the Middle East began, the European Union alone has paid more than €100 billion in additional fossil fuel import costs, he said, while petrol and diesel prices have surged across 130 countries.
“Changing suppliers will not eliminate this exposure. Disruption anywhere drives up prices everywhere.”
First released on 3 November and formally presented today at COP31, Brazil’s roadmap seeks to turn the global commitment to move away from fossil fuels into national plans.
The challenge looks different from one country to another. Oil and gas producers must prepare for declining revenues and changes to jobs and industries, while countries dependent on imported fuels need to develop alternatives that can reduce their exposure to volatile energy markets.
Both face the difficult task of securing the investment, infrastructure and international support needed to make the transition possible.
Ana Toni, CEO of Brazil’s COP30 Presidency, said the roadmap examines three interconnected challenges: fossil fuel demand, production and supply, and the economic consequences of moving away from them.
It also offers countries indicators to assess their readiness, identify obstacles and plan next steps, alongside proposals for greater international cooperation.
“Start now from wherever you are. Start now. Don’t wait,” she urged.
The roadmap is voluntary and not new binding climate agreement. 
Secretary-General Guterres nevertheless called on countries to produce national plans with clear timelines and financing needs, and to demonstrate measurable progress by 2028.
The roadmap was one of several energy initiatives showcased during the day.
COP31 host Türkiye has its own ambition: to increase electricity’s share of global energy consumption from just over 20 per cent today to 35 per cent by 2035.
The 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge sounds technical, but the idea is familiar: more electric buses instead of diesel, more homes heated without gas and more factories running on electricity.
To deliver its full climate benefits, the power must increasingly come from clean sources.
Another major topic at COP31 is the electricity grid, the vast network of power lines, cables and substations that carry electricity from where it is produced to homes, businesses and industries.
For example, imagine building a solar farm capable of powering thousands of homes, only to discover there is no way to deliver the electricity.
That is already happening, according to Dario Liguti, from the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE).
Mr. Liguti explained to UN News that around 2,500 gigawatts of power generation and other energy projects are awaiting grid connections worldwide.
Some facilities cannot connect at all. Others must cut production because electricity networks cannot accommodate the power.
“Two things: increase the quantity of the grid and increase its quality,” he explained, calling for millions of kilometres of new transmission lines and upgrades to existing infrastructure.
And while the global energy crisis has exposed the risks of fossil fuel dependence, as the UN chief warned, Mr. Liguti sees an upside.
“What is driving this crisis [is] driving a larger penetration of a huge investment in renewable energy…Why? Because renewable energy helps energy security because it’s domestic. You don’t need to import oil; you don’t need to import gas.”
Solar and wind projects can also be built relatively quickly, he added. But their success ultimately depends on whether the electricity can reach the people who need it.
Solar and wind power have become dramatically cheaper over the past decade, but for many developing countries, the upfront investment remains a major obstacle.
Olli-Pekka Kuusela, a researcher at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), told UN News that poorer countries often face much higher borrowing costs, making clean energy projects difficult to finance even when the technology is competitive.
“With the cleaner technologies, like solar and wind, the upfront investment costs can be a bit significant,” he told UN News. “That’s why having access to capital and having the cost of capital being reasonable is very important.”
Development banks could help by offering lower-interest loans. But for Mr. Kuusela, the opportunity goes beyond replacing fossil fuels.
In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half a billion people still lack electricity. Bringing reliable power to communities could support new industries, manufacturing, better services and electric public transport.
And there is another challenge: making electricity systems resilient to climate change itself.
In Zambia, where Mr. Kuusela has conducted research, severe drought reduced hydropower production, leading to blackouts and electricity rationing. Expanding solar power and strengthening connections with neighbouring countries could help avoid similar disruptions in the future.
The issue is also on the UN’s radar, with its Global Grids Accelerator seeking to unlock investment in electricity networks and speed up their expansion and modernization.
Follow the latest developments from COP31 through our new podcast, Talk & Action, and our special daily coverage of the conference.
Nearly 200 countries have arrived on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast for a climate summit with a different ambition: fewer grand declarations and more concrete decisions. With a powerful El Niño threatening to worsen extreme weather, negotiators face difficult questions over climate finance, clean energy and how to protect communities already living with the consequences of climate change.
With global temperature rise set to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, countries “must pull out all the stops” and urgently cut emissions to minimize the overshoot and return to the internationally agreed threshold by the end of this century.
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Sales of residential battery storage systems in the Netherlands have more than doubled over the past nine months ahead of the phaseout of the country’s net-metering scheme for residential PV at the end of this year, according to Sunergy Research, a Dutch energy supplier specializing in services for residential solar owners.
“Net metering will end on Jan. 1, and the market will change drastically for consumers,” Sunergy Research CEO Rolf Heynen told ESS news. “For many years, solar panels were easy to sell thanks to net metering and a very clear business case, with electricity prices stable at €0.21/kWh. Now, electricity prices have skyrocketed, and dynamic tariffs have made the business case more complex, alongside public discussions about the balancing market, variable grid tariffs starting in 2029, and home batteries.”
“With compensation for electricity exports expected to fall sharply, maximizing self-consumption is becoming increasingly important,” Heynen said. “Today, the average Dutch household consumes just 30% of the solar electricity it generates, exporting the remaining 70% to the grid. A home battery can dramatically reverse that balance, potentially increasing self-consumption to around 70%.”
Sunergy Research also reported that installations of small home batteries with capacities of up to 5 kWh were more than four times higher in September than in January, while installations of larger systems, ranging from 5 kWh to 15 kWh, nearly tripled over the same period.
The company’s data also show that installations of plug-in batteries, a relatively new segment of the Dutch energy storage market, have more than doubled in nine months, making them the largest category in the residential battery market.
Heynen said the rapid growth of plug-in batteries indicates that the market is expanding beyond early adopters.
“What makes this development particularly significant is the breadth of demand,” he said. “Smaller, accessible batteries are opening the market to ordinary households, while larger, permanently installed systems appeal to consumers who have already invested heavily in electrification. The barriers to battery ownership are falling rapidly.”
Sunergy has also launched its Home Batteries Selection Guide, a free, 33-page publication aimed at helping residential solar owners assess battery storage options.
The guide identifies two main market segments: plug-and-play batteries for smaller PV installations and permanently installed systems for households with higher electricity demand.
Plug-and-play batteries are particularly suitable for homes with around six solar panels and no heat pump or electric vehicle charger, according to the guide. These systems typically offer around 5 kWh of storage capacity, with prices starting at approximately €1,000 ($1,118.9).
Larger households may benefit from permanently installed batteries with capacities ranging from 5 kWh to 20 kWh, starting at approximately €4,000. The guide recommends capacities of 5 kWh to 10 kWh for typical single-phase installations and 10 kWh to 20 kWh for three-phase systems, depending on household requirements.
Battery sizing should take into account household electricity consumption, solar generation patterns, inverter capacity, backup power requirements and potential electricity trading, the report says. Sunergy also warns that oversized batteries are often recommended to consumers, potentially undermining investment returns.
Research estimates cited in the guide suggest payback periods of two to 15 years, with annual savings of approximately €200 to €1,000 for permanently installed systems. The guide also highlights the role of energy management systems (EMS) in coordinating solar generation, battery charging and household consumption.
The publication identifies additional revenue opportunities from electricity trading, grid balancing and congestion management. Sunergy also recommends professional installation, adequate ventilation and careful consideration of battery compatibility, expandability and insurance requirements.
The guide concludes that appropriately sized batteries combined with intelligent energy management could improve the economics of residential solar as the Netherlands phases out net metering.
From ESS News
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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm CET, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now!
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Day 1 | Europe’s Solar and Storage Markets 2027: What works where?
Day 2 | Solar + Storage Co-location: Three markets, three business cases
Day 3 | Solar Quality: Which technical risks still need better answers?
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Fancy generating your own electricity? Hoymiles could help you give solar panels a go, without the hassle of a rooftop installation  Stuff
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Jinko Solar Sits on the B20 Energy Task Force in Washington for 11th Year  energynews.pro
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Transformer Model Predicts Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cell Performance
The study, published in Discover Applied Sciences, introduces a Physics-Informed Feature Tokenizer Transformer, or FT-Transformer, to address the complexity of optimizing multi-dimensional parameters in these photovoltaic devices. Tin-based perovskites, specifically methylammonium tin triiodide (MASnI3) and formamidinium tin triiodide (FASnI3), are considered promising pathways for solar cells with improved efficiency, yet their optimization remains difficult due to the interplay of various physical factors.
The core innovation of this work lies in integrating physical constraints directly into the transformer architecture to maintain scientific integrity. Unlike standard machine learning models that may produce predictions inconsistent with fundamental physics, the FT-Transformer incorporates custom monostaticity constraints. These constraints enforce known semiconductor properties, such as the principle that higher defect densities lead to lower device efficiency. By embedding these physical laws into the model, the researchers aim to ensure that the predictions remain physically plausible, even when extrapolating to new parameter combinations.
To validate the model’s reliability, the team employed a comprehensive 5-fold cross-validation procedure using various random seeds. This approach was specifically designed to avoid partitioning bias, a common issue in machine learning where data splitting can artificially inflate performance metrics. The results demonstrated that the FT-Transformer possessed good architectural stability, producing consistent cross-validated R-squared values across different validation folds. For the MASnI3 material, the model achieved an R-squared value of 0.8024 with a standard deviation of 0.0135, while for FASnI3, it achieved a higher R-squared of 0.9574 with a standard deviation of 0.0024.
The study also compared the FT-Transformer against classical ensemble models, such as Random Forest. While the Random Forest model exhibited better empirical R-squared values in some instances, it failed to maintain physical consistency in its predictions. The FT-Transformer, by contrast, prioritized physical consistency, ensuring that its outputs adhered to the expected behavior of semiconductor materials.
Further analysis using gradient-based inverse design and SHAP explainability methods revealed distinct sensitivities between the two perovskite materials. The findings indicated that FASnI3 exhibits stronger sensitivity to defect densities at the interfaces compared to MASnI3.
The authors conclude that their cross-validated benchmarking framework offers a comprehensive and physics-based suite of tools to accelerate the development of perovskite technology. By combining the predictive power of transformer architectures with the rigor of physical constraints, the study provides a robust method for navigating the complex parameter space of lead-free perovskite solar cells.
Subject of Research: Machine learning modeling of lead-free perovskite solar cells
Article Title: Physics informed transformer modeling of lead free perovskite solar cells
Article References: Abdullah, S., Jamee, A. N., & Ifty, M. S. M. (2026). Physics informed transformer modeling of lead free perovskite solar cells. Discover Applied Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-026-09855-9
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s42452-026-09855-9
Keywords: perovskite solar cells, machine learning, transformer model, lead-free materials, physics-informed, photovoltaics, cross-validation, defect density, SHAP analysis, inverse design, Physics, informed
News Source: Denise Maddox. (November 10, 2026). Transformer Model Predicts Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cell Performance. Scienmag.
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Solar kits provide essential power in refugee camps and war zones  TyN Magazine
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Roll-A-Rack Introduces SunChord™ Ground-Mount Solar Racking System  GlobeNewswire
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SEG Solar, a US-based vertically integrated PV manufacturer, has signed a land agreement for a planned 4 GW heterojunction (HJT) solar cell plant at its Tomball Industrial Campus in Texas. The plant is expected to cost $950 million and to create more than 700 local jobs. It is to come online in two phases of 2 GW each, which have been targeted for 2028 and 2029. The cell plant will stand beside the existing 4 GW Tomball #1 module factory of the company and the 4.6 GW Tomball #2 module factory, which is under construction. Once it is completed, the campus will hold cell, module and key component manufacturing, together with warehousing, an R&D center and a certified testing laboratory. Production lines for EVA and junction boxes are also planned there.
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CNE has approved six strategic photovoltaic permits representing US$750 million in private investment, injecting 649MW of net capacity into the national grid. This Privados II milestone addresses surging industrial electricity demand driven by nearshoring, incorporating mandatory battery storage to reinforce grid reliability ahead of commercial operations in 2028 and 2029.
 
 
Mexico’s CNE has officially approved six strategic photovoltaic power generation permits representing a combined private investment of US$750 million. These vital infrastructure projects will inject 649MW of net capacity, alongside an installed alternating current capacity of 751MWac and an estimated annual generation of 1,881GWh, into the National Power System (SEN), with commercial operations slated for 2028 and 2029. This regulatory milestone marks a significant step forward under the Second Call for Proposals (Privados II), validating structured private-sector participation in meeting surging industrial electricity demand driven by nearshoring across Mexico.
The recent CNE authorizations underscore an evolving framework for private capital deployment in Mexico’s power sector, where private developers are directly scaling utility-scale renewable generation. Green Park Energy, a subsidiary of Cox, secured three permits covering sites in Aguascalientes, Jalisco, and Guanajuato. Meanwhile, Invex Controladora’s Ammper Generación captured two permits, highlighted by the Antares project in Tlaxcala as the single largest authorized facility, and Viva El Sol obtained one permit in Coahuila. These awards follow a rigorous selection process where only six out of 31 qualified applications met all compliance and technical criteria from an initial pool of 57 submissions. As detailed in coverage by Generation Secures Coverage, federal planning emphasizes expanding state and private generation capacity to secure industrial access, with generation initiatives representing over two-thirds of total energy-related investment allocations through 2030. The Privados II framework effectively demonstrates that capital availability is robust, shifting the primary industry focus toward rigorous operational execution and timely project delivery.
Beyond raw generation capacity, the newly authorized solar assets incorporate mandatory battery energy storage systems (BESS) totaling 204MW and approximately 628MWh, designed to mitigate intermittency and reinforce grid reliability. The projects span strategic industrial regions, with the Western Region absorbing 350MW, the Eastern Region adding 289MW, and the Northeastern Region incorporating 10MW. Industry analysts emphasize that incorporating advanced storage is vital for managing peak demand and avoiding costly industrial voltage spikes. As noted in assessments highlighted by CFE Infrastructure Expansion Assessment, expanding structural infrastructure and balancing intermittent solar technologies with intelligent storage solutions are essential prerequisites to prevent generation shortfalls and maintain uninterrupted power to high-density manufacturing clusters.
While the approval of US$750 million in solar permits provides much-needed capacity, structural challenges persist across Mexico’s transmission and distribution networks. Industrial hubs, particularly in regions experiencing massive nearshoring inflows, continue to test substation capacities and transmission lines. Market data indicates that over 60% of the national transmission network operates near maximum capacity, requiring close alignment with CFE’s ongoing infrastructure investments and modernization roadmaps. Insights explored in Energy Investment Insights point out that expanding grid infrastructure is the critical gating item for industrial parks and corporate end-users, noting that national manufacturing losses during major outage events underscore why reliability has become the ultimate binding constraint for enterprises evaluating Mexican operational sites. 

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Luis Reyes
Nov 10, at 11:00am ET
CENER says IGUZKITZA is the first overhead single-axis tracking system installed over olive trees anywhere in the world.
The vaso rig’s posts follow the trees’ 23-by-26-foot grid, carrying 112 panels and about 60 kilowatts over roughly 9,700 square feet.
None of CENER’s shade-tracking algorithms is running yet, and every measurement so far was taken with the panels parked flat.
An olive trunk about 8 inches thick can lose a fifth of an inch by mid-afternoon on a 100-degree day, Eusebio Gainza told Navarre lawmakers.
Ask The Box:
Anyone who’s driven past a big solar farm in Texas or Arizona early in the morning has probably seen the panels all tipped toward the east, like a field of satellite dishes waiting on the same broadcast. Come back late in the afternoon and they’ve swung west. That’s a single-axis tracker doing the only job it’s ever had, which is wringing as much electricity as it can out of every hour of daylight.
A research center in northern Spain wants a tracker to take orders from an olive tree instead.
CENER, Spain’s national renewable energy research center, finished building two of these rigs over an organic olive grove in Navarre in April. It announced the project, called IGUZKITZA, on November 5. As far as the people behind it know, it’s the first overhead single-axis tracking system of its kind installed over olive trees anywhere in the world.
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It’s a fair hedge, and a useful one. You might remember the Spanish olive oil bottler we covered last month that’s raising solar panels 13 feet over its trees in the south of the country. Those panels are fixed. These ones are built to move, and the idea is for them to move when the trees need it, rather than chasing every last watt.
Two steel frames on a farm called Biosasun, near the village of Dicastillo. CENER built them with ALLOTARRA, an association of organic olive growers. The farmers bring the trees and CENER brings the engineering and the software.
Between them, the two rigs carry 280 panels and about 160 kilowatts of peak capacity. Plenty of utility solar farms in the US run to hundreds of thousands of panels, so what you’re looking at here is a field experiment in solar trackers over olive trees.
The panels are bifacial, which means they make electricity from both faces. The top side catches the sun directly, and the underside picks up whatever light bounces back off the ground. Each row sits on a long shaft that a motor rotates through the day, and that’s all a single-axis tracker really is.
Then there’s the height. CENER’s press release puts the modules about 16 feet up. Its conference poster gets more specific, listing about 16 feet for one rig and about 15 for the other. As far as I can tell, that’s the height of the structure, not the gap between the panels and the treetops.
Traditional Spanish groves plant olives as individual, open-centered trees spaced out on a grid. Growers call the shape “vaso,” or vase. If you’ve never seen one at work, a machine grabs each trunk at harvest and shakes it while an upside-down umbrella underneath catches the olives as they rain down.
Newer groves grow olives as hedgerows instead. The trees are packed into long, narrow rows, and a tall harvester drives right over the top of each one, straddling it like a tractor on stilts.
CENER built one roof for each. The vaso rig covers trees spaced about 23 by 26 feet apart, and its posts follow the same grid as the trees, so it’s safe to assume the shaker can still get to every trunk. It carries 112 panels, about 60 kilowatts, over roughly 9,700 square feet.
The hedgerow rig sits over rows about 16 feet apart. Its frames span about 33 feet, with two rows of panels on each span. That one has 168 panels, about 100 kilowatts and close to 10,800 square feet of coverage.
CENER labels the first rig as east-west tracking and the second as north-south tracking, and it doesn’t spell out which way the rotating shaft runs in each case. That’s a slightly annoying thing to leave vague, because it decides whether the panels follow the sun from east to west or tilt north and south instead. I’d rather not guess.
Frankly, building around the harvester is the right call. Olive growers aren’t going to rip out trees that took years to mature just to suit a solar rack, so a roof that only works with one kind of grove would be a pretty hard sell.
The clever part CENER is promising is software. It’s built a model that works out, tree by tree, how much shade the panels and the steel throw on each part of the canopy. On top of that sit tracking algorithms meant to angle the panels to protect the olives from too much sun and other extreme weather, and to squeeze extra power out of the bifacial panels when the trees don’t need the help.
None of that’s running. The poster says the electrical hookup was only done recently, so the algorithms couldn’t be put to work, and every measurement so far was taken with the panels lying flat over the trees.
So did flat, motionless panels do anything for the olives?
Apparently, yes, at least on one day. CENER’s poster lists the readings as averages of 10 measurements taken between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 21, with the air somewhere between 77 and 90 degrees. Compared with control trees growing without panels, the soil under the rigs was more biologically active. The trees under the panels lost less water through their leaves. Their leaves were greener, with more chlorophyll. They took up nutrients better. And they showed lower levels of anthocyanins, which are pigments plants tend to build up when they’re stressed.
There are no percentages in any of it. CENER hasn’t published how big those differences were, and I’d treat one summer morning as an encouraging first look rather than a verdict.
The grove is wired up for a lot more than one morning, though. The poster lists eight dendrometers alone, plus light meters on both faces of the panels, soil probes, and wind, rain and snow gauges. A dendrometer measures how thick a trunk is. Olive trunks actually shrink a little on a hot afternoon as the tree runs short of water, so a dendrometer is basically a stress gauge you strap to a tree. Eusebio Gainza, who spoke for the farmers’ group, gave Navarre’s regional parliament a sense of scale in May. He told lawmakers a trunk about 8 inches thick can lose about a fifth of an inch by mid-afternoon on a 100-degree day, and nearly stop breathing.
Gainza’s pitch for the whole thing was refreshingly down to earth, according to the session transcript. Fruit growers in his part of Navarre already throw plastic over their trees in summer when there’s too much sun, he said, and plastic won’t stand up to a hailstorm. Solar panels are built to take hail. He also told lawmakers the plan is for the trees to effectively drive the panels, through a digital model of an olive tree that learns over the next few years when to ask for sun and when to ask for shade.
Tilting solar over fruit trees isn’t brand new, to be fair. We’ve covered a French apple orchard with a tilting solar canopy aimed at sunburned fruit. Olives are a tougher customer, arguably, because these trees live for decades and the grower can’t just swap the orchard out.
CENER hasn’t named the company that built the trackers. The panel model isn’t listed either.
If you were hoping for a price tag, you’re out of luck. Gainza told lawmakers the costs are another story but that this is experimentation, which is about as close to a price as anyone’s gotten. The amount of electricity the rigs have produced so far isn’t public, and neither is where that power goes.
We don’t know when the protective software switches on, either. The poster lists it as ongoing work, with the effect on the olive crop to be measured after harvest. That’s the number growers will care about most, and I’d want to see it before anyone calls this a win.
The project was paid for by the government of Navarre and the European Regional Development Fund. CENER showed its first results on a poster at the EU PVSEC solar conference in Rotterdam, held September 14 to 18, and Gainza told Navarre’s lawmakers on May 29 that IGUZKITZA is due to wrap up at the end of this year.
Did we nail it or blow it?
Olivia Richman · Nov 5, 2026
Olivia Richman · Oct 14, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 20, 2026
Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 17, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 30, 2026
Luis Reyes · Nov 6, 2026
Chema Bonilla Díaz · Nov 10, 2026
Olivia Richman · Nov 10, 2026
Luis Reyes · Nov 10, 2026
Olivia Richman · Nov 10, 2026
Luis Reyes · Nov 10, 2026
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News / Scotland
A survey for the industry body Solar Energy Scotland found 70% in favour, with only 6% opposed
Seven out of ten Scots want to see solar panels installed on public buildings, new research has revealed.
A survey for the industry body Solar Energy Scotland found 70% in favour of this, with only 6% opposed.
Almost three out of five people also want to see solar panels to be required to be fitted on new build homes – with 59% backing a policy that would bring Scotland in line with new policies coming in in March next year in England and Wales.
The research, carried out by pollsters at More in Common, also found almost twice as many people would support a solar farm being built near their home as would be against such a development.
While 22% would not back a solar farm being built near them, 43% said they would support such a project.
Solar Energy Scotland acting chair George Baxter said the research – which was released ahead of the organisation’s conference in Edinburgh on Tuesday – showed that “Scotland is not short of people who want solar power, whether on the ground or on their roof”.
He added: “Whilst some progress has been made in recent years, it is clear that there is strong public support for ramp up deployment significantly so that the many benefits of low cost solar can be realised by people everywhere.”
Almost two fifths (38%) of Scots say they would like to have solar panels fitted on their home, but do not think they would be able to do this.
However Mr Baxter said: “Fortunately, the Westminster Government has just launched the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, which provides low or zero-interest loans for solar, battery, heat pump and other household energy upgrades across the UK.”
Meanwhile half of Scots (51%) want an official target to be set for solar energy power generation in Scotland – something Solar Energy Scotland has long pushed for.
The organisation is also pushing for building standards to be updated, so new homes and non-residential buildings include solar as standard.
Lang Banks, director at WWF Scotland, said: “These findings make clear that people across Scotland want to see more of our rooftops put to work generating clean electricity. Installing solar panels on suitable schools, leisure centres and other public buildings is a practical way to help cut energy bills and climate emissions, benefiting both communities and the environment.
“Alongside improving energy efficiency, we should be making much better use of Scotland’s solar potential.
“With public backing so clear, the Scottish Government and local authorities should turn that support into action, helping more households and communities benefit from clean energy.”
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China’s October 16 solar export controls threaten India’s clean energy  NewsBytes
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has published a revised solar photovoltaic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. 
According to its Renewables 2026 report, published on Friday, November 6, the IEA, lowered its forecast for new utility-scale solar capacity additions by nearly 7 gigawatts (GW) over the 2026–2031 period.
The downward revision comes despite an improved outlook for renewable energy across the region.
The agency however expects sub-Saharan Africa to add more than 120 GW of renewable energy capacity between 2026 and 2031, nearly doubling its currently installed capacity.
Solar photovoltaic installations are expected to account for more than 80% of these additions under the agency’s main scenario.
The weaker outlook for large solar plants is more than offset by stronger growth expectations for distributed solar systems.
The IEA raised its forecast for residential, commercial and off-grid installations by 42 GW. As a result, its overall solar capacity forecast for the region increased by nearly 36 GW on a net basis.
Distributed systems are expected to account for almost two-thirds of new solar photovoltaic capacity.
Demand for these systems is growing as households and businesses seek more reliable and affordable electricity amid fragile power grids, high tariffs and costly reliance on diesel generators.
Declining solar panel and battery costs are reinforcing this trend.
Utility-scale solar plants remain an important component of Africa’s renewable energy development.
However, their deployment depends on developers’ ability to secure financing, find creditworthy electricity buyers and obtain access to transmission networks.
South Africa accounts for 48 per cent of the region’s projected new utility-scale solar capacity.
Investments benefit from the country’s public procurement program for independent power producers, corporate power purchase agreements and electricity wheeling arrangements through state utility Eskom.
Kenya, Namibia and Senegal are also expanding their utility-scale solar sectors.
In Nigeria, Ghana and Angola, large solar projects rely more heavily on government initiatives and development financing.
However, inadequate power infrastructure, transmission congestion and difficulties ensuring project profitability continue to limit progress.
According to the IEA, these constraints are particularly significant in South Africa and Nigeria.
The report also highlights risks associated with state-owned electricity buyers, weak bill collection rates and uncertainty surrounding project procurement procedures.
These factors make it more difficult for developers to secure financing.
Distributed solar projects face a different set of financial challenges, including limited access to local-currency financing, exchange-rate volatility and uncertainty over equipment imports.
Challenges facing large solar developments do not necessarily indicate a broader slowdown in Africa’s solar market.
In a study published in August 2026, energy think tank Ember estimated that Africa installed 12 GW of solar capacity in 2025, nearly twice the 6.2 GW recorded by the IEA.
Ember also projected that new installations would reach 17 GW in 2026, representing a 45% year-on-year increase.
Its estimates rely partly on Chinese solar panel export data and a methodology developed by the organization.
The Global Solar Council has also reported strong market growth.
According to its Africa Market Outlook for Solar PV 2026–2029, solar installations across the continent increased by 54 per cent in 2025.
Utility-scale projects accounted for 56 per cent of recorded capacity additions, while distributed installations represented the remaining 44 per cent.
However, the IEA notes that distributed solar equipment is often difficult to capture in official statistics because it generally operates without a connection to the electricity grid.
As the agency explains, these systems “are difficult for governments to track.”
Accounting for distributed installations therefore significantly changes assessments of Africa’s solar market, where part of the sector’s expansion remains largely invisible in official statistics
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Resolven, the EQT-backed Indian renewable energy platform created as a carve-out of Zelestra’s India business, has mobilised approximately $900 million (INR 8,550 crore) in financing since launching as an independent renewable energy company earlier this year. This includes about $700 million (INR 6,650 crore) in fund-based debt and $200 million (INR 1,900 crore) group-level non-fund facilities.
Resolven said these financings have been mobilized from a diversified set of 15 lenders spanning across public sector bank, private banks, MNC banks and infrastructure financing institutions.
The company’s financing journey began in March 2026 with the closing of INR 450 crore refinancing for its 136 MW operating assets with an Infrastructure Debt Fund. The refinancing reduced the company’s interest costs and locked-in fixed rates in a volatile environment.
Over the past quarters, Resolven has secured financing for 1 GW of multi-technology FDRE and hybrid renewable projects. These financings include a mix of INR loans and External Commercial Borrowings (ECB). Further, the company is in advanced stages of closing $219.5 million (INR 2,100 crore) financing for 400 MW of wind-solar hybrid projects from leading financing institutions.
“When we set out on our ambitious journey of building a 10 GW renewable energy company, we wanted to broaden our lender base and diversify our financing mix while optimizing on overall cost of capital. During the course of this year, we have been able to onboard several domestic and international lenders to back us on our growth journey,” said Abhinav Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer, Resolven.
Resolven has a development pipeline of approximately 5.5 GW across solar, wind, hybrid and storage. The company is targeting more than 1.5 GW of new renewable capacity annually across solar, wind, hybrid and battery storage, and aims to reach 10 GW by 2030.
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The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now!
Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
Friday, November 13, 2026
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“If you wait too long, you might not find the same inverter or battery.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A homeowner hoping to install solar panels in stages faced an important purchasing decision. With battery backup cheaper than the panels, they wanted to make sure the equipment they bought could support a larger system.
Posting in Reddit’s r/SolarEnergy community, the homeowner revealed that solar panels came with less financial help than discounted battery backup in their energy provider’s offer.
A 10-kilowatt system was the homeowner’s goal, but their question for other users was whether they could get there in stages. They wanted to begin with batteries and roughly 5 kilowatts of solar.
Commenters recommended choosing an inverter that could accommodate the planned expansion. 
“Batteries, 48v LFP ones, can easily be expanded later,” one wrote. “Many inverters can be paralleled, so that is also an expansion option.”
Residential solar can lower electricity bills, and $0 upfront solar leases may offer savings of hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the household and agreement. EasyHome offers a free explorer tool for estimating potential savings and finding vetted local installers.
In discussing backup sizing, commenters also clarified the difference between kilowatts and kilowatt-hours.
“First, for backup you need both kW (power), which determines how many things you can run at the same time, and the kWh (energy), which determines for how long things will run,” the same commenter wrote. “Inverter and battery, respectively.”
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
Additional panels would have to wait until the homeowner had more money. That budget constraint shaped the timeline for their desired solar-and-battery setup, but it didn’t hamper them from creating room for a bigger system.
“It can be done, but be aware that there is a time limit on how long you can stretch it,” one user, who had doubled their system, wrote. “If you wait too long, you might not find the same inverter or battery.”
For this homeowner, the first step was to determine whether the equipment chosen for the installation could support the planned 10-kilowatt system. Posters wanted them to take a more holistic view.
“If it were me, doing it again…I would get quotes for the full system at once,” one said. “Take what incentives you can and call it good.”
Commenters pushed them to think as big as possible while bearing in mind that modifying a system could cost more in the future.
“Don’t start too small,” one person advised. “For batteries, I wouldn’t go below a single 15 kWh pack. And for an inverter not below a roughly 6 kW one, though I would argue to just get a big enough one for a whole-home backup.”
One other option was a DIY route involving 48V batteries, a commenter proposed.
EasyHome also offers options for exploring battery storage alongside solar. For someone weighing a battery discount against a phased panel purchase, exploring both together can help assess how the combination could support electricity-cost management and backup power during outages.
Adding solar panels over time raises questions about how new equipment will work with what’s already installed. 
• A U.K. solar buyer adding a third battery questioned whether a large inverter justified the upgrade.
• A solar owner planning four additional panels learned mismatched volts or amps could reduce output.
• A U.K. homeowner’s 8-kilowatt inverter upgrade kept tripping, prompting commenters to flag a 32-amp breaker.
• A homeowner planning two Tesla Powerwalls faced questions about a relatively small 4.2-kilowatt solar array.
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
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MNL, interviewed by Briggs & Stratton Energy Solutions at the MnSEIA event in Minneapolis, explains how sheep grazing and native plantings replace mowing on utility-scale solar sites. Minnesota's Habitat Friendly Solar standard requires 70% native seed, Enel North America reports over 200% improvement in soil organic matter at a Minnesota site, and ASGA counts 130,000 grazed acres across 30 states.
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Key takeaways
Minnesota law lets a solar owner claim pollinator benefits only if at least 70% of the site is planted to native seed under BWSR's standard.
Enel North America says its Minnesota solar grazing site showed over 200% improvement in soil organic matter, and BWSR has documented more than 40 native insect species on enrolled sites.
NREL-authored data from 54 sites puts total vegetation costs for native cover slightly above turfgrass in the first three to five years, while California solar farms pay graziers $50 to $150 an acre.
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MNL names one misconception above all the others it meets in its work: that land under solar panels is wasted. At the MnSEIA event in Minneapolis, the company laid out its answer, a flock of sheep and a prairie seed mix. Speaking with a Briggs & Stratton Energy Solutions interviewer in a MarketScale Studio segment, MNL's speaker said the company brings sheep onto utility-scale sites in place of mowers and plants native wildflowers and grasses that feed pollinators and rebuild soil.
The practice is no longer an experiment in Minnesota. In February 2026 the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) updated its list of solar projects that meet the state's Habitat Friendly Solar standard, and in 2026 it released a revised planning form for new projects. Enel North America said in a July 2025 announcement that a grazing pilot begun at a Minnesota site in 2017 had grown into what it called the largest solar grazing agreement in the United States.
Agrivoltaics is the use of one parcel for both solar generation and farming. MNL's speaker described the American version as grazing animals, growing crops or raising forage grasses among the rows of panels, with the aim of getting more from the land than electricity. NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, listed four forms it studies in a November 2024 feature: grazing, crop production, pollinator and native habitat, and greenhouses built with solar.
Intensive grazing means confining a flock to a small area for a short time so the animals eat the forage down evenly before moving on. An April 2026 post on the UC Davis Rural Migration Blog describes the mechanics on utility-scale sites: a six-foot perimeter fence keeps the flock in and predators out, and temporary electric fencing divides the array into paddocks of up to 100 acres. By the UC Davis blog's account, a flock of 1,000 to 1,500 sheep clears a paddock in two to four days.
The sheep do not take everything. The same post says they consume 50 to 60 percent of the vegetation, so many solar farms mow after grazing and leave several inches of cover to hold topsoil and keep dust off the panels. Most California farms graze once a season, while in the eastern United States flocks can stay for months and regraze as forage regrows.
For the operator, the target MNL names is height: vegetation kept low enough that it does not shade or cover modules. Enel North America said in its July 2025 announcement that sheep are selective grazers that keep vegetation down while letting native plants come through, and that each of its arrays has one or two guard dogs living with the flock to keep coyotes off.
Minnesota law lets a solar owner claim pollinator benefits only if the site follows BWSR's guidance. That rule is Minnesota Statute 216B.1642, which BWSR cites on its program page: an owner implementing solar site management practices may say the site benefits gamebirds, songbirds and pollinators only if it adheres to the pollinator plan guidance from BWSR. Monarch Joint Venture, in a March 2022 post, dates the statute to 2016 and calls Minnesota the first state to incentivize pollinator-friendly ground cover on solar sites.
The standard itself is a planting rule. As a general principle, BWSR says, at least 70% of a site's land area must be planted with native seed mixes, following the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Prairie Establishment and Maintenance Technical Guidance for Solar Projects. A developer fills out a project planning assessment form and submits it with a site map, the planting plan, the seed mix showing seeds per square foot for each species, a long-term management plan and a plan to protect the site from pesticide drift.
Local government staff with approval authority receive that package and coordinate with BWSR, and the agency says some municipalities now require ground-mounted projects to meet the standard. Meeting it has a market value. BWSR's partnership with CleanCounts, the tracking nonprofit formerly known as M-RETS, lets qualifying projects sell habitat-friendly renewable energy certificates, the tradable records of a megawatt-hour of clean generation, as a separate revenue line.
The statute and the standard govern what is planted; the number of sheep on a site is not addressed. A February 2025 review in Small Ruminant Research by W.C. Stewart and co-authors examines animal and land performance against stocking rates, the number of animals per acre over time, and forage utilization, and lists long-term ecological impacts and sheep production practices among what it calls significant knowledge gaps.
MNL's reasoning is that the flock returns what it eats to the ground as nutrients, which mowing does not, and that native plants rather than turf are what make a soil healthy. One Minnesota site has put a figure on that. Enel North America said its Minnesota site showed over 200% improvement in soil organic matter.
Soil organic matter is the decomposed plant and animal material in soil that holds water and nutrients, so a rise in it is a direct measure of the soil-building MNL describes. The figure comes from Enel's own data at its Aurora solar farm, as stated in the July 2025 announcement. The company said that experience gave it confidence to commit 13,000 sheep across eight Texas sites and 12,600 acres without a further pilot.
The pollinator side has a state monitoring program behind it. BWSR says that during the summer of 2023 it monitored many Habitat Friendly Solar sites with Lauren Agnew, a PhD student at the University of Minnesota, and documented more than 40 native insect species, including bees from five of Minnesota's six bee families and six bumble bee species. The agency also reports treefrogs, bull snakes, sandhill cranes and white-tailed deer on the sites, and estimates the enrolled sites sequester about 4,800 metric tons of carbon a year and capture about 8,300 acre-feet of water, an acre-foot being enough to cover one acre a foot deep.
Earlier work set the baseline. In the summer of 2021, Monarch Joint Venture and the nonprofit Fresh Energy surveyed four Minnesota solar sites in Anoka, Chisago and Wright counties, each 18 to 68 acres and seeded with a native pollinator mix in 2017 or 2018, counting milkweed, flowering plants, monarchs and other pollinators from June through August under protocols designed with Argonne National Laboratory. Monarch Joint Venture frames the stakes with a 1994 estimate it cites from Samson and Knopf that up to 99% of native northern tallgrass prairie has disappeared since European settlement.
The cost case is less tidy than the habitat case. A March 2023 study in Sustainability by James McCall, Jordan Macknick and colleagues at NREL gathered vegetation operations and maintenance data, O&M in industry shorthand, from 54 utility-scale sites. At those 54 sites, NREL's authors found total vegetation O&M for native cover slightly higher than for turfgrass.
The detail matters for a budget. The authors report that per-activity costs for mowing, trimming and herbicide ran lower at native and pollinator sites, and they attribute the higher total to the first three to five years of establishment, when a prairie planting needs more separate interventions than a lawn before it holds its own. Michael Noble, executive director at Fresh Energy, said in Monarch Joint Venture's March 2022 post that habitat plantings add a small amount to a project's cost, which he called an investment worth making for pollinators.
Enel's announcement adds two constraints of its own. The company said Minnesota's winters meant sheep could not stay on site year-round, which created seasonal logistics, and that there are not enough sheep nationally to meet solar companies' interest, with the flock growing roughly 25% a year and still not keeping pace. The Small Ruminant Research review puts the long-term ecological effects of solar grazing, and its effect on sheep production itself, among the questions still open.
Against those caveats, two sources put grazing on the right side of the ledger. The American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) said in an October 2025 press release that data from operating sites shows grazing is cost-competitive with mowing and can reduce maintenance costs over time. The UC Davis blog says California solar farms pay graziers $50 to $150 an acre, which usually makes sheep cheaper than contractors running mowers and hand crews.
That inversion, income instead of feed cost, is how ASGA describes the contract too. In its press release the association said solar project owners pay livestock producers to manage vegetation, giving graziers access to land that had been unavailable or too expensive to rent, and that the arrangement has let family farms stay viable and in some cases expand. ASGA's 2024 census counts more than 130,000 acres of solar grazed by sheep across 30 states.
The census also describes who is doing it. ASGA said more than a third of solar graziers are women and that participants are younger on average than the national farmer population, and it noted the United States imports more than 70% of the lamb it eats, which it presents as room to grow. ASGA describes itself as a farmer-founded nonprofit started in 2018 with more than 1,300 members.
Enel's path shows the developer side of the contract. Rather than build agricultural expertise in-house, the company said it contracted Texas Solar Sheep, a vendor already working Texas sites, and credited its procurement team with moving the program from concept to signed agreements. The UC Davis post adds that landowners leasing to solar developers often retain agrivoltaic rights, so a farmer can keep grazing or pollinator access on land under a 25- to 40-year lease.
Neither BWSR's standard nor ASGA's census material sets out liability or insurance terms for a grazier working inside an energized array. What the public record does describe is the physical handoff: Enel said it has partnered with ASGA to educate other solar companies on how site teams should interact with livestock, what to monitor and how to coordinate maintenance with agricultural partners.
NREL says U.S. agrivoltaic sites grew from 27,000 acres and 4.5 GW in 2020 to roughly 60,000 acres and 10 GW by November 2024. The lab counted nearly 600 operating sites across grazing, crops, habitat and greenhouses, and its InSPIRE project, Innovative Solar Practices Integrated with Rural Economies and Ecosystems, has studied the practice for more than nine years across more than 20 sites. Jordan Macknick, who leads InSPIRE, said in the feature that companies and farmers are seeing the benefits and testing agrivoltaics for themselves.
Minnesota's count is a list rather than an acreage. BWSR publishes the roster of projects meeting the Habitat Friendly standard as of February 1, 2026, and says the program has shifted toward technical guidance for projects from small community solar to utility scale, and toward recognizing developers, municipalities and schools that build in habitat, water and soil benefits.
For a developer, MNL's entry point is its website, mandlcorp.com, where a project intake form opens the conversation, and the company says it has worked in solar long enough to count itself a pioneer. For a Minnesota project that wants to claim pollinator benefits, BWSR's sequence starts earlier: the seed mix at 70% native, the 2026 planning form, and local approval before the first sheep arrive.
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Israel-based inverter and battery manufacturer SolarEdge has advised that it is closing its local sales and operations in Australia and New Zealand. The company also announced it will terminate product certification renewals, active marketing promotions and incentive programs in the region.
In a notice to installers, SolarEdge says final purchase orders must be submitted by 20 November 2026, with final delivery no later than 18 December 2026.
The company, which now manufactures inverters, optimisers, solar panels, batteries and EV chargers in the United States, said warranty and technical support will continue via its international call centre and online self-service portal.
The announcement follows SolarEdge CEO Shuki Nir telling investors last week that the company was taking steps to “reduce costs, simplify operations, and support profitability.”
“We are making deliberate decisions to exit select underperforming geographic markets and redirect resources towards our core markets and higher growth opportunities,” he said during the company’s third-quarter results call.
“These are difficult but necessary decisions to build a more focused and competitive SolarEdge.” 
Nir said the company will redirect resources toward “core regions” and higher-growth opportunities like its Nexis platform and solid-state transformers for data centres.
SolarEdge is the second big inverter manufacturer to rethink its position in the Australian market this year after SMA exited the residential and commercial sectors earlier in 2026. 
The German-headquartered inverter and battery company announced it would withdraw from Australia’s residential and commercial markets, focusing instead on large-scale infrastructure, grid-forming technology, and hybrid integration.
SMA Chief Executive Officer Jürgen Reinert said at the time that the decision reflected “a considered view of where the energy transition is heading and where SMA can make the most meaningful contribution.”
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“I have nothing even though my system is still producing electricity.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A homeowner is exploring whether a solar-powered shed could help keep essential appliances running during blackouts, since their leased rooftop system has no battery backup.
Grid power currently runs the lights, outlets, and rarely used window air conditioner in the homeowner’s finished, 12-by-14-foot shed. The homeowner outlined plans to expand the outbuilding’s solar equipment in a post on Reddit’s r/SolarDIY community.
“My primary goal is to eliminate all loads in the shed pulling from the grid,” the original poster wrote.
Backup power for selected household circuits — not sending electricity to the grid — is the goal the homeowner clarified in an edit. Changes to the leased rooftop system would have to wait until a buyout.
Residential solar can lower electricity bills, and some $0-upfront leases may deliver savings of hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the household and agreement. EasyHome offers a free explorer tool to estimate potential savings and find vetted local installers.
A 15-amp breaker connects the shed to the house for its remaining electricity needs. Only the pond pump draws power from the shed’s existing solar equipment: four 100-watt panels, a 12-volt, 280-amp-hour battery, and a Victron MPPT charge controller.
About 7 feet by 16 feet of roof space faces south. The homeowner’s expansion proposal calls for four additional 450-watt panels and a 5.12-kilowatt-hour battery. Expansion options for the proposed inverter/controller include adding units and supporting 240-volt operation. Its 120-volt output would be rated at 5-7 kilowatts.
Commenters recommended an off-grid inverter, along with a subpanel and manual transfer switch. Selected household circuits could receive backup electricity from the shed through a manual transfer switch, an option the homeowner had already been considering.
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
One question was where to install additional battery storage: in the main house or the shed. The homeowner also wanted a way to connect a gasoline generator.
For households weighing storage choices like these, EasyHome also offers battery-storage exploration options. Pairing solar with batteries can help manage electricity costs and provide backup during outages.
The homeowner wrote in their edit: “BUT, it would be ideal to have a couple circuits in the main house like the kitchen and garage fridge connected so I can power them during a power outage. My leased solar system has a grid-tire inverter and no battery backup, so when the power is out I have nothing even though my system is still producing electricity.”
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
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Aljosa Milenkovic in Mokrin
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Extreme summer heat and drought have exposed weaknesses in Serbia’s conventional energy system, just as soaring temperatures have driven up demand for air conditioning. Against that backdrop, businesses are increasingly investing in solar power, with Chinese equipment playing a central role in new installations.
Near Mokrin in northeastern Serbia, a newly completed solar farm stretches across 20,000 square meters of flat agricultural land. The facility, which is undergoing final preparations before opening, has more than 21,000 Chinese-made solar panels, Huawei inverters and transformer stations.
Its installed capacity is 14 megawatts, with almost 10 megawatts available for connection to the electricity distribution network. A Chinese-technology tracking system rotates the panels from east to west, allowing them to follow the sun and generate electricity more effectively throughout the day.
 
Chinese equipment is the ‘best’
Nikola Grubor, deputy director of project developer MT-Komex, said the company compared equipment from manufacturers around the world before selecting its suppliers.
“We deep dived into all of the products that we were talking about, and in the end, what we concluded is that the Chinese companies that produce the equipment installed here, were the best,” he said.
Near Mokrin in northeastern Serbia, a newly completed solar farm stretches across 20,000 sq m of flat agricultural land. /CGTN
The project illustrates how solar generation is expanding beyond small rooftop installations into larger commercial facilities. But companies do not need vast areas of land to reduce their dependence on electricity purchased from the grid.
At the JUB paint factory in Simanovci, a 1.26-megawatt rooftop installation already supplies a substantial share of the company’s electricity. Technical director Zagorka Mikic said the investment brings environmental and financial benefits.
“We have managed to provide 50% of our electricity needs from our solar power plant and we are very proud of that,” she said. “At the same time, we have a significant economic benefit.”
Serbia added around 61 megawatts of solar capacity in the first half of 2026, supported by continued investment from businesses and households that both produce and consume electricity.
Solar power cannot immediately compensate for reduced output from conventional generation, particularly when demand rises during prolonged heatwaves. Its contribution also varies with sunlight, leaving a continuing need for other energy sources and a reliable grid.
For energy-intensive industries, producing electricity on site can reduce exposure to price fluctuations.
Nevertheless, projects such as Mokrin and JUB show how businesses are diversifying their electricity supply, reducing operating costs and contributing to Serbia’s transition towards cleaner generation.

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Press Release
On 30 November and 1 December, ITALIA SOLARE's SolarForum returns to Rome for two days of discussions on the future of solar PV, electricity market reform and the growing role of energy storage. Italy's Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, will deliver the closing remarks on the first day.
What role will solar PV and energy storage systems play in the energy system of the coming years? How will the electricity market evolve, and what conditions are needed to accelerate investment, lower energy costs and strengthen the competitiveness of Italian businesses?
These are some of the key questions at the heart of the 11th ITALIA SOLARE SolarForum, taking place on 30 November and 1 December 2026 at the A.Roma Hotel in Rome, under the theme “The New Era of Solar PV: Energy Storage, Self-Consumption, Grids and Competitiveness.”
The event will bring together policymakers, regulatory authorities, businesses, industry associations and researchers to discuss the changes reshaping the solar sector and the measures needed to support its development.
On Monday, 30 November, discussions will focus on the contribution of solar PV and energy storage to energy security and national competitiveness. The programme will also address Europe's solar manufacturing supply chain, technological dependence, cybersecurity and electricity market reform, with particular attention to self-consumption, energy sharing and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). The day will conclude with a high-level institutional roundtable, followed by remarks from Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy's Minister for the Environment and Energy Security.
On Tuesday, 1 December, the focus will shift to practical applications and market opportunities: from residential solar PV integrated with batteries, heat pumps and electric mobility to self-consumption and energy storage solutions for commercial and industrial users. Sessions will also explore investment opportunities in utility-scale solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and agrivoltaics, alongside permitting challenges and the evolving needs of electricity grids, including grid connections and flexibility.
Speakers include Nicola Armaroli of the CNR, Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, Andrea Galliani of ARERA, Michele Benini of RSE, Davide Valenzano of GSE, and Maurizio Delfanti, Coordinator of ITALIA SOLARE's Technical and Scientific Committee.
For designers, installers, technology manufacturers, investors, project developers and businesses interested in generating their own electricity, SolarForum offers an opportunity to stay informed about regulatory and technological developments, explore market prospects and engage directly with leading industry stakeholders and policymakers.
SolarForum 2026 | 30 November – 1 December | A.Roma Hotel, Rome
View the full programme and register for SolarForum 2026.: https://www.italiasolare.eu/is-eventi/11th-forum-italia-solare-2026-en/
Stay on top of the global solar market by joining one of our upcoming events.
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After the other major backup power brands began their season sale events at the top of the month, Anker followed its usual playbook and arrives with Early Black Friday deals last, complete with up to 54% initial discounts, our exclusive bonus savings code on orders over $1,000, and FREE gifts. While a top pick for me is the newest S5000 Power Station, another notable pick amongst the lineup is the 2026 S2000 2,010Wh Portable Power Station with a 400W solar panel at $1,140 shipped, after using our code 9TO5DEALS5 at checkout, beating Amazon by $60. Down from $1,700, since July began it’s regularly been available starting as high as $1,376 most days, while discounts have mostly kept things down at $1,200 or $1,160. While it did go as low as $1,100 before mid-July and $1,090 for two days during October’s Prime Day event, this is still a solid $236 markdown off the going rate (and $460 off the MSRP) for the third-lowest price we have tracked. You can also find the standalone station down at $699.99 shipped, or head below to browse the full lineup of deals.
Lets go over the extra savings promotions running during Anker’s SOLIX Early Black Friday Sale before getting into the actual lineup, with members scoring 2x reward points with purchases. First off, when your cart totals $1,000 or more, you can score an additional 5% savings using our code 9TO5DEALS5 at checkout. Buying S2000 bundles gives you a FREE ball cap ($30 value), while buying F3000 bundles gives you a FREE 120V generator input adapter cable ($50 value), and buying F3800 bundles gets you a FREE protective cover ($150 value). Lastly, when you make a purchase over $3,000, you’ll get a 200W portable solar panel, or once that total goes over $4,500, you’ll instead get a 400W solar panel.
If appliance backup – particularly refrigerators and similar essential appliances – is your main focus during power outages and similar situations, and you don’t want to invest in the S5000 5kWh power station that can handle a lot for 4+ days, a top alternate option is Anker’s SOLIX S2000 power station, which brings a long a more compact 2,010Wh LiFePO4 capacity. It has reduced idle time like its counterpart in the sub-6W range (as opposed to the usual 10W to 20W), boasting “up to 35 hours of refrigerator backup.”
It has eight connection port options (5x ACs, 2x USB-Cs, 1x USB-A), which supply up to a steady 1,500W of power and can surge higher up to 3,000W. There are four primary recharging methods, with the featured bundle giving you its maximum 400W of solar panel input. You can also plug it into a standard AC outlet, charge from a vehicle auxiliary port, or using both AC and solar charging at the same time.
***Note: We have not added the exclusive bonus savings to any of the following prices, so don’t forget to use our code 9TO5DEALS5 at checkout on purchases of $1,000 or more.
You can browse this entire lineup (as well as the EverFrost cooler and accessory deals) on the main Early Black Friday sale page here, or head over to our dedicated power station hub for more savings from alternate brands during this seasonal shopping event.

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WHAKATĀNE, New Zealand, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — An agrivoltaic project in Galatea, New Zealand, is demonstrating how agricultural land can generate renewable energy while continuing to support productive farming, offering a new approach to land use for rural communities.
The Gordon Cattle and Solar Farm, located in the Whakatāne District, combines a 4.7 MW solar installation on 8 hectares of land with a dairy farm operation of around 700 cattle heads. Featuring TCL Solar 625W TOPCon modules and Clenergy ezTrackers D1P, the project brings together solar technology, agricultural expertise and tracking infrastructure to demonstrate the potential of dual-purpose land use.
The official opening of the project will take place on Thursday, 12 November 2026, at the Gordon Dairy Farm in Galatea. The public event will bring together representatives from the agricultural and renewable energy industries, project partners and local communities, with a live panel discussion exploring the opportunities and practical considerations of integrating solar generation into working farmland.
Making More of Agricultural Land
Agrivoltaics refers to the integration of solar energy generation and agricultural activities on the same land. At the Gordon Solar Farm, solar trackers are elevated to 2.2 metres, allowing cattle to continue grazing beneath the installation. During daylight hours, the tracking system follows the sun to optimise electricity generation, while the farm retains its agricultural function.
This approach offers potential benefits beyond electricity production. By providing shade, the solar installation reduces direct sun exposure to the ground, lowering soil temperatures and moisture loss, and diminishing irrigation requirements. For livestock, shaded areas can offer relief from intense heat and contribute to improved animal comfort during warmer conditions.
The relationship can also benefit the solar installation itself. Vegetation and moisture beneath the panels may help moderate the module temperature and support energy generation.
Solar Technology Designed for Agricultural Environments
Operating solar modules in an agricultural setting presents specific technical challenges. One consideration is exposure to ammonia, a corrosive gas released through livestock waste, manure and agricultural processes. Over time, ammonia can affect susceptible materials and components within solar modules, potentially contributing to corrosion and reduced long-term performance.
This makes module durability an important consideration when selecting solar technology. The TCL Solar TOPCon modules supplied for the Gordon project have undergone ammonia corrosion resistance testing in accordance with IEC 62716, the international standard for assessing resistance to ammonia exposure.
The enhanced certification provides an additional layer of validation and reflects the importance of selecting technology suited to the specific environment of a project.
Bringing Farming and Solar Expertise Together
The Gordon Solar Farm has been delivered through collaboration between the Gordon family, TCL Solar, Clenergy, Micropico, insurance and financial partners. Each partner brings a different perspective to the project, from the practical realities of operating a working dairy farm to the engineering and technology required to integrate solar generation into an agricultural environment.
These perspectives will come together at the official opening during a live panel discussion that will explore the lessons emerging from the project and consider a broader question for the agricultural and energy sectors: how can landowners create additional value from their land while continuing to support the farming businesses and communities that depend on it?
A Model for the Future of Rural Renewable Energy
For TCL Solar, the project demonstrates the importance of reliable module technology in installations with specific operational and environmental demands.
As New Zealand continues to expand its renewable energy capacity, the Gordon Solar Farm offers a practical example of how solar energy can become part of the wider agricultural landscape, creating opportunities for farmers, energy providers and rural communities alike.
The official opening of the Gordon Cattle and Solar Farm will take place on Thursday, 12 November 2026, at 228 Grant Road, Galatea, New Zealand.
For more information, visit www.tclsolar.com
About TCL Solar
TCL Solar is one of TCL Zhonghuan's two flagship module brands, alongside SunPower for the Australian and Pacific markets.
TCL Zhonghuan (TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy Technology Co., Ltd.) is a BNEF Tier 1 global solar manufacturer and a technology leader across the photovoltaic value chain. Founded in 1958, the company has played a defining role in the development of the global PV industry, beginning monocrystalline silicon R&D in 1969. With full vertical integration from ingots and wafers through to modules, TCL Zhonghuan became the world's #1 silicon wafer manufacturer in 2024, achieving 19% of global production capacity share. Ongoing innovation is supported by over 4,600 solar-specific patents, alongside advanced manufacturing capabilities. The acquisition of SunPower in 2025 and DAS Solar in 2026 further strengthens TCL Zhonghuan's position in high-efficiency BC technology.

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Daily Hampshire Gazette
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WHATELY — Belchertown-based Hyperion Systems LLC detailed its plans to install a 2.14-acre solar array at Chang Farm on Thursday night, when the Zoning Board of Appeals held its first public hearing for the project.
According to the special permit application, the array would be located at 299 River Road and include 960 solar panels standing 10 feet high. The panels would be separated into 10 rows spaced 27 feet apart to allow for farming. According to Doug Serrill, the landscape architect for the project with Berkshire Design Group, Sidney Chang of Chang Farm plans to plant strawberries under the solar panels for the first three years after the panels are installed before switching to asparagus.
“The ethos or mantra of Hyperion is food first, then energy,” explained Jake Marley, who manages the solar company. “The real intent there is fitting an energy system within an agricultural practice and not the other way around.”
Forest surrounds the site of the proposed array, creating a natural screen for the solar panels, Serrill said. The array would sit on slopes with a grade below 15%, meeting the town’s bylaw requirement, and construction would not entail any excavation, site grading or soil disturbance beyond the farm’s typical operations, he added.
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The array would also include four inverters within a chain-link fence, with an attached sign listing who to call in the event of an issue. If the solar project is installed, a system would remotely monitor the arrays 24/7 to catch any issues, and licensed professionals would perform “system checkups” virtually and in-person at the site.
ZBA Chair Debra Carney thanked Serrill for his presentation of the proposal, calling it “very thorough, very detailed [and] very helpful.”
The town’s bylaw reads that, “All facilities must be located at least 100 feet from any wetland or priority habitat area as delineated in accordance with the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act regulations at 321 CMR 10.00 or successor regulation.” According to Serrill, the closest solar panel post falls within 42.5 feet of vegetative wetlands.
However, given that the 20 posts within the wetland buffer cover 1.4 square feet of the wetland area, the Conservation Commission found the project’s impact on the wetlands to be minimal and approved the layout on the condition that the wetland area be marked with flags during construction, Serrill said.
Serrill, on behalf of the applicant, argued that the project satisfies the bylaw because the language only refers to the Endangered Species Act, not the Wetlands Protection Act that regulates wetland setbacks. He added that no habitats for species designated as rare under the Endangered Species Act lie within the site, therefore meeting the bylaw.
“It is reasonable to infer that the intent of this provision is to regulate wetlands that have rare species present,” Serrill said, “which is not the case at 299 River Road.”
“I just sometimes wonder why we have protected areas if you can violate protected areas,” ZBA member Robert Smith said.
While ZBA Vice Chair Roger Lipton said the Conservation Commission’s approval was sufficient enough for him to not “drill down on this issue anymore,” Carney and Smith decided to enlist town counsel’s legal insight.
“The issue for me is that there’s a plausible counterargument, and it all has to do with what that clause modifies and the fact that the coordinating conjunction is an ‘or’ not an ‘and,’” Carney said. “There’s a real linguistic puzzle here, but it is a puzzle, so it’s not clear. … It’s a very well-designed and presented project, but there is a dilemma that could result in creating a precedent.”
Smith also brought up the cadmium in the solar panels, a naturally occurring metal that can pose health risks if people inhale it or consume foods with “rarely seen” levels of it, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Cadmium can be found in soil and rocks and, according to Marley, is often in electronics.
Based on feedback Marley said he has heard from soil scientists, he added, “You’d have to take a panel, put it through a chipper in really fine pieces, spread it across the field, plow it into the soil and wait some number of years for the [cadmium] to really bind into the soils and take a hold.” Marley then agreed to send the ZBA further information on cadmium, including testing that Hyperion Systems LLC completed for the members to review.
Smith said his questions during the hearing came from his concern about setting risky precedents.
“I thought your presentation was excellent,” Smith continued. “I think it’s a great idea.”
The ZBA continued the hearing to its next meeting on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 6 p.m. In the meantime, the members will visit the site of the proposed array on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m. The site visit is open to the public and will be for “visual purposes only,” Carney said, meaning the ZBA will not discuss the project or take comments from abutters.

Aalianna Marietta is the South County reporter. She is a graduate of UMass Amherst and was a journalism intern at the Recorder while in school. She can be reached at amarietta@recorder.com or 413-930-4081. More by Aalianna Marietta
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By ANTON L. DELGADO, SIBI ARASU and SUZAN FRASER
ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Five countries have backed a plan to double the number of homes with rooftop solar panels worldwide by 2030, as U.N. climate talks in Turkey focus on expanding access to electricity and transitioning away from fossil fuels.
The new Global Rooftop Solar Declaration launched Tuesday on the second day of this year’s climate talks, known as COP31. The aim is to double the number of homes with rooftop solar panels from about 150 million today to at least 300 million by 2030.
“This is the future of affordable energy,” said Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council. “This is the way we can help average working people insure themselves from future price rises to come.”
COP31 comes after a year of deadly climate-related disasters and as concern grows that governments are not doing enough to curb global warming. Recent energy shocks from the Russia-Ukraine war and Iran war have also increased interest in renewables.
The U.N. climate talks have been criticized in the past for making promises that later fall flat. For rooftop solar goals to actually make a dent in the emissions contributing to climate change, experts said policies to upgrade power grids and subsidize solar panels and batteries must quickly follow.
“The pledge is a pledge,” said Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance. “We now need to see national policies and frameworks in place.”
Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Vanuatu joined Australia by endorsing the rooftop solar declaration in the Turkish resort town of Antalya, where COP31 is being co-hosted by Turkey and Australia.
Lawmakers from 21 other countries — including the United Kingdom, South Africa and Sri Lanka — have also endorsed it. So has Indonesia’s state-owned electric power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
The declaration is voluntary and non-binding, like many of the agreements made at U.N. climate talks.
“We know the world is currently facing the greatest energy cost of living crisis the world has ever seen,” Dunlop said. “We know that families all over the world are struggling to pay their bills and what we are saying with the Global Rooftop Solar Declaration is that we have a solution that will bring down your bills.”
Electrification is a cornerstone of this year’s talks, with Turkey pushing for electricity — preferably from renewables like solar and wind — to make up 35% of global energy consumption by 2035.
“Electrification by itself is incredibly beneficial because of the efficiency gains. Renewables by themselves, again, very beneficial. Put the two together and it is really a killer combination,” Douglas said.
Turkey’s electrification pledge and Australia’s rooftop solar declaration put a spotlight on the energy mix of both nations, which still rely heavily on fossil fuels.
In Turkey, home to one of Europe’s largest solar farms, solar and wind make up nearly 23% of energy generation. But coal was still the country’s largest source of electricity last year, accounting for 33% of generation, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
In Australia, one in three homes has rooftop solar and more than 700,000 homes have batteries to store excess energy. But coal still makes up more than 40% of electricity generation in Australia, which is also one of the world’s largest coal exporters.
“Setting ambitious renewable targets without addressing grid capacity, storage and the continued role of coal risks undermining energy security, reliability and affordability,” said Michelle Manook of FutureCoal, an industry-backed group formerly known as the World Coal Association.
The tension between renewable rollouts and continued coal use is mirrored in the world’s most populous countries, China and India. They have both installed record-breaking amounts of renewables, but sometimes lose the energy because of insufficient transmission and storage capacity.
“Energy storage deployment must catch up with the speed of renewables deployment,” said Nikit Abhyankar, with the India Energy and Climate Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
“Otherwise, it creates massive operational challenges for the grid, resulting in significant curtailment,” he said, referring to the practice of limiting electricity output because the grid cannot handle it.
Rooftop solar panels are often decentralized from power grids, meaning that electricity is generated, stored and managed near where it is consumed, rather than coming from distant power plants.
This makes solar ideal for remote communities and hard-hit areas, like refugee camps and disaster zones.
Renewables, largely driven by solar from China and India, generated more than a third of the world’s electricity last year, overtaking coal for the first time.
The Iran war’s energy shock has also spurred solar interest in energy-hungry regions, like Southeast Asia, which was hit hard by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and sent into a state of energy triage.
Indonesia pledged to install 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2029. Thailand and Vietnam are offering subsidies for rooftop solar installations, and the Philippines became the second-largest destination for Chinese solar exports in the first quarter of 2026.
National policies must swiftly follow the COP31 promises to address issues like the funding of subsidies for consumers, clearer policies for solar companies and the availability of qualified installers, according to Sheryl Estella, with the nonprofit New Energy Nexus in the Philippines.
“This is an opportunity that we should not waste,” she said. “This is the biggest wave of interest in rooftop solar that we have seen so far.”
Delgado reported from Bangkok and Arasu from Bengaluru, India.
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 Boston Herald. All rights reserved. The use of any content on this website for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems, algorithms, machine learning models, text and data mining, or similar use is strictly prohibited without explicit written consent.

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Tesla slims Cybertruck offerings to only its most expensive trim
Tesla exec hints at a wild fix for Robotaxi’s biggest weather problem
Tesla Robotaxi enters its newest city, reaching San Antonio
Tesla begins groundworks on $10B ‘Project Crystal Sun’ in Texas
Elon Musk keeps justifying Tesla Cybertruck’s cancelation, but it’s confusing
Tesla slims Cybertruck offerings to only its most expensive trim
Tesla exec hints at a wild fix for Robotaxi’s biggest weather problem
Tesla begins groundworks on $10B ‘Project Crystal Sun’ in Texas
Elon Musk keeps justifying Tesla Cybertruck’s cancelation, but it’s confusing
Tesla Cybercab is set to get some massive improvements
SpaceX’s Anthropic deal has a catch, and Elon Musk just addressed it
Elon Musk spotlights the Starlink rescue that got through where no cell tower could
SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15
SpaceX’s next Starship flight set to make history on Friday the 13th
Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX decline after Democratic Midterm sweep
Tesla slims Cybertruck offerings to only its most expensive trim
Elon Musk keeps justifying Tesla Cybertruck’s cancelation, but it’s confusing
SpaceX’s Anthropic deal has a catch, and Elon Musk just addressed it
Elon Musk spotlights the Starlink rescue that got through where no cell tower could
SpaceX will perform Starship double catch attempt with Flight 15
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Tesla has started to perform earthworks engineering on the roughly 3,000-acre site in Fort Bend County, Texas, advancing the massive $10 billion Project Crystal Sun plan to build a vertically integrated solar manufacturing complex.
Flyover drone footage from S.E. Robinson, Jr. released this morning shows the location under development. Tesla has crews on site performing large clearings, but you can also see equipment staging areas, the use of an existing homestead, and active leveling across a substantial portion of the property.

Tesla has started construction on Project Crystal Sun, its $10B vertically integrated solar factory near Houston, Texas.

The plant will make everything from silicon ingots and wafers to finished cells and panels, with operations targeted for Q1 2029.

@SERobinsonJr with a great flyover of the facility:

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 9, 2026

Tesla has started construction on Project Crystal Sun, its $10B vertically integrated solar factory near Houston, Texas.
The plant will make everything from silicon ingots and wafers to finished cells and panels, with operations targeted for Q1 2029.
@SERobinsonJr with a great flyover of the facility:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 9, 2026

Public filings first submitted in July under Texas’s Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act describe a plant that would manufacture the full solar chain: everything from silicon ingots, wafers, coated cells, and finished modules.
Tesla projects 9,712 permanent jobs by 2033, ramping from roughly 1,900 positions in the first year of operations, plus a peak of about 1,147 construction jobs. Construction is targeted for 2026–2028, with commercial production beginning in the first quarter of 2029. An accompanying economic analysis estimates the project could add roughly $107 billion to Texas GDP over several decades.
Local incentives have cleared major hurdles. Lamar Consolidated Independent School District unanimously approved school-tax limitations in September, and Fort Bend County commissioners approved a package of abatements and related agreements in late October that could extend equipment tax breaks for as long as 35 years.
Tesla had previously indicated it was evaluating a competing out-of-state location.
The effort fits broader statements by Musk that Tesla and SpaceX are each working toward 100 gigawatts of annual U.S. solar manufacturing capacity. If built as described, Project Crystal Sun would stand as one of the largest domestic attempts to create a fully integrated solar supply chain on American soil.
While Tesla has not issued a formal groundbreaking announcement, the visible site preparation and high-profile social media activity represent a concrete step forward for a project that has moved from confidential filings to active earthworks in a matter of months.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you’re looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com
Taiwan’s Apollo Power orders 260 Tesla Megapacks, betting AI data centers will need more electricity.
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A Taiwanese power company has ordered 260 Tesla Megapack 2XL units, roughly 1GWh of storage, betting that electricity rather than chips will decide how fast AI data centers come online. Apollo Power signed the contract with Tesla’s Taiwan energy arm on October 8, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan stock exchange.
The filing says the units are meant for behind the meter storage and resilient grid projects, with delivery in batches from the end of 2027 and sites operating in 2028. Apollo and Tesla did not disclose a price, citing a confidentiality agreement. Apollo plans to pay for the equipment through a cash capital increase and bank financing, and it noted the purchase is not revenue and does not mean it holds firm orders from its partners.
Biggo reported that only about 33 units are under signed customer contracts, with roughly 150 more in negotiation. The same report put total project investment near NT$130 billion, but that figure includes installation work, with the equipment itself making up about 40 to 50 percent. In other words, a large share of this order is Apollo reserving supply ahead of demand. Apollo’s chairman told local media global large storage supply is tight, which is why the company locked in the units early, according to Yahoo Taiwan Finance.

Tesla Taiwan partners with Costco to sell vehicles

Tesla Taiwan partners with Costco to sell vehicles

Apollo also launched an AI data center and grid resilience alliance with Phison, Gigabyte and Shihlin Electric. The pitch rests on a pilot at Phison’s Zhunan plant, where Apollo and Tesla Energy Taiwan installed grid forming Megapack 2XLs in June. Tesla Energy Taiwan general manager Sun Hsiao-Han said the project went from demo to 1GWh in four months, and that Tesla Energy has deployed more than 50GWh worldwide.
Taiwan’s cabinet has approved amendments that would require large energy users to install their own generation and storage, which gives enterprise storage a regulatory tailwind.

The deal fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked. Tesla’s Megablock targets 1GWh commissioned in 20 business days, a pitch aimed squarely at fast moving data center builds. Megapacks already back xAI’s Colossus in Memphis and a 400MW AI campus in Brazil. Sun Media adds that Megapack 2XL was named among the first products in Nvidia’s DSX Ready qualification for battery storage in AI factories.
Deliveries are more than a year away, so the real test is how much of that 260 unit order turns into signed customer contracts.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can power your home with Powerwall 3 during outages.
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Tesla has turned its two top sellers into backup batteries for the house.
Tesla Energy announced on Tuesday that Powershare Home Backup is now available for new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles paired with a Powerwall 3, saying the car can “extend your home backup by over 2 days.” Minutes later, Tesla’s main account quoted the post with a broader pitch: “With Powerwall 3, every Tesla can now serve as your home’s backup battery.”
Until this week, the Cybertruck was the only Tesla that could send power back into a home, and that capability only began working alongside Powerwall 3 last month, after years of ambitious targets.
Tesla’s updated Powershare page says every Model 3 and Model Y ordered in the U.S. or Puerto Rico on or after October 1, 2026 can use the feature. Some, but not all, earlier cars also qualify. Owners can check on the touchscreen under Software, then Additional Vehicle Information, where a capable car shows “Powershare Support: Enabled.” As Electrek reported, bidirectional power on the two cars runs through an inverter Tesla calls PCS2 Lite, and the company has not said when that part entered production on each trim.
The home side is simpler. A house that already has a Powerwall 3 and either a Wall Connector 3 or Universal Wall Connector needs no additional equipment, and Tesla says compatibility is enabled through a software update. When the grid drops, the Powerwall and the car work together, with up to 11.52 kW of continuous power available. Tesla’s “over two days” estimate assumes a home using 30 kWh per day and a car starting at a 90 percent charge. Standard trims are rated for up to two days, while the Cybertruck adds more than three.
There are limits. Powerwall 2 and Powerwall+ support is listed as “coming soon.” Model S and Model X are not included, and Grid Support, the program that lets Cybertruck owners in Texas send power back to the grid during demand spikes for bill credits, is not available for Model 3 or Model Y.

The rollout also lines up with something Elon Musk said more than three years ago. At Tesla’s March 2023 Investor Day, Musk said, “I don’t think very many people are going to want to use bidirectional charging, unless you have a Powerwall.” Tesla has now shipped the feature for its volume cars with exactly that requirement attached.
The Powerwall pairing was the hard part on Cybertruck. Tesla told owners in December 2025 that Powershare with Powerwall had been pushed to mid 2026, and lead engineer Wes Morrill explained that two devices capable of forming a home’s grid have to negotiate which one leads during an outage, across multiple generations of hardware. With that work done for the truck, Tesla was able to extend it to the Model 3 and Model Y within a month.
Ford and GM have offered home backup from their EVs for several years, but both require a separate inverter and backup hardware. Tesla’s version leans on equipment many Powerwall 3 owners already have on the wall. Powershare for the two cars also ships as part of software update 2026.38.3, the same release that began delivering Halloween Mode on Tuesday.
Google will launch its first Project Suncatcher AI satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare next week.
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Google is about to put its own AI chips into orbit for the first time, and it is paying SpaceX to get them there.
The company said Thursday that the first in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, its research effort to find out whether space can host large-scale AI computing, will fly next week on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.
The satellite, called MVP, is about the size of a refrigerator and carries four of Google’s Tensor Processing Units, the same chips Google runs in its ground data centers. Google originally planned to launch two custom satellites in 2027, but chose to move faster by integrating its chips into a satellite.
MVP’s solar panels supply about one kilowatt of power, and Google will run Gemini models on the TPUs only in bursts of roughly 15 minutes before the chips shut down so the radiators can shed heat. In a blog post, Google said its Trillium TPUs survived vibration testing that mimicked sustained launch loads of up to 10g, with individual components seeing 50 to 100g, and handled a radiation dose greater than a five year mission would deliver.

SpaceX and Google mull massive partnership on Musk’s orbital data dream: report

SpaceX and Google mull massive partnership on Musk’s orbital data dream: report

Next week’s flight, slated for October 1, follows a relationship that became public in May, when Teslarati reported that Google was in talks with SpaceX for a launch deal tied to orbital data centers. Google also holds a stake of roughly 6% in SpaceX.

The two companies are chasing the same idea from very different starting points. SpaceX’s own orbital compute program is built around the AI1 satellite, a roughly 70 meter structure derived from Starlink V3 hardware that is designed for 150 kW of peak compute, about 150 times the power MVP will draw. Elon Musk has brushed off concerns about crowding orbit with those satellites, and SpaceX is building its Gigasat factory in Bastrop, Texas, to produce them, targeting an annualized rate of about 1 GW of space compute by the end of 2027.
Musk also posted on X on Thursday that “the amount of compute in space will obviously round up to 100% of all compute.”
Google has been more cautious in public. Its research estimates that launch prices need to fall below about $200 per kilogram before an orbital data center can compete with a ground facility on energy cost, a threshold the company believes could be reached around the mid 2030s. The Suncatcher team has said it expects the effort to remain a project rather than a product for years, which leaves the first real test of its hardware riding on a rocket from the company with the most aggressive timeline in the field.
Copyright © TESLARATI. All rights reserved.

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CSPR Receives New Jersey’s 2026 Jersey Recycling Industry Award for Leadership in Solar Panel Recycling  The Detroit News
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