Solar Now

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“A PV system output is too variable for most electronics to be happy.”
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A homeowner’s solar experiment cut annual grid electricity use on the meter serving their water boiler from 2,100 to 800 kilowatt-hours. After that success, they turned to an online community with the more ambitious proposal of operating their solar system off-grid without batteries.
The homeowner shared their setup in Reddit’s r/Victron, describing seven Leapton 460-watt solar panels, an Eco-solar boost 3000 MPPT inverter, electrical protection equipment, and a three-position switch for selecting grid or solar power for the boiler.
“It was kind of an experiment to see how much energy it will save,” they explained.
Together, the panels had a rated capacity of 3,220 watts. The home had two electricity meters, and the homeowner tracked the reduction on the one connected to the water boiler.
“I would like to ask about the possibility of a completely off-grid and battery-free solar system,” they wrote.
For homeowners investigating the storage side of that question, EnergySage offers a resource for exploring battery products and comparing competitive installation estimates.
The reported savings amounted to 1,300 kilowatt-hours annually, or about 62% of that meter’s previous grid consumption., The homeowner noted autumn and winter conditions, including snow, cloud cover, and fog, affected the outcome.
The water-heating output came from an inverter, which took direct-current electricity from the panels. Their plan was to add a Victron Multi RS with two new arrays to power other home equipment. The original poster’s idea to try to bypass a battery prompted red flags in the comments.
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“A PV system always needs a buffer,” one person wrote. “It’s impossible for a PV system to constantly exactly match whatever the loads are pulling, so it needs a buffer.”
Commenters recommended using batteries for the proposed off-grid system because they can act as the necessary buffer between the panels and household loads.
For homeowners weighing that expense, EnergySage has partnered with electrification company Qmerit. The partnership’s goal is to help customers find the best available battery storage pricing.
Using solar power for a specific household task while retaining access to the grid can substantially reduce purchased electricity without requiring the entire home to operate independently.
Adding appropriately sized battery storage can extend those benefits by keeping selected household needs powered during an outage. Storing solar electricity for later use can also reduce electricity purchases and support greater energy independence, including in systems designed to operate off-grid.
“You at least need a battery to use as a sink for charge and discharge at the same time,” a user explained. “A PV system output is too variable for most electronics to be happy.”
After some back and forth, the original poster caught on.
“Now it is getting clear for me,” they wrote. “If I read the tech doc right, the Multi RS solar (48/6000) is able to work off-grid, but needs a battery to do that.”
For readers whose priority is backup power for essentials, Pila offers a plug-and-play battery alternative at a substantially lower price point than whole-home backup systems.
Choosing whether to add batteries comes down to when you need power, whether you have grid access, and what installation will cost. 
• A solar newcomer learned how the grid covers gaps when panels operate without batteries.
• A solar buyer questioned overnight battery coverage after hearing batteries usually don’t last all night.
• In Connecticut, adding batteries raised a homeowner’s solar quote from $51,000 to $91,000.
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Oklahoma Farm Report

Farm Bureau members, counties honored at OKFB’s 85th annual meeting
Nov 09
As solar energy development continues to expand, farmers and ranchers are finding new ways to keep agricultural land productive. Oklahoma Farm Report intern Haden Snelson spoke with American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) President Chad Raines at the Oklahoma Solar Summit in Stillwater about how livestock grazing and solar energy production can work together.
Raines explained that ASGA is a nationwide nonprofit organization founded by farmers to educate producers and solar developers about the benefits and practices of solar grazing.
“We’re an organization, you know, created by the farmers, for the farmers,” Raines said.
The association works with producers and solar companies to establish management practices and expectations for grazing livestock on solar facilities. Raines said the organization also participates in policy discussions and provides educational resources for those interested in getting involved.
According to Raines, sheep have become the most common livestock used for solar grazing because of their size, temperament and ability to manage vegetation around solar panels.
“Basically, my sheep are four-legged lawnmowers,” Raines said. “They keep the grass down.”
He explained that solar grazing operations typically use rotational grazing methods, moving sheep between smaller sections of a solar facility to control vegetation growth. Electric fencing is often used to divide larger areas into manageable grazing paddocks.
Rather than transporting livestock between different locations, Raines said sheep generally remain within a solar facility and rotate between sections as needed.
Sheep also offer advantages over larger livestock when working around sensitive solar equipment.
“They’re fairly docile animals,” Raines said, explaining that sheep are less likely to damage wiring or panels.
He added that sheep tend to favor weeds, which can become a problem for solar operators when taller vegetation begins shading panels and interfering with energy production.
Beyond vegetation management, Raines believes solar grazing can provide agricultural benefits for both livestock and pastureland.
He said the partial shade provided by solar panels can help grasses retain moisture and remain green longer while also giving sheep relief from summer heat.
For Raines, one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding solar development is that agricultural production must end when solar panels are installed.
“You drive by, you may see the big solar arrays out off the interstate and think that, you know, we’re losing farmland to solar. It’s not the case,” Raines said. “We’re able to integrate both.”
He believes the industry has only begun exploring the possibilities of combining solar energy development with traditional agricultural practices.
“We’ve just now scratched the surface of what can be done on solar,” Raines said.
As more solar facilities are developed, Raines hopes producers and landowners recognize that renewable energy infrastructure does not necessarily mean the end of agricultural activity.
“So, when you drive by and you see the solar array out there, just think that agriculture is still going on,” Raines said.

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The 31 MW solar farm, which will incorporate a 25 MW / 100 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), has successfully completed full-output testing and is now operating at full output.
The project’s solar component is supported by an offtake agreement with data center operator AirTrunk, which provides long-term contracted demand for the project’s renewable electricity.
“Having Mulwala operating at full output is an important step for our activities in Australia. We have taken the project through development, construction, energization and commissioning, and we are now delivering renewable electricity in New South Wales,” said Catriona McLeod, VP and Head of European Energy Australia
 “The majority of the green electricity is going to AirTrunk, with a portion of the energy uncontracted and simply feeding into the grid for energy consumers in New South Wales. We thank our partner AirTrunk for joining us to officially open the site and look forward to continuing the collaboration.”
“AirTrunk is proud to support European Energy’s Mulwala project. The solar farm is now operating at full output, adding renewable generation to NSW. It shows how long-term demand from digital infrastructure can support new renewable generation and contribute to Australia’s energy transition. Partnerships like this can also create meaningful opportunities for local communities,” said Sabooh Whitelaw, Associate Vice President, Utility and Energy, Airtrunk.
Construction of Mulwala Solar Farm began in September 2025 and created more than 250 local jobs with the on-site workforce peaking at 73 per day.
The project required more than 40,000 working hours to install over 50,000 solar panels supported by almost 7,000 piles. Construction was completed in March of this year and energised the same month.
Commissioning and testing continued through 2026, culminating in the project successfully operating at full output in recent weeks before European Energy and AirTrunk joined local stakeholders to officially open the farm.
Mulwala forms part of European Energy’s expanding Australian portfolio across solar, wind and battery storage. European Energy develops and manages across the lifespan of  renewable energy projects, with expertise from early-stage development through construction and operation.
“Moving a project from development through construction and into operation increases the maturity of our portfolio. Mulwala brings together three characteristics that are increasingly important for renewable energy investments: generation, storage and contracted demand,” said Thorvald Spanggaard, Executive Vice President and Head of Project Development at European Energy.
“Our model is to develop projects across the value chain and create high-quality energy infrastructure that can remain in our portfolio and also provide opportunities for partnerships. Mulwala adds another operating asset to that platform in Australia.”
With Mulwala now operating at full output, European Energy continues to expand its renewable energy activities in Australia, with further solar, wind and battery storage projects under development across the country.

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Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems Offer Viable Pathway for Somalia Power Grid
A comprehensive feasibility analysis evaluating energy infrastructure in Somalia indicates that hybrid renewable energy systems combining solar photovoltaics and wind power offer a technically viable and economically competitive alternative to conventional diesel-based electricity generation. Somalia currently contends with low electrification rates, exceptionally high electricity tariffs, and a systemic reliance on imported fossil fuels to operate local diesel generators. Despite the country possessing substantial natural resources, particularly high equatorial solar irradiance and favorable coastal wind regimes, the integration of these sustainable energy alternatives into the broader national network remains constrained. To investigate the practical potential of transitioning away from fossil fuel dependence, researchers conducted a systematic review examining peer-reviewed literature, policy documents, and empirical case studies published between 2010 and 2025. The investigation synthesizes technical performance metrics, capital requirements, operating expenses, and institutional structures into an integrated analytical framework to assess how hybrid configurations can sustainably meet burgeoning power demand across urban, rural, and off-grid districts.
The study contextualizes Somalia’s immediate electrification challenge within its broader demographic trajectory and national development priorities. Driven by steady economic growth and population expansion, Somalia faces a rapidly escalating demand for power that will require domestic generation capacity to double within the coming decade. Historical data shows that production capacity expanded from 115 megawatts to 344 megawatts between June 2015 and June 2021, and household survey data from 2023 indicated that over half the population had gained access to electricity services. Nevertheless, roughly 1.3 billion individuals globally lack reliable electricity, and sub-Saharan Africa remains disproportionately affected, with sixty-eight percent of its 915 million residents deficient in electricity access. For Somalia, relying on decentralized diesel generators exposes the economy to volatile international oil markets, highlighting the strategic necessity of harnessing local, clean energy alternatives.
To establish the technical foundation for hybrid renewable deployment, the research outlines the physical and complementary dynamics of combining solar photovoltaic arrays with wind turbines. The analytical modeling evaluated solar resources characterized by an average daily irradiation of 5.5 kilowatt-hours per square meter alongside average wind speeds ranging between 4 and 6 meters per second across representative territory. Photovoltaic conversion utilizes semiconductor materials operating on the photovoltaic effect, delivering average system conversion efficiencies between fifteen and twenty percent.
Determining the optimal system dimensions requires precise mathematical formulations to balance electrical generation against load demands while minimizing total lifecycle expenditure. The study models the sizing of solar photovoltaic capacity by dividing the daily electrical energy demand by the product of average solar irradiance and array efficiency, incorporating derating factors to account for temperature coefficients, module operating temperatures, and wiring losses. The required number of solar panels is subsequently determined by dividing this total rated capacity by the nominal peak power rating of an individual commercial panel. Wind turbine sizing relies on stochastic modeling that accounts for temporal velocity distributions rather than simple average speeds, calculating turbine numbers by dividing aggregate required wind capacity by single turbine outputs. Backup diesel generation capacity is mathematically specified to match or exceed the peak electrical load, ensuring that critical demand is consistently satisfied during protracted intervals of overcast skies, calm winds, or extreme consumption spikes.
Energy storage and power conditioning architectures represent critical components in maintaining electrical reliability and supply autonomy within autonomous hybrid networks. The research details sizing protocols for battery storage banks based on daily load consumption, designated days of autonomy, and predefined depth of discharge parameters to prevent premature cell degradation. Lead-acid batteries provide an affordable upfront solution with an established recycling infrastructure but require operating limits around fifty percent depth of discharge and frequent physical maintenance. In contrast, modern lithium-ion batteries support depths of discharge reaching eighty percent, presenting longer cycle lifetimes, superior energy density, and reduced servicing requirements, with emerging flow batteries offering future utility-scale opportunities. Power conversion apparatus must be meticulously balanced; inverters converting direct current to alternating current are sized between twenty-five and thirty percent above total appliance wattage and three times the rating of inductive compressor loads, while active power requirements for battery recharging are modeled as functions of daily insolation and array productivity.
System performance and multi-scenario optimization were evaluated using the HOMER Pro simulation software developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The simulation engine models hourly power balance constraints across an entire operational year, continuously comparing load requirements against synthetic Typical Meteorological Year weather sequences. When solar array output exceeds demand, power is prioritized for direct consumption with excess directed toward battery charging. During cloudy intervals or periods of weak insolation, battery state of charge is monitored, releasing stored energy until reaching the maximum depth of discharge threshold, at which point backup diesel generation automatically engages to bridge the deficit.
Historical cost trends analyzed from 2010 through 2025 illustrate dramatic reductions in renewable technology capital expenditures, fundamentally shifting the economic landscape in favor of hybrid adoption. Over the same timeframe, the cost of operating conventional diesel generators remained elevated and is projected to rise further due to increasing fuel logistics expenses and carbon compliance standards.
Empirical results from a localized district feasibility study demonstrate that a properly configured hybrid system can reliably serve an electrical demand of approximately 2.5 megawatts with an anticipated five percent annual load growth. The financial modeling indicates that while hybrid renewable installations require substantial initial capital investment compared to buying simple diesel generators, their drastically lower fuel and maintenance costs result in a markedly lower Levelized Cost of Electricity over the equipment lifespan. The estimated payback period for capital recovery ranges between three and seven years, dictated by local financing terms, system sizing ratios, and load factors. In addition to delivering cheaper electricity over time, deploying hybrid microgrids provides significant environmental dividends by displacing fossil fuel combustion, abating local atmospheric pollutants, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and insulating local businesses from international fossil fuel price shocks.
Despite the unequivocal technical viability and long-term economic advantages, the review identifies critical structural barriers that currently impede large-scale commercial renewable deployment across Somalia.
To overcome these developmental bottlenecks, the study outlines a structured strategic roadmap designed to accelerate clean energy adoption and guide policymaking across Somalia and comparable developing regions. Engaging local municipalities, community leaders, and domestic firms ensures that system designs match real-world load demand while cultivating local workforce capabilities through job creation in installation, system servicing, and continuous performance monitoring. By implementing these coordinated technical, financial, and policy interventions, Somalia can harness its abundant solar and wind resources to establish a resilient, self-sustaining energy foundation.
Subject of Research: Feasibility and techno-economic evaluation of hybrid renewable energy systems for electricity generation in Somalia
Article Title: Feasibility analysis of renewable energy integration trends and future research directions in Somalia
Article References: Yusuf, A. Y. (2026). Feasibility analysis of renewable energy integration trends and future research directions in Somalia. Discover Energy, 6(1), Article 90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43937-026-00173-0
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s43937-026-00173-0
Keywords: renewable energy, hybrid energy systems, solar photovoltaics, wind energy, Somalia, energy transition, HOMER Pro, microgrid, diesel displacement, energy policy, Feasibility, analysis
News Source: Faith Mcneil. (November 9, 2026). Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems Offer Viable Pathway for Somalia Power Grid. Scienmag.
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By Canary Media
Canary Media
9 November 2026
CHRISTIANA, Tenn. — As sunlight fell between the gaps in flinty November clouds, I found myself impressed by the quietness of the lawn mowers in a Middle Tennessee solar field. Instead of the obnoxious roar of diesel engines, they just produced an occasional moo.
Six months ago, Tennessee’s largest solar developer, Silicon Ranch, channeled its nomenclature and brought cattle to this 3.25-megawatt solar project. The 15-member herd rotates among 15 paddocks marked out by simple electrical wire, munching Bermuda grass that grows in the shade of the panels, which sit on higher-than-usual steel piles. The cows seem amenable to the situation, judging by how plump they’ve become in that short time.
This is the first commercially viable utility-scale project combining solar and cattle farming in the U.S., according to Silicon Ranch (an earlier 2-MW project from AES sought to prove the concept in Massachusetts’ community solar market). If the model takes off, it could boost revenues for farmers while producing more clean, cheap electricity in regions that don’t have a lot of wide-open, unused spaces to develop. And it might remedy a major obstacle to ongoing solar growth.
The U.S. builds more solar installations than any other form of power plant these days. But the industry’s upstart success story is colliding with a bulwark of local opposition from communities that don’t like the idea of this relatively new technology taking over their landscapes. One way around that conflict is to use the same land for solar power and agriculture.
The solar industry already has adopted sheep grazing as a mainstream approach to cutting grass at project sites, while supporting a secondary market for domestic meat. Researchers have also found that grasses and some crops grow better in the shade of photovoltaic panels than in an open field. But the burgeoning ​“agrivoltaics” sector has almost entirely excluded one of the major pillars of American agriculture — cattle ranching — for the simple reason that rambunctious bovines could easily wreck the carefully calibrated solar panels.
“If you’re designing a solar facility that is suitable for cattle grazing, it generally requires more specific and unique design,” said Terry Jennings, principal team leader for renewable energy at the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit that studies the electricity sector. That ​“adds cost to the overall project, which is challenging for utilities or electric power companies.” But he noted that research on this topic is still pretty new, and a lot of uncertainty remains around ​“how cows really interact with the solar panels.” 
To go mainstream, and help meet America’s soaring demand for electricity with more carbon-free generation, cattle-friendly solar needs to appeal to large-scale developers who rigorously maximize megawatt-hours generated per acre while minimizing cost.
In the countryside about 45 minutes southeast of its Nashville headquarters, Silicon Ranch has found that the commonly understood challenges for cattle grazing alongside solar were a little overblown. 
“I thought it would work — I just didn’t think it would work this well,” said Loran Shallenberger, a longtime farmer who now runs Silicon Ranch’s Regenerative Energy and Agrivoltaics division.
Shallenberger’s team designed a system to withstand the presence of cows at a minimal cost premium. Even for this first utility-scale installation, they held the cost of fortifying the arrays to just 3% over the standard design, Shallenberger said, and nonetheless sold the power to local utility Middle Tennessee Electric for cheaper than the wholesale rates it was paying to the Tennessee Valley Authority. 
As far as climate solutions go, this doesn’t deal with the immense greenhouse gas emissions that arise from cow burps and farts; many climate activists want to phase out commercial cattle entirely for that reason, or for animal welfare motivations. But as long as cattle production is widespread in the U.S., doubling-booking pastureland for solar production could produce more clean energy in a space-constrained world.
Clever innovations in solar rarely go anywhere. Entrepreneurs might drive a news cycle with ​“solar freakin’ roadways” or solar roof tiles, but to succeed in this market requires ruthless efficiency and streamlined repeatability. Throwing a herd of cattle into the mix does not, at first glance, conform to that industrial mantra.
Shallenberger had ready answers for my journalistic skepticism. 
On the hardware side, after studying the matter with a grant from the Department of Energy, Silicon Ranch resisted the urge to build towering solar supports, which would require even more steel underground to ensure stability. Instead, the company developed and patented a system dubbed CattleTracker: mildly elevated steel piles with customized controls for the tracker, supplied by NextPower.
Trackers typically rotate throughout the day to eke every last bit of electricity out of the sun’s arc. At the Christiana solar farm, the trackers in that active paddock go into ​“graze mode,” which limits their rotation from a maximum tilt of 60 degrees from the ground to 20 or 30 degrees — so the lower edges of the panels remain above the animals’ heads. At a regular solar farm, the low end of a fully tilted solar panel is 24 inches off the ground, but I could walk beneath the CattleTracker system with just a little ducking.
The cattle do their part to make this work. 
Shallenberger bought a herd of Murray Greys, an Australian breed that ​“are widely regarded as having uniformly calm dispositions” — the kind of cattle you could grab a beer with. That docility makes them less inclined to damage solar equipment or charge at a technician who’s checking out the site. They helpfully don’t grow very tall, and they have ​“consistently good carcasses,” industry lingo for qualities like high meat-to-bone ratio and well-marbled steaks. Plus, Murray Greys can fatten up on grass alone, so they could be ready for market in 18 to 24 months without a stop at a feedlot.
I saw one specimen scratch its head against a steel pile, but none of the herd could reach the sensitive equipment. The concern is that if the cows hit the solar panels hard enough, they could cause microfractures that over time diminish electricity production. Shallenberger said that if he were building the site now, he’d drop the pile height by 6 or 12 inches, because it turned out to be a little overbuilt.
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The nationwide cattle inventory has fallen to its lowest point in 75 years, as prolonged drought hits the vast arid ranchland of the Western states. Rising beef prices have incentivized ranchers in wetter parts of the country to get into the game. Tennessee, Shallenberger told me, is already one of the biggest cattle states east of the Mississippi.
Abundant local water sources aside, this was a particularly harsh summer in Tennessee. 
“If you’ve ever been out in a cattle ranch and there’s a single tree out in the middle of the pasture, they’re going to congregate around it for shade,” Silicon Ranch Chief Commercial Officer Matt Beasley said from his office in Nashville. Consequently, the cattle perform better under the shelter of solar arrays than in the open range, he noted.
The solar canopy also protects the grasses, keeping them green and dewy, even as nearby fields blanch and crisp in the sunlight. Shallanberger rotates the herd every few days, a key tenet of regenerative farming philosophy, so they munch on fresh grass while the rest of the field grows back. They move through all 15 paddocks in about 45 days; if the site relied on mechanical mowers, they’d trim every 45 days, too. 
That cycle also keeps the grasses from shading the panels or messing with the machinery. 
Vegetation management is one of the most significant costs for solar plant maintenance in the Southeast, Shallenberger said. In the first six months, the cattle took care of about 75% of the mowing — he had to bring in conventional equipment for some woody weeds that the cattle don’t care for. Once the pasture is more established, the herd could handle up to 95% of the site’s mowing needs.
“The team had this anthem: It’s got to be good for the land, good for the animal, and good for the solar,” Beasley said. ​“If it’s not good for all three, we’re not doing it.”
CattleTracker does reduce solar production slightly, given the limited tilt on the small subset of panels in the active paddock. Silicon Ranch is happy to trade that loss for the drastic reduction in major operational costs. The herd doesn’t need the hands-on attention that sheep require; a camera watches to ensure they have enough water, and an attendant visits twice a week to move paddocks and perform a wellness check.
Cattle-friendly solar’s bucolic charm is undeniable, but its impact hinges on widespread adoption.
“The hope is that it can be mainstream,” Shallenberger said. He pointed out that it doesn’t take more labor to open a paddock gate for 100 animals as opposed to 10, so the operational cost savings should scale favorably for larger solar projects.
Silicon Ranch expanded its use of sheep for pruning solar fields after its executives got to know Will Harris, a leader in the regenerative farming movement whose land neighbors a Silicon Ranch project in southwest Georgia. The developer acquired 400 ewes in 2022 and has grown the herd to 5,000 through selective breeding. Silicon Ranch also partners with 14 sheep-farming families across six states for managed grazing.
“In the back of our minds has always been, Can we replicate this with cattle?” said Beasley. Now, the team is scouring its development portfolio for sites to deploy CattleTracker. Silicon Ranch builds projects up to 300 MW, and hasn’t found any reason that cattle couldn’t graze at that scale.
“It’s not too long down the road that you’ll be able to try a beef burger or a steak raised on Silicon Ranch land,” Beasley said.
The company’s agrarian activities play a strategic role beyond diversifying revenue streams. Local opposition to solar projects has become ​“the most existential threat to deploying solar projects in this country,” Beasley said. Wild theories about solar keep spreading on social media, and the popular revolt against AI data center construction can spill over to resisting the renewable energy source, even though rows of panels don’t come with the same downsides, like immense water use, inescapable droning noise, and fossil-fueled generator fumes.
Beasley said that approaching rural communities as an authentic agribusiness — one committed to long-term stewardship of the land it owns — helps address a lot of their concerns.
“We’re not taking land out of ag production. In fact, most of the land that we’re buying wasn’t in ag production before, and we’re going to put it into ag production,” he said. ​“We’re going to raise grass-fed meats, and we’re going to hire local shepherds or partner with local farming families.”
The cows will release methane, making the site a bigger greenhouse gas emitter than it would be without the herd. But journalist Michael Grunwald, who literally wrote the book on how to feed the earth without exacerbating climate change, said the cattle-solar approach is a good example of the ​“sustainable intensification” that he wants to see more of.
“This acre that was already making a lot of energy, now it’s also making some beef,” he explained. ​“Somewhere else you can take a beef acre and make it carbon storage or something.” 
At scale, this dual use could produce much-needed food while easing pressure to convert other landscapes for cattle grazing. And half the ag land in the U.S. is dedicated to growing beef, Grunwald added. That leaves the hypothetical cattle-voltaics market plenty of room to grow.
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Julian Spector is a senior reporter at Canary Media. He reports on batteries, long-duration energy storage, low-carbon hydrogen, and clean energy breakthroughs around the world.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Nov 8, 2026, 5:59 AM | Updated: 4:33 pm
Solar panels generate electricity Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, near Boulder City, Nev. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Credit: AP Photo/John Locher
(AP Photo/John Locher)
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Some Democrats are promising to push for more clean energy to help tackle rising energy costs when they take control of Congress in January, though President Donald Trump says he will use his veto power aggressively.
With new majorities in the House and Senate after last week’s midterms, Democrats can set an agenda boosting clean energy and addressing climate change. While those are traditionally core priorities of the party, climate was not a central topic in this election cycle.
Democrats can begin investigations and hold hearings into climate policy rollbacks and elimination of green energy grants by the Republican administration, potentially trying to undo some changes and restore renewable energy incentives.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said Trump’s clean energy attacks drove up prices for taxpayers. He said Democrats will “work every angle to lower consumers’ energy costs, and we will demand accountability for the massive corruption wrought by Trump’s fossil-fuel donors.”
American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet said everybody who is trying to build clean energy “feels bolstered.”
Enacting major changes would require Republican support because Democrats will lack the numbers to override presidential vetoes. Even then, lower energy bills are not guaranteed because prices also depend on fuel costs, demand and the expense of maintaining the electric grid.
“The wins give Democrats more leverage over spending and more political power to advance a coherent agenda; the question is whether they’ll use that power effectively,” said Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. “The vote was for affordability and opportunity. Democrats now need to be clear about which policies deliver them.”
Trump holds veto power but thinks he and Democrats can deal
Trump said after Tuesday’s election that Democrats will send over “things that are insane” and he will veto them, speaking generally about legislation. But in the comments to Fox News, he predicted that “after a couple of months of vetoes,” he and Democrats will find ways to work together.
The White House said in a statement Wednesday that Trump is “committed to unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy sources to lower prices, strengthen our grid, and protect our national security, and is willing to work with anyone to accomplish this.”
Trump promised to lower energy prices. Instead, his war with Iran and other policies increased the price of gasoline, diesel and electricity. At the same time, the administration canceled many clean energy projects and grants and slowed clean energy permitting.
Trump particularly dislikes offshore wind. Developer Orsted said Thursday that Revolution Wind, a large wind farm in federal waters off Rhode Island, has started operating commercially.
Will the president change his tune on green energy? That’s doubtful, said former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., co-chair of the government relations practice at ArentFox Schiff.
“He is likely to keep pushing his energy issues, and I think he will be forced to give some room for a new Congress to recreate a different strategy that will add clean energy,” Dorgan said in an email.
Trump promotes expanding production of oil, natural gas and coal, which cause climate change, because he argues that would give the U.S. the lowest-cost electricity. Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group, said that as voters have changed the balance of political power in Washington, “the affordability message is unmistakable.”
Sommers said in a statement there is a real opportunity for bipartisan cooperation to reduce costs and strengthen the economy, starting with an energy permitting reform proposal announced in September. The legislation is aimed at shortening the timeline to get big energy projects started.
Ife Kilimanjaro, executive director of the U.S. Climate Action Network, said Democrats should reject that proposal and use their stronger position to pass legislation that actually builds out much-needed clean energy.
Reversing Trump’s anti-climate policies
The administration has reshaped the Environmental Protection Agency, reversing pollution limits as it promotes fossil fuels.
Clear Street energy transition analyst Tim Moore said he expects Democrats to investigate the climate and environmental rollbacks, in an effort to block some from taking effect. Democrats could also try amending the Clean Air Act to cut carbon pollution and push back against EPA budget cuts, he added.
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., said he is cautiously optimistic some Republicans will now seek to differentiate themselves from Trump and back pro-environmental policies. But without Republican support, Democrats’ more ambitious bills will largely lay out their agenda for 2028, he added.
Climate is not necessarily at the top of Democrats’ list of priorities. They are targeting healthcare access, trade tariffs and the Iran war.
Rep. Frank Pallone, the New Jersey Democrat who is expected to become chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the party should focus on healthcare, affordability, consumer and environmental protections, clean energy and regulating Big Tech.
A potential stalemate seen on clean energy and climate policy
David Victor, a professor of innovation and public policy at the University of California, San Diego, largely expects a stalemate at the federal level on climate and energy policy because of the divided government. He said agreement could come on some bipartisan measures such as a permitting overhaul.
Victor thinks Democratic-led investigations and hearings will center on corruption and other topics that may only touch on energy and climate. Like Casten, Victor said many of the Democratic bills likely will not become law, but will outline what Democrats could accomplish if they win the White House in 2028.
“The Democrats are going to be drafting things that the administration’s not going to like. They don’t have the votes to override a veto, and on top of it, the administration is going to be in turmoil because of its own electoral failures and because of all the investigations,” Victor said. “This seems to me, at the federal level, largely a recipe for kind of intense chaos over the next two years.”
One of the biggest wild cards is the behavior of the administration, which could use executive power to double down on rollbacks of climate and environmental rules, he said.
States could advance clean energy without waiting for Congress
Democrats scored victories in races for governor in states long controlled by Republicans, including Texas and Georgia.
Leah Stokes, a political scientist at the UC Santa Barbara, said there could be a lot of state action on climate next year because of those wins. That is where climate leadership has traditionally come from, she noted. At the federal level, Stokes is optimistic about extending clean energy tax credits since some Republicans support that.
Jay Inslee, a former Democratic governor and congressman from Washington, also expects growing momentum for clean energy in states that elected Democratic governors, particularly in states where they also won legislative majorities.
“This is a really powerful instrument for the United States to join the rest of the world and get back in a leadership position, even if we still have a climate denier that might exercise a veto on some things that we want to do federally,” Inslee said. “So I hope people will pay attention to the big progress we’re going to make on a state-level basis.”
___
Associated Press writers Alexa St. John and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. 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.

Associated Press
President Donald Trump, in his first major interview since his party lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, said he thinks his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that he thinks he can work with Democrats in the new Congress on some kind of immigration deal. Trump and his Department […]
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Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns Monday to a changed Washington, the Democrats having trounced Republicans in the midterm elections, but with President Donald Trump doubling down on his political threats despite the landmark GOP losses. Newly elected lawmakers arrived on Capitol Hill over the weekend, creating a jumble of split-screen moments reflective of the new […]
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ATLANTA (AP) — Former U.S. President Joe Biden writes in his White House memoir that Donald Trump, at once his predecessor and successor, has deeply damaged the country and world with an administration determined to “tear down institutions and inflame hatreds.” And the 83-year-old Democrat said the 80-year-old Trump’s years of lies about his 2020 […]
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Associated Press
VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — The start of a new school year can be nerve-wracking under any circumstances. But for thousands of students across the U.S., this academic year brought the added difficulty of adjusting to an entirely new school after their previous ones shuttered. As U.S. birth rates continue a multidecade slide and state and […]
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NEW YORK (AP) — The National Urban League will open a museum this weekend in Harlem dedicated to the civil rights struggles in the North, the first of its kind in New York City. Located in the Urban League’s Manhattan headquarters, the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem explores the region’s lesser-known histories of the […]
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VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — Minutes before first bell, Penny Núñez-Brandão scanned the crowd outside Glen Cove Elementary School, looking for familiar faces. “I don’t see any,” the fifth grader told her mom one morning in August. “None of my friends are coming.” The start of a new school year can be nerve-wracking under any circumstances. […]
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Tesla seeks 10-year school property tax break for proposed $10 billion solar cell plant  Yahoo Finance
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PLANS have been submitted for a new solar farm on land off Enville Common Road near Dudley.
Fraxinus Solar Farm Ltd has applied to South Staffordshire District Council for planning permission to develop the site, which has the postcode DY3 4QE.
The proposed development would include a solar farm, associated infrastructure and additional landscaping and environmental improvements.
The application has been submitted on behalf of the company by Emily Avery, of Tetra Tech.
It can be viewed on the Public Notice Portal via: publicnoticeportal.uk
Owners of land affected by the proposals, along with agricultural tenants, have been invited to submit representations to the council before a decision is made.
The deadline for these representations is November 24.
Anyone wishing to comment under the terms of the notice should write to South Staffordshire District Council at Council Offices, Wolverhampton Road, Codsall, WV8 1PX.
The Prime Minister was challenged on whether a cut would erode the Government’s commitment to the green agenda.
The convicted rapist was told he faces a lengthy sentence for his crimes
A yellow warning for fog is in place until 11am for a large part of the UK.
The maximum sentence for rape is life in prison, but custodial punishments vary widely
Major new J D Wetherspoon to open in the London Trocadero
Kieran Kyle was on Monday sentenced to 20 weeks’ prison after earlier pleading guilty
As prices go up but grain prices stagante, more farming families are turning to ‘agritainment’ to make a living
The building, falsely claimed to be turned into an HMO, was attacked with fireworks
The American pop sensation recently released her debut festive single, take me home (4 christmas), inspired by The Waitresses’ 1981 hit Christmas Wrapping
Forecasters predict sub-zero temperatures within weeks
INTERVIEW: New EU rules have put strict conditions on offset-based green claims. Caroline Garland speaks to Dan Morrell, who helped put ‘carbon neutral’ into the dictionary – and he says good riddance – but warns brands not to fall silent
One witness said fleeing passengers tried to use items of luggage to shield themselves
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang apologized for the extramarital relationship and the company is investigating him over concerns he’s a ‘target of a foreign intelligence effort’
A baby girl was among the victims, according to Brazilian media, during incident in Barra Mansa, Brazil
BetterUp made the announcement less than three months after Harry and Meghan relocated back to the UK
The duke took on the job at BetterUp in 2021.
Ukraine will have a “different shape” after the war, Donald Trump has said before peace talks this week.
Temperatures have plummeted across the UK
Aliba Bellingham has insisted they are ‘just acquaintances’ who spend time together discussing horses and dogs
The Pope criticised Javier Milei in an awkward meeting during his visit to Buenos Aires.

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The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a capital expenditure (capex) support scheme to promote critical mineral processing in India, with a total financial outlay of INR 2,814 crore over five years, from FY 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The scheme targets processing of lithium and nickel ores/intermediary products into high-purity compounds. Cobalt is also expected to be recovered as a by-product of nickel production. This will support critical sectors such as electric mobility, battery energy storage system (BESS), electronics, defence, speciality steel etc.
The scheme will provide targeted capital expenditure support for establishing and operationalising domestic processing facilities.
Under the scheme, a capital subsidy of 30% of eligible investment will be provided for setting up four critical mineral processing plants, comprising two lithium processing plants, each with a minimum capacity of 30 kt, and two nickel processing plants, each with a minimum capacity of 50 kt.
The maximum capital support will be capped at INR 500 crore per lithium beneficiary and INR 900 crore per nickel beneficiary.
Beneficiaries will be selected out through a two-stage process. In the first stage, applications shall be assessed for technical qualification, and only technically qualified applicants shall be eligible to participate in the second stage of financial bidding. For each mineral, two beneficiaries shall be selected based on the least-cost criterion, i.e., the lowest CAPEX support sought by the bidders under the Scheme. The incentives will be disbursed in three tranches linked to the achievement of specified milestones.
Processing of critical minerals remains geographically concentrated in a few global locations. This exposes supply chains to geopolitical disruptions, price volatility, and potential supply restrictions, posing severe threats to supply chain resilience and economic security.
At present, India remains substantially dependent on imports for refined intermediates and high-purity materials, owing to the nascent stage of domestic beneficiation and processing infrastructure for critical minerals, including lithium, nickel, cobalt. Domestic processing capacity for critical minerals remains limited, with commercial-scale projects facing challenges relating to high capital requirements, limited availability of suitable technologies and constrained access to raw materials. Domestic processing capacity is therefore imperative for maximising value addition, achieving import substitution, and establishing resilient end-to-end value chains.
The Scheme supports the development of resilient domestic processing infrastructure, strengthening India’s capabilities across the critical mineral value chain.
Nitin Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Attero, views the INR 2,814-crore capex support scheme as an important intervention to address one of the biggest gaps in India’s critical mineral value chain: domestic processing capacity. “While India is taking steps to secure access to critical mineral resources, building the ability to process them into high-purity materials is equally important for reducing import dependence and strengthening supply chain security. The scheme’s focus on lithium and nickel processing can encourage private investment, support technology development and create the foundation for domestic value addition,” said Nitin Gupta.
Attero has developed proprietary recycling technologies and processing capabilities, backed by more than 50 global patents, enabling it to recover over 20 critical minerals with high recovery rates and purity levels.
“Our experience demonstrates the potential of technology-led processing to strengthen domestic resource security. Through platforms like Selsmart, which makes it easy for consumers to responsibly recycle old devices, and MetalMandi, which brings transparency to scrap trading, we are channelling more e-waste and battery scrap into formal recycling, creating a steady feedstock for domestic processing. Together with the recycling incentive scheme, this initiative can help build a genuinely circular, self-reliant supply chain for India’s batteries, electric mobility, energy storage and other strategic sectors,” said Gupta.
Anurag Choudhary, CMD and CEO of Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd said the Scheme is a landmark and transformative initiative that will accelerate India’s emergence as a global hub for advanced battery materials. Achieving true self-reliance in energy storage requires India to move beyond dependence on imported refined lithium and build indigenous capabilities across extraction, processing and refining.
“At Himadri, we firmly believe that the future of the battery materials industry will be shaped by control over the entire upstream value chain. Our vision goes beyond LFP cathode materials to building an integrated lithium ecosystem encompassing resource sourcing, hard-rock and brine-based extraction, processing and refining,” said Choudhary. “This visionary policy aligns strongly with our long-term backward integration strategy and ambition to emerge as a globally competitive, integrated battery materials player. We are confident that this initiative will catalyse investments, accelerate indigenous technology development and enable Indian companies to play a defining role in the global critical minerals and battery materials value chain.”
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By Canary Media
Canary Media
9 November 2026
A few years ago, a gas leak from Sherry Frazier’s furnace forced her and her daughter out of Frazier’s Baltimore home.
“Oh, it was awful,” said Frazier, a retired educator who worked with students with disabilities in Baltimore public schools. ​“We had bad headaches and were kind of dizzy, wobbly on our feet.” Had they stayed any longer, she fears they would’ve ended up in the hospital.
But now, her home will never pose that danger again.
Frazier’s house has become an all-electric haven with solar panels pumping out power, thanks to an extensive retrofit coordinated by Baltimore-based Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a public health nonprofit that directly serves Baltimore and Providence, Rhode Island, and advises about 50 cities and 12 states. 
“I feel a lot safer in the home [and] my utility bill for heat and air conditioning is much lower,” Frazier said.
Frazier’s abode is among the thousands that GHHI has worked on in its efforts to ensure healthier living conditions for those who can’t repair, weatherize, or decarbonize their homes themselves. Fossil-fueled water heaters, furnaces, clothes dryers, and stoves emit toxic pollutants that pose health risks, including asthma, cancer, heart attacks, and carbon monoxide poisoning — the symptoms of which Frazier and her daughter experienced. 
In addition to replacing these noxious appliances, GHHI first tackles any necessary underlying home repairs. The U.S. housing stock is the oldest it’s ever been — with a median age of 44 years — and older homes are most likely to harbor health and safety hazards, such as rotten roofs, mold, lead, and asbestos.
GHHI deals with all those problems. And in low-income homes that qualify for its services, the nonprofit covers the entire cost, tapping funding from local and federal sources, such as Maryland’s EmPOWER program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Housing, as well as private funding from philanthropic organizations and healthcare and utility companies. 
GHHI was founded in Baltimore with the original goal of halting lead poisoning in children. But the organization learned ​“very quickly” that it needed ​“to think holistically about housing,” Ruth Ann Norton, GHHI’s president and CEO, said in a July webinar. 
“We want to address the same things that we … originally saw in lead [pipes and paint], in carbon-emitting appliances and homes,” Norton added. ​“That is, the impairment that it causes for neurological development, for reproductive development, and for long-term health.” 
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Frazier was referred to GHHI when she turned to a different nonprofit for aid to get a new fridge.
“I just had no idea of the many blessings that I was about to receive,” Frazier said.
During an assessment in November 2022, GHHI discovered Frazier’s home had a leaky roof, poor insulation, and other hazards besides those emitted by her gas appliances. By the end of March 2023, the nonprofit had orchestrated a raft of improvements: Workers replaced the roof; installed carpet tread and handrails on the stairs as well as a shower seat; caulked air gaps; added fiberglass insulation to the attic; and swapped out every gas appliance with an electric one, upgrading the electrical panel to accommodate the switch. Among the electric devices new to Frazier — the heat pump system, induction stove, electric-resistance dryer, and heat-pump water heater — GHHI also put in a new fridge.
In July 2025, GHHI added the pièce de clean energy résistance: a rooftop solar array. Altogether, the retrofit totaled about $73,200, at no cost to Frazier.
“I felt like it was a godsend,” she said. ​“I inquired about a refrigerator, and I wind up getting more done to my home than I ever dreamed.”
Since the overhaul, Frazier’s bills have gone down by hundreds of dollars annually, GHHI found. When she was still using gas in the year before the retrofit, they averaged about $230 per month. Electrification saved her $9 per month. And going solar has brought her bills down to around $170 per month as of May.
The road to lower energy bills had a big bump, though. In the biting winter of 2024–2025, the second year Frazier had the heat pump, her costs were spiking up to about $600 and $700 in December and January, which puzzled the GHHI team. 
But after checking out the appliance, GHHI quickly diagnosed the problem.
It turned out that Frazier had been putting a cover over the heat pump to protect it from snow, just as she had done with her old air-conditioning unit. That was preventing the heat pump from drawing in enough air to harvest heat, which was triggering much less energy-efficient electric-resistance backup heating. 
Now, Frazier leaves the heat pump unencumbered year-round. ​“You’re never too old to learn new things,” she said.
Frazier has been raving about GHHI’s retrofit program to friends and family, as well as patiently explaining the health reasons behind it. 
“I was really surprised that when I shared information with my friends who are seniors like myself, they were not aware of the dangers of gas,” Frazier said. ​“I make it my business to spread the word.” 
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What happens when floating solar panels meet a Canadian winter?  TorontoToday.ca
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Robots and AI Track Solar Cell Fabrication  Mirage News
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What’s up with “solar windows” that generate solar electrici…  The Times Weekly
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Tesla wants a 10-year break on school property taxes for a proposed $10.1 billion plant in Fort Bend County, Texas, according to Yahoo Finance. The facility would make photovoltaic solar cells and assemble solar modules. Lamar Consolidated Independent School District trustees approved the incentive 7-0, but Tesla has not made a final site-selection decision and is weighing a location outside Texas.
The filing goes by the name Project Crystal Sun. It reads like a tax story on the surface, yet it is really a hardware story. Solar cells are semiconductor devices, and a plant that builds cells and modules at this scale would push Tesla much deeper into the energy hardware it already sells to homes and utilities.
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Tesla’s solar business has not run smoothly in the past. We covered a fraud-liability ruling tied to the Tesla Solar Roof, which gives local officials and taxpayers a reason to read the fine print on any new solar promise. This analysis walks through what the filings say, what the school tax limitation is worth, what remains unconfirmed, and where the project could land.
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Project Crystal Sun is Tesla’s proposed advanced manufacturing plant for photovoltaic solar cells and assembled solar modules. The company would build on a portion of a 3,057-acre site near the intersection of FM 1994 and FM 762 in Fort Bend County. That land sits inside the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, which is the body that voted on the tax incentive.
Tesla’s proposed capital commitment is $10.1 billion. That figure splits into $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in manufacturing equipment and personal property. Some headlines round the number to $10 billion, and that shorthand is fine for a headline. Yet the filings and the reports specify $10.1 billion, so this article uses the precise figure throughout.
Do the arithmetic on the capital split and the plant’s character comes into focus. Real property accounts for $1.5 billion, or about 14.9 percent of the $10.1 billion. Manufacturing equipment and personal property accounts for $8.6 billion, or about 85.1 percent. Buildings and land are a small slice. Tools and production lines make up almost everything else.
That ratio looks like a semiconductor-style facility, not a warehouse with an assembly line. Cell manufacturing needs precise, expensive process equipment, and the bill for that equipment dwarfs the shell around it. The percentages above are this article’s own calculation from the reported figures, not numbers Tesla published.
JETI stands for the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act. It is the Texas program Tesla is using to seek a limit on school property taxes. Under the proposed terms, school maintenance-and-operations taxes would apply to 50 percent of the eligible taxable value from 2029 through 2038. During construction, the applicable taxable value would be zero.
That schedule has a practical consequence. A zero taxable value during construction means the district collects no maintenance-and-operations tax on the project while the buildings go up and the equipment arrives. Then the 50 percent rate starts in 2029 and runs for 10 tax years. The 2029 start implies construction wraps up before then, though the reporting gives no construction schedule.
Debt-service taxes are a separate matter. Interest-and-sinking taxes would continue to apply to the property’s full value. In plain terms, Tesla would still help repay the district’s voter-approved bonds at the full rate, and the break targets only the day-to-day operating side of school finance.
Lamar Consolidated ISD trustees approved the incentive 7-0, a result that Houston Public Media framed as the tax break advancing after the school board vote. The Texas Scorecard also ran a report that described the approval as unanimous. A 7-0 result leaves no split to dissect. Every trustee on the board signed off.
What the trustees approved matters as much as the margin. They backed a limitation on the taxable value used to compute school maintenance-and-operations taxes. They did not approve a finished state deal, and they did not commit Tesla to building anything. The vote is one gate in a longer sequence.
School boards in fast-growing Texas suburbs face a familiar trade. A project of this size promises a very large increase in the local tax base over the long run, but the limitation delays the full operating-tax payoff by a decade. The unanimous vote suggests trustees judged the long-run base worth more than the near-term discount. No on-record trustee statement is available in the verified reporting, so this article does not quote anyone.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office estimates the tax savings to Tesla at $115.2 million over 20 years. That number deserves context. Set against a $10.1 billion capital commitment, it comes to roughly 1.1 percent. Spread evenly over 20 years, it averages about $5.76 million a year. The even spread is a simplification, since the savings sit in the years the limitation applies.
Critics of corporate tax breaks tend to point at the headline dollar amount, and $115.2 million sounds large in isolation. Supporters tend to point at the denominator. Both framings are fair, and neither one settles whether the project is a good deal. A fuller judgment depends on facts that the verified reporting does not supply, such as the number of jobs that materialize, the wages paid, and the taxes the plant generates once the limitation ends.
One more caution applies. The $115.2 million figure is an estimate from the Comptroller’s Office, and it covers a 20-year window while the limitation itself runs 10 tax years. Readers should treat it as the state’s modeled number and not as a contract term.
The most important caveat in the whole story is that Tesla has not made a final site-selection decision. Reports say the company is considering another location outside Texas. That means the school-board vote, the county action, and the state review all feed a competition, and Fort Bend might not win it.
Incentive stacking is how states and counties compete for plants like this. Tesla can use each approval as leverage, and each jurisdiction knows a rival site is on the table. The unanimous school-board vote can be read two ways. It either reflects genuine enthusiasm for the project or it reflects a board that did not want to be the reason Fort Bend lost.
Any claim that the plant will definitely be built at this site is unconfirmed. Readers who see a headline stating that Tesla is building a $10 billion solar factory in Fort Bend County should treat it as premature. The accurate version says Tesla is seeking incentives for a proposed plant and still has a second location under consideration.
The proposal still requires additional state action before a final agreement can take effect. pv magazine described the school-board result as clearing a key tax hurdle, which is a fair description, but a hurdle is not the finish line. Reports name Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in connection with the approval track, which signals that the decision climbs to the top of state government.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office has already played one role by producing the $115.2 million savings estimate. The verified reporting does not lay out every remaining step or give dates for them, so this article does not guess at a calendar. Anyone tracking the story should watch for state-level announcements, since those would be the next real milestones.
A photovoltaic cell converts sunlight into electricity. Making one takes the same kind of clean, precise fabrication that chip plants use, which explains the equipment-heavy capital split. A module is the finished panel, built by wiring many cells together and packaging them to survive years outdoors. Project Crystal Sun covers both steps, so it is a plan for cells and for the modules built from them.
Making cells in-house matters because the cell is where most of the technical value sits. A company that only assembles modules from purchased cells depends on suppliers for its costliest component. A company that makes the cells controls cost, quality, and timing on that component. That is the logic behind most pushes for domestic solar manufacturing, and it likely sits behind this proposal as well.
The hardware angle also connects to the rest of Tesla’s energy lineup. Solar generation pairs naturally with home and grid storage, and owners of those systems already deal with local permitting rules. One of our earlier stories followed a Tesla owner who paid a $70 permit fee while three Powerwalls sat disabled, a small reminder that energy hardware lives or dies on local approvals as much as on engineering.
Texas already holds a big part of Tesla’s manufacturing story. The company’s Austin-area factory has been the center of recent product decisions, including the shift we covered in the Cybertruck exit and the Austin line swap for Cybercab hardware. A solar plant in Fort Bend County would add a second major Texas manufacturing project in a different product category.
Battery supply tells a parallel story. Tesla and LG signed a $4.3 billion LFP battery deal with a 2027 start, aimed at stationary storage. Put the two projects side by side and a pattern appears. Tesla is lining up supply for both halves of a solar-plus-storage product, cells on one side and batteries on the other.
That pattern is an inference from the public record, not something Tesla has stated about Project Crystal Sun. The verified reporting says nothing about how the plant’s output would be used, who would buy it, or how much of it Tesla would keep for its own products. Those questions stay open.
Measured against the other big hardware commitments tied to Tesla that we have covered, Project Crystal Sun is the largest by reported dollar value. It is also the least settled. The table compares the reported size and status of each, using only figures that appeared in coverage on this site and in the verified reporting above.
The comparison shows the difference between a signed supply deal and a proposed plant. The LG agreement is a contract. Project Crystal Sun is an application that still needs state sign-off, and Tesla has not committed to the location. A reader should not weigh the two as equal commitments just because both carry billion-dollar labels.
The wider competitive picture is worth stating plainly, with a limit on what we can claim. Other U.S. solar manufacturers and imported products compete for the same customers, and the verified reporting offers no market-share figures, so this article cites none. The point for now is structural. A vertically focused Tesla plant would compete on cost and control, and any claims about price or efficiency advantages would be speculation until Tesla publishes specifications.
For Lamar CISD, the impact arrives in stages. Construction years bring a zero taxable value for operating taxes, then a decade at 50 percent, while debt-service taxes keep applying at full value. Families in the district should expect the new tax base to show up gradually. Property that is limited today becomes fully taxable only after the limitation ends.
For other Texas districts, the vote sets a reference point. Large manufacturers weighing the state will study how a JETI application moved through Lamar CISD and the Comptroller’s review. A smooth path encourages more applications. A reversal at the state level, or a Tesla decision to go elsewhere, would cool that interest.
For investors, the news carries less weight than the headline dollar figure suggests. The commitment is proposed and conditional. The verified reporting offers no financing plan, no production capacity, and no revenue target, so any attempt to model returns would rest on invented inputs. We decline to supply them.
Tax abatements for big industrial projects are a long-standing tool in Texas, and school boards have approved many of them. What has changed is the public mood around large infrastructure projects. Voters have recently pushed back on AI data centers, as shown by the 41 measures that put AI data centers on notice in Bloomberg’s coverage, and local fights over land, power, and taxes now draw more attention than they once did.
A solar plant is a different kind of project from a data center. It brings manufacturing work and a clean-energy product, not a large power load and few permanent staff. Even so, the same questions come up: what does the community give up, what does it get, and who decides? The 7-0 Lamar CISD vote shows that, at least on this occasion, trustees answered those questions in Tesla’s favor.
The state-level step could prove a tougher test than the local one. County and school-board approvals reflect local priorities. State-level review brings statewide politics into the room, and that is where a high-profile company and a high-profile incentive can attract a wider audience.
These are analysis, not reporting. They rest on the verified facts above and on how similar incentive processes usually unfold.
Four signals will tell readers where this goes. First, any Tesla statement on final site selection. Second, state action on the JETI application. Third, the details of any agreement that moves from proposal to signed document. Fourth, any disclosure of production capacity or product specifications, which Tesla has not provided in the verified reporting.
Until those arrive, the safest summary is this. Tesla wants a school tax limitation for a proposed $10.1 billion solar cell and module plant. Lamar CISD said yes by 7-0. The state has not finished its work, and Tesla has not finished choosing where to build. Our hardware coverage will track each step as it lands.
Project Crystal Sun is Tesla’s proposed advanced manufacturing plant for photovoltaic solar cells and assembled solar modules. It would sit on part of a 3,057-acre site near FM 1994 and FM 762 in Fort Bend County, Texas.
The proposed capital commitment is $10.1 billion. That includes $1.5 billion in real property and $8.6 billion in manufacturing equipment and personal property. Reports that say $10 billion are rounding.
JETI is the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act, a Texas program that allows a limitation on the taxable value used for school property taxes. Tesla is using it to seek a 10-year break on school maintenance-and-operations taxes.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office estimates savings of $115.2 million over 20 years. Under the proposal, maintenance-and-operations taxes would apply to 50 percent of eligible taxable value from 2029 through 2038, with a zero taxable value during construction.
Yes, under the described terms. Interest-and-sinking taxes, which repay school bonds, would continue to apply to the property’s full value.
Lamar Consolidated ISD trustees approved the incentive 7-0. The proposal still needs additional state action before a final agreement can take effect.
No. Tesla has not made a final site-selection decision and is considering another location outside Texas. Any claim that the plant will definitely be built at the Fort Bend site is unconfirmed.
Lamar CISD trustees voted on the school incentive, and the Texas Comptroller’s Office produced the savings estimate. Reports also name Gov. Greg Abbott in connection with the state approval path.
Elias Virtanen is the Cybersecurity Analyst at Tech Insider, bringing hands-on expertise from his background in penetration testing and security consulting. He previously worked as a security researcher at F-Secure in Helsinki, where he focused on threat intelligence and vulnerability disclosure. Elias covers ransomware trends, zero-trust architecture, and the evolving regulatory landscape including NIS2 and the EU Cyber Resilience Act. He holds a CISSP certification and an MSc in Information Security from Aalto University.
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European Energy and AirTrunk open 31MW Mulwala solar PV plant in New South Wales, Australia  PV Tech
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A computational fluid dynamics study of a proposed floating PV installation at the Occhito Dam reservoir in southern Italy has found that spacing module rows approximately 0.5 meters apart delivers the best cooling performance in a three-row configuration. The researchers found that the intermediate spacing outperformed both narrower and wider arrangements, highlighting the importance of airflow management in floating PV system design.
At a wind speed of 3.5 m/s, the optimal configuration achieved an average module temperature of 27.16 C, compared with 31.07 C for the most compact arrangement. Under weaker wind conditions of 1.5 m/s, the same configuration recorded an average module temperature of 37.02 C.
The study notes that the efficiency of crystalline silicon PV modules typically decreases by approximately 0.3% to 0.5% for every 1 C increase in cell temperature. The findings underscore the importance of airflow management in floating PV design and challenge the assumption that proximity to water alone ensures better cooling.
The researchers said row spacing should be considered not only in terms of installed capacity, shading, and floating platform requirements, but also as a key thermal design parameter.
The research, conducted by scientists from the University of Naples Parthenope and the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, also identified a less intuitive aspect of floating PV cooling. Although the widest spacing allowed airflow to recover more fully between rows, it did not consistently produce the lowest module temperatures. The researchers attributed this to reduced airflow acceleration between rows.
The findings suggest that effective cooling requires a balance between aerodynamic wake recovery and airflow acceleration, with the optimal configuration depending on site-specific conditions.
Cooling performance depends on several interacting factors, including wind speed, array geometry, airflow pathways, and the formation of aerodynamic wakes behind individual module rows.
These wakes can restrict air movement around the modules, reducing convective heat transfer and increasing operating temperatures. While greater row spacing can allow airflow to recover before reaching the next module, wider gaps do not necessarily improve cooling. The researchers found that excessive spacing can weaken airflow acceleration between rows.
At a wind speed of 1.5 m/s, spacing equivalent to 0.5 times the module length delivered the best performance, with an average module temperature of 37.02 C. The widest configuration, with spacing equal to one module length, performed worst, reaching 37.74 C.
The differences became more pronounced at 3.5 m/s. The configuration with spacing equivalent to 0.5 times the module length recorded an average temperature of 27.16 C, compared with 29.26 C for spacing of 0.75 times the module length, 29.75 C for the widest arrangement, and 31.07 C for the most compact configuration.
The study also found that cooling performance varied between module rows. The middle row was particularly sensitive to changes in spacing.
At 3.5 m/s, the middle row reached a temperature of 23.30 C with spacing equivalent to 0.5 times the module length, compared with 29.66 C in the most compact configuration and 30.17 C in the widest arrangement. According to the researchers, this behavior reflects the middle row’s exposure to the competing effects of upstream wake formation and airflow recovery.
The simulations also showed that the relationship between row spacing and module temperature is nonlinear. An analysis of airflow velocities under different operating conditions helped explain these differences.
At the lower wind speed, airflow velocity between the first two rows remained below 0.5 m/s in the most compact configuration. Increasing the spacing to 0.5 times the module length raised local airflow velocity to approximately 0.9 m/s to 1.1 m/s.
At the higher wind speed, the difference was even more pronounced. The intermediate spacing produced airflow velocities between rows of approximately 2.5 m/s to 3.0 m/s, compared with 1.0 m/s to 1.5 m/s for the most compact arrangement.
The researchers developed a two-dimensional conjugate heat transfer model to simulate interactions between PV modules, the surrounding air, and the underlying water.
The proposed installation was modeled using three consecutive rows of modules, each tilted at 15 degrees and positioned 25 cm above the water surface. The modules were approximately 0.99 meters long.
Four row-spacing configurations were examined, corresponding to 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 times the module length. The simulations considered two incoming wind speeds, 1.5 m/s and 3.5 m/s, representing relatively weak and stronger convective cooling conditions.
Meteorological inputs were derived from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data for 2024 covering the Occhito reservoir, which lies on the border between the Italian regions of Apulia and Molise.
The model used an annual average air temperature of 15.37 C, a water temperature of 14.67 C, and a net shortwave radiation flux of 146.65 W/m2.
The findings are particularly relevant to inland reservoirs in Mediterranean climates, where high summer temperatures and variable wind conditions can affect PV module operating temperatures.
However, the researchers cautioned against treating the identified spacing as a universal design recommendation.
The analysis was limited to a two-dimensional model comprising three module rows and two wind speeds. It did not account for three-dimensional turbulence, changes in wind direction, shading effects, detailed floating support structures, or the full range of meteorological conditions experienced over a year.
The study, “Influence of row spacings on the thermal performance of floating photovoltaic arrays at the Occhito Dam reservoir, Italy: A numerical study,” published in Solar Energy, focused on thermal behavior rather than directly calculating electricity generation or annual energy yield.
The authors recommended extending the research through three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations, additional wind speeds and directions, and integrated electrothermal modeling to determine how the observed temperature differences translate into actual electricity generation gains.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2026
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Rezolv Energy secures VPPA for 1.3GW Dama solar PV project in Romania  PV Tech
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Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania hope to finally advance climate goals post-midterms  Planetizen
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The study, recently published in the international journal Energy by Elsevier, establishes a unified framework for evaluating the electricity-generation potential of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems in all 27 EU capitals, according to an announcement by the National Observatory of Athens.
For Athens, researchers estimate that approximately 24.5 square kilometres of suitable rooftop space could accommodate solar panels, with the potential to generate around 1.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually.
This level of generation could prevent approximately 512,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions each year. The researchers also estimate potential annual financial revenues of €117.39 million.
Read more: Greece Launches Eastern Europe’s Largest Energy Storage Facility
Among the other European capitals, Paris records the highest potential annual electricity production, at approximately 3.81 TWh, followed by Berlin and Budapest, each with around 2.55 TWh. Across all the capitals examined, estimated annual generation ranges from 0.2 to 3.8 TWh.
The study’s findings also indicate that rooftop solar installations could prevent up to approximately one million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually across the cities examined. Potential net financial revenues could exceed €330 million, based on current market prices.
16 years of atmospheric data
The researchers based their analysis on 16 years of atmospheric data covering 2008–2023, satellite information from the Copernicus services, urban-environment data and photovoltaic system simulations using the PVGIS model.
Their methodology considers three factors that influence solar radiation and, consequently, electricity production: cloud cover, atmospheric aerosols and shading from neighbouring buildings and other features of the urban environment.
The study also calculates an energy self-sufficiency indicator, which compares the potential electricity production from rooftop solar panels with electricity consumption.
In Luxembourg, for example, this indicator reaches 180%, meaning that the potential rooftop solar generation exceeds the electricity demand included in the study’s calculations.
Solar power alone cannot meet urban demand
The National Observatory of Athens notes that even extensive use of available rooftop space would not allow solar panels alone to meet a city’s entire electricity demand.
The findings therefore highlight the importance of energy storage, greater flexibility in electricity networks and combining different renewable energy sources.
The scientific paper, titled Unified Framework for the Assessment of Rooftop Solar PV Electricity Generation Potential in EU-27, appeared in Energy, Volume 367 (2026), Article 143010.
The study is available through Elsevier at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2026.143010
(Source: AMNA)
 
Kosta Papadopoulos is an editor at Greek City Times, covering Greek and international news, travel, sport, and entertainment.
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Ministers pushed to reverse ‘policy madness’ of scrapping exemption on 5% tax rise for heat pumps, solar panels and batteries
Households planning to invest in green energy upgrades, including heat pumps and solar panels, risk a nationwide rush to find an installer or face hundreds of pounds in unexpected costs unless the government abandons its looming VAT increase.
Ministers are under growing pressure to reverse plans to scrap the 5% VAT exemption on home heat pumps, solar panels and batteries from 1 April which could add up to £1,530 on to the cost of a smart home energy system amid record demand for fossil fuel alternatives.
Industry groups have warned that the VAT cliff-edge could trigger a surge in demand for installations before the deadline, creating a “feast and famine” upheaval for the country’s nascent network of home energy installers after years of tepid interest from households.
Demand for home energy upgrades has reached record highs across the UK since the Middle East war caused gas market prices to double across Europe, pushing home energy bills to near four-year highs.
But the chancellor’s budget statement has signalled plans to shrink the total amount for heat pump grants over the coming financial year, while cutting the extra grant funding offered to heating oil users at the same time as VAT is reinstated.
Charlotte Lee, the chief executive of Heat Pump Association UK, said the abrupt change risks “creating a rush of applications ahead of April, disrupting the supply chain and making the process less predictable for consumers.
“The savings to government must be weighed against the risk of disrupting consumers, undermining industry confidence and stalling an emerging market,” she said.
The trade association is seeking clarity from the government over how the reintroduction of VAT will be applied so households can avoid an unexpected bill if their pre-booked installation is delayed until after the VAT exemption deadline.
Meanwhile, the decision to remove the VAT relief has been criticised as “inconsistent” with the government’s focus on helping to protect bill payers from the surging cost of fossil fuels, and “total policy madness” after ministers cut VAT on electricity bills in part to encourage electric alternatives to fossil fuels.
The Liberal Democrats said the rollback of the tax exemption could mean a household planning to fit an air-source heat pump, a 4KW solar installation, and a home battery would face an extra £1,530 cost unless it is able to undertake the work before April.
Pippa Heylings, the Liberal Democrat’s spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: “It is total policy madness for the government to strip VAT from electricity bills with one hand, only to slap it straight back on to heat pumps with the other. They are telling families to switch to clean electricity, while simultaneously punishing them with a £1,530 tax hike for buying the very kit needed to do so.”
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Heylings called on ministers to “urgently reverse this shortsighted heat pump tax”, a demand echoed by energy industry leaders who fear the rise may undermine government schemes to support the industry, which includes the launch of state-backed low-interest loans.
Chris Hewett, the chief executive of Solar Energy UK, said the rise would “raise the cost of the loans scheme that has only just been launched” and would be “inconsistent with the government’s intention for more people to enjoy the benefits of home solar and battery systems”.
“With domestic electricity bills now zero-rated until July next year, saving energy will be taxed more heavily than consuming it – a perverse incentive. We will be urging the government to reverse course,” he said.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “More and more families are switching to clean energy technology, with record numbers of people applying for heat pumps and receiving grants through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in September.
“We are driving forward electrification and the clean tech market, protecting support for low-income families and launching our new warm homes loan scheme so households can purchase heat pumps, solar panels and batteries at no upfront cost.”

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Latest news
Tesla wants a 10-year break on Texas school property taxes for a proposed solar cell factory with a $10.1 billion price tag. According to reports from The Cool Down and Hoodline, the plan carries the name Project Crystal Sun and would sit on 3,057 acres in Fort Bend County. The Texas Comptroller estimates the school-tax savings at about $115.2 million.
Lamar Consolidated Independent School District trustees approved the incentive 7-0. That vote does not close the deal. The proposal still needs more state action before any final agreement can take effect, and Tesla has not confirmed that it will ultimately build the plant.
For anyone tracking Tesla’s hardware footprint in Texas, this is a very large manufacturing ask. It arrives while the company reshuffles its flagship Austin plant, a story we covered in our look at the Giga Texas line swap. This analysis, dated November 09, 2026, breaks down what the filing says, what the numbers imply, and what nobody has confirmed yet.
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The facts on record are narrow but specific. Tesla Inc. proposes to make photovoltaic solar cells and assembled solar modules at a site near FM 1994 and FM 762 in Fort Bend County, Texas. The land falls inside the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. The project name is Project Crystal Sun.
Two details in that description matter for a hardware audience. The first is the product mix. Cells are the core semiconductor component, while modules are the finished panels that ship to installers and utilities. Making both in one place points to an integrated operation rather than a simple assembly line. The second detail is scale. A 3,057-acre footprint works out to roughly 4.8 square miles, far larger than a typical module assembly site.
The proposed capital investment totals $10.1 billion. Of that, $1.5 billion covers real property and $8.6 billion covers manufacturing equipment and personal property. The filing asks for school-tax relief covering 2029 through 2038, a 10-year window. Everything beyond those items, including capacity, headcount and start dates, remains unconfirmed.
The structure splits into two phases, and the reported terms are easy to misread. Tesla is not asking for a full exemption. It is asking for a lower taxable value on the part of the school tax bill that pays for day-to-day operations.
During construction, the property’s taxable value for school maintenance-and-operations taxes would be zero. In practical terms, the district would collect no operations tax on the build-out while equipment goes in. For a project where $8.6 billion of the spend is machinery, that is the stretch when the property value climbs fastest.
Once building ends, eligible property would be taxed at 50% of its taxable value. The filing’s window runs 2029 through 2038, so the half-rate treatment would last until the end of that period. After 2038, the standard treatment would presumably return, though the reports we reviewed do not spell out what happens next.
One protection for the district stands out. Lamar CISD interest-and-sinking taxes, the levy that services school bonds, would keep applying to the property’s full value. That means the new plant would still help pay down existing school debt at the full rate. Districts tend to insist on this carve-out because bond holders expect a stable tax base.
The split between land-and-buildings and equipment tells you what kind of project this is. By our arithmetic from the reported figures, equipment and personal property make up about 85.1% of the proposed spend, while real property accounts for about 14.9%. Tesla has not published a bill of materials, so the numbers below are simple ratios of the reported totals.
The per-year average is only a rough guide. The real schedule almost certainly runs uneven, since the zero-value construction years and the 50% operating years produce different bills. Treat the $11.5 million figure as a midpoint, not a forecast.
An 85% equipment share fits how cell factories work. Turning silicon into working photovoltaic cells takes furnaces, deposition tools, texturing lines, printers, testers and automation, and each step demands precise process control. Buildings matter far less than the machines inside them. That is why the equipment line dwarfs the real property line in the reported split.
It also explains why the tax design matters so much. Machinery is the fastest-growing part of the taxable base, and tool orders tend to land years before a factory ships product. A construction-phase value of zero shields the largest chunk of the investment at exactly the moment the district would otherwise see it appear on the rolls. Anyone following capital equipment demand across the sector, from power chips to memory, can see the pattern in our hardware coverage.
Cell manufacturing also differs from module assembly in risk. Modules go together from bought-in cells, glass, frames and junction boxes, so a plant can scale up fast and switch suppliers. Cells carry the yield risk. A few points of yield on a multibillion-dollar line can swing the economics, which is one reason public numbers on capacity and output would be so useful here. None have been confirmed.
The location sits near FM 1994 and FM 762 in Fort Bend County, inside the Lamar Consolidated district boundaries. Fort Bend lies in the Houston metro area, which gives a manufacturer access to Gulf Coast ports, rail corridors and a deep industrial labor pool. The reports we reviewed do not say why Tesla picked this parcel, so any claim about its logistics advantage is our inference rather than a stated reason.
The acreage is the more telling number. At 3,057 acres, the parcel is far bigger than what a single cell-and-module line would need on its own. Large parcels often reflect room for phased expansion, utilities, buffer land or supplier co-location. Tesla has not said which applies. Without a disclosed phase plan, we treat the acreage as an option on future scale rather than a fixed build commitment.
For Lamar CISD, a project of this size changes the tax base in a way few single parcels can. The district approved the incentive knowing that interest-and-sinking taxes still apply at full value. That detail gives trustees a defensible line: the plant helps carry school debt from day one, even while operations taxes are cut.
The Texas Comptroller’s estimate of roughly $115.2 million sounds large until you set it next to the investment. It equals about 1.14% of the $10.1 billion capital plan. Spread over ten years, it averages about $11.5 million annually. For a company whose equipment line alone runs $8.6 billion, that is a modest sweetener on paper.
Local officials see it from the other side. To a school district, $115.2 million in foregone operations tax is real money, even if the plant brings long-term growth in other tax categories. The trade comes down to whether the factory would locate in the district without the break. That counterfactual is the hardest piece of any incentive debate, and none of the public reporting settles it for Project Crystal Sun.
Critics of corporate tax breaks usually make one of two arguments. Some say the incentive fails because the company would have come anyway. Others say the schools lose revenue they cannot replace. Supporters counter that a zero-value construction period costs the district nothing it would otherwise have collected, since the plant does not yet exist. Both camps will find material in these figures.
The unanimous vote tells us the board saw little downside. The reports we reviewed do not quote trustees explaining their reasoning, so we will not put words in their mouths. We can say what the terms offered the district. The interest-and-sinking taxes stay whole, the relief applies only to school maintenance and operations, and the break expires after 2038.
Unanimity at the district level also does not guarantee approval upstream. The proposal still needs further state action before a final agreement can take effect. That step is where Tesla’s request faces its next review, and the public record does not yet show how or when it will resolve.
For readers new to Texas school finance, the key point is that local boards approve terms in this kind of deal, but the state runs the framework. A local yes opens the door. It does not hand over the keys.
Tesla has been in solar for a decade, since it bought SolarCity in 2016. Its record in the category is mixed, and our earlier report on the Tesla Solar Roof fraud ruling shows that legal fallout is still landing. A manufacturing push on this scale would mark a different bet, one centered on cells and modules rather than installations.
The timing also lines up with changes inside Tesla’s Texas operations. The company is winding down the Cybertruck line around mid-2027, which we detailed in our report on how the Cybertruck winds down as 570 Cybercabs run. Project Crystal Sun, with school-tax relief starting in 2029, would sit in a later chapter of that story.
One caution applies. Reports on the proposal do not tie Project Crystal Sun to any specific Tesla product line or revenue target. Linking it to storage, vehicles or energy plans would be speculation. What the record supports is simpler: Tesla filed an ask for a very large solar manufacturing site in Texas.
Large capital projects in Texas and beyond now routinely come paired with local tax deals. Our coverage of Google’s Wyoming site offers a useful yardstick. In the report on Google taking over Crusoe’s Wyoming site, the headline plan reached $17 billion. Tesla’s $10.1 billion ask is smaller, yet it sits in the same tier of mega-project commitments.
The difference lies in what the money buys. A data center spends heavily on servers and power equipment, and the output is compute. A solar cell plant spends heavily on process tools, and the output is physical product that ships out of state. Both lean on equipment-heavy budgets, which is why both cases hinge on how local governments treat machinery in the tax base.
Smaller experiments sit at the other end of the scale. A wave-energy data center pilot with a $140 million factory shows how far the figures can stretch. Against that backdrop, a $10.1 billion single-site proposal is a heavyweight, and it will draw more scrutiny than a mid-size plant would.
Industrial incentives now arrive in a tougher political climate than a few years ago. Voters in several states have rejected local data center measures, and a recent roundup found 41 data center votes putting the AI boom on notice. That anger focuses on power bills and water, not solar cells, but the instinct to question tax breaks for big projects carries across sectors.
Power costs frame much of the debate. Our report on the $329.17 per megawatt-day auction result shows how quickly grid prices move when large loads arrive. A solar factory also draws serious power while it runs, so the fight over who pays for new industrial demand can touch Project Crystal Sun even if the plant makes clean energy products.
Tesla also faces a political environment that has shifted since the midterms. Democrats won Congress, and several of our recent pieces cover the tension around Tesla and Musk. A school-board approval in Fort Bend County does not depend on Washington, but state-level reviewers watch the same headlines as everyone else.
With a story this fresh, the gap between confirmed facts and open questions is wide. The table below separates the two so you can see what rests on reporting and what remains blank.
The unconfirmed rows carry the most weight for readers who care about hardware. Capacity decides whether this is a niche supplier or a major player, and jobs decide how much local support the project earns. Until Tesla provides those numbers, any projection of output or hiring is guesswork.
A $10.1 billion proposal moves more than one balance sheet. Equipment vendors read the $8.6 billion line as a potential order book, local contractors read the 3,057 acres as years of site work, and investors read the school-tax break as a signal that Tesla keeps pushing capital into Texas. None of those readings is a commitment. They are the questions the market will ask until Tesla supplies dates and capacity.
The broader hardware tape matters too. Chip stocks have swung hard in recent weeks, and our look at TSMC at 21x forward earnings after a 30% chip rout shows how fast sentiment on capital-intensive manufacturing can turn. Solar cell tools and semiconductor tools overlap in places, so a nervous equipment market can color how investors weigh a big new fab-style project.
For suppliers, timing is the pressure point. The incentive window starts in 2029, which hints that the build-out and equipment installation are meant to land before then. That is an inference from the tax design, since the reports give no construction calendar. Still, tool makers plan lead times years ahead, and a vague schedule makes their planning harder.
Local businesses face a different calculation. Construction on a site this size would draw steel, concrete, electrical and logistics firms across the Houston area. Whether Tesla hires locally, brings in outside contractors or phases the work is unknown. Fort Bend County officials will want that detail before they treat the project as settled economic news.
The following forecasts are our analysis, not reported facts. We built them from the terms on record and from how similar deals tend to unfold.
The takeaway: the incentive is real, the vote is unanimous, and the factory is still a proposal. Tesla has to clear the next state step, then decide whether to commit capital on this scale. We will update this analysis as new filings appear.
It is the name given to Tesla’s proposed solar cell and module manufacturing plant in Fort Bend County, Texas. Reports from The Cool Down and Hoodline describe a $10.1 billion capital investment on a 3,057-acre site.
The Texas Comptroller estimates savings of about $115.2 million over the incentive period, which runs 2029 through 2038.
No. Lamar CISD trustees approved it 7-0, but the proposal still requires additional state action before a final agreement can take effect.
No. It applies to school maintenance-and-operations taxes. Lamar CISD interest-and-sinking taxes would continue to apply to the property’s full value.
No. Whether Tesla will ultimately build the facility is unconfirmed, as are the construction start date, completion date, production capacity and employment total.
The proposed site lies in Fort Bend County, Texas, within the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, near FM 1994 and FM 762.
During construction, the taxable value for school maintenance-and-operations taxes would be zero. Afterward, eligible property would be taxed at 50% of taxable value.
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Efficiency remains the solar industry’s most powerful lever. Each gain in cell efficiency increases power density, reducing raw material and bill of materials (BOM) consumption and indirectly lowering costs. With module prices under intense pressure and manufacturers fighting to protect margins, higher efficiency has become the clearest way to stand out and keep reducing solar manufacturing costs.
Spanning three consecutive weeks in November 2026, the TaiyangNews High-Efficiency Solar Technologies 2026 Online Conference will focus on the latest advances in TOPCon and back-contact (BC) technologies, with a special focus on next-generation PV and space solar. From improving established production processes to exploring new cell concepts and demanding applications beyond Earth, the event will examine pathways to higher efficiency, competitive manufacturing, and reliable performance.
On November 11, 2026, on Day 1 of the conference, Kinyang Zou, Product Manager at DMEGC Solar, will be sharing his insights on the company’s HDS+ solution – its dual benefits in module efficiency and reliability.
Registration is free and can be done here.
The 300 MW solar-grassland pilot project developed by Inner Mongolia Guoyun Mingsheng New Energy Co., Ltd. in Darhan Muminggan Joint Banner, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, has achieved full-capacity grid connection of its PV facilities.
According to Baotou Power Supply Company, a subsidiary of Inner Mongolia Power Group, the RMB 1.05 billion project includes a 220 kV step-up substation and a 45 MW/90 MWh energy storage system (ESS). Once fully operational, it is expected to generate approximately 480 million kWh annually.
The project combines PV generation with grassland restoration. Its mounting structures are raised about 2 m to allow grass to grow underneath, while drought- and cold-tolerant grass varieties are being introduced as part of restoration work covering around 3.61 km² of degraded desert grassland.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), along with four other government agencies, has issued the Action Plan for Building a Carbon Footprint Standards System for Key Products (2026-2028), targeting more than 100 national product carbon footprint standards by 2028. The plan also calls for aligning some standards with international requirements.
The plan’s scope covers solar PV and concentrated solar power (CSP) generation, wind power, energy storage, and related manufactured products. GB/T 47652-2026, Greenhouse gases – Quantification method and requirements for carbon footprint of products – Photovoltaic power generation, has already been published, while a national standard for PV module carbon footprint quantification is awaiting approval. A polysilicon standard is scheduled for completion in 2027. Standards for energy storage batteries and electrochemical energy storage plants are also included in the work plan. The plan further calls for studying how renewable energy green electricity certificates could be incorporated into product carbon footprint accounting.
Ningxia-based renewable energy developer Ningxia Guoyun New Energy has announced that its subsidiaries have completed major equipment installation, commissioning, and grid connection at two independent energy storage plants: the 320 MW/640 MWh Gaoshawo project in Yanchi County, Wuzhong, and the 240 MW/480 MWh Majiatan project in Lingwu.
The two projects represent a combined investment of RMB 865 million and are associated with the company’s 920 MW Gaoshawo and 1 GW Majiatan PV developments, respectively. They are expected to provide peak shaving and frequency regulation, support renewable energy integration, and participate in electricity market trading.
Hunan’s provincial development and reform commission has released the province’s renewable energy development plan for the 15^th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), targeting total renewable energy capacity of 85.9 GW by 2030, up about 42% from 60.42 GW in 2025. Solar capacity is targeted at 37 GW, while wind and pumped-storage capacity are expected to reach 22 GW and 8 GW, respectively.
The plan envisages more than 9.26 GW of new solar projects and 8.83 GW of new wind projects during 2026-2030, alongside around 1.5 GW of distributed solar additions annually. Hunan will also promote grid-forming renewable energy projects, virtual power plants (VPPs), and integrated source-grid-load-storage systems, while exploring capacity-pricing mechanisms for pumped hydro and new-type energy storage.
Hunan recently launched its 2026 mechanism price auction for wind and solar projects, covering 2.286 TWh (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Guangxi energy authorities have published the proposed results of the 2027 mechanism price auction for incremental renewable energy projects. The auction selected 57 wind projects and 8,775 solar projects, covering about 9.97 TWh of electricity under the mechanism.
The selected solar projects comprise 14 utility-scale and 8,761 distributed projects, with a proposed mechanism price of RMB 0.305/kWh and an eligible electricity volume of 1.395 TWh. Wind projects have a proposed mechanism price of RMB 0.359/kWh and an eligible electricity volume of 8.573 TWh. The mechanism prices will apply for 12 years, while the electricity volume covered for each project will initially be capped at 80% of its total electricity fed into the grid.
Last month, nine electricity retailers in Guangxi, including subsidiaries of CHN Energy and CR Power, jointly petitioned the regional government over mounting power-market losses and sought revised settlement rules (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
TaiyangNews 2024

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Ask each installer for a written annual generation estimate based on your location, roof pitch, orientation and shading, with monthly figures showing the seasonal pattern. Also ask what happens during a power cut.
Hi Brigid,
Quite a few of our neighbours have had solar panels installed and with the price of home heating oil rising all the time we are thinking of doing it ourselves. While we are paying huge prices, those neighbours seem very happy with their investment.
However I saw there were a series of raids by the energy regulator on the offices of solar panel companies recently in relation to a possible cartel and that has made me nervous about the whole thing. While it’s still an investigation and nothing has been proven, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
If we talk to a solar installation company, they are clearly going to tell us it’s a good idea. But what do you think?
Our house is a regular estate type three-bed semi-d and we have oil-fired heating. The roof at the front faces to the east. I’m in my early 60s and hope to retire in three or four years. It’s just my wife and I and one of our daughters living at home.
What are the common mistakes people make?
How many panels should we get?
How much generally do they cost approximately and what grants are available?
If we get the standard number of panels how long do you think it will take for them to cover the cost?
Will it work with our oil-fired system or should we look at changing that also?
Is there any new technology coming that we should be aware of or perhaps should even wait for?
Any other advice you could give would be much appreciated.
Thank you, Richie
Hi Richie, thanks for your query.
Solar panels could be a worthwhile investment for you, particularly if you expect to stay in your home throughout retirement.
But there is one distinction to make immediately: the usual rooftop solar photovoltaic panels, or PV, generate electricity. They will reduce your electricity purchases, rather than directly replacing the oil that heats your radiators.
Concerns
Your concern about the raids is understandable. However, they were conducted by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, not the energy regulator [exa.mn/sol]. The investigation concerns suspected bid-rigging involving public tenders. Searches do not establish wrongdoing, and neither do they show that domestic solar installations are inherently poor value. Treat the news as another reason to compare suppliers carefully.
SEAI maintains a register of solar PV companies, which you can search by county or company name. You must use an SEAI-registered company to qualify for its solar PV grant. It is important to remember that ‘registered’ does not mean SEAI approves, guarantees, or warranties the company’s work. SEAI does recommend getting at least four quotes, checking references and having a written contract.
You also need grant approval before installation begins.
Direct sun
Your east facing roof is certainly worth assessing. It produces more electricity in the morning. A west-facing rear roof could provide afternoon and evening generation. Splitting panels between both slopes can spread production across the day, although annual output will generally be lower than if you had a roomy south-facing installation. Neighbouring buildings, roof condition, chimney shadows, and usable space all matter too.
How many panels?
For your household, I would request quotations for roughly 8-12 modern panels, approx 3.5 to 5.5 kilowatts peak capacity (kWp). Ten 440-watt panels would give 4.4kWp. That is a starting point, not a prescription. Three bedrooms do not determine electricity demand.
Give installers 12 months of electricity consumption and, ideally, smart-meter data. Ensure to ask them to account for retirement, when you may be home more, and any future electric car.
Budgeting
As a budgeting guide, a straightforward 10-panel installation without a battery might cost approximately €7,000 to €9,000 before the ordinary grant, leaving around €5,200 to €7,200 afterwards.
Supplier prices vary considerably. Energia currently gives an indicative €6,000 to €6,600 after-grant estimate for a 10-panel, 4.4kWp system.
Check whether scaffolding, electrical upgrades, monitoring and the required BER assessment are included.
Grants
As of November 2026, the standard SEAI solar grant is €700 per kWp for the first 2kWp, then €200 per additional kWp up to 4kWp with a maximum €1,800. Eligible homes must have been built and occupied before 2025 and cannot have received previous solar PV funding. It is very important to get approval before installation.
There is also a new €600 grant for batteries of at least 5kWh. Certain homeowners receiving qualifying welfare payments, including Fuel Allowance, can access enhanced solar-and- battery support of up to €9,000. Retirement alone does not establish eligibility, so check the actual conditions rather than assuming either you do or do not qualify.
For payback, have them issue clear numbers and this will tell you if the scheme is worth it. Or you could concentrate less on payback but take satisfaction in running smarter, cleaner systems.
Your supplier can pay for surplus electricity under the Clean Export Guarantee. Confirm the meter arrangements and installer’s ESB Networks paperwork. Compare the whole electricity tariff, including import prices and standing charges, rather than choosing solely on the export payment. Don’t count exported electricity as both a bill saving and export income.
You can keep your oil boiler alongside PV. If reducing oil use is the priority, assess attic and wall insulation, draughts and heating controls too. Consider a heat pump through a separate assessment of heat loss, radiators and likely running costs. Grants are available, but solar installation does not oblige you to replace a functioning boiler.
Estimates
Ask each installer for a written annual generation estimate based on your roof pitch, location, orientation and shading, with monthly figures showing the seasonal pattern. Also ask what happens during a power cut. Ordinary grid- connected PV shuts down, and having a battery does not automatically provide backup unless the system includes it.
The common mistakes are accepting pressure selling, copying a neighbour’s system, overlooking roof repairs, and believing guaranteed savings.
But what you can do is talk to your pals and family. Find out how their systems work and what the figures mean in actuality. Ask what they would have done differently.
There will be a bit of learning involved but this will give great confidence when talking to suppliers. I wish you the very best of luck.

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Thu Nov 5, 2026
Here’s something worth thinking about. A coal or natural gas power plant has two costs: the plant itself, and the fuel it burns every day. When fuel prices spike — like they are now — your electricity bill goes up too, because your utility is paying more for fuel.
A solar farm has one cost: building it. After that, the fuel is free. Same with wind. And in most of the country, new solar and wind are already cheaper to build than new coal or gas plants — even before you factor in the fuel they’ll never have to buy.
That doesn’t mean renewables are perfect. The sun doesn’t always shine. The wind doesn’t always blow. Energy storage is getting cheaper, but it’s not free. These are real challenges.
But here’s what’s not debatable: every kilowatt-hour that comes from a source with no fuel cost is one that can’t be affected by a war, a pipeline shutdown, or an OPEC decision. That’s not an environmental argument. That’s a price stability argument.
Two costs vs. one cost: A fossil fuel power plant pays for both construction and ongoing fuel. A solar or wind farm only pays for construction — after that, the "fuel" (sunlight, wind) is free. This means once a renewable plant is built, its operating cost is nearly fixed and largely immune to global commodity markets.
Solar and wind are now the cheapest new electricity. The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook shows that new solar and onshore wind are cost-competitive with or cheaper than new natural gas combined cycle plants in most U.S. regions, even without subsidies. Lazard’s 2025 LCOE analysis confirms: solar PV LCOE is $38-92/MWh, compared to gas combined cycle at $48-107/MWh and new nuclear at $141-220/MWh. (EIA Annual Energy Outlook; Lazard LCOE+ 2025)
Fuel cost volatility hits your electric bill. Natural gas prices spiked during the 2022 Ukraine invasion and again during the 2026 Iran war. These costs pass directly to electricity ratepayers through utility fuel adjustment charges. Wisconsin’s electricity mix is about 40% natural gas and 30% coal — both subject to global commodity price swings.
"You can’t weaponize the sun." RFF board member Catherine Wolfram used this phrase to capture why renewables offer a hedge against geopolitical risk. Unlike oil, gas, and coal, sunlight and wind have no global price and cannot be disrupted by wars or embargoes. (Resources for the Future)
Energy storage is the remaining challenge. Lithium-ion battery costs have fallen roughly 90% since 2010 and continue to decline. Storage adds cost to renewable projects but is increasingly competitive, especially for 4-hour duration applications. Wisconsin’s first large-scale battery storage facility came online in Kenosha County in 2025. (BloombergNEF)
Related Civic Minute segments: Where Does Your Electricity Come From? (CM-34), What Energy Independence Actually Means (CM-38), When Gas Prices Spike, Your Grid Gets Dirtier (CM-41)
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Dinto Solar Earns Thailand’s First Mandatory TISI Certification for HJT PV Module Makers

Certification was granted under TIS 61730 Part 2-2567, aligned with IEC 61730-2:2023, covering electrical insulation, fire safety and mechanical strength. TISI auditors inspected Dinto Solar's manufacturing facilities in Longgang and Suining, China, reviewing quality management, production controls, supply chains and traceability. The company's modules, developed and manufactured in-house, passed the assessment on the first application.
The certified portfolio spans 33 power ratings from 455 W to 770 W, supporting residential rooftops, commercial and industrial (C&I) installations and utility-scale solar plants. This range gives Thai developers and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors greater flexibility in product selection and system design.
For businesses with limited rooftop space, HJT's high efficiency supports greater power generation per square meter. Dinto Solar's G12-132 module features a superior temperature coefficient of −0.24%/°C to limit heat-related power loss. Butyl sealing and coated dual glass further improve moisture resistance and durability, supporting reliable energy yield in Thailand's hot, humid climate.
JJ Energy Company Limited, Dinto Solar's exclusive partner in Thailand, holds the local import licenses. The companies' 2026-2027 agreement, announced in September, includes an initial 30 MW order for G12-132 HJT modules for Thai C&I rooftops. Certification enables the partners to advance import arrangements, customs clearance and distribution in preparation for delivery.
With certified products and local market capabilities in place, Dinto Solar is strengthening its position in Thailand while expanding its presence across Southeast Asia. The company will continue working with regional partners to bring high-efficiency HJT solutions to more projects, focusing on reliable performance, long-term energy yield and customer value.
Website: www.dintosolar.com
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CHANGZHOU, China, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On November 5, Changzhou's first whole-village photovoltaic (PV) project was officially commissioned in Heshu Village, Lijia Town, Wujin District. Rooftops of 40 households and the village's corridors accommodate a total of 1.08 MW of PV capacity, yet from a distance, almost no trace of the installation can be seen.
This “invisibility” is by design. Heshu Village's rural houses were delivered under unified planning and construction in November 2022. The village is a pilot for Jiangsu Province's homestead system reform and a national demonstration village for rural governance. Its neat eaves and ample rooftop area provided favorable conditions for whole-village PV development, while also imposing higher requirements on construction.
For the two housing types of 140 square meters and 90 square meters, the contractor designed customized layouts of 36 and 25 modules respectively, with PV panels laid along the roof slope. In conventional practice, the gap between PV panels and tiles is about 20 centimeters; in Heshu Village, it was reduced to 12 centimeters. Down-conductors are routed neatly along walls, so the rooftops look flat from afar and the layout appears orderly up close, without disrupting the original contours of the houses.
“From a distance, it looks like village scenery; only up close can you tell it is a PV power station,” said Zhang Xiongwei, project contact person at State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company. He explained that, in line with Heshu Village's Jiangnan water-town character of white walls and dark tiles, the project follows the original roof contours and uses black, low-reflection PV modules so that the PV equipment blends into the rooftops. Power supporting equipment is painted or decorated with colored drawings to fit the surrounding village landscape and merge into the village's appearance.
According to estimates, the whole-village PV project generates about 1.18 million kWh of electricity annually, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 360 ordinary households, and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 700 tons per year. With green benefits secured, the question is how to divide the economic returns. Heshu Village adopted a model of “government promotion, grid support, state-owned enterprise demonstration, village committee organization, and resident benefits”: the state-owned platform Wujin Digital Energy is responsible for investment, construction, and operation and maintenance, and pays rent to residents and the village committee; the village committee convenes general meetings of property owners to promptly respond to residents' concerns and organize contract signing; and Changzhou Power Supply Company is responsible for technical guidance and the connection of supporting power facilities.
Residents only need to provide their rooftops and can receive a cumulative rooftop rental income of about 33,000 yuan over 20 years. In addition to a three-year roof waterproofing insurance, State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company has also introduced Yingda Insurance to provide a seven-year extended warranty service. The village collective receives rent for the PV corridors, as well as incentives that give back to rural development, such as village street lighting, Party-building publicity sites, and convenient service venues. The investor earns returns through power generation, with an investment payback period of about 11 years. The project adopts a connection scheme of “800 V low-voltage collection and 10 kV medium-voltage grid connection,” significantly improving power quality and supply reliability and markedly enhancing the project's ability to interact with the power grid.
The 2026 No. 1 Central Document proposed “advancing the construction of livable, workable, and beautiful villages in accordance with local conditions,” and the National Energy Administration requires “guiding the scientific layout and orderly development of rural distributed PV according to grid carrying capacity.” Heshu Village's exploration is precisely the implementation of this guidance at the village level. In the future, Changzhou will also explore promoting the simultaneous design and integrated construction of rural self-renewal housing and PV, so that such village landscapes can take root in more rural areas.

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“Datacentres in space looking pretty appealing right now,” Elon Musk said on X recently when questions were raised about the future of datacentres in the aftermath of a Democratic sweep of the US Congress and the Senate. Maybe, we can nudge Musk off this daft idea that multiply space debris via a report that solar panels could account for 10% of global power generation by end of this year.
The report was carried by BBC that said solar power generation across the world quietly overtook nuclear power in 2025 has grown even faster in the current year, possibly due to concerns over the crude prices and availability due to the Iran war with the US and Israel. The news organisation conducted an analysis with Ember data for the past 12 months to suggest that solar power outstripped nuclear by 13%.
The article quoted Dave Jones, co-founder of Ember research to state that solar generation was way more than all of the world’s nuclear power. This is a pretty insane state, he noted while highlighting China’s recent solar upsurge driven by escalating oil prices as a cause for the shift.
Compared to nuclear energy generation, which has stayed largely flat over the past 26 years globally, the report noted that the volume of solar energy being generated has exploded, increasing some 2,700 times over across the same period. Professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Oxford Jan Rosenow says, “solar is now the engine of the power transition.”
The report also noted another interesting trend whereby while China’s efforts resulted in a massive supply boost of solar power through a reduction in the cost of photovoltaic cells, similar efforts in the United States through the startup environment around nuclear energy haven’t borne fruit. Most efforts to commercialise nuclear fission aren’t going anywhere, the BBC says.
Quite the contrary in fact. Reports also noted that nuclear construction project costs have burgeoned by several times in recent years. Going forward, the issue with solar energy isn’t about access but to the development of balanced technologies in the realm of infrastructure. This is more so for the underdeveloped and overexploited countries of Africa.
Says Rosenow, “the bigger question is not about whether solar energy grows, but whether the power systems operated by countries and the institutions around them can keep up with the pace. Moreover, the technology has matured in the past 15 years and become the cheapest power in history way back in 2020. And since then, the tech has scaled and efficiencies have risen as the amount of silver and silicon that goes into the panels have reduced, causing the prices to fall further.
Why this news makes sense is that if datacentres rely on solar power for running them, Musk’s idea of shifting them into space won’t go very far. Not that it is going anywhere in the near future, given that the cost of deploying them via reusable rockets is still very high.
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The rapid scaling of utility-scale solar farms has driven major advancements in photovoltaic (PV) connector technology, shifting the focus toward high-reliability 1500 V DC architectures and emerging 2000 V DC systems.
Developing solar connector technology presents challenges. Choosing the right raw materials requires balancing cost, conductivity, durability, and sustainability. Copper, silver, aluminium, and specialized polymers are chosen for their performance and environmental resilience, including UV exposure, humidity, and thermal cycling.
Many PV connectors use crimp-style contacts. Whether installed in the factory or in the field, they require the manufacturer-recommended crimp tool and correct assembly. A 2019 study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Germany found that PV connectors and crimps were the largest single cause of DC wiring failures. Most of these failures occurred during the first five years of installation.

PV wire connector failures can result from poor contact crimping, including crimps that trap wire insulation. Improper assembly can also allow water ingress. These defects are often concealed within connectors that appear correctly assembled. Unless a connector has visibly failed, for example through distortion or melting, identifying such problems by visual inspection is nearly impossible; thermal imaging is often the only way to detect them.
Modern solar farms increasingly use 1500 V DC systems to minimize transmission losses over vast expanses and reduce balance-of-system (BoS) costs, and this is driving a transition to more advanced connectors. These tend to use proprietary contact technologies, often using stamping technologies, that maintain high surface contact area. This significantly lowers electrical contact resistance, prevents localized overheating, and safely handles heavy current loads without thermal degradation.
Manufacturers have introduced advanced tool-less connection systems, such as Insulation Displacement Contact (IDC) technology. Unlike traditional crimping, which is prone to human error and requires specialized tools, IDC allows technicians to push-fit wires directly. This cuts field assembly time by up to 80% while ensuring a gas-tight, vibration-proof connection.
The mainstream connector for commercial and utility-scale solar farms is the MC4, rated up to 1000 V to 500 V DC and handling various cable cross-sections from 1.5 mm² to 10 mm².
The MC4 uses a contact technology called MULTILAM, which uses multiple contact points that improve connection quality and energy transfer as a result of constant spring pressure. This results in constantly low contact resistance for long-life operation and reduced downtime.
The contact technology minimizes the risks of power loss, downtime, hotspots, or even a fire that could lead to significant reconstruction costs.
A crimp-free, tool-free connector variant speeds up field installation and reduces human error during wiring as this avoids cross-mating or cross-connecting original MC4 connectors with third-party connectors, as mixing brands can lead to high-resistance hotspots, electrical arcing, and fire risks.

Solar single-axis tracker systems efficiently help to optimize the capture of solar energy by automatically adjusting the orientation of photovoltaic panels throughout the day.
Unlike fixed solar panels, single-axis trackers pivot around a single axis, to follow the sun’s path from east to west. This dynamic adjustment increases the efficiency and energy output of solar installations. Single-axis tracker systems are widely used in large-scale solar farms and utility-scale PV plants where maximizing energy production is crucial, especially in areas with high solar irradiance.
The PV DC connectors are the key components transmitting the harvested solar power. They are responsible for establishing reliable and safe operation of the solar power plant.
The dynamic adjustment of the single-axis tracker system poses challenges for PV DC connector installation. These movements create mechanical stress on the connecting parts, like wires and connectors. Therefore, several precautions should be considered for such areas of application.
However, as photovoltaic projects increase in scale, higher system voltage can allow designers to place more modules within each string and transmit greater power through the DC collection system. Depending on the overall system architecture, these changes can reduce the number of parallel circuits and associated balance-of-system components required throughout an installation. Higher-voltage photovoltaic architectures can allow longer strings and, depending on system design, may reduce cabling, parallel circuits and other balance-of-system requirements. This is leading to complete installations that are designed and approved for 2000V operation.
The latest connectors are rated for 2000 V DC photovoltaic applications and are designed around 6 AWG / 16 mm² PV cable. These support rated current levels of 65 A under Intertek’s ETL certification and 70 A under TÜV certification at 85°C, helping address the electrical requirements of larger and increasingly powerful solar installations. The UL 6703 standard provides requirements for connectors used in photovoltaic systems.
A typical contact resistance of ≤0.25 mΩ helps maintain a low-loss electrical interface across the connection with an outside cable diameter of 8.38 mm to 11.0 mm. This becomes increasingly important in utility-scale photovoltaic systems, where dependable connector performance across large numbers of interconnect points can contribute to overall system efficiency and long-term energy production.
The 2000 V solar connector is intended for high-voltage DC connection points throughout modern photovoltaic and energy storage architectures. Typical applications include utility-scale solar farms, commercial photovoltaic installations, module string connections, combiner and junction box interfaces, compatible inverter DC inputs and solar-plus-storage systems.
Solar connectors must maintain electrical and mechanical performance through years of exposure to changing temperatures, moisture and ultraviolet radiation. They provide IP65 and IP68 environmental protection when properly assembled and mated, and IP2X protection in the unmated condition.
The connector uses UV-resistant thermoplastic materials with a UL94-V0 flame classification and operates across an ambient temperature range of -40°C to +85°C. It is also RoHS and REACH compliant, supporting the environmental and reliability requirements associated with modern photovoltaic infrastructure.

Connectors are available in both field-installable and preassembled configurations, giving module manufacturers, harness suppliers, EPCs and installation teams flexibility in how connections are incorporated into a photovoltaic system.
Dedicated stripping, crimping, torque, inspection and unlocking tools support controlled and repeatable installation. Correct cable preparation, crimping, torque and mating remain critical to maintaining low electrical resistance and environmental sealing throughout the service life of the system.
Moving photovoltaic architectures from 1500 V toward 2000 V creates new requirements throughout the DC power path. By combining 2000V DC capability, 6 AWG conductor support, low contact resistance and rugged environmental protection, the 2000V connectors give solar system designers another option for developing higher-power installations while remaining within Amphenol Industrial Operations’ established H4 connectivity platform.
Application-level analysis indicates that higher-voltage system architectures may also help reduce resistive line losses and balance-of-system requirements compared with conventional 1500 V designs, depending on the complete electrical configuration.
Operating continuously for a 25-year lifespan in harsh outdoor environments demands exceptional materials. Latest-generation connectors feature UV-stabilized, flame-retardant engineering plastics and high-performance silicone seals achieving IP68 ratings. Furthermore, to mitigate the severe risk of DC electric arcs (which do not self-extinguish easily), modern connectors feature enhanced mechanical locking mechanisms compliant with NEC guidelines, alongside touch-proof (IP2X) internal geometries that protect field technicians during live maintenance.
Reliability is key. Testing includes lab simulations, thermal cycling, salt spray, mechanical stress, and corrosion testing. Field-testing the connectors with integrators in real-world conditions helps ensure that performance aligns with lab expectations and provides confidence at scale.
There is also a move towards integrating the connectors into the inverter system. Recent collaboration with an inverter manufacturer led to the development of a compact DC connector mounted on the printed circuit board. This design reduced the component count, simplified assembly, and increased internal space, resulting in higher power output in a smaller enclosure.
All material on this site Copyright © 2026 European Business Press SA. All rights reserved.

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TAN: A Blue Sweep Doesn’t Mean Big Green For Solar Yet (NYSEARCA:TAN)  Seeking Alpha
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US trade authorities have levied preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to 123% on solar cell imports from India. For Waaree Energies, while trade barriers pose near-term export margin friction, its scale of 12 GW annual module output and strategic backward integration provide a buffer.
Market snapshot: The United States has imposed steep anti-dumping duties on solar cell imports from India, directly impacting key domestic exporters including Waaree Energies, Premier Energies, and Vikram Solar. The regulatory trade action creates immediate export duty hurdles for Indian PV component manufacturers selling into the US market.
The US anti-dumping duty underscores tightening trade policies targeting solar component supply chains. While higher tariffs compress direct export margins, Waaree Energies' large domestic production base and entry into specialty gas manufacturing provide key operational hedges.
Solar equipment exporters may experience short-term margin compression on North American shipments. Market participants will focus on whether export contracts feature cost-pass-through clauses and how quickly domestic manufacturers can scale overseas production facilities.
Market Bias: Bearish
Preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to 123% on Indian solar imports introduce immediate revenue and margin friction for export-dependent PV manufacturers.
Overweight: Domestic EPC Contractors
Underweight: Solar Component Exporters
Trigger Factors:
Time Horizon: Near-term (0-3 months)
Global solar trade faces mounting protectionism as major economies enact tariffs to foster domestic clean energy manufacturing. Indian solar manufacturers are increasingly compelled to balance export dependence with strong domestic market integration.
Waaree Clean Energy Solutions announced its entry into India's specialty gases market to supply semiconductor and solar cell manufacturers from a plant in Dahej, Gujarat. Furthermore, the Board of Directors approved the Scheme of Amalgamation of Indosolar Limited into Waaree Energies Limited.
While US trade duties present near-term hurdles for solar cell exports, Waaree Energies' domestic manufacturing leadership and supply chain expansion offer long-term operational resilience.
High Performance Trading with SAHI.
Disclaimer: This news section may include AI-generated or AI-assisted news, summaries, drafts, or insights. All content is subject to human review before publication. While we aim for accuracy, readers should independently verify information before relying on it.
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Indian photovoltaic manufacturer Jakson plans to bring an initial 3 GW of integrated ingot, wafer and solar cell capacity into operation in India by the end of 2028, according to pv magazine, which spoke with Ivan Saha, Managing Director of Jakson Engineers Limited. Saha indicated that the company could later raise its ingot and wafer capacity to as much as 10 GW and its solar cell capacity to as much as 5 GW, subject to market conditions.
The company intends to develop its ingot-wafer and cell projects at the same time, though the cell facility may begin operating before the ingot-wafer plant. Saha described the strategy as centred on vertical integration, with Jakson seeking control over manufacturing quality at the ingot, wafer and cell stages instead of depending entirely on outside wafer suppliers.
He explained that wafer characteristics such as oxygen content, dislocation levels and resistivity can affect downstream cell performance, and that making wafers in-house would let Jakson manage those parameters and refine its manufacturing process.
Jakson currently holds roughly 1.2 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity. Saha said the company’s present investment priority is backward integration rather than major additional spending on standalone module manufacturing, which he characterised as a comparatively lower-value segment with higher operating costs. Instead, Jakson plans to concentrate on ingot, wafer and cell production and may sell cells to the market or pursue arrangements to convert cells into modules, depending on market requirements.
Saha expects substantial consolidation in India’s solar manufacturing sector over the next four years as manufacturers face growing pressure to compete on technology, product quality and production costs. He also anticipates considerable market restructuring as the industry moves its attention from announced capacity to commercially viable production.
Jakson plans to use TOPCon 3.0 technology at its proposed 3 GW solar cell facility. The approach adds process steps compared with conventional TOPCon cell manufacturing to improve conversion efficiency. Saha said the company intends to adopt the technology directly rather than move through successive technology generations, and that Jakson is targeting initial cell conversion efficiencies of 25.5% to 25.6%.
Saha pointed to the gap between India’s announced solar manufacturing capacity and actual market supply, noting that commissioned and ALMM-listed capacity, together with capacity utilisation, gives a more realistic picture of available production. By his assessment, India has about 17 GW of ALMM-compatible TOPCon cell manufacturing capacity, and based on publicly available financial results from selected listed manufacturers he estimated average utilisation at around 60%, which would imply annual production of roughly 10 GW. Not all of that output is necessarily available to the open market, since some manufacturers use their cells for captive module production.
Saha said the difference between announced capacity and actual supply creates opportunities for manufacturers with differentiated technology and integrated operations, adding that Jakson’s focus is on technology and vertical integration with an emphasis on high-quality, fully automated and high-efficiency manufacturing.
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 India. 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 India market and positions India 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
Part of Adani Group; one of India's largest integrated solar manufacturers.
India's largest solar module exporter; capacity over 12 GW.
Leading module producer with global certifications.
Subsidiary of Tata Power; established player in solar manufacturing.
Integrated manufacturer of solar modules and encapsulation materials.
Rapidly expanding module capacity; strong domestic and export presence.
Known for high-efficiency modules and EPC services.
Diversified energy company with solar manufacturing division.
Focus on residential and commercial solar modules.
Manufacturer of polycrystalline and monocrystalline modules.
Part of Chiripal Group; new entrant with large capacity plans.
Known for high-efficiency mono PERC modules.
Exports to multiple countries; ALMM certified.
Growing manufacturer with focus on quality and innovation.
Part of the Goyal Group; produces mono and poly modules.
Diversified engineering group with solar manufacturing arm.
Major supplier of solar glass to module manufacturers.
One of India's oldest solar cell manufacturers; recently revived.
Part of Moser Baer Group; cell and module producer.
Specializes in solar cell production; under restructuring.
Integrated manufacturer with cell and module lines.
Part of Borosil group; produces modules for domestic market.
Focus on off-grid and rooftop solar solutions.
Part of Mahindra Group; major solar project developer.
Independent power producer; large solar portfolio.
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India achieved its target of sourcing 50 per cent of installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources in 2025, five years ahead of schedule. It has also become the world’s fourth-largest liquid biofuel market, with production increasing sixfold between 2020 and 2025, supported by policy measures, infrastructure investment and long-term planning.
The IEA said renewable energy is strengthening India’s energy security by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Without solar PV, wind and bioenergy capacity added since 2010, coal imports in 2025 would have been about 110 mn t higher, while the import dependence of electricity generation would have exceeded 30 per cent. Renewable electricity helped save more than USD 100 bn in cumulative coal and natural gas import expenditure between 2011 and 2025.
Solar PV capacity is projected to exceed 350 GW by 2030, while wind capacity could approach 90 GW and hydropower capacity may reach 75 GW. Renewable generation, which exceeded 500 TWh in 2025, is expected to approach 950 TWh by 2030 and meet about 35 per cent of electricity demand. Distributed solar capacity for self-consumption is also projected to exceed 100 GW, supported by rooftop installations, agricultural applications and corporate procurement.
The IEA identified transmission expansion, energy storage, forecasting systems and power system flexibility as key requirements for integrating higher shares of variable renewable energy. It also highlighted the need to strengthen distribution companies, streamline land acquisition and permitting, and reduce delays in wind and hydropower projects. India’s solar manufacturing capacity reached about 225 GW in September 2026 and is expected to expand further, supported by industrial policies including the Production Linked Incentive scheme and domestic sourcing requirements.
India’s renewable energy capacity is projected to reach around 530 GW by 2030, with solar power accounting for more than 80 per cent of additions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The country’s renewable power capacity surpassed 300 GW in Q4 2026, nearly quadrupling over the past decade. India achieved its target of sourcing 50 per cent of installed power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources in 2025, five years ahead of schedule. It has also become the world’s fourth-largest liquid biofuel market, with production increasing sixfold between 2020 and 2025, supported by policy measures, infrastructure investment and long-term planning. The IEA said renewable energy is strengthening India’s energy security by reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Without solar PV, wind and bioenergy capacity added since 2010, coal imports in 2025 would have been about 110 mn t higher, while the import dependence of electricity generation would have exceeded 30 per cent. Renewable electricity helped save more than USD 100 bn in cumulative coal and natural gas import expenditure between 2011 and 2025. Solar PV capacity is projected to exceed 350 GW by 2030, while wind capacity could approach 90 GW and hydropower capacity may reach 75 GW. Renewable generation, which exceeded 500 TWh in 2025, is expected to approach 950 TWh by 2030 and meet about 35 per cent of electricity demand. Distributed solar capacity for self-consumption is also projected to exceed 100 GW, supported by rooftop installations, agricultural applications and corporate procurement. The IEA identified transmission expansion, energy storage, forecasting systems and power system flexibility as key requirements for integrating higher shares of variable renewable energy. It also highlighted the need to strengthen distribution companies, streamline land acquisition and permitting, and reduce delays in wind and hydropower projects. India’s solar manufacturing capacity reached about 225 GW in September 2026 and is expected to expand further, supported by industrial policies including the Production Linked Incentive scheme and domestic sourcing requirements.
Welspun One has unveiled A Dream Diwali, a festive brand film promoting World Trade Center Thane, its proposed mixed-use development in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The campaign uses individual interpretations of an ideal Diwali to introduce the experiences and offerings planned at the development.The film follows different characters as they share their festive wishes and go about activities such as shopping, meeting friends, playing games and spending time with family. Through these everyday moments, the campaign presents the idea that celebrations are personal and that different ge..
BorgWarner has secured three new turbocharger contracts with a global powertrain technology company. The wins comprise one contract for its variable turbine geometry (VTG) turbocharger and two for its wastegate turbocharger. The technologies will be deployed in the customer’s light-vehicle gasoline platforms in South America and Europe, with production scheduled to begin in 2027.The VTG turbochargers are designed for gasoline engines operating under demanding conditions and high-boost pressure requirements. They are engineered to support Miller-cycle engines and withstand exhaust temperatures ..
India has begun trials of Digi Yatra for international passengers at seven airports, allowing eligible Indian passport holders to use facial recognition at selected airport checkpoints. The facility is currently limited to Indian nationals with e-passports travelling on selected international flights operated by Air India and IndiGo. The Civil Aviation Ministry announced the trials on 1 November, with testing scheduled through December 2026. A wider rollout is expected in 2027 after the ministry assesses passenger feedback gathered during the trial period, according to PTI. The system is inten..
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Solar farm threatens Second World War airfield  The Telegraph
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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, including its battery products. 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.
In Australia, SolarEdge was selling its SolarEdge Home Battery, a 10kWh battery with a usable energy of 9.7kWh and a 100% depth of discharge capability. Online sellers had priced it at AUD $11,499.00.
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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Dual Agrivoltaic Land Use Substantially Increases Community Support for Solar Developments
A comprehensive survey investigation examining public attitudes toward renewable energy infrastructure has revealed that integrating agricultural production directly with solar photovoltaic installations substantially bolsters local acceptance. According to findings published in Green Technology, Resilience, and Sustainability, an overwhelming 81.8 percent of surveyed community residents reported that they would be more likely to support a solar energy development in their vicinity if the facility co-located energy generation with agricultural operations. The study, conducted by researchers Alexis S. Pascaris, Chelsea Schelly, Mark Rouleau, and Joshua M. Pearce, sought to determine whether combining agricultural functions with photovoltaic arrays could directly mitigate local opposition and land-use conflicts that frequently impede utility-scale renewable deployment. Siting tensions have historically presented critical barriers to expanding ground-mounted solar arrays, as developers often compete for open, highly sunlit parcels that are already dedicated to farming. By measuring the marginal increase in public receptivity generated by dual-purpose systems, the authors established that community endorsement rises sharply when solar arrays are intentionally configured to sustain agricultural practices rather than displace them entirely.
The expansion of solar photovoltaic technology represents a central decarbonization mechanism for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, yet its land-intensive character increasingly sparks localized land-use friction. Conventional agricultural land use and fossil-fuel-based energy generation remain predominant drivers of global emissions, making low-carbon alternatives essential. Although solar photovoltaic systems produce minimal operational emissions and have become among the most cost-effective electricity sources worldwide, spatial requirements pose significant planning hurdles. Researchers have noted that taking full advantage of optimal solar insolation inevitably drives development toward rural, open landscapes, with some projections indicating that solar deployment potential could be reduced by half in jurisdictions where prime agricultural land is strictly shielded from energy projects. Prior studies cited by the research team indicate that converting just under one percent of United States farmland could satisfy twenty percent of national electricity generation through agrivoltaic configurations, while dedicating one percent of global cropland could theoretically satisfy worldwide electrical demand. Without multifunctional designs, however, the encroachment of single-purpose solar farms onto productive soil routinely triggers resistance from nearby residents who fear the loss of community character, rural identity, and local agrarian productivity.
To rigorously evaluate how dual-use strategies alter public opinion, the investigators implemented a comparative cross-sectional survey across two distinct geographic jurisdictions in the central United States: Lubbock County, Texas, and Houghton County, Michigan. Purposive sampling was utilized to contrast areas possessing markedly divergent climatic regimes, physical geographies, and population densities, while maintaining broadly comparable sociodemographic baselines in age, education, and median household income. Lubbock County represents an arid Southwestern agricultural environment characterized by an estimated population of 308,392, a population density of 344.3 individuals per square mile, an average annual high temperature of 74 degrees Fahrenheit, modest annual snowfall of 9 inches, and a daily solar irradiance averaging 4.3 kilowatt-hours per square meter. In contrast, Houghton County is situated in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, featuring a smaller population of 35,890, a density of 35.6 persons per square mile, an annual high temperature averaging 49 degrees Fahrenheit, substantial average snowfall reaching 208 inches, and an average solar irradiance of 4.0 kilowatt-hours per square meter accompanied by severe winter snow losses. This deliberate pairing allowed the researchers to test whether environmental and climatic disparities affect public attitudes toward the feasibility and desirability of agrivoltaic systems.
The data collection procedure was executed between October 2020 and January 2021 via a two-wave survey protocol combining physical mailings with an online completion option hosted through Qualtrics. To establish a rigorous sample frame of permanent residential property holders, the researchers obtained digital county landowner parcel registers from the Houghton County Tax Equalization Department and the Texas Natural Resources Information System. Commercial establishments, utility properties, industrial tracts, unoccupied agricultural parcels, and non-household institutions were systematically removed, after which a simple random sample of approximately 1,000 unique households per county was selected. The initial wave delivered an explanatory postcard containing an online access link, followed by a second wave delivering a printed questionnaire, return postage, and an upfront two-dollar cash incentive designed to improve participation. A total of 176 completed surveys were returned from the 2,012 sampled households, generating an aggregate response rate of 8.7 percent, consisting of 60 respondents from Lubbock County, 91 from Houghton County, and 25 respondents who omitted geographic identifiers. This sample yielded a calculated margin of error of 7 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval for the combined sample, with county-specific sampling errors of 12 percent for Lubbock and 10 percent for Houghton. Survey respondents skewed older, more educated, and wealthier than county medians, reflecting typical demographic attributes observed across rural landowner surveys.
Prior to conducting multivariate analyses, the researchers performed statistical analyses of variance across the resulting subgroups to determine whether regional location or residential classification introduced meaningful variations in perspective. The comparative analysis revealed that differences across county groupings regarding overall project support, planning factor importance, and underlying reasons for backing or opposing installations were negligible and lacked statistical significance. Furthermore, when respondents self-identified their neighborhood context as urban, suburban, or rural, recoding into a binary rural-versus-nonrural measure similarly failed to demonstrate statistically significant divergent viewpoints. This uniformity diverged from earlier literature suggesting that rural residents inherently exhibit greater opposition toward local renewable infrastructure than urban populations. Because statistical tests showed consistent and nearly identical response patterns across both counties and across residential settlement types, the researchers aggregated the full dataset into a unified analytical cohort. The absence of regional discrepancies allowed the inquiry to derive broader analytical generalizations regarding how landowner populations evaluate the trade-offs between traditional single-use solar installations and dual-use agrivoltaic alternatives.
The survey established that baseline public attitudes toward community solar development are already remarkably favorable, even before introducing dual-use configurations. Approximately 71.8 percent of all surveyed participants stated that they generally support solar development within their local jurisdiction, whereas only 6.8 percent explicitly opposed it. An intermediate group comprising 14.7 percent indicated that their support was conditional, selecting an option indicating that their approval depended on specific project circumstances. Qualitative explanations provided by these conditional respondents highlighted that their reservations were largely rooted in ideological opposition to government subsidies and taxpayer-funded financing mechanisms, rather than localized environmental or aesthetic impacts. However, when presented with the specific proposition of integrating agricultural food production beneath solar arrays, overall positive sentiment surged to 81.8 percent. This marked shift demonstrates that incorporating agricultural activity delivers a measurable marginal increase in public receptivity, directly expanding the base of community support beyond conventional ground-mounted photovoltaic systems and demonstrating the strategic utility of agrivoltaics in overcoming community resistance.
When comparing the specific development factors that influence public support for conventional solar versus agrivoltaic systems, the researchers identified nearly identical structural preferences across both models. Economic variables consistently emerged as the most influential determinants of public favorability. Providing additional revenue streams for local farmers garnered support or strong support from 89 percent of respondents under both conventional and agrivoltaic scenarios, while generating broader benefits for the local economy was endorsed by 91 percent for conventional solar and 88 percent for agrivoltaics. Siting factors similarly dictated opposition patterns in both development frameworks. Developing projects on land valued by the community, situating arrays on public property, or erecting panels within sight of private residential properties universally elevated opposition. For instance, opposition toward projects visible from personal property rose by 6 percent when an agricultural function was included, although this minor increase fell within the study’s 7 percent margin of error and was not statistically significant. Overall, the data indicate that public evaluations of energy infrastructure remain anchored in localized financial and siting considerations, regardless of system design.
When respondents were asked to prioritize specific planning objectives for future agrivoltaic installations on a four-point scale ranging from not at all important to extremely important, economic development again dominated community preferences. Designing projects to generate employment opportunities and spur local economic activity was ranked as extremely important by 66.5 percent of participants, while 55.7 percent emphasized the critical need to design projects that do not alter or threaten local community interests. Additionally, guaranteeing supplemental income for host farmers and securing lower utility electricity rates for local ratepayers were both cited as extremely important by identical 52.8 percent cohorts. When asked to select specific perceived benefits that would motivate their backing of an agrivoltaic project, 75 percent cited providing revenue to local farmers, 75 percent selected local food production, and 73 percent pointed to local job creation and capital investment. Strikingly, maximizing efficient land use was selected the least frequently among all potential benefits, indicating that public enthusiasm for agrivoltaics is driven primarily by tangible socioeconomic returns and agrarian preservation rather than abstract land-use efficiency metrics.
In examining perceived liabilities, nearly half of the sample expressed little apprehension regarding the implementation of dual-use installations. Specifically, 47 percent of participants indicated that they were not concerned about any of the potential development issues enumerated in the survey instrument. Among the minority who did identify specific concerns, procedural and distributive fairness proved far more prominent than physical impacts. The most prevalent concern, cited by 35 percent of respondents, involved the potential for unfair distribution of project economic benefits, reflecting public skepticism regarding whether external commercial developers would structure equitable partnerships with local agricultural hosts. Visual impact ranked as the second greatest concern at 19 percent, while all other potential problems, including ecological and operational risks, were selected by fewer than 15 percent of respondents. These findings underscore that maintaining transparent developer-farmer compensation models and establishing trustworthy business agreements will be essential for developers seeking to maintain host community good will.
To rigorously identify which specific factors drive marginal increases in support for agrivoltaics relative to conventional solar, the authors constructed multiple multivariate logistic regression models. In the model testing sociodemographic predictors, variables such as age, gender, education, income, and political affiliation failed to achieve statistical significance, likely due to sample size constraints. However, the regression model examining physical development attributes accounted for 41.1 percent of the variance in increased public support, yielding a Nagelkerke R-squared value of 0.41. Within this model, respondents who prioritized siting projects on existing agricultural land were roughly five times more likely to experience increased support for agrivoltaics over conventional arrays, showing an odds ratio beta of 4.94 at the 95 percent confidence level. Conversely, individuals opposed to siting energy facilities on public property were four times less likely to exhibit increased support, registering an odds ratio beta of 0.25. Support for construction by local companies also emerged as significant below the 95 percent confidence level, with an odds ratio beta of 0.18. A companion regression analyzing development concerns accounted for 41.9 percent of variance, revealing that respondents opposed to any local land development were 37 times less likely to increase their support, whereas unconcerned participants were 11.7 times more likely to favor agrivoltaics.
The study also explored consumer attitudes toward novel agricultural applications by surveying receptivity to rabbit-based agrivoltaic farming. Overall, 44.4 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that rabbits represent an acceptable dietary meat source, and 30.7 percent indicated they would be more inclined to purchase rabbit meat if it were pasture-raised underneath solar panels, showing notable openness toward dual-use agricultural commodities. The authors noted several analytical limitations, acknowledging that using conceptual descriptions rather than specific local parcels limited their capacity to assess localized place-attachment or exact proximity impacts. Furthermore, future investigations could evaluate community reactions to specific racking structures, such as vertical bifacial panels, wood-based mounting systems, or fence-mounted arrays, as well as emerging aquatic floatovoltaic designs. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that because 81.8 percent of participants express heightened support for combined energy and agricultural production, agrivoltaics offer a viable pathway to accelerate solar deployment. Policymakers and land-use planners can leverage zoning tools, including overlay districts and conditional agricultural use permits, to ensure solar developers protect agricultural integrity, distribute economic gains equitably, and sustain community trust.
Subject of Research: Public perceptions and community support for agrivoltaic solar energy systems
Article Title: Do agrivoltaics improve public support for solar? A survey on perceptions, preferences, and priorities
Article References: Pascaris, A. S., Schelly, C., Rouleau, M., & Pearce, J. M. (2022). Do agrivoltaics improve public support for solar? A survey on perceptions, preferences, and priorities. Green Technology, Resilience, and Sustainability, 2(1), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44173-022-00007-x
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s44173-022-00007-x
Keywords: agrivoltaics, solar energy, public perceptions, renewable energy siting, land use planning, agricultural communities, energy policy, social acceptance, improve, public, support, solar
News Source: Faith Mcneil. (November 8, 2026). Dual Agrivoltaic Land Use Substantially Increases Community Support for Solar Developments. Scienmag.
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There is nothing new under the sun.
The intense competition unfolding in China’s automotive industry today is not entirely unfamiliar when viewed against the broader history of Chinese manufacturing over the past several decades.
Technology advances rapidly. New players enter the market. Production capacity expands. Products become increasingly sophisticated and diverse, while price competition intensifies.
The market grows, industrial capabilities improve, yet companies find it increasingly difficult to make money.
We have seen similar developments in China’s home appliance, solar photovoltaic (PV), and smartphone industries.
What is interesting, however, is that these three industries have followed very different paths.
After decades of competition, China’s major home appliance markets have become increasingly concentrated, and several Chinese companies have developed strong global operating capabilities.
China’s solar PV industry has achieved global leadership in technology and manufacturing scale, yet it continues to struggle with overcapacity and profitability.
The smartphone industry has undergone intense competition and consolidation, but the competitive landscape in China has not necessarily determined the position of Chinese companies in global markets.
In my conversations with automotive executives in China and around the world, one question comes up repeatedly: When will China’s automotive industry finally enter a decisive phase of consolidation?
According to conventional industry logic, as competition intensifies and profitability declines, less efficient companies should gradually exit, allowing market share and resources to become more concentrated.
Yet the reality in China’s automotive industry appears more complicated.
There has been constant discussion about consolidation, restructuring, and market exits. But the number of participants has not declined as quickly as many expected. Instead, new vehicle models continue to enter the market.
Some companies are already facing serious financial difficulties, yet remain in the market through new financing, restructuring, or partnerships. Others have relatively limited market shares in China but are beginning to find opportunities overseas.
Meanwhile, the rapid development of electric vehicles, intelligent driving, and software technologies is continuously reshaping the competitive advantages of established players.
So how will China’s automotive industry consolidate? Which companies will successfully navigate this transition? And how will the international expansion of Chinese automakers reshape the competitive landscape?
To explore these questions, it is worth looking at the development of other industries.
Home Appliances: What Remains After Industry Consolidation?
Looking back at the development of China’s home appliance industry, particularly air conditioning, we can identify several similarities with today’s automotive market.
From the 1990s into the early 2000s, China’s residential air conditioning market expanded rapidly as household incomes rose and living conditions improved. Numerous companies entered the market. Competition was driven by pricing, distribution expansion, and investment in manufacturing capacity.
But growing demand did not guarantee success for every participant.
According to data from China’s State Information Center, the number of air conditioning brands monitored in major Chinese cities declined from 52 to 34 between two consecutive industry sales years, with the latter ending in July 2008. During that period, Midea, Gree, and Haier together accounted for 52.51% of the monitored market.
The data reflects a clear trend: competition was driving market share toward stronger players. However, fewer brands did not mean the end of competition, nor did it guarantee profitability.
Even today, Midea, Gree, and Haier must continue investing in R&D, product development, manufacturing efficiency, distribution networks, and customer service. Raw material costs, technological changes, and shifts in consumer demand continue to affect their performance. Brand exits, therefore, are only one visible outcome of industry consolidation.

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The more important question is: Why were some companies able to survive and continue growing over the following decades?
Scale certainly matters.
Air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines benefit from economies of scale. Higher production volumes allow companies to spread R&D, procurement, manufacturing, and distribution costs across more units.
But scale alone is not enough.
Over years of competition, leading companies developed more comprehensive capabilities in product engineering, manufacturing management, quality control, branding, distribution, and customer service.
These capabilities reinforced one another, enabling companies to develop products consistently and respond more effectively to changing market conditions.
As these companies expanded internationally, those accumulated capabilities created new opportunities.
In 2026, unusually hot weather across parts of Europe created significant opportunities for Chinese air conditioning manufacturers.
One particularly interesting example is Midea’s PortaSplit portable split air conditioner, developed for the European market.
Many European homes were not originally designed for air conditioning.
In some older buildings, restrictions on modifications to external walls make conventional split-system installation difficult. Professional installation can also be expensive and involve long waiting times.
Midea addressed these challenges with a portable split-system design that does not require drilling through external walls, while offering effective cooling, relatively low indoor noise, and convenient installation.
According to information disclosed by Midea in June 2026, PortaSplit’s business-to-business shipments in Europe had exceeded 200,000 units, approximately double the level recorded during the comparable period a year earlier. Midea’s European website subsequently reported that cumulative sales had exceeded 300,000 units since the product’s European launch in 2024.

Image source: Midea
High temperatures certainly helped stimulate demand. But the product was able to capture that opportunity because it addressed practical problems faced by local consumers.
I believe this example is particularly relevant to the automotive industry.
Chinese companies have already developed highly competitive manufacturing capabilities and supply chains. But whether these capabilities translate into lasting advantages overseas depends not simply on how many existing products they can export, but on how well they understand what local customers actually need.
I had a similar impression at the Paris Motor Show 2026.
The growing presence of Chinese automotive brands in Europe represents important progress.
However, some of the vehicles I observed still appeared to be primarily Chinese-market products adapted for Europe, rather than products defined from the outset around European customer needs.
Of course, not every product needs to be developed from scratch for an overseas market.
Adapting an existing vehicle or platform can be a commercially sound strategy. The key question is whether that adaptation genuinely addresses local customer requirements, rather than merely satisfying regulatory requirements for market entry.
The history of China’s home appliance industry shows that consolidation is not simply about reducing the number of competitors.
It is also about accumulating capabilities in R&D, manufacturing, branding, distribution, and management.
And those capabilities create new competitive advantages when they are applied effectively to specific market needs.
To judge whether an industry has truly matured, we should look beyond how many companies have disappeared and examine what capabilities the remaining companies have built—and whether those capabilities can continue to create value.
Solar PV: Why Does Better Technology Not Necessarily Mean Higher Profits?
If the home appliance industry illustrates how competition can lead to consolidation and capability accumulation, China’s solar PV industry offers a different and more cautionary lesson.
The development of China’s solar PV industry is one of the most remarkable stories in global manufacturing.
Through sustained technological progress, large-scale investment, and supply chain development, Chinese companies have established strong global positions in solar cells, modules, and related manufacturing processes.
The cost of solar power has fallen dramatically, making solar energy an increasingly important part of the global energy transition.
Yet there is an apparent contradiction.
Technology keeps improving. Global demand continues to grow. But manufacturers do not necessarily earn higher profits.
According to the International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2025 report, global annual solar PV module manufacturing capacity reached approximately 1,100–1,350 GW in 2024—more than twice the volume of solar PV systems deployed globally that year.
Manufacturing capacity and annual installations are not identical statistical measures. Nevertheless, the gap illustrates how rapidly manufacturing capacity expanded relative to demand.
Why does overcapacity emerge even when the market is still growing?

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One important explanation is that decisions that make sense for individual companies do not necessarily produce a sustainable outcome for the industry as a whole.
When demand is expanding rapidly, every company has an incentive to increase capacity, reduce costs, and capture market share.
For an individual manufacturer, investing in new equipment, expanding production, and improving efficiency may all be commercially rational decisions. But when many companies make those investments simultaneously, additional supply can exceed actual demand. To maintain capacity utilization and market share, companies may reduce prices further.
Lower prices compress margins, pushing manufacturers to pursue additional technological upgrades and cost reductions. The industry can become trapped in a cycle: more investment, better technology, cheaper products—and increasingly difficult profitability.
This resembles a classic prisoner’s dilemma in industrial competition.
There is another issue in solar PV that deserves closer examination: whether technological progress can create sustainable competitive barriers.

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Solar manufacturing relies heavily on production equipment and process engineering.
When a company develops a new cell technology or improves manufacturing efficiency, equipment suppliers are often involved in development, testing, process optimization, and mass production.
But equipment suppliers typically serve multiple customers.
As a manufacturing process matures and equipment solutions become more standardized, related capabilities may spread through equipment sales, engineering experience, and the movement of skilled professionals.
The solar manufacturing equipment industry has itself advanced rapidly.
Equipment suppliers continuously improve productivity, precision, and cost performance, enabling more manufacturers to adopt advanced technologies.
For the industry as a whole, this is beneficial.
The diffusion of advanced equipment reduces manufacturing costs and contributes to lower solar electricity costs. But for companies that invested first in developing a particular technology, the implications are more complicated. If a technological advantage depends largely on equipment that competitors can purchase and processes that can be replicated relatively easily, early innovators may struggle to maintain their lead. Competitors can potentially narrow the gap by acquiring similar equipment and improving their production processes.
This does not mean the solar PV industry lacks intellectual property protection or technological barriers. Companies hold extensive patents and proprietary know-how, and patent disputes around technologies such as TOPCon demonstrate the growing importance of intellectual property.
The relevant question is not whether innovation is protected at all, but how long an innovator can retain the economic benefits of its technological lead when certain capabilities can spread rapidly through the industrial ecosystem.
When technology diffuses quickly and the industry has abundant capital and manufacturing capacity, innovation may reduce costs across the entire sector without necessarily generating sustained excess profits for individual companies.
Technological transitions can create another challenge.
When a new technology emerges, companies may invest in new production lines to avoid falling behind.
If older capacity has not yet exited the market, new investment can further intensify the supply-demand imbalance. China’s solar PV industry experienced a major adjustment around 2011–2013 and has faced renewed profitability pressures since 2023.
The technological, policy, and market conditions of these periods were different. But both episodes suggest that one round of industry restructuring does not prevent another cycle of excessive investment.
There are important parallels with China’s automotive industry today.
As electric and intelligent vehicle technologies evolve, automakers continue launching new models and upgrading powertrains, electrical and electronic architectures, and intelligent driving systems.
From the perspective of an individual company, these investments may be necessary. Without them, the company risks falling behind in the next technological cycle.
But when the entire industry invests heavily in developing numerous vehicles with overlapping features and market positioning, and many of those models fail to achieve sufficient lifetime sales volumes, the economics become increasingly difficult.
R&D expenditure, tooling, production facilities, and supplier development costs must all be recovered over the commercial life of a vehicle program.
If volumes fall short of expectations, these investments become difficult to amortize.
The same problem affects automotive suppliers.
More vehicle programs mean more engineering work and development expenditure. But if relatively few programs achieve meaningful production volumes, suppliers may struggle to recover their investment.
Price reductions, payment-term pressures, and fluctuations in raw material costs further complicate the situation.
Technology also spreads through the automotive supply chain.
An advanced feature may initially differentiate one automaker’s products. But as suppliers mature their solutions and costs decline, similar technologies can become available across a growing number of competing vehicles.
This benefits consumers and accelerates technological adoption.
But purchasing advanced technology is not the same as building a competitive advantage that others cannot easily replicate.
Of course, automotive technology involves more complex system integration, safety validation, software capabilities, and long-term quality responsibilities. We should not assume that all automotive technologies will become standardized as quickly as certain solar manufacturing processes.
The most important lesson from solar PV is therefore not simply about overcapacity.
It is about the relationship between technological innovation and economic value.
Technology can advance an entire industry, but whether individual companies capture sustainable returns depends on technological barriers, investment discipline, product differentiation, and the structure of competition.
Technological leadership, manufacturing scale, and profitability are three different things.
Smartphones: Why Domestic Market Leadership Does Not Determine Global Success
Now consider the smartphone industry.
Over the past two decades, China’s mobile phone market has experienced intense competition.
From the large number of domestic brands in the feature-phone era to the wave of new entrants following the rise of smartphones, the industry once supported a wide range of competitors.
As technological development accelerated, R&D requirements increased, and distribution competition intensified, market share gradually concentrated among leading brands.
According to Omdia, China’s mainland smartphone market recorded approximately 282.3 million shipments in 2025. Huawei, vivo, Apple, Xiaomi, and OPPO ranked among the five leading vendors, together accounting for nearly 80% of shipments. The Chinese smartphone market has therefore become highly concentrated.
But concentration has not eliminated competition.
Leading brands continue investing heavily in semiconductors, operating systems, imaging technologies, artificial intelligence, product design, and distribution. Their market positions also change as technology, products, and consumer preferences evolve.

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The smartphone industry nevertheless reveals another important characteristic.
Even though China’s domestic market is relatively concentrated, the global market does not follow the same competitive ranking. Apple, Samsung, and Chinese smartphone brands occupy very different positions across countries and regions. Apple has built advantages through its premium brand positioning, operating system, and integrated ecosystem. Huawei has developed a broad combination of product engineering, proprietary technology, and ecosystem capabilities. Transsion, meanwhile, has followed a very different path, building its position through a deep understanding of consumers in specific regional markets.
Transsion is a particularly interesting example.
Unlike many Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Transsion did not first become a leading player in China before expanding internationally. Instead, it focused for many years on emerging markets, particularly Africa, developing products and business operations around local income levels, usage patterns, distribution structures, and service requirements. According to Transsion’s 2025 annual report, the company shipped approximately 169 million mobile phones during the year, including both smartphones and feature phones.
Its share of the African smartphone market was approximately 40%.
What makes Transsion interesting is that its success has not depended on low prices alone.
It has built a combination of product development, branding, distribution, and after-sales service around the needs of local customers. Consumer expectations regarding price, battery life, photography, durability, and service accessibility can vary significantly between markets.
The ability to understand these differences and translate them into products and operating capabilities can be decisive in regional competition.
There are early examples of similar thinking in the automotive industry.
ROX Motor, for instance, has positioned its large luxury SUVs around demand in Middle Eastern markets, including off-road capability and outdoor travel.
This remains an early-stage example. ROX has not yet demonstrated the scale or business-model maturity of Transsion, and its ability to achieve sustainable profitability remains to be seen.
The point of the comparison is not to declare that a particular automaker has already succeeded.
Rather, it raises a broader question: Must a Chinese automaker first become a domestic market leader before it can establish a meaningful position globally?
I do not believe so.
The global market is not simply an enlarged version of China’s domestic market.
Countries differ in income levels, consumer preferences, distribution structures, product requirements, and competitive environments.
A product or brand that is successful in one market may not enjoy the same advantages elsewhere.
Conversely, a company with limited domestic market share may still find opportunities in other regions.
Consolidation in one national market does not necessarily mean that global competition will consolidate in the same order or produce the same winners.
This distinction is particularly important as Chinese automakers accelerate their international expansion.
In the future, China’s automotive industry may produce several large automotive groups operating across multiple regions.
It may also support companies that establish strong positions in specific markets, vehicle categories, or technological segments.
Whether those businesses can survive over the long term, however, will depend on their ability to create customer value and generate sustainable commercial returns.
Why the Automotive Industry Will Not Simply Repeat These Historical Patterns
Looking back at home appliances, solar PV, and smartphones, we can identify several common industrial dynamics.
Competition encourages the reallocation of resources and may gradually reduce the number of market participants. Technological progress improves industrial efficiency, but does not necessarily translate into higher corporate profits. And the outcome of domestic competition does not always determine a company’s position in global markets.
However, it would be misleading to conclude that China’s automotive industry will follow any one of these paths directly.
It may not consolidate as quickly as the home appliance industry. It may not remain trapped in repeated investment cycles like parts of the solar PV industry. Nor will its global competitive structure necessarily resemble that of smartphones.
The automotive industry has characteristics that make its evolution more complex.

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First, industrial scale and the cost of exit
Automotive manufacturing involves extensive R&D, production facilities, and supplier networks.
A single vehicle assembly plant may support numerous suppliers, engineering teams, jobs, and local industrial activities.
Even when an automaker loses competitiveness, its manufacturing assets and related industrial resources may not exit the market quickly.
They may continue operating through mergers, restructuring, partnerships, or asset transfers.
As a result, consolidation in the automotive industry may not be reflected in a rapid disappearance of brands or a corresponding reduction in manufacturing capacity.
We may see fewer brands while factories remain in operation.
Companies may be restructured without their original capacity actually leaving the market.
This means changes in the number of automotive brands do not necessarily provide a complete picture of whether industrial resources are being used more efficiently.
Second, the complexity of technology and industrial specialization
A vehicle is not simply a consumer product.
It is a complex engineering system involving mechanical, electrical, electronic, software, materials, energy, and safety technologies.
The development of electric and intelligent vehicles is also changing the division of responsibilities between automakers and suppliers.
Some technologies previously led by suppliers are increasingly being developed in-house by automakers.
At the same time, components that were once developed relatively independently are becoming part of integrated systems requiring closer coordination across multiple technologies.
Future consolidation may therefore occur not only among brands and companies, but also across technology platforms, engineering organizations, manufacturing assets, and supplier relationships.
Even if the number of brands does not decline significantly in the near term, the underlying industrial resources may already be becoming more concentrated.
In fact, we are beginning to see elements of this process today.
Third, geopolitics and industrial policy are changing the conditions of global competition
I consider this particularly important.
Over the past several decades, the international expansion of China’s home appliance, solar PV, and consumer electronics industries benefited significantly from global trade, industrial specialization, and supply chain integration.
These industries have also faced trade restrictions and international competition.
But the environment confronting today’s automotive industry is especially complex.
Tariffs, rules of origin, industrial subsidies, investment screening, local manufacturing requirements, and regulations covering data, safety, and intelligent technologies all influence how companies operate internationally.
Even a company with advanced technology and a strong manufacturing cost advantage may not be able to enter every market through the same business model.
Exports may remain commercially effective in some regions.
In others, companies may need local manufacturing, technology partnerships, joint ventures, or other arrangements to secure market access.

Image source: Ningbo Port
Global automotive competition is therefore no longer simply about maximizing the efficiency of a unified global production and sales system.
Companies must make more complex trade-offs between cost efficiency, supply chain resilience, market access, and regional operations.
Fourth, differences in economic development and consumer demand
China’s rapid development of electric and intelligent vehicles has been supported by a distinctive combination of conditions.
These include a large domestic market, a comprehensive supply chain, expanding charging infrastructure, consumer acceptance of intelligent technologies, and intense product competition.
But these conditions do not exist to the same extent everywhere.
Europe, Japan, South Korea, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America differ significantly in income levels, energy prices, infrastructure, road conditions, and consumer preferences.


Demand for battery-electric vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and conventional combustion-engine vehicles may coexist for many years.
The global automotive industry is unlikely to transition at the same pace or follow a single technological pathway.
Chinese automakers therefore need to reassess which advantages developed in China can be transferred directly, which require additional investment, and which may not remain relevant in certain overseas markets.
These differences help explain why the future evolution of China’s automotive industry may be more complex than that of other manufacturing sectors.
Competition in China may drive further concentration of industrial resources, while differences in regional demand, policy environments, and industrial structures create new forms of global competition.
These two developments are not contradictory. They may occur simultaneously.
Where Is China’s Automotive Industry Heading Over the Next Three to Five Years?
Taking together the lessons from other industries and the distinctive characteristics of automotive manufacturing, I see three important developments that could shape China’s automotive industry over the next three to five years.

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First: Domestic Consolidation — From Fewer Brands to the Restructuring of Industrial Resources
As competition intensifies, companies will increasingly have to confront questions of operating efficiency and investment returns.
But we need to broaden our understanding of what industry consolidation actually means.
Discussions about consolidation often focus on how many automakers or automotive brands will ultimately survive.
These are important questions, but they do not tell the whole story.
What may matter more is how technology platforms, engineering capabilities, manufacturing assets, and supply chain resources are reorganized.
Automakers need to reduce duplicated development, improve platform sharing, and spread engineering investment across more vehicle programs.
At the same time, existing manufacturing capacity must gradually become more productive through consolidation, restructuring, repurposing, or market exit.
Suppliers also need to reconsider the foundations of their competitiveness.
As automakers strengthen their in-house engineering capabilities, suppliers that rely primarily on production capacity, manufacturing execution, and individual vehicle programs may find it increasingly difficult to earn attractive margins.
Companies with technologies and engineering capabilities that can serve multiple customers and vehicle platforms are more likely to achieve sustainable economies of scale.
Consolidation may therefore begin behind the brands.
Even if the number of automotive brands does not decline rapidly, technology platforms, manufacturing resources, and supplier relationships may already be undergoing substantial restructuring.
But if consolidation merely reduces the number of brands without addressing inefficient capacity and duplicated investment, the industry’s profitability problems may remain unresolved.
Second: Global Differentiation — China’s Leaders Will Not Necessarily Lead in Every Region
As Chinese automakers expand internationally, different companies may develop increasingly distinct competitive positions.
Some may build global operations across multiple regions through scale, shared technology platforms, and supply chain capabilities.
Others may establish advantages through overseas brands, technology partnerships, or local manufacturing.
Still others may find viable positions in specific regions, vehicle categories, or customer segments.
But global differentiation is not simply the result of corporate strategy.
National industrial policies, trade rules, consumer purchasing power, energy infrastructure, and technological pathways are reshaping the conditions of competition.
A leading automaker in China may not enjoy the same advantages in every overseas market.
Meanwhile, a company with a relatively modest domestic position may establish a meaningful presence in a particular region.
The future global automotive industry may therefore include both large automotive groups operating across multiple regions and more specialized companies with strong regional or segment positions.
Further concentration of industrial resources within China and greater diversity in global competition are not mutually exclusive.
They may become two defining features of the next phase of China’s automotive development.
Third: Rebuilding Economic Value — From Growth in Scale to Returns on Investment
The rapid development of China’s automotive industry has been driven by market expansion, technological innovation, supply chain collaboration, and sustained investment.
These strengths remain important.
But as the market matures, companies can no longer rely solely on sales growth, the number of new vehicle launches, or the speed of technological development as evidence of competitiveness.
The more important questions are whether R&D investment generates sufficient vehicle sales, whether manufacturing capacity is used efficiently, whether suppliers earn reasonable returns, and whether international operations generate sustainable cash flow.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, capacity utilization in the automotive manufacturing industry was 66.2% in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 73.3% for manufacturing overall.
This measure covers the broader automotive manufacturing industry and should not be interpreted as the average operating rate of vehicle assembly plants.
Nevertheless, it highlights the importance of improving the efficiency with which industrial resources are deployed.
The experience of home appliances shows the importance of building enduring operating capabilities through competition.
Solar PV demonstrates that technological leadership and manufacturing scale do not automatically guarantee profitability.
Smartphones illustrate that different global markets can create different opportunities, but market share alone cannot replace sustainable economic returns.
Applied to the automotive industry, these lessons lead to one fundamental question: How can China’s extensive capabilities in R&D, manufacturing, and supply chain development be translated into sustainable economic value?
The next phase of competition will not simply be about who can grow faster.
It will be about who can grow at a sustainable cost, translate technological innovation into value that customers are willing to pay for, establish enduring positions in global markets, and earn reasonable returns on investment.
China’s automotive industry has already demonstrated its ability to develop technologies, manufacture products at scale, and compete internationally.
The next challenge is to turn those achievements into sustainable businesses.
That may prove to be the most important transformation of all.
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Local Power for Local People was proposed by Green Party Councillor Tessa Lupton (Ecclesall) and seconded by Councillor Ruth Abbey (Manor Castle) at last week’s council meeting.
The motion commits Sheffield to
expand the successful climate bond scheme,
accelerate renewable energy projects, especially solar panels on schools to reduce bills and emissions.
call on the Government to prioritise community renewables and promote a primetime screening of the National Emergency Briefing.
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A move to call on the Mayor to make alternative plans for the Doncaster Airport site, for affordable social housing, built to Passivhaus standards, and a solar farm was, however, defeated.
Councillor Lupton, in her maiden speech to council, said: “Producing power locally from renewable sources is the common sense thing to do, the green thing to do and the right thing to do. It will help with the cost of living crisis, provide secure energy sources, and help our planet.
“We’ve got to fight for our children’s future. And after a summer of blazing heat waves, drought, and wildfires, it’s absolutely unthinkable to take more fossil fuels from under the sea and out of the earth. This summer, my 10-year-old daughter saw the wildfires on the news and was in tears over what the future would hold for her.

“We must protect our children’s futures and our planet and do better than previous generations because now there’s no excuse. We have the science, and the evidence tells us that climate change is man-made. It’s real, and it’s here now. I, for one, want to tell my children that I’ve done everything in my power to help save our planet.”
Cllr Ruth Abbey, who was also making her maiden speech, seconded the motion, saying: “Climate scientists tell us that the weather we have now is the least extreme it will ever be. From now on, it gets worse. So, we need to act now. The climate emergency threatens our health, our homes, and our food supply. In Manor Castle, which I’m very proud to represent, this has led to fires burning repeatedly across our green spaces this summer.”
If you haven’t seen the People’s Emergency Briefing film yet, please go to a screening.  Coming up soon are St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, on November 14, Sheffield Business Runners on November 17, All Saints Ecclesall on November 18. More at www.nebriefing.org/screening-map 
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The UK-headquartered renewable energy developer Solarcentury Africa has signed a five-year debt facility of up to $370 million with Standard Bank South Africa. It will enable the company to expand its merchant power portfolio across Southern Africa. The facility includes an initial committed tranche of $86.2 million, supported by Dutch development bank FMO. The funding will refinance loans for Solarcentury Africa’s operational merchant solar plants and finance the third 59 MW phase of the Mailo solar project in Zambia, taking its total capacity to 120 MW. Solarcentury Africa aims to own 500 MW of renewable energy assets across Southern Africa by 2030. 
Chinese power electronics company Hoymiles plans to establish a solar inverter manufacturing facility in Oman. Under a recently signed term sheet with PCG Global and Hoymiles, the Oman Investment Authority (OIA) said the plan is to develop solar projects in Oman and set up a solar inverter factory to serve markets across the Middle East and North Africa region. The partnership is valued at OMR 38.45 million. It will support the localization of solar-related industries and expand opportunities for domestic production and exports. However, the proposed factory capacity is currently unknown.  
Egypt’s National Council for Green Hydrogen has approved a one-year extension of its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power for its planned green hydrogen and ammonia project in the East Nile region. The project targets annual production of 66,000 tons of green hydrogen and 500,000 tons of green ammonia, powered by solar and wind power plants. The latest extension allows the company to retain access to the allocated land for another year. 
Separately, the council approved Ocior Energy’s request for a 12 km² site in West Zaafarana for a 600 MW solar power plant. The facility will supply electricity to the pilot phase of its green ammonia project, which targets initial production of 100,000 tons annually. The wider project aims to progressively increase production capacity to 1 million tonnes per year. Ocior Energy is owned by Jakson Green of India.  
MISA Group, a Geneva-based investment group, is leading the development of the Guruve-Mazowe (Chikonyora) Hybrid Renewable Energy Project in Zimbabwe. It is developing the project through its renewable energy subsidiary Modaso Energy, in partnership with Zimbabwean developer Tatanga Energy. The $300 million project will combine 128 MW of wind power, 100 MW AC of solar PV, and a 50 MW/100 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project will have a single 100 MW grid connection and is expected to generate around 550 GWh of electricity annually. 
ZESA, Zimbabwe’s national utility, is expected to be the primary power offtaker, while Africa GreenCo has signed preliminary terms to purchase a share of the electricity under a long-term agreement. The company targets mid-2027 to achieve financial close, with construction expected to begin thereafter and commercial operations scheduled for 2029. MISA said the project is expected to strengthen Zimbabwe’s electricity supply while reducing dependence on rainfall and hydropower generation. 
PNE Group, a Germany-based renewable energy project developer and operator, has sold a 250 MW solar PV project in South Africa’s Free State province to an unidentified local independent power producer (IPP). PNE South Africa will continue providing development support until financial close. PNE’s South Africa project pipeline stood at approximately 2 GW of solar PV and 2.8 GW of wind capacity as of June 2026. 
PNE recently lowered its full-year EBITDA guidance to between €60 million and €75 million due to delays in project transactions and permitting. The company expects to realize the delayed projects in 2027. It has also secured permits for 13 international solar projects totaling 335 MW this year. 
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering a financing package of up to €24 million for a 50 MW solar PV project in Côte d’Ivoire’s Hambol region. The Katiola project, being developed by Katiola Solar Power SA, a joint venture between Africa-focused renewable energy developer Aeolus (51%) and French utility EDF (49%), will include associated transmission infrastructure. French development finance institution Proparco will provide an additional €24 million in parallel financing. The total project cost is estimated at €54 million. 
AXIAN Group has joined forces with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Bénin (CDC Bénin), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco to finance a 62 MW solar PV project in Benin. The project will be Benin’s first independent power producer (IPP) solar project, says the IFC. The partners have signed €30 million in financing agreements for the IPP50 project, which will involve the construction of four solar power plants in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou, and Bohicon. The total project cost is estimated at €45 million, with IFC and Proparco jointly providing the financing, and IFC also mobilizing resources from the Clean Technology Fund.  
The plants are expected to generate around 110 GWh of electricity annually. Electricity will be sold to the state-owned utility Société béninoise de production d’électricité (SBPE) under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), with commercial operations scheduled to begin in Q1 2028.  
TaiyangNews 2024

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Tanauan City,Philippines, November 9, 2026 — A survey by the Philippine Orion Solar Technology Corporation (FPIP) found that in 2025, the Philippines net-imported 5,068 megawatts of solar panel capacity—more than five times the utility-scale solar capacity connected to the grid that same year. Of that, 98% came from China. In the first four months of 2026, China exported more than 4.13 gigawatts of solar panels to the Philippines, making the country China’s second-largest export market for photovoltaic modules during that period, ahead of Brazil, Pakistan, and others. In March and April alone, Chinese exports to the Philippines exceeded 3,000 megawatts.

The surge in imports is directly tied to the changing economics of rooftop solar. Analysis by energy think tank Ember shows that as electricity prices climb and installation costs fall, the payback period for residential rooftop solar in the Philippines has shortened from 4.0 years a year ago to 3.1 years as of May 2026, while commercial rooftop systems have dropped to 2.3 years. For many Filipino households and businesses, solar is no longer an environmental option but a practical investment that pays back through electricity savings.
At the utility level, projects involving foreign capital are turning module supply into grid-connected generating capacity. Trina Solar’s 60-megawatt photovoltaic project in Mabini, Pangasinan, broke ground in February 2026 with a total investment of 1.9 billion Philippine pesos. First-year generation is expected to reach 110.84 gigawatt-hours, enough to meet the electricity needs of about 24,000 households, and a 20-year power purchase agreement has already been signed with a retail subsidiary of Aboitiz Power. The San Marcelino solar power station, built by PowerChina, is currently the Philippines’ largest photovoltaic project. Phases one and two total 384 megawatts and can supply about 600 million kilowatt-hours per year. In June 2026, Aiko Solar signed an agreement with Philippine developer Tigon Power to supply high-efficiency modules for a 173-megawatt ground-mounted plant in Pampanga, with grid connection planned for 2028. For off-grid islands, Tianneng Group signed a contract in May 2026 with a Philippine consortium of new energy, infrastructure, and financial companies for a first-phase project at the hundred-megawatt scale, providing microgrid energy storage systems suited to isolated grid operation.
These projects do not come with policy conditions attached. Their common feature is that Philippine partners take the lead. The Trina project’s power purchase agreement was signed by a Philippine retail electricity company; the San Marcelino project is owned and developed by AC Energy under the Philippine Ayala Group; and Tianneng’s partner is a local Philippine business consortium. China’s role is concentrated in module supply, engineering, procurement and construction, and energy storage equipment.
The Philippine government aims to raise the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040, while fossil fuels currently still account for about 78%. International Monetary Fund estimates show that the Philippines will need about $181 billion in clean energy investment between 2029 and 2050. Against that gap, the Chinese modules already installed on Philippine rooftops and soon to be connected to the grid are only a beginning.
Contact Info:
Name: Maria Angelica Santos Dela Cruz
Email: Send Email
Organization: PHILIPPINE AURION SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES INC. (FPIP)
Website: https://www.aurionsolar.com/

Release ID: 89208893
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Local Democracy Reporter
It is after a High Court challenge overturned the decision to approve the development.
The Woolpots solar farm scheme, near Husthwaite, between Thirsk and Easingwold, was granted permission on appeal last October despite being refused by North Yorkshire Council.
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However, the decision was subsequently challenged by local resident Philip Hewitson, who argued that the planning inspector had failed to properly consider the impact on the nearby Howardian Hills National Landscape.
The legal challenge was successful, with the High Court quashing the planning permission in August.
The Planning Inspectorate has now confirmed that the appeal will be reconsidered, with a reopened hearing provisionally scheduled to take place on Wednesday, November 25.
However, opponents of the development, including Mr Hewitson and Husthwaite Parish Council, are calling for a full public inquiry instead.
They argue that changes to national policy and new evidence since the original appeal mean the proposals should be subjected to more detailed scrutiny, including cross-examination of witnesses.
The scheme, proposed by Woolpots Solar Farm Ltd, would cover approximately 126 acres of farmland and include solar panels capable of exporting around 32MW of electricity.
It would also incorporate a battery energy storage facility with a capacity of 37MWh, comprising up to 32 battery containers and associated infrastructure.
North Yorkshire Council previously refused permission over concerns about the impact on the surrounding landscape, views from the Howardian Hills and the loss of high-quality agricultural land.
Opponents say around 70 per cent of the proposed development site comprises the best and most versatile agricultural land.
They have also raised concerns about the cumulative impact of solar developments in the area and the safety of the proposed battery storage facility.
Husthwaite parish councillor Sarah Aspinall said there was growing concern about the concentration of solar developments across the wider Hambleton area.
She said: “There has also been a steady increase in the number of pending and approved solar and battery storage applications in the wider Hambleton area, with many concerned – both within and outside our parish – about cumulative impact and industrialisation of the countryside.”
She added that updated national fire safety guidance for large battery storage schemes was particularly relevant because of concerns about the proposed facility’s proximity to the village primary school.
Mr Hewitson said the development would threaten agricultural land and the area’s rural character.
He said: “There are a series of crises – energy security, food security, climate change, nature recovery and housing – placing the countryside under intense pressure.
“Predatory solar development on prime agricultural land compromises long-term food security and rural heritage for short-term energy convenience.”
The legal challenge centred on whether the planning inspector had properly addressed strengthened legislation requiring public bodies to seek to further the conservation and enhancement of designated National Landscapes.
The High Court’s decision does not mean the solar farm must be refused permission, but requires the appeal to be determined again.
The applicant has not responded to requests from the Local Democracy Reporting Service to comment on the scheme.
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Several countries around the globe are racing to develop space-based solar power (SBSP) systems to harness solar power from space. On Earth, solar power has become a popular form of renewable energy production. However, tapping solar power is limited by night, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions, and seasonality.
Roughly 30 per cent of all incoming solar radiation never makes it to ground level. Meanwhile, in space, the sun shines constantly. For this reason, several governments are exploring the potential to develop SBSP projects that will help countries access more solar power while reducing dependence on land.
SBSP works by placing microwave-transmitting satellites in geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,000 km above Earth’s surface to beam power to massive solar reflectors on Earth. These reflectors can span up to 3 km and weigh more than 80,000 metric tonnes. If deployed successfully, these mechanisms are thought to be capable of generating multiple gigawatts of clean power. The bonus is that this power could be used to supply remote regions of the world without needing to expand the traditional grid to build a large local power plant.
The long wavelength of the microwave means that a long antenna is required to beam power through the Earth’s atmosphere in any weather condition, at safe, low-intensity levels, barely stronger than the midday sun. In addition, the technology is not expected to interfere with birds or planes. 
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Countries such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan are all developing SBSP projects to assess the feasibility of producing solar power from space. China’s ZhuRi (Chase the Sun) programme, the U.K.’s Space Solar programme, and Japan’s OHISAMA project all aim to develop the technology needed to achieve SBSP first. Meanwhile, the U.S. is exploring solar power beaming, with projects underway at Caltech and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
In the U.K., the company Space Solar aims to launch two demonstration missions in the coming years: one to transmit power to the ground via radio waves, and another to demonstrate how robots could construct large structures in space. The U.K. government has provided around $1.6 million in funding for the project. The firm aims to eventually develop a 1.8km-wide structure in space called Cassiopeia, fitted with millions of table-sized satellites to collect sunlight 24/7. It would then use antennas to beam the power to a receiving station on the ground the size of Heathrow Airport to convert the radio waves into electricity.
In the U.S., in 2024, at an American football stadium in Florida, the company Star Catcher beamed light across the length of the pitch from an emitter to a screen. The light was harnessed from the Sun and beamed out by large lenses on the field, each about 1.2m tall, resembling magnifying glasses. The company’s CEO Andrew Rush stated, “We beamed 100 watts about 105 metres.”
In January, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX applied for Federal Communications Commission permission to launch a constellation of 1 million satellites to produce SBSP to power AI data centres. “By directly harnessing near-constant solar power with little operating or maintenance costs, these satellites will achieve transformative cost and energy efficiency while significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with terrestrial data centres,” the FCC filing said.
Meanwhile, in April, the startup Overview Energy announced plans to develop an SBSP satellite constellation by 2030, to beam 1 GW of power to Meta’s AI data centres. Overview plans to beam power from space to existing solar panels on the ground using a near-infrared, laser-based power-beaming technique that the company is currently patenting.
Laura Wetzel, an Overview Energy representative, said, “Under our agreement, Meta has 24/7 access to the beam capacity.” She added, “Since they have a lot of solar projects in different places around the world, they’ll be able to use the beam somewhere at any given time.”
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Meanwhile, in China, the Zhuri project has achieved several breakthroughs in critical technologies for SBSP stations and microwave wireless power transmission. Zhuri has independently developed an Earth-based verification system for one-to-many wireless power transmission to moving targets and is working to apply the technology.
Supporters of the technology believe that developing the necessary technology to achieve SBSP would help accelerate the deployment of clean power and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, with minimal environmental harm. Space solar power could meet needs, according to some estimates, due to its higher power density.
However, opponents of SBSP say that developing the technology is exorbitantly expensive, is highly uncertain due to the vast array of untested assumptions, and too complex to be achieved in time to support an urgent green transition.
Several countries are investing billions of dollars in the development of SBSP to harness solar power and provide abundant, clean electricity worldwide. However, several challenges remain to be overcome to achieve this aim, with commercial deployment now expected between the 2030s and 2050s.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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By PR Newswire
​
CHANGZHOU, China, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On November 5, Changzhou’s first whole-village photovoltaic (PV) project was officially commissioned in Heshu Village, Lijia Town, Wujin District. Rooftops of 40 households and the village’s corridors accommodate a total of 1.08 MW of PV capacity, yet from a distance, almost no trace of the installation can be seen.
This “invisibility” is by design. Heshu Village’s rural houses were delivered under unified planning and construction in November 2022. The village is a pilot for Jiangsu Province’s homestead system reform and a national demonstration village for rural governance. Its neat eaves and ample rooftop area provided favorable conditions for whole-village PV development, while also imposing higher requirements on construction.
For the two housing types of 140 square meters and 90 square meters, the contractor designed customized layouts of 36 and 25 modules respectively, with PV panels laid along the roof slope. In conventional practice, the gap between PV panels and tiles is about 20 centimeters; in Heshu Village, it was reduced to 12 centimeters. Down-conductors are routed neatly along walls, so the rooftops look flat from afar and the layout appears orderly up close, without disrupting the original contours of the houses.
“From a distance, it looks like village scenery; only up close can you tell it is a PV power station,” said Zhang Xiongwei, project contact person at State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company. He explained that, in line with Heshu Village’s Jiangnan water-town character of white walls and dark tiles, the project follows the original roof contours and uses black, low-reflection PV modules so that the PV equipment blends into the rooftops. Power supporting equipment is painted or decorated with colored drawings to fit the surrounding village landscape and merge into the village’s appearance.
According to estimates, the whole-village PV project generates about 1.18 million kWh of electricity annually, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 360 ordinary households, and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 700 tons per year. With green benefits secured, the question is how to divide the economic returns. Heshu Village adopted a model of “government promotion, grid support, state-owned enterprise demonstration, village committee organization, and resident benefits”: the state-owned platform Wujin Digital Energy is responsible for investment, construction, and operation and maintenance, and pays rent to residents and the village committee; the village committee convenes general meetings of property owners to promptly respond to residents’ concerns and organize contract signing; and Changzhou Power Supply Company is responsible for technical guidance and the connection of supporting power facilities.
Residents only need to provide their rooftops and can receive a cumulative rooftop rental income of about 33,000 yuan over 20 years. In addition to a three-year roof waterproofing insurance, State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company has also introduced Yingda Insurance to provide a seven-year extended warranty service. The village collective receives rent for the PV corridors, as well as incentives that give back to rural development, such as village street lighting, Party-building publicity sites, and convenient service venues. The investor earns returns through power generation, with an investment payback period of about 11 years. The project adopts a connection scheme of “800 V low-voltage collection and 10 kV medium-voltage grid connection,” significantly improving power quality and supply reliability and markedly enhancing the project’s ability to interact with the power grid.
The 2026 No. 1 Central Document proposed “advancing the construction of livable, workable, and beautiful villages in accordance with local conditions,” and the National Energy Administration requires “guiding the scientific layout and orderly development of rural distributed PV according to grid carrying capacity.” Heshu Village’s exploration is precisely the implementation of this guidance at the village level. In the future, Changzhou will also explore promoting the simultaneous design and integrated construction of rural self-renewal housing and PV, so that such village landscapes can take root in more rural areas.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/state-grid-changzhou-power-supply-company-commissions-the-citys-first-whole-village-photovoltaic-project-302933146.html
SOURCE State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company
 
​JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PT Me
​STOCKHOLM, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — During the per
​BANGKOK, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chulalongkorn Un
​The province signed an MOU with Agoda on November 6 to
UTM Comments is a partnership between Macau News Agency and Macao University of Tourism By Jessica Marques Macau residents are increasingly visiting the Greater Bay Area for leisure activities, and the ‘Northbound Travel for Macau Vehicles’ scheme has made trips into Guangdong even more convenient for eligible residents by allowing them to drive their own cars.  According […]
Wellbeing is not an optional benefit added after business objectives are achieved. In a people-centred industry, it is part of the operating model. For Macao’s large resorts, independent restaurants and other tourism businesses, caring for employees is also a way of protecting service quality, reputation and long-term competitiveness.
As consumers spend more of their lives online, retailers are rethinking how they attract, engage, and retain customers
 UTM Comments is a partnership between Macau News Agency and Macao University of Tourism  By Marieta Wong, Lecturer Macau’s evolution into a global gastronomy powerhouse is the result of deliberate strategy, not chance. In fact, being designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy recognises that the city has built a distinctive culinary identity – one shaped by creativity, […]
Leading business news and insights from Macau, covering gaming, finance, tourism, and economic developments.
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Monday, November 9, 2026
Lush green grasses sit perfectly still under the enormous steel solar tracker, presenting a positively bucolic oasis amidst the hubbub of the busy exhibition centre hosting the biggest All Energy Australia conference yet.
One could almost imagine a cow grazing underneath, which was precisely the point. At All Energy in Melbourne last week, German company Schletter was introducing its cow- and horticulture-friendly solar mount system to Australia.
It’s one of two companies that has its eye on solar that can accommodate cattle – and for the Australian market it’s the first serious move in this direction since a trial at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High in Tamworth in 2020 and farm-level installations by Queensland farmer Caitlin McConnel. 
Schletter’s Thomas Dorsch, who is in charge of sales, says the lowest point on the two-leg system on show is about 2.1 metres high, to ensure there is ample headroom for cows.
It’s already being used in Europe, where a “shitstorm” – as Schletter puts it – over using agricultural land to host solar has forced developers to make farming as much of a priority as energy generation. 
Australian farmers are now relatively familiar with the idea of grazing sheep under and around solar panels. Cattle, however, remain a mental – or logistical leap too far.
Cows won’t climb on solar farm infrastructure and are unlikely to chew wires, but they do like a good scratch and have enough weight to pose a risk of dislodging or otherwise damaging panels (a problem that in some overseas examples, such as the Silicon Ranch solar farm in Tennessee, has been addressed by providing more rubbing posts).
And yet pressure is mounting on both sides of the equation to find ways for renewable energy to exist alongside farming – and even partner with it, says Farm Renewables Consulting director Karin Stark.
That can mean being more flexible in lifting panels higher off the ground so more farming can be done beneath, but that option is not readily available in Australia yet.
Stark knows of one farmer in Casino, New South Wales (NSW), who was in talks with a solar developer about hosting a project, but wanted an extra 300 mm added to the height of the arrays so he could get his cattle underneath.
The request was a dealbreaker, though, with the developer unable find a way to make it work in its plans.  
But if social licence isn’t enough of a factor for solar panels to go higher, insurance might be. 
Insurer Tokio Marine GX is warning of “larger and more complex losses” from the expected record-setting El Nino cycle, as it estimates weather-related losses globally for renewables have already touched $US300 million ($A427 million) this year. 
Flooded and hail-battered solar farms account for 80-90 per cent of these losses, it said this week.  
A New Zealand solar farm has been designed specifically to account for flooding, but it is also in a known river flood zone; other developments may simply need to protect against the one in 200 year weather events that now seem to be occurring every other year.
Rosie Oldfield, cofounder of Australian startup Storm Safe Solutions, says their technology approach can handle cyclones and cows.
“Some parties in Australia that are looking for the cows, we hope to be able to show them an option [after running a trial],” she tells Renew Economy.
“In places like the South Pacific, where they’re looking for dual use and cyclone rated, we can offer them solutions… So early days in terms of the market here, definitely. But the inquiries are coming in.”
She says they have about 300 megawatts (MW) of interest in their ground and roof mounted solar systems. The business plan factored in demand of just 5 MW next year.
An option for putting cattle under solar. Image: Storm Safe Solutions
The startup’s tech, which uses a triangular ground anchor and four posts, has been rated to wind speeds of about 72 metres per second (m/s). Standard trackers are rated to about 48 m/s, says cofounder Martin Oldfield. 
Whether the pressure in Australia to avoid taking “productive agricultural land” out of operation is high enough, as it has become in Europe, to encourage the use of bigger and more expensive systems is the next question. 
Neither Oldfield nor Schletter would say how the cost of their designs will stack up against the shorter, standard systems sold by global companies.
But they did say that scaling up the height doesn’t use markedly more steel, nor do the footings use concrete which all add to the base cost. 
Schletter’s Dorsch says concrete for the footings is one of the considerations for the German design – weaker soil needs more concrete – and pricing is difficult as they only introduced the system to the Australian market last week.
Martin Oldfield also says they’re working on getting some funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to run a trial in New South Wales (NSW) with a keen farmer, to test their prototype. 
“The whole point is that most people approach solar to optimise the solar yield,” he says.
“We think the big opportunity is for targeting the best land with the best uses. They’ve got the best businesses under them, and to maximise… agricultural use [first] and then solar second.
“It implies different layouts, different priorities, different ways you regulate the light that’s coming through the panels or around the panels.”
At issue, as Stark points out, is that while taller mounting systems have been tested overseas, as has putting calves and young cattle among regular solar panels, Australia needs some proof points for farmers and developers to feel comfortable.
If Schletter only launched its product into Australia two weeks ago, Storm Safe is just as new. 
It started as an idea in December 2024 and, after buying the product plans from one of Martin’s pre-COVID suppliers, has spent the time building an Australian supply chain.
While vineyards are already keen on the idea of solar shade, protecting the fruit from the harshness of Australian summers, new panels are being designed to let light through for growth. 
Martin Oldfield says they’re working with a company designing panels that will allow red spectrum light to go through, but this is tied up in confidentiality agreements. 
Charles Sturt University, meanwhile, is working on a panel design that puts gaps between the photovoltaic cells to allow light through to plants underneath. 
The panels are made by Sharp EIT and area already used in Europe, and let through between 10 per cent and 48 per cent of light, according to a report by the ABC.
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