Solar Now

Manufacturing major Trinasolar has signed a supply agreement with Solar Juice that has the potential to deliver 10% of Australia’s annual rooftop PV installation volume over the next three years.
Trinasolar’s Australian head Edison Zhou, left, with Solar Juice supply director Rami Fedda
Image: Trinasolar
Chinese PV technology manufacturer Trinasolar has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with distributor Solar Juice for the supply of 1 GW of Vertex S+ G3 modules to the Australian market over the next three years.
Trina said the agreement will deliver an “industry-defining” volume and strengthens its footprint in the Australian market.
“Based on Clean Energy Council market data, Australia installs approximately 3 GW of rooftop solar capacity annually,” the company said. “Spread across the three-year term, the 1 GW agreement equates to roughly 10% of annual rooftop solar installation volume each year.”
The agreement covers the supply of Trina’s Vertex S+ G3 range, designed for residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop applications with the allocation expected to include the company’s Australia-exclusive Vertex S+ G3 515 W module.
Designed specifically for the Australian market, the n-type i-TOPCon Ultra module delivers up to 515 W output and 24.7% efficiency within a standard rooftop module footprint of 1,842 x 1,134 mm, which Trina said enables higher energy yield per square metre within standard rooftop constraints.
“Its low-voltage design supports more flexible string sizing across a range of inverter configurations, helping installers optimise residential and C&I rooftop systems of up to 100 kW under Australia’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme,” Trina said.
The announcement of the MoU comes as Australia’s rooftop solar market continues to reach record highs. Industry data reported 442 MW of sub-100 kW rooftop PV registered nationwide in April 2026, marking the strongest month on record for Australia’s Small-scale Technology Certificate (STC) market.
“Demand for high-efficiency rooftop solar modules continues to remain strong across both the residential and C&I sectors,” Rami Fedda, co-founder and supply director of Solar Juice said.
“This agreement with Trinasolar strengthens our ability to support our installer network with reliable supply, proven technology and products designed specifically for the Australian market.”
Trinasolar’s Head of Australia, Edison Zhou said the country remains one of the company’s priority markets.
“Australia continues to play an important role in how Trinasolar develops and delivers products for advanced rooftop solar markets,” he said.
“The market here is highly sophisticated, with installers focused on system optimisation, long-term performance and maximising generation within roof constraints,” he said. “As demand grows for higher-output rooftop modules, this MoU reflects market confidence in Trinasolar’s technology and the strength of our long-term partnership with Solar Juice.”
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APPOMATTOX, Va. (WDBJ) – Crews battled a brush fire near a solar farm Sunday, May 17, according to the Appomattox Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighters responded to the Energix Renewable Solar Farm along U.S. Route 460 in the Evergreen area for a reported brush fire.
A Dominion Energy representative on scene discovered the fire while investigating the source of a power outage in the area, according to firefighters.
Firefighters say they contained the blaze by suppressing the fire and establishing a fuel break to prevent further spread.
Preliminary findings indicated the fire originated from a downed power line connected to the solar facility, according to firefighters.
The Virginia Department of Forestry assisted with a forestry dozer.

Copyright 2026 WDBJ. All rights reserved.

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Tamil Nadu tops south in solar power evacuation  The New Indian Express
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Waaree Clean Energy Solutions Secures Landmark Order for Multi-Technology Green Hydrogen Project in Karnataka for TMEIC Industrial Systems India Pvt. Ltd  SolarQuarter
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Danish renewables developer European Energy says the first of almost 200,000 PV modules have been installed at the 100 MW Winton North solar plant being constructed in northeast Victoria with the project on track to begin operations next year.
Image: Justin Webb/European Energy Australia
The Australian arm of European Energy has announced that construction of the 100 MW Winton North Solar Farm being built in Victoria is well ahead of schedule with the project advancing to the PV module installation phase.
The Winton North hybrid project, being built across a 256-hectare site near the town of Wangaratta, includes a 100 MW solar farm with a 100 MW, two-hour battery energy storage system to follow in a second phase. Once operational, the facility is expected to generate 227 GWh of clean energy annually.
European Energy Australia said the project is tracking ahead of schedule with operations expected to commence in 2027.
Winton North Solar Farm is one of three European Energy projects backed by a power purchase agreement (PPA) with global technology provider Amazon Web Services.
The developer last year signed a deal to supply Amazon’s Australian division with more than 170 MW of capacity. The agreement covers the Winton North project and the nearby 58 MW Mokoan Solar Farm that came online earlier this year. It also includes the 97 MW Bullyard PV project being developed near Bundaberg on the central Queensland coast.
Amazon earlier this month signed another suite of PPAs, including for a 40 MW / 80 MWh battery energy storage system being added to the Mokoan solar farm project.
The projects are part of European Energy’s expanding Australian renewables portfolio that includes the 108 MW Lancaster Solar Farm in northern Victoria and the 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm in southern New South Wales.
The Lancaster project, which commenced operations in March, supplies global tech giant Apple with renewable energy under a long-term PPA, while the Mulwala Solar Farm, which is currently in commissioning with energisation imminent, is supported by a PPA with Australian gen-tailer Zen Energy.
Other projects in European Energy’s pipeline include the 1.1 GW Upper Calliope, the 1 GW Sawpit, and the 500 MW Leichardt solar farms in Queensland.
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Ministry data showed domestic solar module capacity nearly doubled from 38 gigawatt (GW) in March 2024 to 74 GW in March 2025, while solar cell capacity rose from nine GW to 25 GW over the same period. The increase in domestic manufacturing has improved supply chain resilience and supported larger deployments across states. Analysts said the capacity gains reflect policy support and market demand.
Despite the gains, the report observed a heavy reliance on imports for key upstream components. In the financial year 2025 India imported around 35 million (mn) solar modules valued at about 1.6 billion (bn) US dollars, with an estimated 60 to 80 per cent procured from China. These figures underline the gap between module assembly and upstream material production and the challenge of moving up the value chain. The report recommended accelerating localisation to capture value and reduce vulnerability to global supply disruptions.
Overall non-fossil fuel capacity has crossed 50 per cent of total installed capacity, reaching 262.7 GW, according to the ministry. Solar and wind account for the bulk of recent additions and continue to shape the power mix as thermal capacity adjusts. Policymakers and industry participants were said to be focused on scaling manufacturing, addressing logistics and improving financing to sustain the energy transition. Policy efforts are concentrated on incentives, technology transfer and investment in domestic supply chains to reduce import dependence.
India ranks third globally in installed renewable energy capacity, according to a report by Morgan Stanley and data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The report said the transition would reduce external dependence but that success would depend on how quickly the country localises critical segments such as solar cells, wafers and polysilicon. Officials noted that solar and wind additions have driven most recent growth. The Morgan Stanley analysis also emphasised the need to address manufacturing bottlenecks to sustain momentum. Ministry data showed domestic solar module capacity nearly doubled from 38 gigawatt (GW) in March 2024 to 74 GW in March 2025, while solar cell capacity rose from nine GW to 25 GW over the same period. The increase in domestic manufacturing has improved supply chain resilience and supported larger deployments across states. Analysts said the capacity gains reflect policy support and market demand. Despite the gains, the report observed a heavy reliance on imports for key upstream components. In the financial year 2025 India imported around 35 million (mn) solar modules valued at about 1.6 billion (bn) US dollars, with an estimated 60 to 80 per cent procured from China. These figures underline the gap between module assembly and upstream material production and the challenge of moving up the value chain. The report recommended accelerating localisation to capture value and reduce vulnerability to global supply disruptions. Overall non-fossil fuel capacity has crossed 50 per cent of total installed capacity, reaching 262.7 GW, according to the ministry. Solar and wind account for the bulk of recent additions and continue to shape the power mix as thermal capacity adjusts. Policymakers and industry participants were said to be focused on scaling manufacturing, addressing logistics and improving financing to sustain the energy transition. Policy efforts are concentrated on incentives, technology transfer and investment in domestic supply chains to reduce import dependence.
In a bid to ease congestion and improve urban mobility during monsoon, MMRDA has undertaken one of the largest coordinated barricade removal and monsoon preparedness drives across its ongoing metro and infrastructure projects.With substantial progress achieved in viaduct and structural works across multiple metro corridors, barricades from completed stretches beneath metro viaducts are being systematically removed, restoring maximum possible road space before the monsoon. Wider carriageways across key arterial roads are expected to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, support better rainwa..
The Pune railway division has announced plans to remove all 16 diamond crossings by the end of 2026 as part of a major yard remodelling project following the derailment of a Vande Bharat Express at Pune Junction on April 27. Railway authorities said the replacements aim to improve safety and streamline train operations across the busy station. The decision followed a Central Railway finding that the accident involved a non-standard diamond crossing and highlighted the need for replacement. Regular maintenance of existing crossings will continue until the replacement work is completed. Official..
The Goa state government has declared 80 million square metres (mn) of land a no development zone, designating the area as protected from new construction. The notification reclassifies tracts across the state under a no development category for planning and regulatory purposes. The declaration signals a formal halt to new building permits within the defined zone. Authorities indicated that maps will be issued to show broad boundaries while detailed surveys will refine precise limits. The move transfers responsibility for enforcement to local planning authorities and relevant departments, whic..
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China is dominating the energy transition with astonishing result, while fossil fuel fascists in the US try to turn back the clock
“Farewell,” the flag-waving Chinese children chanted to Donald Trump as he strolled along the red carpet back to Air Force One at the end of his summit with Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The US leader claimed he was leaving with a cluster of “fantastic” trade deals to sell US oil, jets and soya beans to China. That has not been confirmed by his smiling host, but one thing was crystal clear from the two days of meetings: the global balance of power is shifting, from the declining petrostate in the west to the rising electrostate in the east.
Trump flew home to chaos – war with Iran, surging gas prices, spectacular unpopularity, friction with former allies and a 20th-century policy of “energy dominance” that seeks to turn back the clock, use tariffs and military threats to open markets, and enrich his supporters in the fossil fuel industry. The long dominant superpower increasingly appears a malignant force as it pushes the world towards ever greater turbulence.
Xi, meanwhile, presides over a country that has invested more than any other in renewable energy, which has helped to buffer its economy from the gas price shocks caused by the conflict in the Middle East, while opening up huge new export markets for solar panels, wind turbines, smart grids and electric vehicles. While the Chinese president’s Communist party still faces criticism for its suppression of dissent, its soft power deficit no longer seems so great when its main global rival is killing protesters at home and bombing schoolchildren overseas.
Why is this happening now? Tempting as it is to blame these global shifts on a single malignant narcissist in the White House, a more useful – and maybe even hopeful – analysis needs to take into account the tectonic changes that are shaking not just the foundations of politics, but the very nature of human power, as the world shifts from molecules to electrons.
History has proven that when the dominant form of energy changes, there is often a shift in the global pecking order. We are now in the midst of one such transition as the epoch of petrol, predominantly produced in the United States, Russia and Gulf states, starts to give way to an era of renewables, overwhelmingly manufactured in China. But the outcome remains contested, and the process could be ugly. The new energy order is winning the economic and technological battle – wind turbines and solar panels were already producing record-cheap electricity even before the Iran war pushed up the costs of gas and oil-fired power plants. But the old petro-interests still have political, military and financial might on their side, and they are using that to try to turn back the energy clock.
As a result, democracies across the planet are now threatened by what might be called fossil fuel fascism – an extremist political movement that breaks laws, spreads lies and threatens violence in an increasingly desperate attempt to maintain markets for oil, gas and coal that would otherwise be replaced by cheaper renewables.
Of course, there are multiple other, overlapping reasons for the war against Iran: its nuclear program, Trump’s need for a distraction from the Epstein files, and his willingness to adopt positions favourable to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to name a few.
But the wider context is that the Earth is becoming a more hostile environment for humanity. This is driving up tensions, exposing economic limits that have been ignored for centuries and redefining geopolitical realities.
Who is actually winning? In the short term, the biggest windfall from the Iran conflict has gone to companies, executives and shareholders in the US petroleum industry – a major source of campaign funding for Trump – that was struggling with low prices and a production glut at the start of the year, but is now enjoying a spectacular revenue surge while rival suppliers in the Gulf are choked by threats in the strait of Hormuz. Along with Russian and Saudi Arabian petro-companies, US energy suppliers look set to cash in for months to come, even as consumers pay more at the pumps.
At the same time, the war is forcing countries across the world to explore ways to increase their energy independence. In the next few years, that will happen by increasing domestic production of oil, gas and coal. By one reckoning, this has increased the likely 2030 output of fossil fuels by a fifth – an alarming setback for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and a victory for the petroleum industry and the far-right political groups it funds.
But that will not be the final reckoning of this war, which has reinforced the argument for both renewable energy and a concurrent shift in geopolitical alignments. With major oil and gas producers now led by ever more erratic and menacing authoritarian leaders, other countries are looking for alternative ways to generate power. Electric cars, for example, have never been more in demand.
The prime beneficiary is China, which suddenly appears a relative oasis of pragmatic, internationally minded diplomacy and energy independence. Beijing’s bet on renewable power and EVs over the past two decades is paying enormous dividends. Not only has this made it less reliant on fuel imports, it now has a wind, solar and battery export industry that looks set to dominate global markets for many decades to come.
Future historians may well see the Iran war as the moment the US unwittingly ceded leadership to China. If so, it would not be the first time that a change in the world’s energy matrix led to a reordering of the political hierarchy of nations. When humankind taps new power supplies, new empires rise and old ones fall. Realignments tend to be violent.
One of the cornerstones of geostrategic thinking since the start of the Industrial Revolution, 250 years ago, is that the country that controls energy supply controls the world. For most of the past century, that has centered on oil.
“Oil has meant mastery through the years,” wrote Daniel Yergin in his Pulitzer prize-winning book about the decisive role of energy in world politics, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. Yergin argues oil was a primary reason why Germany invaded the Soviet Union during the second world war, and motivated Japan to attack the US at Pearl Harbor. It was why the US launched Desert Storm to thwart Iraqi’s seizure of Kuwait, which would have given Saddam Hussein control over the planet’s most abundant oil supplies. It explained former US president Barack Obama’s comment that energy was “priority number one” for his administration. Earlier this year, it was a primary justification by Trump and other US officials for invading Venezuela, which has the world’s biggest untapped reserves, and it is now a key factor in the war on Iran, which has the fourth highest supply.
Not for nothing has the old joke been revived that the “US is a very fortunate country because everywhere it goes to bring freedom it finds oil.”
But what is different today is the realisation that oil – once considered “black gold” – and other fossil fuels are now a toxic threat to the stability of the climate and the political world order. Now that cheaper, cleaner alternatives are available, the demand for these industrial fuels has to be artificially inflated, propped up by political lobbying, hefty subsidies, disinformation campaigns and military force.
The most spectacular example of an energy transition completely upturning the world order was in the mid-19th century, when the coal-powered gunships of the Royal Navy shredded the fragile coastal defences of southern China to impose a market for the British empire’s most lucrative and unethical commodity: opium. Up to that point, Beijing had been the capital of the world’s biggest economy for most of the previous 2,000 years but its historic advantage in manpower and culture was being lost to fossil-fuelled engines and the spirit-sapping drug trade. The Daoguang Emperor was so deeply in denial about the changes reshaping the world that his actions stirred rebellion among his own people. His forces were crushed by the superior firepower of an industrialised adversary, ushering in an era of western dominance that became known in China as the “century of humiliation”.
Britain’s empire also came to end – albeit it more limply – when its primary source of fuel – coal – was superseded by oil in the early-to-mid-20th century. Back then, the UK had no petroleum supplies of its own which meant it was at a disadvantage to the US. The power shift was confirmed in 1956 when Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt to try to secure the Suez canal – a vital route for fossil fuels from the Middle East. The US refused to help this imperial adventure by the old world, thereby confirming Washington as the dominant superpower outside the Soviet bloc. Since then, it has steadily expanded its primacy in the age of oil.
That era – and that supremacy – are both now winding down, as the pendulum swings again, this time towards renewables and back to Asia. In the past decade, clean energy investment worldwide has risen tenfold to more than $2tn a year. Last year, it was more than double that of fossil fuels, and for the first time renewables overtook coal as the world’s top electricity source. “We have entered the age of clean energy,” the United Nations secretary-general, António Guterres, observed in February. “Those who lead this transition will lead the global economy of the future.”
There is only one contender for that title: China. It is impossible to understand what is happening in the US, Iran and Venezuela without looking there.
The government in Beijing has turned the greatest crisis facing humanity – climate breakdown – into an opportunity to finally lay to rest the “humiliation” of the opium war. For most of the past 30 years, it has been catching up with the west by copying its dirty, coal-driven model of industrialisation, which notoriously made it the world’s biggest carbon emitter. Now, though, it is leapfrogging its rivals on clean energy with astonishing results. For the past two years, China’s carbon emissions have been flat or falling, raising hopes of a historical turning point in the curve of global emissions.
Last year, the amount of wind and solar it had under construction was double the rest of the world combined, helping China to reach an installed capacity of 1,200GW six years ahead of the government’s schedule. Trump absurdly claimed he had not been able to find any wind turbines in China, though in reality the country now has more than the next 18 countries combined.
But the biggest success story is solar, which is now so cheap, abundant and efficient that its generation capacity in China has just overtaken coal for the first time. Meanwhile, petrol and diesel use is also falling because EVs account for more than half of car sales in China.
The country is also utterly dominant in supplying overseas markets with renewable technology. The top four wind turbine makers in the world are all Chinese. It is a similar story of majority market share for the manufacture and export of photovoltaic cells and EVs. China also controls supply of critical minerals, essential for batteries, AI datacentres and hi-tech military equipment.
Last year, more than 90% of the investment growth in China came in the renewables sector. Thanks to these trends, cleantech from China is affordable in many global south nations. The same is happening with battery technologies, which are spreading the market for electric cars to countries in Africa and South America.
China’s clean energy sector is now worth 15.4tn yuan ($2.2tn/£1.6tn), bigger than all but seven of the world’s economies. With every year that passes, this business becomes more important to the state, accounting for 11.4% of China’s gross domestic product last year, up from 7.3% in 2022.
To be sure China is simultaneously the world’s biggest investor in coal and far from a democracy in its domestic politics, but the scale of its renewable industry means Beijing has a growing stake in the success of global climate negotiations. Not just because it is good for the planet, but because it makes solid business sense.
The turbulence caused by the US-Israeli assault on Iran only strengthens its sales pitch.
While the rest of the world looks for an exit ramp off the exhaust-fumed highway on to a cleaner, electrified, 21st-century freeway, Trump has pulled a U-turn and is accelerating back towards 20th-century smoke stacks without so much as a glance in the rearview mirror.
On the same day he was sworn in for his second term in the White House, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement, as he did in his first term.
But this time he has also announced that he will quit the entire UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Cop process that was put in place at the 1992 Earth Summit. In February his administration repealed the 2009 “endangerment finding”, the core US government determination that greenhouse gases threaten public health that has been the legal basis for almost all federal climate regulation over the past 17 years. Without it, power plants, factories and carmakers will have a freer pass to pollute the air and heat the atmosphere.
Trump has filled the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency with dozens of former oil industry employees. He has declared a “national energy emergency”, which was a cue for businesses to mine, drill and frack like never before. He has signed at least 20 more executive orders meant to incentivize fossil fuel extraction. And he has granted $18bn in new and expanded tax incentives for fracking, drilling and pumping.
His administration halted the closure of 17GW worth of power plants that use coal, the dirtiest and most polluting fuel, and ordered the US defense department to procure billions of dollars of coal power. Industry executives have shown gratitude with donations and a trophy for the “undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal” given to Trump by the CEO of the largest coal company in the US.
He also used the military – and the federal budget – to assist the petroleum industry by seizing control of Venezuela. (It is not a coincidence that Venezuela and Iran are both key partners to China.) Domination of this country will give the US more influence in setting global oil prices. But for whose benefit? Donald Trump said US companies would tap these fossil fuels and “start making money for the country”. In fact, most of the first billion dollars in revenue was initially stashed offshore in a bank account in Qatar.
After Trump ordered the bombing of Iran, he initially celebrated the spike in crude values: “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” he said, though the “we” evidently did not include the majority of Americans suffering from higher gas costs.
Meanwhile, his government has accelerated the phaseout of tax credits for renewable projects, which has had a chilling effect on the sector with $22bn in clean energy projects cancelled and wind power investment down to its lowest level in a decade. “My goal is to not let any windmill be built. They’re losers,” Trump told oil executives in January.
By the end of last year, downsizing and more than 60 project cancellations began to shake investor confidence in US renewables.
Three dollars of clean energy investment were abandoned for every one dollar announced in 2025, according to an analysis by the E2 thinktank. The record number of factory closures and project reversals eliminated 38,031 clean energy manufacturing jobs – more than in the previous three years combined. Worst hit was the EV and battery sectors, which each accounted for more than $21bn in lost investment. This eroded the global competitiveness of US carmakers at the worst possible moment when EV sales had just started to overtake those of petrol vehicles.
The US state has essentially been captured by a business group that puts its own interests above those of the nation.
During the last presidential election, Trump invited 20 oil executives, including the heads of Chevron, Exxon and Occidental, to his club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, saying he would scrap barriers to drilling, resume gas exports and reverse car pollution controls if they helped to bankroll his race for office. Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said Trump’s legislative agenda “includes almost all of our priorities”.
Big oil poured a record $450m into the campaigns of Trump and Republicans in 2024, according to the watchdog group Climate Power. Then after Trump won, the industry gave another $19m to his inauguration fund. And even though Trump is forbidden by the constitution from running for a third term, fossil fuel money continues to pour into his Pac, including $25m from oil producer Energy Transfer Partners and its CEO, Kelcy Warren.
And these are only the publicly disclosed funds. Nobody knows how much secretive “dark money” is flowing through other channels, though it has been revealed that Trump accepted a gift of a Boeing 747-8 luxury jetliner from the oil-rich Qatari royal family. The similarly wealthy Abu Dhabi royals bought a $500m stake in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency business.
The White House argues the focus on fossil fuels is necessary for national security and “energy dominance”. Increasing supply, it insists, will bring down costs, trim inflation and stimulate the economy.
Ten or more years ago, this might have been true. But today solar and wind prices have fallen below coal and ushered in what the International Energy Agency calls “the cheapest electricity in history”. The Trump administration is denying US consumers these benefits. Electricity prices in the US rose more quickly than inflation even before the Iran war. Meanwhile, the hidden costs of fossil fuels, such as pollution and respiratory diseases hurt national productivity and add to the burden on taxpayers.
In the long term, it is hard to imagine a more self-harming policy. Between 2021 and 2024, the renewable sector was generating jobs 50% faster than the rest of the labour market. This is high-value employment with long-term prospects compared with jobs in the oil and gas extraction industry, which are projected to decline by 6% over the coming decade.
Most disturbingly, all of this creates a perverse incentive for the US to use its economic, diplomatic and military power to stimulate the market for fossil fuels.
Last September, Chris Wright, the US energy secretary and a former fracking magnate, went on an arm-twisting tour to Brussels and Milan to press the EU to increase its purchases of US liquified natural gas (LNG). In February, Wright stepped up the pressure, claiming there was “a climate cult” in Europe, after EU leaders agreed to reduce their energy dependency on the US in response to Trump’s talk of seizing Greenland.
The threats did not stop there. Wright said the US would leave the International Energy Agency unless it abandoned its goal of net zero carbon emissions and stopped referring to “climate stuff” in its analyses of renewables, fossil fuels and carbon emissions.
This explains why huge sums of money are now being channelled from the US to support far-right groups in Europe, who are campaigning on anti-net zero platforms.
The championing of fossil fuels depends on a big lie – that the US and the planet can return to an era powered by climate-destabilising fuels. It’s a lie that relies on threatening or downsizing scientific academies, truth-seeking news media and unfiltered online debate.
The US president has repeatedly called the climate crisis a “hoax”, “scam” or “bullshit”, ushering in what has been called a period of “climate hushing” (or “green hushing”). Essentially, this is a campaign to stifle public debate so that people are less aware of the dangers posed by fossil fuels and the benefits of cheaper renewable alternatives. His administration has announced plans to close down or slash budgets for the world’s leading science institutions. Meanwhile the president’s billionaire backers are helping to choke the climate debate in the media. After Elon Musk bought Twitter, now X, scientists report the social media algorithm is suppressing their voices and encouraging misinformation about the climate. Earlier this year, the Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, slashed the size of the paper’s award-winning climate reporting team.
The Trump administration’s obsession with fossil fuels will dwarf the economic and human toll of the Iran war. The world’s hottest 10 years ever recorded have all occurred in the past decade. Extreme weather is increasingly out of control, pushing up food prices, prompting migration and sparking conflict. Many scientists fear the planet is heating faster than expected, pushing oceans, the Amazon, coral reefs, the Arctic and Antarctic ever closer to the point of no return. And worse is to come, with an El Niño expected to supercharge global temperatures in the coming year.
Throughout the world, a huge majority of people want their governments to take stronger action on the climate crisis. So fossil ambitions run up against popular opinion, which means its proponents have to rely on force to maintain control – with more oppression at home and more war overseas, an ever more extreme and violent response to ever more extreme and destructive weather.
All of this makes China suddenly seem a more appealing and serious alternative. This was not previously the case. Beijing used to project the opposite of soft power. Its political system is repressive. It continues to lock up journalists, artists and dissidents. But today there is a narrowing gap in its human rights record compared with the US, while its energy policy is increasingly aimed at halting climate breakdown rather than making it worse.

China, of course, is also building up its military and investing in energy-sucking artificial intelligence – though at much lower levels than the US. This is not to say its intentions are any more benign. But think of it, from the perspective of Europe, Africa or Latin America: do you choose China, which is becoming a modern electrostate that engages in multilateral decision making, and can supply you with more energy autonomy? Or do you pick the US, which appears to be trying to turn the clock back to the 20th century when it comes to fossil fuel domination, and the 19th century when it comes to imperial gunship diplomacy?
Former allies of the US are lining up to visit Beijing and seek balancing relationships with China. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney; Britain’s Keir Starmer; Germany’s Friedrich Merz have made the journey in the past few months. Narendra Modi, the president of longtime rival India, visited last year, as did the EU president Ursula von der Leyen. As he did with Trump, Xi has accommodated them from a position of more global authority than any Chinese leader has had since the opium war.
You have to grasp at straws until your fingers bleed to find positives in the US government these days, but at least the Trump administration has clearly delineated the battle lines on the future of the planet.
On one side are the vast majority of the world’s people, all of nature, 99.9% of climate scientists and the fastest-growing, greatest-job-creating chunk of the global economy: the clean energy sector.
On the other is Trump and the primary producers and users of fossil fuels, who need enormous taxpayer subsidies to stay profitable and ever greater violence to quell public unease and global opposition. The latter controls the US state – including the military and ICE – and is allied with much of the money of Silicon Valley’s power-thirsty datacentre companies. (The US and its tech oligarchs may be hoping that AI can replace energy as the country’s source of global power – but China is keeping apace on that front, too.)
Will this fossil fuel fascism, that billionaire-backed campaign to crush a green transition by any means necessary, hold back the tide of clean energy autonomy? It cannot be ruled out. The closest thing the world has to a planetary spokesperson recently warned of the dark forces threatening the future of all life on Earth: “Some fossil fuel interests remain hellbent on slowing progress, spreading disinformation, pretending the transition is unrealistic or unaffordable,” Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said last month. “Let’s tell it like it is; the world’s addiction to fossil fuels is one of the greatest threats to global stability and prosperity.”
But the climate will not be bending to the will of even the best funded, most heavily militarised and artificially idealised US administration nor the King Canute at its centre.
Most people realise this. Much of Europe is resisting. China is defiant. India is moving fast on solar. Brazil is pushing a roadmap away from fossil fuels. Colombia just hosted the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Even in the US, people want their government to do more to prevent global heating.
The fightback is under way in the courts, at elections and on the streets. The most populous and fast-growing state economy of California already gets two-thirds of its electricity from renewables and has pledged to continue expanding wind and solar. Even Texas, the historic home of the US oil industry but also the centre of wind power, is bristling at Maga-led attempts to curtail renewables. Michigan is suing oil companies for delaying funds. Judges in Virginia, New York and New England, including a Trump appointee, have issued injunctions against government efforts to halt windfarm projects. The US president’s popularity has plummeted and polls suggest his party will lose heavily in the autumn midterms – if they are allowed to go ahead without Maga interference.
Despite the deep pockets of the backers of fossil fuel fascism, their resistance will be futile. The movement could become more deranged and violent in its efforts to turn back the clock, suppress dissent and thwart China’s rise. But ultimately, the planet will have the final say.

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Solar power is helping to mitigate the effects of fossil fuel price shocks. It saved Europe more than €100 million a day throughout March by reducing gas imports.
If prices remain high because of Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, savings could reach €67.5 billion by the end of the year.
In 2024, the EU imported €14.6 billion worth of green energy products, including €11.1 billion worth of solar panels. The supplier of these panels was China with 98% of all imports.
According to the International Energy Agency, China invested more than €43 billion in new solar capacity, ten times more than Europe. Today, it accounts for more than 80% of the world’s capacity.
However, China’s monopoly in the market has not turned out to be a clear victory for it: fierce competition has forced companies to sell products below cost. The IEA report cited by Euronews says that by the beginning of 2024, its losses have reached 4.3 billion euros.
Against this background, from April 1, 2026, the export VAT refund of 9% on solar products was abolished and the 9% VAT refund on battery products was reduced to 6%. As of January 1, 2027, the VAT refund on batteries will be completely abolished.
The elimination of China’s export VAT refund alone will lead to an increase in module prices of around 10%. The industry refers to individual PV panels as solar modules.
However, the market does not react so quickly, and the price increase will not be felt immediately. Analysts also do not expect the price increase to significantly limit demand for solar generation, given its competitiveness.
They note that the cost of ground-mounted projects (usually large solar power plants) has risen slightly in recent weeks, but the large volume of orders is holding back a significant increase in average prices.
At the same time, prices for small-scale or “distributed” solar installations, which are mounted directly on rooftops or carports, continued their slight decline earlier this week.
Solar panels are made up of glass, polymers and aluminum. As well as silver, the most efficient conductor of electricity and heat. Although silver accounts for less than 5% of a panel’s mass, it can account for up to 30% of the total cost of production.
It is estimated that in 2023 alone, about 4,000 tons of silver went into the production of PV panels. That’s 14% of the world’s consumption of the metal. Researchers warn that by 2030, this share will rise to 20%, which is four times the level of 2014.
So Chinese manufacturers are replacing silver with cheaper copper. This could save the global solar industry around €12.8 billion annually. However, copper prices have also been rising in recent years, albeit not as rapidly as silver.
Silver prices jumped by more than 150% in the first weeks of 2026, making it a major factor in panel costs. These changes will start to reach end consumers this summer.
According to experts, the combination of high prices for raw materials and the abolition of VAT refunds in China may lead to an increase in the price of individual components by 15-20%.
Private consumers will feel this “in the medium term”, while those who want to install PV panels still have “more favorable prices” available.
Despite the uncertainty, experts emphasize: even now, solar panel prices are about 50% lower than in 2023, and solar power remains one of the cheapest sources of electricity in the world.

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Increasing the stability and efficiency of EU-made perovskite photovoltaic technology brings us closer to switching on the clean energy revolution.
Generating electricity with almost no CO2 equivalent emissions, photovoltaic (PV) technology offers an attractive green energy solution. Yet, there is currently very little European solar cell or module production, necessitating imports with their carbon footprints and supply risks. “It has become increasingly difficult to compete with Asian countries, mainly China, to manufacture PV technology. The real barrier to rolling out PV solutions is, however, mostly not technological, but political priorities,” says Uli Würfel, coordinator of the EU-funded DIAMOND(opens in new window) project. DIAMOND’s printable PV architectures – scalable for production – help boost the maturity of European solutions.
Most solar panels are made from silicon, thanks to its abundance and reliability, but perovskites offer easier fabrication and potentially lower costs. Perovskites(opens in new window) for PVs are a class of synthetic crystalline materials made from a range of sources including lead, tin, bromine and chlorine. To increase the durability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells, DIAMOND first identified the best combination of materials for key PV components. The researchers developed perovskite PV devices with conventional metal back electrodes, alongside carbon-based ones. They also investigated the use of lead-tin based absorbers to reduce lead content. Three key innovations were combined to give DIAMOND’s solution more stability than previous PV solar cells. Firstly, a carbon-based back electrode (electrical contacts collecting and transporting photogenerated charge to external circuits), was developed. “These versions improve long-term stability compared to conventional metal electrodes,” adds Würfel from the Fraunhofer Society(opens in new window), the project host. Mitigating the use of toxic lead, sequestration layers were developed from a novel metal organic framework which, rich in chelating groups, immobilise lead ions. Lastly, an innovative design sealed the solar unit. This so-called ‘hermetic encapsulation’ is tricky because the glues typically used to bond the glass solar panels which sandwich the temperature-sensitive materials, increase risks of contamination and heat damage. “We substituted glue with a printed layer of glass frit materials, melted to bond them to the glass plates, offering environmental protection for over 25 years,” explains Würfel.
Testing to compare DIAMOND’s power conversion efficiency (PCE) – how much sunlight is converted into electrical power – with silicon PV, returned encouraging results. The perovskite solar cell with a lead/tin mixed absorber returned a PCE of 25.86 %; while the perovskite solar cell with carbon-based back electrode achieved a PCE of 21.5 % (22.9 % shortly after project completion). With mini solar cell modules (panels), a PCE of 23.28 % was reached on an area of 29 cm2. While a larger module of over 100 cm2 with a carbon-based back electrode processed in air (as opposed to using more expensive inert atmospheres such as nitrogen), realised a PCE of over 18 %. “We were also delighted to record a solar cell PCE rate of just above 27 %, actually beating the world record for crystalline silicon solar cells at the time of proposal submission,” notes Würfel.
The team pursued device designs, components and processes with the lowest CO2 footprints and the highest recycle potential. For example, when fabricating modules, each layer was analysed for potential environmental impact, with a fully recyclable module created as a proof of concept. “Our results reinforce the potential of perovskite PV technology, which when transferred to industry, will create new jobs and reduce dependency on imports of PV panels and ultimately energy itself,” concludes Würfel. Towards this end, the team are now scaling up the size of their PV modules, while continuing to enhance PCEs and operational lifetimes.
Each project (from H2020 onwards) is attributed a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
The total amount of money invested in the project. The total cost includes EU contribution as well as other project costs not covered by EU funding. It is expressed in euros.
Amount of money, by way of direct subsidy or donation, from the EU budget to finance an action intended to help achieve an EU policy objective or the functioning of a body, which pursues an aim of general EU interest or has an objective forming part of, and supporting, an EU policy. The sum of the EU contributions of all participants in a project is equal to the grant amount.
FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV
Germany
Last update: 9 April 2026

Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/464642-photovoltaic-innovation-boosts-the-efficiency-of-green-energy
European Union, 2026
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The bill’s emergency clause made it effective immediately upon signing.
Photo Credit: iStock
Maryland residents now have a much simpler way to start using solar power at home.
On May 12, Governor Wes Moore signed HB 1532 — also known as the Utility RELIEF Act — making Maryland the fifth state to enact a plug-in solar law and only the second in which it is already in effect. 
The bill’s emergency clause made it effective immediately upon signing, meaning households across the state can begin installing qualifying plug-in solar systems right away, per Plug-in Solar.
Under the new law, Maryland permits one “portable solar energy generating system” per residential meter. To qualify, the system must be designed to plug into a standard electrical outlet, be intended to offset part of a home’s electricity use, send back no more than 1,200 watts, and meet UL certification or an equivalent safety standard.
In other words, many of the plug-in solar kits already available, often sold in 800-watt and 1,200-watt versions, now fall within Maryland law. The policy could be especially significant because it removes some of the barriers that have kept many households from participating in the clean energy transition, particularly those not ready or able to take on a larger solar project.
The law also puts clear limits on the amount of bureaucracy utilities can impose. Utilities may request advance notice before installation and documentation showing a system’s capacity and safety features. But, they are not allowed to demand prior approval, impose interconnection fees, or require extra equipment, per Plug-in Solar.
BOBS from Skechers has helped over 2 million shelter pets around the world — and the charity program just announced this year’s Paws for a Cause design-winning sneakers.
These “hound huggers” and “kitten kicks” sneakers are machine washable and equipped with memory foam insoles. Plus, they were designed by passionate students who were inspired by their very own rescue pets.
BOBS from Skechers is also committed to donating half a million dollars to the Best Friends Animal Society this year to help every dog and cat experience the safety and support of a loving home.
Compared with traditional solar systems, which often come with longer timelines and higher upfront costs, plug-in solar is much easier for everyday households to access.
The benefits are clear. The more electricity a household can produce from sunlight, the less power it may need to pull from the grid, and in many places, that means less reliance on fossil-fuel-generated electricity. Even relatively modest solar production can help cut pollution over time while giving families another way to manage monthly energy costs. 
There are still some limits for residents to keep in mind. The law does not overrule lease agreements or rules set by landlords, condo boards, or homeowners associations, so some households may still need permission before moving ahead.
And even though state law now allows these systems, shoppers should still check with both their utility and local building authority before installing one.
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Maryland’s new law is also indicative of increasingly positive national sentiment toward plug-in solar. Dozens of states have considered or are considering plug-in solar legislation. To see the status of plug-and-play solar — or balcony solar — bills in your state, check out this resource from Canary Media.
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
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Is Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (ASTI) Among the Most Promising Renewable Energy Stocks Right Now?  Yahoo Finance
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Are you worried about the electrical grid near you staying reliable? Depending on where you live, you might occasionally have a brownout or blip in your power, or your electricity might go out for hours or even days until NYSEG crews can get to your neighborhood.
Those outages can affect just a few homes in the event of a power line being knocked down, or dozens or hundreds of homes, or even most of the region, and they can come from something as small as a vehicle crash, flooding in a neighborhood, or a big storm.
Are you thinking about buying a gizmo to help you get through those power outages? Jackery and Anker, two of the big companies with portable batteries to provide power at home, are having a Memorial Day sale right now! But some of the details aren’t clear in the product descriptions, so let me lay out some organized info for you.
A power station functions like a big rechargeable battery. You can plug it into your normal wall outlet to charge it, then unplug it (and maybe take it to the beach) and use it to run a radio and a fan for hours and also charge your phone.
Solar panels turn sunlight into electricity but don’t store anything.
A solar generator is a power station plus solar panels that are compatible with each other.
So you’ll see power stations that are cheaper than solar generators even if they have similar specifications. Check if the thing with the good price says it comes with solar panels.
Note: We’re only touching on the power supply aspect of preparing for power outages, but there are other things worth thinking about, such as food and water supplies, and backup cooking and lighting options, that have been covered in 14850 Magazine in the past.
Related: Emergency preparedness for the next round of weather crises
I am terrible at remembering electrical terms. I made notes while deciding what size solar generator to buy for myself, then promptly forgot again. So it is possible for you to make this decision without knowing watts from widgets.
Every electrical appliance has an amount of energy (per hour) that keeps it running and another amount (usually higher) that can get it started running. Some are required to say the exact amount on them, but if you go to web pages selling new ones you can get the ballpark range.
Then compare that with what the power stations can output.
A power station that can run your coffee maker or microwave might not be able to start them. Many power stations are rated to supply a higher “surge” for the first moment when your appliance is active.
If you did that comparison you probably learned that a solar generator powerful enough to run your refrigerator for a few days and start your coffee maker costs a boatload of money.
Things that heat and cool use much, much more electricity than other things. I recommend finding non-powered things to replace those functions during a long power outage. We have a well-insulated cooler, a French press, and a small camping stove that runs on sticks. If you have a dorm-style mini-fridge you usually keep drinks in, you may be able to keep that powered much longer than your kitchen refrigerator if you’d like to make sure some key perishables don’t go bad. Or, replacing a 20-year-old kitchen refrigerator with a new model might mean you need much less electricity to run it year-round, and can power it more effectively (i.e. for longer) from a power station.
I bought a Jackery solar generator that can run a box fan most of the day or my husband’s CPAP all night. Look at the prices for solar generators that can run what you need to survive, not just the ones so big that they’ll run everything you want to be comfortable. Buying when there’s a sale might mean you can afford more capacity.
Solar panels are slow. The power station part of my solar generator can charge completely from zero in about an hour when plugged into a working wall outlet, but it takes 15 hours of strong sunlight to charge it from the solar panels. 
Keep in mind that many of the weather conditions that result in power outages mean you may not have strong sunlight for a few days. You can recharge with solar panels on a grey day, but it’ll take longer. Another weather note: some of the solar panels and cables offered by these companies aren’t water-resistant or safe to use in rainy weather, but some models do say their solar panels can be used outdoors in inclement weather.
Consider buying two power stations, at least one with solar panels, so you can have one outside charging while you’re using the other one inside. Alternatively you can crack a window to run the charging cable to the panels outside while you’re using the power station inside.
Some power stations also come with a car charger adapter so you can recharge the power station from your running car, using the “accessory port” (formerly cigarette lighter) in the car. (Make sure your car is running outdoors, not in a garage, and has plenty of ventilation around it, so fumes won’t get into your home.)
If you’ve got an EV (electric vehicle) with a big enough battery, such as the Ford F-150 Lightning, you may even be able to use that as your power station to power your house (or at least select circuits) in “reverse charging” mode.
Related: Lightning strikes twice: The all-electric Ford F-150
Look at how heavy and how big they are. Think about where you’re going to store it between power outages. Some batteries are fire hazards so you want it where you can check on it easily if you smell something, so don’t plan to store it at the bottom of a pile of other stuff.
Look at whether it’s happier if it’s depleted completely each time or happier if it’s continually charged above 30%. Can you find a way to use it every week instead of only during power outages?
One way to reduce the need for higher-capacity power stations, i.e. more expensive and heavier batteries, is to use smaller, less-expensive tools for smaller, simpler tasks they’re designed for.
You can provide some backup lighting in a couple of rooms by installing solar path lights outdoors, and bringing them indoors during a power outage. Most such path lights will provide at least a few hours of evening slow, and they can be brought outside in the morning to recharge in daylight.
Camping gear like a solar rechargeable lantern will come in handy to light up a room, as well. The Duracell 3000L lantern can recharge from a wall outlet or its built-in solar panel, or can run from D batteries. As with the solar path lights, you can use the lantern indoors at night and let it do some recharging outdoors in daylight hours. The Duracell can also recharge your phone or tablet with a USB cable, or with (slow, but better than nothing) Qi wireless charging.
If you buy one brand power station on sale and another brand solar panels on sale you might have to buy cables and adapters to get them to work together.
Buying a whole solar generator of the same brand from the same company eliminates that need for meticulous fiddling.
Jackery and Anker are two of the big brands in portable power stations, and they both have sharp discounts for “Early Amazon Prime Days.” The sales include power stations alone as well as solar generators, the power stations matched with solar panels.
Locally, our Agway stores carry EGO power stations, which are designed to use the same removable EGO batteries you might use for your electric lawn mower or hedge trimmer.
For longer periods without electricity, the big advantage of a gas generator is that it can keep providing power effectively forever, as long as you can keep providing fuel. They’re dirtier, noisier, and inherently more dangerous, though. Westinghouse makes respected gas-only generators and dual-fuel generators (for gas or propane), but keep in mind that these must be run outdoors, never indoors or near an open window.
These power stations are a relatively new product category, but there’s a much older form of big battery that you may already have heard of, an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS. They’ve been common for years in offices where it was important to keep the file server up and running, but they’re also great at home. The key feature is that the stuff’s always plugged into them, so if there’s a power outage, the battery kicks in so quickly that the power to your stuff isn’t interrupted.
You can use a UPS to power your cable modem and Wi-Fi router all the time, maybe another for your TiVo or cable company DVR and even your TV (though that may use up the battery pretty quickly). A “pure sine wave” UPS may be important for the electronic controller of your pellet stove, which can otherwise keep heating your house for days, since the heat’s coming from burning pellets, not from the electricity in your battery. Of course you can also plug your laptop or phone into a UPS to recharge, and you can even plug your UPS into a bigger power station or generator to recharge the UPS.
Installing solar panels for regular use is great for reducing your electric bill, but they won’t give you power during a power outage unless you have an expensive “transfer switch” installed at the same time that’s designed to disconnect your home’s power from the grid, either manually or automatically, during an outage.
The gizmo that does that disconnecting is not something you can buy at Agway or Lowe’s and install in an afternoon. It’s not even something electricians or solar panel companies are likely to be willing to install for you after-the-fact.
The same sort of transfer switch is used when you have a gas generator to provide backup power to your whole home, or if your portable power station is big enough to do more than power a couple of accessories.
Jackery has a new “HomePower” line that’s intended to be big enough to power a lot of the stuff in your house, even your full-size refrigerator, for a couple of days. The Solar Generator HomePower 3000 is available with or without solar panels.
You can use it as a UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, by keeping a few things plugged into it all the time. That’s inconvenient if your refrigerator and your Internet gear don’t live in the same room, but I can imagine keeping the fridge plugged in all the time for uninterrupted power in the event of an outage when you’re not at home, and then carefully running an extension cord to plug in a couple more essentials, or to recharge your smaller power stations.
Alternatively, there’s an optional manual transfer switch for the HomePower that must be wired into your home’s electrical panel (a simpler project than the solar panel transfer switch, but still something a licensed electrician should do) that lets you flip a switch during an outage to supply stored electricity from your HomePower to up to six circuits in your house. You’d want to turn off anything unnecessary, but this could mean you’d have power to your kitchen for fridge and coffeemaker, to your living room for your Internet gear and to power your laptop, a fan, even a small TV, and to the bathroom so you don’t have to take a shower in the dark. You might be able to power your home’s water pump and the electronic controller for your gas furnace, too.
It’s easy to go overboard and spend thousands of dollars on equipment to supply your home with backup power, but the good news is that you can start small and think about what really needs to stay powered as opposed to trying to cover everything in the house that you use on a normal day. 
If you can make do with a big enough UPS or power station to keep the Internet on and keep a CPAP working for a few nights, that’s pretty affordable. You can always add more and bigger batteries later, whenever you’ve got some bucks to spare and whenever there’s another sale. (There’s always another sale.)
Editor’s Note: This article is an expansion of an overview Karen wrote for her friends on social media. Anything you like about it, you can credit her! Anything you dislike about it was probably added by me. As always, some links to products are affiliate links that earn us a small commission if you make a purchase, at no cost to you. — MHA
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Wegmans opened the WKids childcare space at its Ithaca store in 1997, and it’s closing this week after a steady decline in usage in recent years, the supermarket chain says. “While many parents with small […]
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I write to you out of urgency as Cornell University, whose campus sits on our east hill, is putting into motion a plan to bring thousands of students from around the world back to our region in a fashion that will spread the COVID 19 virus in our community. […]
Show past events
The annual Spring Writes Literary Festival kicks off Thursday off with four days of events from May 7 – May 10 packed with group readings of poetry, prose, and memoir; panels on writings, genre, and timely topics; creative writing workshops for all ages and experience levels; performances by a local theatre troupe and senior storytellers; a reading and an open mic with local teens; creative writing as a family activity, evening performances, and even a Survivor-style literary showdown!
Events are at the Ithaca Downtown Conference Center, Buffalo Street Books, the Tompkins County Public Library, Lot 10, Liquid State Brewery, and the Cherry Arts.
You can check out all the details and RSVP here: https://springwrites.org/
Experience the thrill of the NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen International!
Top NASCAR drivers take on the legendary 2.45-mile road course, racing wheel-to-wheel in high-speed action around every twist and turn.
Your ticket gets you access to the heart of the track, with opportunities to explore fan zones, watch the pit crews in action, and soak up the full race-day atmosphere.
Tickets and Camping are On Sale NOW!
Details and tickets: https://www.theglen.com/events/nascar-cup-series/
Join us at Taverna Banfi for a Mother’s Day filled with delicious flavors, beautiful moments, and time well spent together. Reservations are now open, secure your table today!
Reservations required, call 607-254-2624
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Seating Available 9:30am – 2:00pm
$73 Adult | $35 Children 5-9 Years of Age
Free for Children 4 and Under
Learn More: https://statlerhotel.cornell.edu/mothers-day
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/afk-bkem-jvn
Or dial: (US) +1 252-346-6323 PIN: 732490681#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/afk-bkem-jvn?pin=6789867964463&hs=7
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Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/afk-bkem-jvn
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Join us at Taverna Banfi for a Mother’s Day filled with delicious flavors, beautiful moments, and time well spent together. Reservations are now open, secure your table today!
Reservations required, call 607-254-2624
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Seating Available 9:30am – 2:00pm
$73 Adult | $35 Children 5-9 Years of Age
Free for Children 4 and Under
Learn More: https://statlerhotel.cornell.edu/mothers-day
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/afk-bkem-jvn
Or dial: (US) +1 252-346-6323 PIN: 732490681#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/afk-bkem-jvn?pin=6789867964463&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Featuring a $7 waffle, with berry compote and whipped cream, plus a $3 side of sausage or bacon, $5 mimosas and a free chocolate covered strawberry for your mom! You won’t find a better way to celebrate with your mama.
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/oai-cxmv-ber
Or dial: (US) +1 740-478-2267 PIN: 344497765#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/oai-cxmv-ber?pin=1789918561290&hs=7
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We’re offering a curated brunch experience featuring:
Four chef-crafted brunch selections
A beautifully styled grazing table
Fresh, seasonal ingredients throughout
🥂 Bottomless Mimosas available
Reservations required: https://sheldrakepoint.com/point-of-flavor-bistro/?mc_cid=e22f9d59d2&mc_eid=105c15f234
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/dij-zswa-qjz
Or dial: (US) +1 347-614-2180 PIN: 593014529#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/dij-zswa-qjz?pin=4963130676320&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/dij-zswa-qjz
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
We’re offering a curated brunch experience featuring:
Four chef-crafted brunch selections
A beautifully styled grazing table
Fresh, seasonal ingredients throughout
🥂 Bottomless Mimosas available
Reservations required: https://sheldrakepoint.com/point-of-flavor-bistro/?mc_cid=e22f9d59d2&mc_eid=105c15f234
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/dij-zswa-qjz
Or dial: (US) +1 347-614-2180 PIN: 593014529#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/dij-zswa-qjz?pin=4963130676320&hs=7
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Noon til gone! Full dinner with salt potatoes and mac salad $13. Half dinner $8.
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/qor-avfg-cfo
Or dial: (US) +1 424-290-1963 PIN: 183152695#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/qor-avfg-cfo?pin=6692250732785&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/qor-avfg-cfo
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Noon til gone! Full dinner with salt potatoes and mac salad $13. Half dinner $8.
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/qor-avfg-cfo
Or dial: (US) +1 424-290-1963 PIN: 183152695#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/qor-avfg-cfo?pin=6692250732785&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
The concert will include a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World,” one of the most popular symphonies ever written.
 
Conductor Aaron Burgess will also lead the 80-member orchestra in performances of Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor Overture and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 in D Major.
 
A suggested donation of $8 is requested at the door, and children are free.
No cover.
Come join us for a traditional Irish music session at Liquid State Brewing! This is a monthly open session on the second Sunday of each month. An Irish session is a community gathering where we all play tunes together. Anyone who plays Irish tunes is welcome to bring their fiddle / whistle / flute / concertina / whatever it might be! Or just stop by and listen. We’ll be making plenty of raucous noise, playing reels, jigs, polkas (!!), slip jigs, and more!! Liquid State has lots of amazing beer and they also have great non-alcoholic drinks. There’s good food too (usually from the Silo food truck folks).
Come dance with us!  Don’t know how to dance?  We’ll show you!  
These dances are free, open to the public, and all ages are invited. The Lansing Community Center is air conditioned with a wood floor.  Square dancing is a low impact aerobic activity that stimulates both the mind and body. Our dancers learn and enjoy Modern Western Square Dance steps used all over the world and dance to a wide variety of popular music. The dancing is easy and fun for people of any age. These dances are FREE and open to all.  Come alone or with a partner.  No special dancing skills are required and beginners are always welcome!
A prix-fixe meal, priced at $14 a person, with a rotating menu and drink specials. Homey atmosphere with a great selection of beers on tap, a variety of tasty local wines, with sandwiches, snacks and other market goods also available. Menu coming soon!
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/wwq-xvgq-xmp
Or dial: (US) +1 650-667-3786 PIN: 866378469#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/wwq-xvgq-xmp?pin=8821727240388&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
$5
All ages welcome.
Beginners class
Wear comfortable shoes.
Bring water.
Get ready for fun, fun, fun!
Line dance is not only great exercise, it is excellent for improving memory and concentration. Your brain will love it!
See you on the dance floor!
Veggies, fruits, mushrooms, flowers, dairy & cheese, meats, honey/maple/jams, breads/pastries, body care, eggs, coffee/tea, cider/wine/beer. Live music, food, weekly programming, kids activities.
DeWayne Perry and the What’s Cookin’ Jazz Trio play their styling tunes every other week. A $20 burger & a pint deal helps to round out the evening. No cover, but please tip the jazz band!
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/tpp-babj-kxj
Or dial: (US) +1 405-534-5960 PIN: 257945069#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/tpp-babj-kxj?pin=7641117769980&hs=7
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Join us at the Library for a workshop addressing your questions on DIY plumbing repairs that you may encounter at your home. From leaking toilets to changing a sink faucet, you can come and ask your questions to a knowledgeable neighbor!
Let’s cultivate shared creativity! Come on down to share your song or story! Nocturnal Cafe, formerly Sacred Root Kava Lounge, welcomes you to experience our weekly Open Mic Nite hosted by a rotating cast of talented artists including Aria Dawn, Karlee Weaver, Mary Brett Lorson and Laik Uticone. Showcase your talents and enjoy the experience of creative connection. BULA!
Come join the team from Talume Brewing, housed at Hopshire Farms, and taste some of their newest brews. Thursday night is also Neverending Happy Hour at Brookton’s – our happy hour drink specials are live from 4p until close!
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/vhk-gawg-svf
Or dial: (US) +1 929-277-5806 PIN: 742788770#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/vhk-gawg-svf?pin=4884673585163&hs=7
Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720
Every second and fourth Thursday, join host Dean Johnson for an Open Mic where you bring your own songs, poetry or stand up to wow the crowd. Totally relaxed & encouraging environment.
Opus Ithaca School of Music presents a Faculty Recital on May 15 at 6 p.m. Free, with donations appreciated to support the Opus Scholarship Fund. You’ll enjoy a wide variety of repertoire performed by Alexei Aceto, Cathryn Gaylord, Andi Merrill, Paige Morgan, Juliana Pepinsky, Ryan Reilly, Liz Shuhan, Sera Smolen, Asher Wulfman, and James Zabawa-Martinez. Program includes works by Bozza, Brahms, Dring, Gaylord, Liszt, Stravinsky, and more.
Doors at 7pm, Small Kings 7:30pm, Nectar 8:30-10:30pm. $10 Cover.
New beer releases, food from Fittnell BBQ, dotCU, and Gelato da Enzo, and music from What’s Cookin’, the Amalgamators, Cisco PL and the Soulbenders, and Deejay DJenn.
Come to Rootstock and be inspired!
Rootstock, the premier youth music festival in the Finger Lakes, will be held at the Bernie Milton Pavillion on the Ithaca Commons from 12-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 16th.
Sponsored and organized by New Roots Charter School and GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, Rootstock features solo acts, bands, and dance troupes with styles ranging from hiphop to punk to jazz. The event will also feature young entrepreneurs offering their handmade products at the Youth Entrepreneurship Market.
The lineup this year includes youth from many communities and backgrounds, including CUMEP, Southside Community Center, and the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, as well as students from New Roots Charter School, Ithaca High School, Lehman Alternative Community School, DeWitt Middle School, Cortland City School District, and schools as far away as Syracuse and Oswego.
Local soul singer SingTrece, lead singer of revered of the band Stone Cold Miracle,  and WICB Reggae Explosions radio DJ Mike Judah will emcee the event.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Market (YEM) will be vending on the Commons during the Rootstock festival. These youth vendors will be selling their original products such as artwork, apparel, jewelry, and handmade goods, gaining real-world experience in entrepreneurship, sales, and customer engagement.
$25. Delmonico steak, baked potato, salad, vegetable medley, beverage, and pie.
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/rhi-fbxa-cpj
Or dial: (US) +1 502-785-9249 PIN: 446147829#
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Dean Johnson is back again with the crew, playing their signature blend of covers, deep cuts and original material. No cover, but we’ll have the tip jar out!
Doors: 6:30pm, Show: 7:30pm
VIP and General Admission tickets available here: https://tixr.com/e/184094
Benefit My State returns in 2026 with Our State, Our Sound: 90s Edition, a high-energy tribute to the music and culture of the 1990s featuring some of Ithaca’s favorite local performers.
The historic State Theatre will transform into a full-blown 90s celebration as local musicians take the stage to perform iconic hits from across the decade — from rock and alternative to hip-hop and pop.
Featured performers include Maddy Walsh & the Blind Spots, KiteString, Cast Iron Cowboys, Max Childs, SingTrece, and more.
All you can eat! Pancakes, french toast, corned beef hash, sausage, ham, scrambled eggs, sausage gravy, beverages, and desserts.
Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/zhx-okfy-zsp
Or dial: (US) +1 219-515-4311 PIN: 744354191#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/zhx-okfy-zsp?pin=5040846321143&hs=7
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No cover.
Join us for an Irish session hosted by members of Traonach and the extended community that shaped Ithaca’s beloved sessions at The Watershed, Argos, Chapter House, and Micawbers—now continuing the tradition at K-HOUSE. Free.
Come dance with us!  Don’t know how to dance?  We’ll show you!  
These dances are free, open to the public, and all ages are invited. The Lansing Community Center is air conditioned with a wood floor.  Square dancing is a low impact aerobic activity that stimulates both the mind and body. Our dancers learn and enjoy Modern Western Square Dance steps used all over the world and dance to a wide variety of popular music. The dancing is easy and fun for people of any age. These dances are FREE and open to all.  Come alone or with a partner.  No special dancing skills are required and beginners are always welcome!
An open bluegrass jam every third Monday of the month. Free!
All are welcome to join for this free performance.
The performance will be followed by light refreshments.
https://fingerlakesfiddle.org
The Newfield Historical Society’s Annual Meeting is at Newfield Fire Hall on Tuesday, May 19 at 6:30 p.m. featuring a talk “Teaching the Declaration of Independence” by Tompkins County Historian Charley Githler.  Free and open to the public and refreshments will be provided.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/NHS14867
$5
All ages welcome.
Beginners class
Wear comfortable shoes.
Bring water.
Get ready for fun, fun, fun!
Line dance is not only great exercise, it is excellent for improving memory and concentration. Your brain will love it!
See you on the dance floor!
Veggies, fruits, mushrooms, flowers, dairy & cheese, meats, honey/maple/jams, breads/pastries, body care, eggs, coffee/tea, cider/wine/beer. Live music, food, weekly programming, kids activities.
Learn how to achieve improvement through movement and techniques aimed at strengthening connection between mind and body from Mitch Raymond, MSPT, CEEAA. The connection between our brain and muscles is essential to move ourselves without injury. This presentation will break down how to improve the strength, flexibility, stability, balance, and skill of our bodies through practices that enhance neuromuscular connection and physiologic well being. Suggested donation of $10 and please bring a yoga mat if you have one!
Let’s cultivate shared creativity! Come on down to share your song or story! Nocturnal Cafe, formerly Sacred Root Kava Lounge, welcomes you to experience our weekly Open Mic Nite hosted by a rotating cast of talented artists including Aria Dawn, Karlee Weaver, Mary Brett Lorson and Laik Uticone. Showcase your talents and enjoy the experience of creative connection. BULA!
Join us for a monthly outing every third Thursday from 4-7:30pm at Artist Alley’s Open Studio Night! Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of creativity as local artists open their studio doors to share their works and creative processes.  Whether you’re an art aficionado or just curious, this is the perfect opportunity to experience the dynamic energy of the art community. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect with artists and explore their creative spaces in a relaxed, inspiring setting!
https://www.instagram.com/artist_alley_ithaca/
https://www.facebook.com/artistalleysouthhill
Artist Alley at South Hill Business Campus
950 Danby Rd, Ithaca
Fun-lovin’ trio of singer/songwriters/musicians who perform a mix of original and traditional tunes!
No cover.
Friday night is wing night at Brookton’s Market. Six bucks for six wings, with a rotating menu of flavors. Enjoy your wings alongside the sounds of Dappled Light Effect, with cello, drum, guitar and soaring vocals.
EILEEN IVERS & THE BRIGIDEENS is the fiery new acoustic powerhouse female band formed and led by Grammy awarded, Emmy-nominated, 9-time All-Ireland Fiddle Champion, Eileen Ivers. The group features critically acclaimed musicians and vocalists from the Celtic and Americana traditions.
With The Brigideens, Ivers continues to produce her signature musical sound that led the L.A. Times to proclaim, “Ivers’ presentation was music with the kind of life and spirit that come together when talented artists from different backgrounds find the linkages that connect all forms of music.” Native New Yorkers, Caitlin Maloney is on lead vocals and Hilary Hawke on 5-string banjo, upright bass, clarinet, spoons, and vocals. Anna Colliton, a Chicago native, is a master of the Irish bodhran and adds cajon/percussion. From Maryland, guitarist and vocalist Colin Forhan plays tenor banjo and concertina. 
TICKETS: $30 in advance; $35 at door day of show
TICKET LINK: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/eileen-ivers-and-the-brigideens-tickets-1977188191104
Come down to Brookton’s Market for a unique mix of acoustic originals and all your favorite covers from upstate NY musician Joe Joseph. No cover, but we’ll have the tip jar out!
No cover.
Come dance with us!  Don’t know how to dance?  We’ll show you!  
These dances are free, open to the public, and all ages are invited. The Lansing Community Center is air conditioned with a wood floor.  Square dancing is a low impact aerobic activity that stimulates both the mind and body. Our dancers learn and enjoy Modern Western Square Dance steps used all over the world and dance to a wide variety of popular music. The dancing is easy and fun for people of any age. These dances are FREE and open to all.  Come alone or with a partner.  No special dancing skills are required and beginners are always welcome!
K-HOUSE Karaoke & Arts Hub invites oldies lovers to spend an evening with Elvis. One Night With You is a dinner show featuring the comedy and vocal stylings of The King himself, a three-course meal and guest performances, all in the intimate setting of Room K (formerly The Downstairs).
Elvis, who has been touring small-town venues since his supposed death in 1977, tells hilarious stories about his life, interspersed with classic songs, underrated tracks and beloved covers, during the 90-minute show. Duets throughout the evening will feature stars from the rock & roll era, including Neil Diamond and guest interaction and accompaniment are encouraged. Blending live performance with dinner theatre and the dietary restrictions of the aging The King, guests will enjoy a healthy meal with gluten-free and vegetarian options, as well as some of Elvis’ favorite treats.  
“If you’ve got a suspicious mind and want the full story, you’ll just have to come hear it from The King himself.” -Sylvie Froncek, producer of One Night With You
The show takes place on the fourth Monday of each month at K-HOUSE this spring. Tickets include dinner and the show. Beverages will be available to purchase from the bar.
Upcoming performances include:
• Monday, March 23 — 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Monday, April 27 — 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM and 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM (during Old Greeny Fringe Fest)
• Monday, May 25 — 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Tickets are $35 per person or $120 for a table of four, and reservations are required.
Guests can expect an evening of classic songs, theatrical storytelling, and opportunities to interact with Elvis and sing-along.
Reservations:
https://www.viecycle.com/elvis-dinner-show.html⁠
$5
All ages welcome.
Beginners class
Wear comfortable shoes.
Bring water.
Get ready for fun, fun, fun!
Line dance is not only great exercise, it is excellent for improving memory and concentration. Your brain will love it!
See you on the dance floor!
Veggies, fruits, mushrooms, flowers, dairy & cheese, meats, honey/maple/jams, breads/pastries, body care, eggs, coffee/tea, cider/wine/beer. Live music, food, weekly programming, kids activities.
Let’s cultivate shared creativity! Come on down to share your song or story! Nocturnal Cafe, formerly Sacred Root Kava Lounge, welcomes you to experience our weekly Open Mic Nite hosted by a rotating cast of talented artists including Aria Dawn, Karlee Weaver, Mary Brett Lorson and Laik Uticone. Showcase your talents and enjoy the experience of creative connection. BULA!
Every second and fourth Thursday, join host Dean Johnson for an Open Mic where you bring your own songs, poetry or stand up to wow the crowd. Totally relaxed & encouraging environment.
A glorious trio of banjo, cello and guitar with stunning vocals, come enjoy the tunes of the Friends 2 Lovers Band.
The Canaan Institute presents a house concert with The Hilary Hawke Band – a quartet with Hilary Hawke (banjo), Ross Martin (guitar), Camille Howes (fiddle) and Myles Sloniker (bass). Saturday May 30th, 2026. Concert begins at 7:00 pm (doors 6:30). $35 donation at the door (sliding scale, ask). RSVP please cinst.org/rsvp for directions and to reserve your seats at this private venue. More info, venue web site http://www.cinst.org
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According to the latest IndexBox report on the global Diamond Wire market, the market enters 2026 with broader demand fundamentals, more disciplined procurement behavior, and a more regionally diversified supply architecture.
The global diamond wire market is entering a period of sustained expansion, with demand increasingly bifurcated between high-volume commoditized segments serving the photovoltaic (PV) industry and premium, precision-driven applications in semiconductor and optical cutting. As of 2025, the market has consolidated around a core set of manufacturing hubs in Asia-Pacific, which dominate both production and consumption. The forecast period from 2026 to 2035 is expected to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 6.8%, pushing the market index to 190 by 2035 (2025=100). This growth is underpinned by structural shifts in energy generation toward solar power, the miniaturization of electronic components, and the ongoing urbanization and infrastructure renewal in developing economies. However, the market also faces headwinds from raw material price volatility, technological substitution risks from laser cutting, and environmental regulations governing electroplating processes. The competitive landscape is characterized by a mix of integrated manufacturers and specialized producers, with leading players investing in R&D to improve wire durability, cutting speed, and diamond retention. The report provides a granular analysis of demand drivers, supply chain dynamics, and regional consumption patterns, offering a data-driven outlook for stakeholders across the value chain.
The baseline scenario for the diamond wire market from 2026 to 2035 assumes a steady global economic expansion, continued deployment of solar photovoltaic capacity in line with net-zero commitments, and incremental growth in semiconductor fabrication. Under this scenario, global diamond wire consumption is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8%, reaching a market index of 190 by 2035. The photovoltaic segment remains the largest demand driver, accounting for over 45% of total consumption, as wafer thickness continues to decrease, requiring finer and more consistent diamond wire for slicing. The semiconductor segment is expected to see the fastest growth, driven by the proliferation of advanced packaging and the need for precision dicing of silicon carbide and other hard substrates. Stone and concrete cutting, while mature, will benefit from infrastructure spending in emerging markets. Supply-side dynamics are shaped by the concentration of diamond abrasive powder production in a few countries, leading to periodic price spikes. Technological advancements in electroplating and resin bonding are improving wire life and cutting efficiency, partially offsetting cost pressures. The market is also witnessing a shift toward continuous loop and beaded wire configurations for specific applications, offering higher throughput. Overall, the baseline outlook is positive, with risks balanced between upside from faster-than-expected solar adoption and downside from trade disruptions or a global economic slowdown.
The photovoltaic segment remains the largest consumer of diamond wire, accounting for nearly half of global demand. The mechanism is straightforward: as solar cell manufacturers push for higher efficiency and lower costs, they reduce wafer thickness from 180µm toward 120µm or less. Thinner wafers require finer diamond wire (typically 40-60µm diameter) with consistent abrasive distribution to minimize breakage and kerf loss. This drives demand for electroplated diamond wire with high diamond density and uniform coating. The demand-side indicators include global solar PV installations (expected to exceed 500 GW annually by 2030), wafer production capacity expansions in China and Southeast Asia, and the adoption of diamond wire saws over traditional slurry-based slicing. Through 2035, the trend toward heterojunction and tandem cell architectures will further increase the need for precise, low-damage slicing, sustaining demand growth. Major companies are investing in R&D to improve wire tensile strength and diamond retention, as any downtime in wafer slicing lines is extremely costly. Current trend: Strong growth driven by global solar capacity additions and wafer thinning.
Major trends: Transition to thinner wafers (sub-120µm) requiring finer diamond wire, Adoption of diamond wire saws with multi-wire configurations for higher throughput, Integration of online monitoring systems for wire breakage detection, Shift toward electroplated diamond wire for better cutting consistency, and Expansion of PV manufacturing capacity in India and the United States.
Representative participants: Meyer Burger Technology AG, Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd, Jiangsu Huachang Diamond Wire Co., Ltd, Zhejiang Ruiyi Diamond Wire Co., Ltd, and Henan Yicheng New Energy Co., Ltd.
Semiconductor substrate dicing is the fastest-growing application for diamond wire, driven by the proliferation of advanced packaging (2.5D/3D), the shift to larger wafer diameters (300mm and beyond), and the adoption of hard substrates like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Diamond wire offers a lower kerf loss and higher throughput compared to traditional dicing blades, especially for thick or brittle materials. The mechanism involves using a continuous loop or beaded diamond wire with fine grit size (typically 10-30µm) to cut through substrates with minimal chipping and subsurface damage. Demand indicators include global semiconductor capital expenditure (expected to exceed $200 billion by 2030), the expansion of SiC wafer production for electric vehicles and power electronics, and the increasing complexity of multi-die packages. Through 2035, the trend toward heterogeneous integration and chiplets will require more precise dicing of thin dies, further boosting diamond wire adoption. Companies are developing specialized wire formulations with resin-bonded diamonds for ultra-precision applications. Current trend: Fastest growth segment, driven by advanced packaging and SiC substrate demand.
Major trends: Growing use of diamond wire for SiC and GaN substrate dicing, Development of ultra-fine diamond wire for thin die singulation, Integration of diamond wire dicing with automated handling systems, Rising demand for low-damage cutting in advanced packaging, and Expansion of wafer fabrication capacity in Southeast Asia and Europe.
Representative participants: Disco Corporation, Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd, Nakamura Choukou Co., Ltd, Diamond Wire Technology LLC, and Logomatic GmbH.
Stone and concrete cutting represents a mature but stable segment, accounting for about one-fifth of global diamond wire demand. The mechanism is based on the use of beaded diamond wire (with sintered or electroplated beads) for cutting granite, marble, reinforced concrete, and other hard materials in quarries, construction sites, and demolition projects. Diamond wire saws offer advantages over traditional saw blades in terms of cutting speed, reduced noise, and the ability to cut large blocks with minimal waste. Demand indicators include global construction spending (particularly in infrastructure and residential renovation), quarry output of natural stone, and the adoption of diamond wire in bridge and building demolition. Through 2035, growth will be driven by urbanization in Africa and South Asia, as well as the need to replace aging infrastructure in developed markets. The segment is also seeing innovation in wire design, such as continuous loop configurations for high-speed cutting and rubber-coated wires for reduced friction. However, competition from alternative cutting methods (e.g., hydraulic splitters) and the cyclical nature of construction pose risks. Current trend: Steady growth supported by infrastructure and renovation projects.
Major trends: Adoption of diamond wire for underwater and offshore cutting applications, Development of longer-lasting beaded wires with improved diamond retention, Use of diamond wire in precision architectural stone cutting, Growing demand for wire saws in reinforced concrete demolition, and Integration of diamond wire with robotic cutting systems.
Representative participants: Diamond Wire Sawing Co., Ltd, WEC Group, DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd, and Nakamura Choukou Co., Ltd.
The optical crystal and glass cutting segment is a niche but high-value application for diamond wire, driven by the production of components for telecommunications (e.g., lithium niobate modulators), laser systems (e.g., YAG crystals), and specialty glass for displays and optics. The mechanism involves using ultra-fine diamond wire (often resin-bonded) to cut brittle optical materials with minimal subsurface damage and high edge quality. Demand indicators include global spending on fiber optic networks, the expansion of laser-based manufacturing, and the growth of the consumer electronics display market. Through 2035, the rollout of 5G/6G infrastructure and the increasing use of photonic integrated circuits will drive demand for precision-cut optical crystals. The segment is characterized by high technical requirements and a willingness to pay premium prices for consistent quality. Major trends include the development of diamond wire with tailored grit sizes for specific crystal orientations and the use of continuous loop wires for high-volume production. Current trend: Moderate growth driven by telecom and laser industries.
Major trends: Increasing use of diamond wire for lithium niobate and quartz crystal cutting, Development of diamond wire for cutting ultra-thin glass for foldable displays, Adoption of diamond wire in the production of laser gain media, Growing demand for precision cutting of sapphire for LED and watch applications, and Integration of diamond wire with CNC cutting systems for complex shapes.
Representative participants: Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd, Nakamura Choukou Co., Ltd, Diamond Wire Technology LLC, Logomatic GmbH, and DMT GmbH & Co. KG.
The hard alloy and composite cutting segment serves the aerospace, automotive, and tooling industries, where diamond wire is used to cut tungsten carbide, titanium alloys, carbon fiber composites, and other difficult-to-machine materials. The mechanism relies on the extreme hardness of diamond abrasives to erode the workpiece, with wire tension and speed carefully controlled to avoid delamination in composites or thermal damage in alloys. Demand indicators include global aerospace production rates (e.g., narrowbody aircraft deliveries), electric vehicle manufacturing (which uses composites for lightweighting), and the production of cemented carbide cutting tools. Through 2035, the trend toward lightweight materials in transportation and the expansion of additive manufacturing (which often requires post-processing cutting) will support demand. The segment is relatively small but high-margin, with customers prioritizing cutting quality and wire life over price. Innovation focuses on developing diamond wire with specialized coatings to reduce friction and heat generation. Current trend: Steady growth from aerospace and automotive applications.
Major trends: Use of diamond wire for cutting carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) in aerospace, Adoption of diamond wire for cutting titanium and Inconel in jet engine manufacturing, Growing demand for diamond wire in electric vehicle battery pack disassembly, Development of diamond wire for cutting sintered carbide tool blanks, and Integration of diamond wire with water-assisted cutting for heat-sensitive materials.
Representative participants: Diamond Wire Technology LLC, WEC Group, Asahi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd, Nakamura Choukou Co., Ltd, and DMT GmbH & Co. KG.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
Asia-Pacific is the largest market, driven by China’s dominance in solar PV manufacturing and semiconductor fabrication. India and Southeast Asia are emerging as growth hubs for wafer production and infrastructure. The region benefits from low-cost manufacturing and strong supply chain integration. Direction: Dominant and growing.
North America is a key market for semiconductor and aerospace applications, with the US investing in domestic solar and chip manufacturing. Demand is supported by infrastructure renewal and reshoring initiatives, though growth is tempered by higher labor costs. Direction: Stable with moderate growth.
Europe’s market is driven by automotive, aerospace, and precision optics. Germany and Italy are major consumers for stone cutting and industrial manufacturing. Environmental regulations are pushing innovation in eco-friendly diamond wire production. Direction: Steady, with focus on precision applications.
Latin America’s diamond wire demand is tied to mining and construction, particularly in Brazil and Chile. Infrastructure projects and quarrying for natural stone provide steady demand, but economic volatility limits faster expansion. Direction: Moderate growth from infrastructure.
The Middle East & Africa region is seeing increased demand from large-scale construction projects in the Gulf and stone quarrying in South Africa and Egypt. Investment in solar energy is also beginning to drive demand for PV-related diamond wire. Direction: Growing from construction and quarrying.
In the baseline scenario, IndexBox estimates a 6.8% compound annual growth rate for the global diamond wire market over 2026-2035, bringing the market index to roughly 190 by 2035 (2025=100).
Note: indexed curves are used to compare medium-term scenario trajectories when full absolute volumes are not publicly disclosed.
For full methodological details and benchmark tables, see the latest IndexBox Diamond Wire market report.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Diamond Wire market in the World, including market size, structure, key trends, and forecast. The study highlights demand drivers, supply constraints, and competitive dynamics across the value chain.
The analysis is designed for manufacturers, distributors, investors, and advisors who require a consistent, data-driven view of market dynamics and a transparent analytical definition of the product scope.
This report covers diamond wire, a precision cutting tool consisting of a high-tensile steel wire core embedded with synthetic diamond abrasives. It focuses on the industrial manufacturing, trade, and application of diamond wire across key segments, including silicon wafer and photovoltaic ingot slicing, stone and concrete cutting, and semiconductor substrate dicing. The analysis encompasses the product’s role within the broader industrial cutting and abrasives market.
The market data is structured according to international trade classifications, primarily under Harmonized System (HS) codes for tools and machinery parts involving interchangeable blades and sawing. This ensures alignment with global trade data for tools of base metal and machinery for working mineral and stone, capturing the core manufacturing and trade flows of diamond wire as an industrial consumable.
World
The analysis is built on a multi-source framework that combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, and expert validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to ensure consistency across time series.
All data are normalized to a common product definition and mapped to a consistent set of codes. This ensures that comparisons across time are aligned and actionable.
Report Scope and Analytical Framing
Concise View of Market Direction
Market Size, Growth and Scenario Framing
Commercial and Technical Scope
How the Market Splits Into Decision-Relevant Buckets
Where Demand Comes From and How It Behaves
Supply Footprint, Trade and Value Capture
Trade Flows and External Dependence
Price Formation and Revenue Logic
Who Wins and Why
Where Growth and Supply Concentrate
Commercial Entry and Scaling Priorities
Where the Best Expansion Logic Sits
Leading Players and Strategic Archetypes
Detailed View of the Most Important National Markets
How the Report Was Built
Pioneer and major producer of diamond tools
Major Chinese producer of diamond wire and abrasives
Leading producer in South America
Key global manufacturer of diamond tools
Major producer of diamond wire and saws
Significant manufacturer under Samsung C&T
Provides diamond wire sawing systems and wire
Specialist in diamond wire for stone and construction
Major Chinese producer of synthetic diamond and wire
Producer of diamond wire for solar silicon slicing
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Nature Communications volume 17, Article number: 2311 (2026) Cite this article
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The silicon photovoltaics market is transitioning from the incumbent passivated emitter rear cell to the higher efficiency tunnel oxide passivated contact technology and it is crucial to understand the environmental impact of this change. Here, we conduct life cycle assessment to compare both technologies quantitatively and identify environmental savings in 15 of 16 environmental impact categories for tunnel oxide passivated contact. This includes a 6.5% reduction in carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, per watt peak at the expense of 15.2% increase in metal resource use, for photovoltaic modules manufactured in China and transported to central Europe. A critical factor in photovoltaics manufacturing is the carbon intensity of the electricity mix. We model the impact of photovoltaics production across different global regions, incorporating future electricity mix scenarios and a projection for photovoltaics deployment. Our model provides a forecast of the environmental impact of global photovoltaics manufacturing and identifies a potential reduction of 8.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 2035, depending on manufacturing location.
Rapid, global decarbonisation requires swift transitions towards higher-performing, sustainable, renewable energy technologies. Photovoltaics (PV) offers enormous promise as a low-carbon¹, versatile² and relatively inexpensive^1,3 technology. Recently, PV has been deployed at an unprecedented scale, reaching over 1 terawatt peak (TW_p) of cumulative installed capacity by the end of 2023⁴. This growth is expected to continue at scale such that total installed capacity could reach 80 TW_p by 2050^5,6. However, this growth requires additional resources and causes environmental impact. Previous work has quantified resources required for terawatt-scale PV production to 2100⁷, finding that material demand could exceed capacity depending on silicon architecture, though this doesn’t consider the environmental impact of material extraction. Other work seeks to quantify material demand whilst considering electricity demand and greenhouse gas emissions⁵, finding up to 11% of the 1.5 °C greenhouse gas emission budget could be spent on terawatt PV production. Whilst much existing PV research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, it neglects broader environmental impacts such as ecosystem health, other atmospheric impacts, and human health, which need to be considered to truly evaluate the environmental sustainability. This type of analysis can be achieved using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
LCA has been applied to PV to identify areas of high environmental impact (“hotspots”)⁸, investigating factors such as silicon feedstock⁹, wafer size or module design^10,11. LCA has also been used to compare different technologies¹² and evaluate supply chains¹³. Fewer studies compare silicon cell architectures, with the majority focusing on general comparisons between mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline (which is no longer a timely issue) technologies, usually without stating cell architecture. Although comparisons of aluminium back surface field to passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology exist¹⁴, these are quickly becoming outdated due to rapid technological advancements. Our work considers the environmental impact of currently leading silicon architectures, which will dominate the PV market over the next decade.
Recently, mainstream silicon PV technology has shifted from PERC to tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells. Manufacturing TOPCon cells is similar to PERC, though there are significant structural differences resulting in higher efficiency. Firstly, PERC tends to use a gallium-doped p-type wafer, whereas TOPCon uses an n-type dopant, such as phosphorus or antimony. At the front, PERC uses a phosphorus diffused emitter and silicon nitride (SiN_x) as a combined passivation layer and anti-reflection coating, whilst TOPCon uses a boron-doped emitter with an aluminium oxide (AlO_x) passivation layer and SiN_x antireflective coating. At the rear, PERC uses AlO_x to passivate the p-type surface of the wafer before being capped with SiN_x, whereas TOPCon uses a tunnel oxide layer, improving passivation, coated by a phosphorus-doped poly-silicon layer and capped with SiN_x, improving contact conductivity¹⁵. Finally, the contacts differ: silver is used for the front in both PERC and TOPCon, but the former uses a combination of silver and aluminium for the rear contact whereas the latter uses just silver.
Unlike PERC, the environmental sustainability of TOPCon modules is relatively underexplored in the literature. The only other assessment of TOPCon manufacturing using LCA focuses on manufacturing solely in China¹⁶. The work investigated environmental differences between mono and bi-facial modules, p-type and n-type technologies, wafer size and carbon emissions from PV manufacturing between 2023 and 2060. Although the work provides a detailed comparison between module designs within China, TOPCon manufacturing outside China remains unexplored.
Here, using LCA, we explore the sustainability of TOPCon manufacturing, suitably addressing the literature gap, by identifying hotspots regarding future PV manufacturing and performing a quantitative comparison to PERC. The impact is considered on a global scale by uniquely including projections for technology and materials consumption improvements from the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV), as well as electricity mix scenarios from the US Energy Information Administration, into our LCA. Additionally, we provide a readily accessible and industrially validated life-cycle inventory for TOPCon cell manufacturing as a basis for other researchers to build upon and develop further modelling. A cradle-to-gate approach is adopted, considering raw material extraction, module assembly, and transportation to central Europe. Conducting Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis provides additional confidence in our conclusions. We evaluate the impact of TOPCon manufacturing up to 2035 whilst considering technological developments and future electricity mix scenarios for different manufacturing locations: India, China, the United States of America (US) and Europe. Sensitivity of TOPCon manufacturing to the electricity mix composition is investigated, demonstrating its critical relevance. Subsequently, we forecast the cumulative impact of PV deployment over the coming decade and compare its benefits to the environmental cost of manufacturing using LCA. The Supplementary Information contains assumptions (Supplementary Table 1) and raw data, while the Supplementary Data contains life cycle inventories and calculations used throughout the work and all figure data can be accessed in the Source Data.
A manufactured PV module comprises a wafer, cell, module components and transportation of the module to the deployment location (in this case, central Europe). The TOPCon module life-cycle inventory is created by adapting a PERC inventory (Supplementary Data 1 and 2)¹¹ to account for different doping and include primary cell data from an international TOPCon manufacturer. The contribution of each production stage is investigated for 16 environmental impact categories, described in a glossary (Supplementary Table 2).
Here, a baseline scenario compares a 1 W_p PERC and TOPCon module manufactured in China and transported to central Europe, considering the technological state in 2023. LCA results (Supplementary Table 3) show TOPCon modules exhibit lower impacts than PERC for 15 of 16 investigated environmental impact categories (per W_p). The exception is Resource use (minerals and metals), which is 15.2% higher for TOPCon, due to increased silver used for TOPCon contacts, compared to the silver and aluminium mix adopted in PERC. Results are normalised to the annual impact of an average European, using the Environmental Footprint v3.1 methodology, to identify the six highest value impact categories and simplify the presentation of results. Normalisation is only done for the “PERC vs TOPCon” comparison and hotspot analysis. After normalisation, the six highest value impact categories are identified as: Climate change, Particulate matter, Eutrophication (freshwater), Photochemical ozone formation, Resource use (fossils) and Resource use (minerals and metals) as shown in Fig. 1, together with the relative percentage change between PERC and TOPCon modules. For simplicity, Resource use (fossils) and Resource use (minerals and metals) will be referred to as “Fossil use” and “Metal use”, respectively. All 16 categories are normalised and presented in Supplementary Fig. 1. A key cause for improved environmental impact is the reduced amount of material per W_p of TOPCon due to higher cell conversion efficiency.
Normalised results showing the six highest impact categories associated with the manufacturing of 1 W_p PERC and TOPCon module and the relative percentage change. This considers manufacturing in China using an average electricity grid mix and transportation to central Europe.
Figure 2 presents a breakdown of the TOPCon module manufacturing stages, shown in Fig. 1, for the hotspot analysis. For TOPCon, the wafer dominates 12 of 16 environmental impact categories. These categories have large contributions from the electricity consumed during silicon purification, providing >85% of the wafer impact in 10 categories. A breakdown of the wafer impact for the six highest impact categories in Fig. 2a shows that electricity consumption dominates all six. High impact categories in wafer production correlate with increased impact for overall module production: Fossil use, Climate change and Particulate matter, where electricity consumption during wafer production accounts for 88.2%, 89.9% and 93.5%, respectively. This highlights electricity consumption during wafer production as a hotspot, particularly the production of poly-silicon (poly-Si) and Czochralski-silicon (Cz-Si). These high impacts stem from the use of fossil-fuel sources for electricity generation highlighting the importance of increasing the share of renewables in the electricity mix to reduce these impacts. However, the use of renewable energy still contributes towards various other environmental impacts, although not as large as fossil fuels, so efforts should also target minimising electricity consumption during silicon purification.
Normalised results showing the individual material and process contributions towards the six identified high-impact categories for a TOPCon wafer production, b TOPCon solar cell fabrication, c TOPCon module component manufacturing and d transportation from China to central Europe. Due to substantial inventories, “Others” represents materials contributing to all impact categories <15% in (a) and <5% in (b) and (c). This considers manufacturing in China using an average electricity grid mix and transportation to central Europe.
Metal use has the highest value and is the only category dominated by cell fabrication, as shown in Fig. 1. The TOPCon cell fabrication impact is broken down in Fig. 2b. High Metal use values are from silver use during metallisation of (front and rear) contacts, representing 53.0% of the whole module Metal use impact, and 98.3% of the cell Metal use impact. The magnitude of Metal use is four times larger than the next highest impact category, Photochemical ozone formation. This sets a quantitative target for research and development activities to reduce silver consumption and adoption of alternative contact materials, such as copper¹⁷. Emissions and waste treatment during cell production make up 83.4% of the Photochemical ozone formation category and 48.6% of Particulate matter, notably non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) emissions and particulates <2.5 μm. The cause of these emissions is not explicit since inventory items for direct emissions have been taken from the literature¹¹ though NMVOC emissions are typically associated with using solvents and cleaning processes¹⁸, suggesting that optimising or minimising solvent use would reduce these emissions. Other hotspots include poly-Si deposition (specifically silane usage) and annealing (specifically electricity consumption), which contribute>15% of the impact in 11 impact categories. Silane also dominates silicon nitride deposition during plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) at the cell front and rear. Rear PECVD contributes >15% to two impact categories, whereas the Front PECVD impact is greater, contributing >15% to six impact categories due to trimethylaluminum usage. Recovering unused silane¹⁹ or minimising its use²⁰ through reducing poly-Si thickness are routes to reducing this impact. However, changes to the device structure, such as poly-Si thinning, may adversely affect the cell performance. This trade-off should be carefully considered by performing further LCA that considers these structural changes and consequent performance to ensure synergistic impact reduction and performance improvement.
The module components’ production is the largest contributor to two impact categories: Human toxicity (non-cancer), and Land use (see Supplementary Fig. 1). A breakdown of the module components’ impact in Fig. 2c identifies hotspot materials as copper and solar glass, in addition to tin, which impacts Metal use due to its scarcity. Copper is a hotspot for multiple categories, providing >50% of the overall module impact in three categories. Solar glass also contributes highly, representing >25% of the module components’ impact in eight categories and >50% in two further categories. Upstream solar glass production analysis identifies uncoated flat glass as high impact, specifically using soda ash, electricity and heavy fuel oil during production. Reducing the associated impact through recycling key materials used during PV production, such as copper, glass, silver, and silicon, has been investigated previously^21,22.
Module transportation from China to Europe requires freight lorries, trains and ships. LCA results in Fig. 2d show that the freight ship dominates all six high-impact categories, though it transports modules over 100 times the distance transported by lorry and train. Comparing 1 tkm (tonne-kilometre) of each transportation method (see Supplementary Table 4) demonstrates the smaller impact of transoceanic freight relative to other forms of transportation. Transport has the largest impact on photochemical ozone formation, due to hydrocarbon fuels used for shipping and lorry transport and construction of rail infrastructure. Additionally, the Fossil use category has a large impact resulting from the use of fossil fuels (e.g., petroleum, diesel, hard coal and heavy fuel oil) to power the vehicles.
The environmental impact of manufacturing PERC is sensitive to the module performance and manufacturing location¹¹. For the following results, we assume that the processing yield and manufacturing capacity of PV in China can be replicated in the other investigated locations. We investigate the impact of 1 W_p TOPCon manufacturing for India, China, the US and Europe. Different locations are considered by changing the electricity mix, such that it represents the composition of each location and modifying transport inputs accordingly, from the manufacturing location to central Europe. We consider low zero-carbon technologies cost scenario²³ from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to represent decarbonisation of each location’s future electricity mix. Additionally, the results encompass effects of performance and material advancements on TOPCon manufacturing to 2035 – according to ITRPV 2024²⁴, these values are provided in Supplementary Table 5. The impact of manufacturing TOPCon (per W_p) reduces over time due to these improvements as shown in Fig. 3 for the six highest impact categories.
The impact, per W_p of TOPCon module manufactured, is shown for a Climate change, b Particulate matter, c Freshwater eutrophication, d Photochemical ozone formation, e Fossil use and f Metal use. Investigated geographical locations include: India, China, the United States of America and Europe between 2023 and 2034, assuming current (solid) and future (dashed) electricity mixes, performance improvements and material developments. All modules are assumed to be transported from the location of manufacturing to central Europe.
In 2023, TOPCon manufacturing in India has the highest Climate change impact (0.95 kg CO₂ equivalent (eq.) W_p⁻¹), whilst the lowest occurs in Europe (0.40 kg CO₂ eq. W_p⁻¹), shown in Fig. 3a. By 2035, assuming electricity mixes remain constant (solid lines), Climate change decreases on average by 0.10 kg CO₂ eq. W_p⁻¹ across all locations due to improved performance, reduced silver during metallisation and reduced poly-Si for Cz-Si production. This reduction for Climate change is more sensitive to poly-Si reduction (and related electricity reduction) than silver reduction, which instead greatly effects Metal use.
Considering all scenarios in 2023–2034, TOPCon manufacturing can result in 0.31–0.95 kg CO₂ eq. W_p⁻¹, with the lowest impact in Europe. Analysis of dashed lines shows the impact of TOPCon manufacturing reducing further when considering future electricity mix scenarios which account for progress towards decarbonisation.
The five other high-impact categories (Fig. 3b–3f) show similar trends to Climate change, with India and Europe tending to have the highest and lowest impact, respectively. Particulate matter (Fig. 3b) differs, where China’s impact is greater than India (for current and future scenarios) despite India having a larger share of coal in its mix. This is due to high quantities of particulate emissions released during electricity production for internal use during coal mining in China. Also, the US has the highest Metal use impact (considering future electricity mixes) by 2035 (Fig. 3f). This is a consequence of an increased share of renewable resources, where more scarce materials, such as silver, are required for renewable energy systems. Scarce materials have higher Metal use values than abundant materials. This increased proportion of renewable energy decreases the proportion of fossil-based resources, causing a complementary reduction in US Fossil use, shown by the blue dashed line in Fig. 3e.
When considering future electricity mixes (dashed lines), all impact categories in Fig. 3 exhibit greater reductions in TOPCon manufacturing, except Metal use (Fig. 3f), which slightly increases due to an increasing share of renewables. Europe has the lowest Metal use impact for the future mix because the proportion of PV in the mix is lowest relative to other locations. There is still a significant overall reduction in Metal use by 2035 due to decreasing silver consumption, emphasising its criticality for reducing this impact.
It should be noted that current electricity mix models use the Ecoinvent database, where India’s inventory is over five years old, whilst other countries were updated at the end of 2023. To account for this discrepancy, future scenarios also include a 2023 datapoint. China shows a higher Eutrophication (freshwater) impact for the future electricity mix than the current mix, though both scenarios show agreement that the impact will decrease over time. This suggests that there are differences between modelled electricity mixes such that electricity sources that contribute more to Eutrophication (freshwater) are greater in the future scenario than the current (Ecoinvent) scenario. This could be from the use of hard coal in the mix, which was found to significantly contribute to this category.
Confirming that the benefits of global PV deployment outweigh the environmental costs of manufacturing is essential. The environmental cost of manufacturing is modelled based on PERC and TOPCon deployment to 2035, taken from ITRPV 2024²⁴, for Climate change and Metal use impacts shown in Fig. 4. The shaded region acts as an indicator of the difference in impact between current and future electricity mixes. The benefits of this global PV deployment are described in the following section, where CO₂ emissions associated with each kWh are evaluated.
The projected global deployment of PERC and TOPCon modules is considered for the impact categories; a Climate change, and b Metal use. Current electricity mixes (solid lines) and future electricity mixes (dashed lines) are shown. The shaded regions show the range of potential impact between current and future electricity mixes for each location.
Climate change (Fig. 4a) shows that PV deployment to 2035 can result in up to 13.8 Gt CO₂ eq., but changes to manufacturing location and decarbonising, future electricity mixes can reduce this by 8.2 Gt CO₂ eq. For context, this saving is equivalent to 13.9% of global net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2019²⁵. Additionally, our results suggest that changing manufacturing location from China to Europe could reduce this impact by 49.5% to 2035, assuming EIA scenarios hold true. However, the renewable technology deployment rate in various locations, particularly China²⁶, presents a high level of uncertainty which should be addressed through collective development of more detailed and accessible electricity mix scenarios.
Metal use (Fig. 4b) increases with the decarbonising nature of future electricity mixes for all locations due to increased critical minerals and metals used for the higher share of renewable energy systems within the electricity mix. In the future, Europe is the most beneficial location for Metal use, with the US becoming the least, despite having the lowest impact considering current mixes. This suggests the US will experience the greatest increase in renewables’ share in the mix. Unlike Climate change, which differs considerably between locations, Metal use has a much smaller range. Greater changes to Climate change are caused by higher contributions from the wafer (and consequent high electricity contribution), this contribution is much less significant for Metal use, causing the smaller range. Expected silver consumption for this deployment is ~0.1 Mt. Investigations into material (e.g. silver) demand, considering different scenarios, have been compared to global production elsewhere⁷, these neglect changes to multiple environmental impacts, achievable using LCA.
The CO₂ equivalent emissions are investigated for PERC and TOPCon deployment up to 2035 and compared to future electricity mixes for each location²³. This comparison, in Fig. 5, shows that deployment of PERC and TOPCon (Solar PV) results in 0.017 kg CO₂ eq. kWh⁻¹ by 2035, whereas the carbon intensity of electricity mixes for the investigated locations is substantially higher (e.g., China and the US will emit 0.608 kg and 0.210 kg CO₂ eq. kWh⁻¹, respectively).
The carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per kWh of electricity generated are investigated for the future photovoltaics (PV) deployment of PERC and TOPCon, labelled (Solar PV), and the Energy Information Administration electricity mixes of the investigated regions.
The PV deployed in this study will contribute 94,602 TWh of electricity generated between 2023 and 2035. This assumes an isolation of 1000 kWh m⁻² yr⁻¹ and a performance ratio 0.8²⁷, whilst considering the degradation of the PV module over time in line with ITRPV predictions. As a reminder, the assumptions are displayed in Supplementary Table 1. Carbon emissions related to this electricity generated from PERC and TOPCon are 2.26 Gt CO₂ eq. Generating this amount of electricity, considering future mixes, would result in 62.10, 66.75, 32.69, and 27.56 Gt CO₂ eq., from China, India, the US and Europe, respectively. Comparing this to the value from Solar PV shows >25 Gt CO₂ eq. avoided emissions. This period considers less than half the expected lifetime of PV modules (12 of 30 years), meaning the avoided emissions from this PV deployment are even greater than suggested here, providing strong incentives for mass PV deployment over the coming decade by demonstrating significant reductions in net CO₂. Supplementary Note 1 describes the calculations for this comparison.
Electricity consumption is shown as a hotspot for PERC and TOPCon manufacturing. The work so far uses a single, average electricity mix for each investigated location as taken from the Ecoinvent database. However, the electricity grid within each location can differ and these sub-grids are also available in Ecoinvent and provided in Supplementary Table 6. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to consider this variation for different sub-grid electricity mixes and their effect on the Climate change impact of manufacturing 1 W_p PERC and TOPCon. Variation is measured by using the highest and lowest carbon intensity sub-grids for each location. Results are shown in Fig. 6. The representative value of the electricity mix for each location, as used throughout the work, is shown by the black line. This analysis shows that the Climate change impact of PV manufacturing can vary significantly depending on which sub-grid electricity mix is used. The variation ranges between 0.32 and 0.58 kg CO₂ eq. W_p^–1, with the largest variation observed for China. There is an overlap of all investigated locations and, more interestingly, it is shown that PV manufacturing in the lowest carbon intensity sub-grid location of China results in comparable CO₂ eq. emissions to manufacturing in (Reference) Europe. This not only demonstrates the variability of impact within each region but also the high variability in the results due to modelling choices. Another useful observation is that the same conclusions are drawn when comparing the lowest carbon intensity sub-grids to the reference electricity mix.
The highest and lowest carbon-intensive electricity mixes set the range of results and the reference electricity mix for each location is shown by the solid line.
The sensitivity analysis is developed to investigate how the contribution of individual electricity sources to the overall electricity mix affects the impact of manufacturing a 1 W_p TOPCon, for all 16 impact categories. The main contributing source in the electricity mix is varied by 5% and is compared to a Reference scenario where each of the contributing electricity sources is assumed to contribute equally. Results are summarised using relative percentage changes in Fig. 7. The raw data are found in Supplementary Table 7.
Radar chart showing the relative percentage change to manufacturing 1 W_p of TOPCon on each of the 16 investigated impact categories from varying the contribution to the electricity mix from each source by 5%. The radar chart is split into a Traditional fuel sources and b Renewable resources. This considers manufacturing in China using an average electricity grid mix and transportation to central Europe.
Results show that the environmental impact can change by up to 35.9% (not shown on the radar) for Ionising radiation when a nuclear-dominant mix is used, though typically the categories are affected by ~5%. Coal has the highest impact on TOPCon manufacturing for nine categories and increasing the proportion of coal in the mix increases the impact in 12 categories, notably by +4.8% for Climate change. Excluding Ionising radiation, the impact of TOPCon manufacturing is found to be the most sensitive to coal, with an average absolute change of 2.1% and the least sensitive to PV, hydropower and biogas, all with an absolute average change 0.9%. This analysis suggests that the impact of TOPCon manufacturing is sensitive to electricity mix compositions: a relative change of 5% in source contribution can result in average absolute changes >1% for 1 W_p TOPCon manufacturing for 10 impact categories. This is due to the high electricity consumption during wafer fabrication. Increasing the share of renewable energy resources in the mix can reduce the impact in most categories, as demonstrated in Fig. 7b, showing that increasing the share of any renewable electricity source decreases the impact for nine categories compared to the Reference scenario. Increased hydropower is the only scenario that experiences a decrease for all 16 impact categories, implying that hydro storage may be the most suitable, low-carbon partner to complement solar PV²⁸. This sensitivity analysis is useful for providing guidance to reduce specific impact categories whilst identifying potential burden shifting.
Sensitivity analysis was also conducted on the inventory of PERC and TOPCon modules to quantify the change in environmental impact when considering technological improvement for: efficiency improvement, silver use reduction, wafer electricity reduction and silane usage reduction. The magnitude of the improvement and benchmark is given in Supplementary Table 8 and the raw results are available in Supplementary Table 9. The percentage change for the six highest environmental impact categories is presented in Fig. 8. Information on the modelling is outlined in the methodology. Briefly, to aid in understanding these results: the efficiency is modified to assume the module efficiency equals the stabilised cell efficiency in 2034 (Fig. 8a); silver use is assumed as 5 mg W⁻¹ for both technologies (Fig. 8b); electricity consumption during wafer fabrication is assumed to reduce proportionally to expected wafer thickness reductions in 2034 (Fig. 8c); and silane use is assumed to reduce (Fig. 8d) by 14.4% based on enhanced deposition rate via inductively coupled plasma-PECVD (ICP-PECVD)²⁹.
This is shown for a relative efficiency improvement (12.6% PERC, 15.9% TOPCon), b silver use reduction (66.5% PERC, 78.0% TOPCon), c wafer electricity reduction (26.0% for both PERC and TOPCon), and d silane reduction (14.4% for both PERC and TOPCon).
The percentage change due to module efficiency improvements, Fig. 8a, shows identical values for each environmental impact category. This is because the area per W_p, for the functional unit, is inversely proportional to the efficiency– thus the increase in efficiency will proportionally reduce the value of all impacts. Further, the scope of the LCA is limited to the manufacturing of modules, meaning there is no impact considered during the use phase, which would affect this correlation. The difference in TOPCon impact due to the efficiency improvement is 2.5% larger than the change in impact for PERC caused by the larger, relative improvement in TOPCon module efficiency (+15.9%) than for PERC efficiency (+12.6%). This suggests that the impact is sensitive to module efficiency changes and that improving module efficiency is very effective for the simultaneous reduction of PV manufacturing environmental impact across multiple categories. Reducing silver usage, Fig. 8b, is shown to be most effective for reducing the Metal use impact category (<41.3%) and least effective for the Particulate matter impact (<0.4%). Changing silver use to 5 mg W⁻¹ has a greater percentage reduction in silver quantity for TOPCon (78.0%) than PERC (66.5%), causing larger reductions to TOPCon categories in this figure.
Only Metal use and Eutrophication, freshwater exhibit impact changes >1% suggesting silver use reduction is not effective for simultaneous impact reduction across categories and that most impact categories are not very sensitive to variations in silver usage. Wafer electricity consumption reductions are assumed equal for PERC and TOPCon (26%) resulting in impact reductions >10% in four of the six presented impact categories, shown in Fig. 8c. From these six impact categories, Metal use shows the smallest reductions of 0.6-0.7% for TOPCon and PERC, respectively whilst the other five presented impact categories show changes >9.6%. This is due to the higher contribution of the wafer towards these five categories and the dominance of the impact from electricity consumption, as shown by the results in Figs. 1 and 2a. The difference in Metal use is smaller for TOPCon than PERC, but the other five impact categories demonstrate larger impact reductions for TOPCon than PERC. This is due to the lower impact of TOPCon relative to PERC in all these impact categories, except Metal use, where TOPCon is higher, making the differences from wafer electricity reduction more significant in PERC manufacturing than in TOPCon. Sensitivity to silane reduction was investigated due to its identification as a hotspot during cell fabrication and its common use in silicon cell fabrication. A 14.4% reduction in both PERC and TOPCon silane usage causes reductions >0.3% for the six presented impact categories, Fig. 8d. This change is minor because the cell fabrication’s contribution towards the module manufacturing is small compared to the wafer and module components. Although these changes are small, suggesting the impact is not sensitive to silane reduction, it is also shown that most of the impact categories – excluding Metal use – experience similar magnitudes of impact reduction (within 0.2%), demonstrating simultaneous impact category reductions.
Lastly, Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis was conducted. Results are shown in Fig. 9 and all Monte Carlo output data are accessible in Supplementary Table 10. The probability that manufacturing 1 W_p PERC has a larger impact than TOPCon is >70% in most impact categories (11/16), suggesting a high level of confidence in the results. This includes Climate change (71.5%), human toxicity, cancer (85.0%), ozone depletion (98.7%) and Eutrophication, freshwater (70.21%). In contrast, Metal use shows 95.8% confidence that TOPCon has a higher impact than PERC. The lowest level of confidence is for Water use, which shows a probability of 59.3% that the Water use impact of PERC is larger than the impact of TOPCon. These results show that the uncertainty associated with the inventory for PERC and TOPCon does not significantly affect the overall comparison or the conclusions drawn from it.
All investigated environmental impact categories are investigated to determine the confidence that the impact of manufacturing 1 W_p PERC modules is greater than the impact of manufacturing 1 W_p TOPCon module. This is shown by the percentage of runs where the impact of manufacturing TOPCon is less than, or otherwise greater than the impact of manufacturing PERC.
Manufacturing TOPCon modules has a lower impact than PERC in 15 of 16 environmental impact categories, including a 6.5% reduction in Climate change, per W_p. The only increased impact for TOPCon modules is Metal use, due to additional silver usage. Normalised results identify high value impact categories as: Climate change, Particulate Matter, Eutrophication (freshwater), Photochemical ozone formation, Fossil use and Metal use. Identified hotspots for each module manufacturing stage are: electricity consumed during wafer production, silver consumption, silane usage, copper and solar glass. Electricity consumption contributes up to 61.8% of the overall module impact in certain impact categories and is investigated further through varying manufacturing locations. Results show that, for 2023, manufacturing TOPCon modules in India has the highest environmental impact per W_p, but by 2035, China will become the highest impact location. TOPCon manufacturing location with the lowest impact to 2035 is consistently within Europe, although the US is expected to have a difference of just 3.6% Climate change impact per W_p by 2035, considering future electricity mixes. Impact projection of global PV deployment to 2035 shows that climate change emissions can be significantly reduced (by 8.2 Gt CO₂ eq.) through manufacturing location changes. This projected deployment will result in ~500,000 TWh output from these modules throughout their lifetime. By 2035, this deployment is projected to show a total minimum reduction of 25 Gt CO₂ eq.
Our results for PERC are, overall, comparable to Muller et al.¹¹, though values differ slightly due to methodological decisions such as inventory and impact assessment method versions and different system boundaries. The difference between PERC and TOPCon also resembles those presented by Wang et al.¹⁶. Although their values are lower than calculated for our baseline model, the sensitivity in Fig. 6 shows overlapping results when a sub-grid mix in China is considered. This comparison is useful for seeing the variation in results for the same technology and seeing how they relate to various carbon standards. For example, for EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) registration, PV modules meet threshold values for EPEAT (630 kg CO₂ eq. kW_p⁻¹) and EPEAT Climate+ (400 kg CO₂ eq. kW_p⁻¹) designation³⁰. Comparing the results to these values shows that PERC and TOPCon can be EPEAT registered as of 2023 – depending on manufacturing location and sub-gid mixes, as shown in Fig. 6, which includes China, the US and Europe. When current, average electricity mixes are considered, the CO₂ eq. values can reach <400 kg CO₂ eq kW_p⁻¹ in 2024, if manufactured in Europe with technological developments. The US is also expected to achieve this when considering future projected decarbonisation of its electricity mix, in addition to technological developments, by 2028. This modelling has not considered recycling or changes to wafer thickness, which would both further reduce the Climate change impact of PV modules. These results can therefore be considered a conservative estimate.
The results and conclusions stated in this work have been obtained using life cycle assessment (LCA). The goal of the LCA is to quantitatively investigate the environmental impact of manufacturing dual-glass, TOPCon modules and assess the environmental benefits of this compared to manufacturing dual-glass PERC modules through considering the extraction of raw materials and manufacturing stages of the life cycle only, known as a “cradle-to-gate” approach. All manufacturing process stages are considered, from quartz mining to production of module components and transportation, as shown in the system boundary, Fig. 10. For all scenarios, the shipping location was fixed as central Europe. A functional unit of 1 W_p was chosen to include the difference in performance of each module type. The area used to provide the functional unit is shared in Supplementary Table 11, calculated using Supplementary Equation (1) in Supplementary Data 3. Performance and material development values of PV modules are taken from the 2024 International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics (ITRPV)²⁴, which includes projections for efficiency, degradation, silver consumption and poly-Si consumption (shared in Supplementary Table 5). The foreground data used for the PERC module inventory has been taken from literature¹¹ and updated accordingly for current manufacturing as reflected in the ITRPV. The TOPCon module inventory is comparable to the PERC module inventory, using the same wafer and module component inventories (although changing wafer dopant to account for the n-type doping as opposed to the p-type doping used for PERC), but includes primary TOPCon cell manufacturer’s data provided by an international TOPCon manufacturer. All assumptions used for the completion of this work are available in Supplementary Table 1 and the inventory for TOPCon and PERC are provided in Supplementary Table 2 and 3, respectively. The background data is provided by the Ecoinvent v3.10 database, which is used with LCA modelling software SimaPro v9.6.0.1. Environmental Footprint (EF) v3.1, as recommended by the European Union³¹ is chosen to assess impact and provides a thorough analysis of 16 environmental impact categories which considers a broad spread of environmental aspects including terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, human health, resource use and the atmosphere. This is crucial when considering a system like a photovoltaic module because it contains a wide variety of flows, including electricity consumption, heavy metals, solvents and potentially toxic chemicals, where understanding the impact of these inputs on the environment is essential for comprehensive sustainability investigations. These 16 impact categories are: Acidification, Climate change, Ecotoxicity, (freshwater), Particulate matter, Eutrophication (marine), Eutrophication (freshwater), Eutrophication (terrestrial), Human toxicity (cancer), Human toxicity (non-cancer), Ionising radiation, Land use, Ozone depletion, Photochemical ozone formation, Resource use (fossils), Resource use (minerals and metals) and Water use. The results are calculated within the SimaPro modelling software to provide numerical data for midpoint impact categories, which involves using emission information from the inventory and characterisation factors from the EF v3.1 impact assessment method to calculate the LCA results. The results have also been normalised to the average annual environmental impact of a European person using assumptions from the EF v3.1 impact assessment methodology. Normalising the data allows for the identification of the high impact categories, which have been shown in the figures throughout the study. More information on the EF v3.1 impact assessment methodology can be found at³² and a glossary for each of the impact categories can be found in Supplementary Table 2.
Cradle-to-gate scope of the life cycle assessment modelling, including the key manufacturing stages of silicon wafer production, solar cell fabrication and module components such as glass, copper and ethylene-vinyl acetate used to produce a TOPCon photovoltaic module. Manufacturing is modelled as being done in China, with transportation of the photovoltaic modules to the European market. The environmental impact associated with the production of the manufacturing equipment, the use phase of the photovoltaic modules and their end-of-life are not included in the modelling and are shown as outside of the system boundary. Background data obtained from the Ecoinvent v3.10 database provides for raw material extraction and energy consumption inventories required for the foreground data for each component of the life cycle assessment modelling. Secondary data is used for wafer production, module components and transport processes, while primary data obtained from the industry is instead used to provide the TOPCon cell fabrication. Wafer production accounts for the production of the silicon ingot, which is sliced into ultra-thin wafers and passed to the cell fabrication stage. This includes the addition of dopants, passivation layers, texturing and the addition of metal electrical contacts. Wafers are then arranged in an appropriate configuration to create a photovoltaic module and connected electrically, including a junction box with a bypass diode. All waste from each manufacturing stage is considered in the life-cycle assessment modelling. Coloured arrows are used to simply clarify the flows.
Investigating alternative global regions requires changes to the electricity mix and transport inputs. The transport is considered as transporting the constructed module from the manufacturing location to a common destination in central Europe. The transport for China and Europe is taken from the same literature as the PERC inventory for consistency¹¹ and US transportation is taken from Grant and Hicks³³. For India, we assume that modules are manufactured in Mundra before being transported via lorry to Gujarat³⁴ for shipping to a European port (Rotterdam) before being transported by lorry over a distance equal to transport inventories for other locations¹¹. The electricity mixes are initially taken from the Ecoinvent V3.10 database from medium voltage, market inputs for China, the US, India and Europe to provide the baseline scenario, which does not consider decarbonisation. These inventories were last updated in December 2023 (except India, updated in March 2017), so are assumed to be accurate for the current electricity mix. Decarbonisation of each location’s electricity mix is modelled on electricity generation projections taken from the most recent (2023) International Energy Outlooks’ ²³ “Low zero-carbon technology costs” case, which assumes a 40% reduced capital cost of zero-carbon technologies³⁵. We base the analysis on this scenario due to ongoing efforts to reduce the price of renewable electricity generating sources³. When considering European projections, the model for “Western Europe” has been used. These have then been modelled in SimaPro LCA software such that the contribution of each electricity generation source matches the projected generation contribution mix for each year investigated: 2023, 2024, 2026, 2028, 2031 and 2035, in line with ITRPV technological projections. For years falling between EIA projections, a linear growth was assumed within each 5-year period. The electricity mix models used for future electricity mixes are provided in Supplementary Data 4.
Projections for global PV deployment have also been taken from the ITRPV. This information is provided in Supplementary Table 12. The market to 2035 has been assumed to consist of only PERC and TOPCon modules, with PERC modules being completely phased out by 2034. This assumption has been made because the majority of the market (53%) is held by PERC and TOPCon modules up to the end of the ITRPV’s forecasted period^24,36. This period is also expected to experience the highest PV deployment during the journey to net-zero by 2050^1,37 hence it is expected that the impact from global PV deployment will be predominantly from PERC and TOPCon modules. Beyond 2035, and the forecast included in this study, the impact of other silicon technologies (e.g., silicon heterojunction (SHJ), interdigitated back contact (IBC)) and tandem and perovskite-based devices should be integrated into the global deployment scenarios due to their higher expected shares within the PV market. This section also calculates the benefits of global PV deployment, as shown in Supplementary Data 4, and explained in Supplementary Note 1.
Sensitivity analysis is conducted on the electricity mix used in the LCA modelling and on various variables considered in the inventories. First, the sensitivity of the electricity mix taken from Ecoinvent v3.10 is analysed for the Climate change impact category, in order to consider the variation in impact due to the choice of electricity mix. In Ecoinvent, there are sub-grid electricity mixes available for each of the investigated locations: China, India, US and Europe. The highest and lowest carbon-intensive sub-grid mixes are taken for China, India and US, whereas Poland and Switzerland are selected to represent the highest and lowest carbon-intensive sub-grid mixes, respectively, within Europe. The selected inventory items from Ecoinvent are available in Supplementary Table 6. The chosen sub-grid electricity mixes were input into the LCA modelling, to replace the “average” electricity grid mixes for each location and the LCA results were recalculated for both PERC and TOPCon for the Climate change impact category. The sensitivity analysis on the electricity mix used was further developed to investigate how the electricity mix composition affects the impact of 1 W_p TOPCon manufacturing. This is done by creating a Reference scenario where each of the investigated contributing electricity sources: coal, nuclear, gas, oil, wind, photovoltaic, biogas, hydropower and geothermal are set to 10% contribution towards the generation of 1 kWh electricity – each representing an equal contribution. The contribution of an individual electricity source is increased by 5% (whilst the other 9 contributing resources decrease proportionally – maintaining the 1 kWh output) and the impact of 1 W_p TOPCon manufacturing is measured again. This allows for a comparison of TOPCon manufacturing in each of the impact categories whilst considering changes to individual contributing electricity-generating resources within the electricity mix. This is useful when looking to target reductions for specific impact categories during PV manufacturing, with an understanding of the potential burden shift onto another impact category. All electricity mix calculations are available in Supplementary Data 4 and 6 and the source data used to create the figures are also available in the Source Data file.
Sensitivity of the following variables has also been investigated: efficiency, silver use, electricity consumption during wafer fabrication and silane use, for the six identified highest value impact categories – as determined during normalisation. The values of each variable have been modified such to represent achievable targets demonstrating the potential percentage reduction in impact as a result of these technological developments. Values used for the sensitivity analysis are available in Supplementary Table 8. The sensitivity is conducted on the baseline model, which is the assumption that the PV module is manufactured in China, using an average grid electricity mix, and transported to central Europe in the year 2023. The values for efficiency were updated from the ITRPV 2024 from the initial stabilised module efficiency in 2023, to the values of stabilised cell efficiency in 2034, also stated in the ITRPV 2024²⁴. This change increases PERC efficiency by a relative 12.6% and TOPCon efficiency by a relative 15.9%. Values for the silver use were initially obtained from the ITRPV 2024. For the sensitivity analysis, it is assumed that the silver consumption is decreased to just 5 mg W⁻¹ for both technologies since this value has been stated as a target for achieving sustainable multi-terawatt PV production⁶. The reduction is by 66.5% for PERC and 78.0% for TOPCon technology. The electricity consumption values, per m², have been taken from the PERC inventory available in the literature¹¹, the sensitivity analysis used new electricity values, which, for both technologies, have been reduced by 26% to represent reductions in wafer thickness by 2034 as outlined in the ITRPV 2024²⁴. The values for silane have been taken from the PERC inventory in the literature¹¹ for the PERC module and industry verified inventory data for the TOPCon module, both of these values are reduced by 14.4%, is a conservative value based on the findings by Yoon et al.²⁹, who investigated inductively coupled plasma-PECVD (ICP-PECVD), which found that the introduction of H₂ and reduction in the silane atmospheric fraction by 14.4%, can enhance the deposition rate compared to a standard Ar/SiH₄ baseline.
Finally, a Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis is conducted via the built-in Monte Carlo simulator in LCA software, SimaPro v9.6.0.1. A pedigree method is used to consider the completeness, reliability, temporal, geographical and technological quality of the foreground inventory data and calculate geometric standard deviations for each, assuming a lognormal distribution. Background inventory items used Ecoinvent v3.10’s built-in uncertainty parameters. The results are obtained from 10,000 runs, to ensure consistent replicability between subsequent analysis trials, with a 95% confidence level. All Monte Carlo output results are available in the Supplementary Table 10 and the pedigree matrix values are provided alongside the TOPCon and PERC cell inventories in Supplementary Data 1 and 2, respectively. The pedigree matrix for the wafer and module components inputs has been taken from the PVPS LCI publication³⁸.
This work considers the impact of deployment of PERC and TOPCon up to 2035, where, beyond this period, other technological transitions within silicon PV are expected to occur²⁴ which would significantly increase the uncertainty level associated with the forecasted impact, as it is still unclear which cell designs will become dominant³⁹. For this reason, other technologies have been excluded from this study and beyond 2035 has not been considered. Future work should look to address the sustainability of these concepts, which may include analysis of SHJ, IBC, perovskite and tandem technologies, for example.
Another area for future development is the inclusion of multiple electricity scenarios. It has been noted in this work that the current electricity mixes, taken from the Ecoinvent v3.10, can vary in terms of when they were last updated. India, for example, was last updated more than five years ago, whilst China, the US and Europe were updated more recently, making comparison between locations difficult. To avoid this, a 2023 point was included from the chosen EIA scenario²³ (which considers low zero-carbon technology costs) to resemble the rapidly advancing field of renewable electricity and coinciding cost reduction. This is just a single scenario, which can be improved upon, though, considering multiple scenarios from a broader range of data providers. Similarly, the rate of deployment and development of TOPCon and PERC technologies has been obtained from the ITRPV²⁴, which has been found to show differences between projections and actual markets⁴⁰. For this reason, future investigations should consider multiple scenarios in a sensitivity/uncertainty style analysis. Finally, the modelling used to represent changes to manufacturing location is based upon the changing transport and electricity mix inventories. In practice, each location will also have different processing yields and manufacturing capacity, which may provide interesting insights into manufacturing practices in future research.
These results are intended to be used as a guide to highlight areas of high impact associated with TOPCon manufacturing to identify future research direction as well as providing a potential forecast of the impact associated with PV deployment over the coming decade and identifying methods of reducing this through analysis of electricity scenarios. This work also only investigates the environmental sustainability of silicon PV, to provide a more rounded investigation into the sustainability of upcoming silicon PV, all three pillars of sustainability should be addressed: Environmental, Economic and Social.
The life cycle assessment data generated in this study are provided in the Supplementary Information and Supplementary Data files. All source data used to create figures are also provided in the Source Data file. Source data are provided with this paper.
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The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support for this research from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK through grants EP/S023836/1 (B.L.W. EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities) and EP/W010062/1 (O.M.R., N.S.B., EPSRC Reimagining Photovoltaics Manufacturing). The work was also supported by the EPSRC Charged Oxide Inversion Layer (COIL) solar cells project (EP/V037749/1 and EP/V038605/1). S.L.P. is supported by a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship RF-2324-123-197. The authors gratefully acknowledge useful discussions with Prof Caroline Sablayrolles and Dr Claire Vialle in relation to life cycle assessment, as well as Kyle Affleck for their valuable contribution towards uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Bethany L. Willis, Oliver M. Rigby & Neil S. Beattie
School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Sophie L. Pain, Nicholas E. Grant & John D. Murphy
School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK
John D. Murphy
Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Ruy S. Bonilla
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B.L.W., O.M.R., and N.S.B. conceived and designed the research. B.L.W. and O.M.R. performed the life cycle assessment, analysis and interpretation under the supervision of N.S.B. S.L.P., N.E.G., J.D.M., and R.S.B. supported the analysis and steered the direction of the investigation. S.L.P., N.E.G., J.D.M. and R.S.B. provided technical insights relating to silicon photovoltaics and R.S.B. facilitated data collection relating to tunnel oxide passivating contact solar cells. B.L.W., O.M.R., N.S.B. prepared the manuscript and revised submission; B.L.W, O.M.R, S.L.P, N.E.G, J.D.M, R.S.B, and N.S.B reviewed and commented on the manuscript and the revision.
Correspondence to Neil S. Beattie.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available”.
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Willis, B.L., Rigby, O.M., Pain, S.L. et al. Maximising environmental savings from silicon photovoltaics manufacturing to 2035. Nat Commun 17, 2311 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69165-x
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Received: 18 February 2025
Accepted: 26 January 2026
Published: 03 February 2026
Version of record: 10 March 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69165-x
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Tarshid, the Saudi Arabia national energy services company, has signed an agreement with Al Taiseer Group Talco Industrial Company, a producer of extruded aluminum, decorative surface finishes and thermal materials.
Under the agreement, Tarshid will conduct studies to develop a solar photovoltaic system designed to supply Talco’s facilities in Riyadh with clean, sustainable energy.
The project will utilise approximately 37,000 square meters of rooftop space across four facilities with a system capacity of 4.5 MW, integrating the solar systems with existing energy infrastructure to maximise operational efficiency and ensure a reliable, sustainable power source.

The project also supports the efforts of the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon) through its “Green Modon Initiative,” which aims to encourage factories within industrial cities to adopt clean energy solutions and expand afforestation and natural vegetation, contributing to the advancement of a more sustainable industrial ecosystem.

Waled Al Ghreri, Board Member and CEO of Tarshid, stated: “This agreement represents a strategic step that reflects Tarshid’s commitment to supporting the adoption of clean energy solutions. Through this project, we aim to empower the industrial sector with sustainable energy options that deliver long-term savings. We view this partnership as a national model for cross-sector collaboration toward a more efficient and sustainable future.”
Suliman Al Oufi, CEO of Al Taiseer Group TALCO Industrial Company, added:”This agreement highlights the power of collaboration and the value of working with partners like (Tarshid) who share our commitment to smart, sustainable solutions that enable us to create long‑term economic impact that extends beyond our facilities and into the national economy.” -OGN/ TradeArabia News Service

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Shares of Enphase (NASDAQ:ENPH) climbed 11.6% during the morning trading session, according to the company’s recent announcement. The home energy technology firm opened U.S. pre-orders for its new IQ9S-3P Commercial Microinverter, as reported by Yahoo Finance.
The newly introduced device incorporates advanced gallium nitride technology and is tailored for commercial solar installations. It accommodates solar panels with power ratings of up to 770 watts and delivers continuous output power of up to 548 VA. This commercial-market product launch opens a new potential revenue stream for the company.
Enphase shares have experienced significant volatility, with 46 price movements exceeding 5% over the past year. However, moves of this magnitude are uncommon even for Enphase, indicating that the news has notably shifted market perception of the business. The last major price change reported was 12 days prior, when the stock rose 4% amid positive sentiment across the solar sector following competitor First Solar‘s strong first-quarter 2026 results.
First Solar, a major manufacturer, posted record first-quarter revenue of $1.04 billion and expanded its gross margins to 47%. Net income grew to $347 million, compared to $210 million in the same quarter the previous year, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 37%. This robust performance from an industry leader suggested a healthy market for solar products. Additional positive indicators included a large U.S. utility, Salt River Project, signing a deal with NextEra Energy for 4,000 megawatts of solar power and battery storage in Arizona. Government data from the UK also showed a record number of solar installations in March 2026, bringing the total to over two million.
Enphase shares have risen 22.1% since the start of the year, yet at $41.21 per share, they remain 20.2% below the 52-week high of $51.67 reached in February 2026. Despite the year-to-date gain, an investor who purchased $1,000 of Enphase stock five years ago would now hold shares worth only $359.53.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
This report provides a comprehensive view of the global electroplating machine industry, tracking demand, supply, and trade flows across the worldwide value chain. It explains how demand across key channels and end-use segments shapes consumption patterns, while also mapping the role of input availability, production efficiency, and regulatory standards on supply.
Beyond headline metrics, the study benchmarks prices, margins, and trade routes so you can see where value is created and how it moves between exporters and importers worldwide. The analysis is designed to support strategic planning, market entry, portfolio prioritization, and risk management in the global electroplating machine landscape.
The report combines market sizing with trade intelligence and price analytics. It covers both historical performance and the forward outlook to 2035, allowing you to compare cycles, structural shifts, and policy impacts across countries and regions.
For the global report, country profiles provide a consistent view of market size, trade balance, prices, and per-capita indicators. The profiles highlight the largest consuming and producing markets and allow direct benchmarking across peers.
The analysis is built on a multi-source framework that combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, and expert validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to ensure consistency across time series.
All data are normalized to a common product definition and mapped to a consistent set of codes. This ensures that comparisons across time are aligned and actionable.
The forecast horizon extends to 2035 and is based on a structured model that links electroplating machine demand and supply to macroeconomic indicators, trade patterns, and sector-specific drivers. The model captures both cyclical and structural factors and reflects known policy and technology shifts.
Each country projection is built from its own historical pattern and the regional context, allowing the report to show where growth is concentrated and where risks are elevated.
Prices are analyzed in detail, including export and import unit values, regional spreads, and changes in trade costs. The report highlights how seasonality, freight rates, exchange rates, and supply disruptions influence pricing and margins.
Key producers, exporters, and distributors are profiled with a focus on their operational scale, geographic footprint, product mix, and market positioning. This helps identify competitive pressure points, partnership opportunities, and routes to differentiation.
This report is designed for manufacturers, distributors, importers, wholesalers, investors, and advisors who need a clear, data-driven picture of global electroplating machine dynamics.
The market size aggregates consumption and trade data at country and regional levels, presented in both value and volume terms.
The projections combine historical trends with macroeconomic indicators, trade dynamics, and sector-specific drivers.
Yes, it includes export and import unit values, regional spreads, and a pricing outlook to 2035.
The report provides profiles for the largest consuming and producing countries, enabling benchmarking across peers.
Yes, it highlights demand hotspots, trade routes, pricing trends, and competitive context.
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M. Charles Gould<gouldm@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension – April 24, 2026
Forage research points to scalable agrivoltaic solutions.
Researchers from The Ohio State University Extension say growing alfalfa and grass hay between utility-scale solar arrays may offer a scalable, economically viable path forward for agrivoltaics in the Midwest.
During the MI Ag Ideas virtual session Growing Grass and Alfalfa Hay Between Solar Arrays hosted by Michigan State University Extension, The Ohio State University Extension Field Specialist Eric Romich and Assistant Professor and State Small Ruminant Extension Specialist Brady Campbell shared early findings from a U.S. Department of Energy–funded research project examining forage production inside an operating solar facility in Ohio.
“This is a topic that is relevant in many states across the Midwest,” Romich said. “Hopefully, there’s something related to this research that you can take and apply to your communities back home.”
The project focuses on forage crops—specifically alfalfa and a cool-season grass hay mix as a practical agrivoltaic solution that can function at megawatt scale. According to Romich, most agrivoltaic projects nationally remain small and focus primarily on pollinator habitat or grazing. “We were really interested in trying to find solutions that were scalable and economical.”
The research team established replicated forage plots between solar arrays and compared yields to control plots planted outside the array. Over two growing seasons, researchers collected data on forage yield, quality, equipment performance and soil compaction.
Despite drought conditions during the establishment year, results were encouraging. In the second year, alfalfa grown between panels produced yields comparable to control plots, even at reduced seeding rates. Campbell said that the finding has important cost implications. “You could actually get the same amount of yield and save 25% on your seed cost,” he noted.
Forage quality also remained high. “As you’re thinking about growing good quality feedstuffs within these alleyways, alfalfa does a nice job,” Campbell said. “It establishes well, it does well within these areas, it has a good yield to it, and also good quality.”
Cool-season grass hay showed similar promise, with some solar alley plots producing greater estimated yields than controls. Campbell said crude protein levels were well-suited for many livestock classes, including beef cattle and small ruminants.
The project also examined soil impacts associated with solar construction. Using pre-construction baseline measurements, the team tracked soil compaction over time and observed improvement after one year of forage cropping. “After one year of cropping, we start to see some reduction in that compaction,” Romich said.
Both researchers emphasized that success depends on thoughtful site design. Drainage, panel layout, alley width, and minimizing obstructions are critical. “This is going to require upfront commitments,” Romich said, adding that agrivoltaics must be considered during project design, not added later.
Campbell framed the work as part of a larger opportunity for agriculture. “The exciting part for me was being able to see us produce a product that’s viable in the marketplace and is of good quality,” he said. “That’s what really matters for producers.”
If you have questions about agrivoltaic opportunities, please contact Charles Gould, Michigan State University Extension Bioenergy Educator, at 616-834-2812 or gouldm@msu.edu. The MSU Extension Agricultural Bioenergy and Energy Conservation website has additional information on renewable energy.
This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).
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CycleChemist: A Dual-Pronged Machine Learning Framework for Organic Photovoltaic Discovery  The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
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Mainly sunny to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Some passing clouds. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: May 17, 2026 @ 12:09 pm
Representatives from from Susquehanna Solar discuss plans for a solar farm to be located at 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Attorney Timothy Schoonover, representing his client Jon Wadsworth of Susquehanna Solar, speaks during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Attorney Timothy Schoonover, representing his client Jon Wadsworth of Susquehanna Solar, speaks during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Residents filled the Shenango Township municipal building for a special meeting of the township Board of Supervisors to discuss a solar farm planned for 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township.
Jon Wadsworth, director of operations for Susquehanna Solar, discusses a solar farm planned for 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, during a special meeting of the Shenango Township aupervisors Thursday.
The drawings for a planned solar farm, which would be located at 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, were displayed during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.

Representatives from from Susquehanna Solar discuss plans for a solar farm to be located at 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Attorney Timothy Schoonover, representing his client Jon Wadsworth of Susquehanna Solar, speaks during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Attorney Timothy Schoonover, representing his client Jon Wadsworth of Susquehanna Solar, speaks during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
Residents filled the Shenango Township municipal building for a special meeting of the township Board of Supervisors to discuss a solar farm planned for 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township.
Jon Wadsworth, director of operations for Susquehanna Solar, discusses a solar farm planned for 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, during a special meeting of the Shenango Township aupervisors Thursday.
The drawings for a planned solar farm, which would be located at 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township, were displayed during a special meeting of the Shenango Township Board of Supervisors Thursday evening.
SHENANGO TOWNSHIP — The Shenango Township supervisors have approved a new solar farm as a conditional zoning use.
The planned solar energy system would be constructed at 3391 Bethel-Wilmington Road, Shenango Township.
While multiple steps remain in the project, such as crafting a land development plan and securing approvals from state agencies, the Ssupervisors approved the solar farm as a conditional use during a special meeting Thursday.
Donald and Joann Yasnowsky, owners of the site, have an agreement to sell the property to Wilmington Solar Farm LLC so the company can operate a solar farm there.
Solicitor Brett Stedman said property is zoned “Residential Agricultural,” which allows solar panels for a solar energy system as a conditional use.
The conditional-use application was ultimately approved by the supervisors present following an executive session. Vice Chair Earl Butterfield Sr. and Supervisor Dale Perry were absent.
The approval came with 10 conditions by the supervisors, including the developer having to post a 110% bond to decommission the property and a separate $300,000 bond to maintain the property in case of bankruptcy.
Other conditions included a ban on storing any batteries at the site and mandatory firefighter training at the site annually, or at the fire chief’s discretion.
The farm will include features such as an eight-foot-tall fence around the arrays and plantings in a buffer area around it.
Project Manager Justin Klee of Bohler Engineering said many aspects of the project fell well within the township ordinance’s requirements, such as the fenced-in area only covering about 30% of the property, whereas the township’s maximum was 40%.
The solar farm will be monitored remotely, with a vehicle occasionally visiting the site for maintenance. Otherwise, no staff will be at the site.
Later, Jon Wadsworth, Susquehanna Solar’s director of operations, explained the solar panels will have an average life of about 25 to 40 years, although he suspects more-efficient solar panels may be invented within 25 years.
At the end of the project’s service life, the company will decommission the property to remove all of the structures, repair the ground then sell the property.
Wadsworth said there will also be a multimillion-dollar bond that would cover 110% of the costs to decommission the property, so that even if the company goes bankrupt, the bond could cover the decommissioning costs and any unexpected costs.
That bond will also be reviewed every five years to ensure the bond remains consistent with rising prices.
Residents opposed to the project had the opportunity to interview the three representatives, including residents Jacquie Calvert, Debra Witkowski and Peggy Sheehan, who all live in the Bethel-Wilmington Road area.
Calvert had a few questions regarding the project, such as whether high-voltage wires would be installed above the neighbors’ properties.
Klee said the power lines would be underground, except for the lines that will directly connect to Penn Power’s grid.
Klee said the only noise-producing machinery would be the power inverters during the day, although each inverter would be surrounded by noise-cancelling fencing. Most ambient noise, such as birds chirping, are already above 40 decibels anyway.
Wadsworth responded to a question by Witkowski there are no pending lawsuits against the Wilmington Solar Farm LLC, while an investor filed a case against Susquehanna Solar. That case was later settled.
Sheehan said during a public comment period the residents were “unified in opposition” to the project, particularly when it came to their concerns for the solar farm’s effect on neighboring properties and the environment.
Calvert said there were cases elsewhere of solar farms degrading farmland and water, and causing hazards for wildlife such as birds. Calvert also said she appreciated the supervisors’ willingness to hear residents’ concerns.
Supervisor Kyle Roth asked how long it would take for the panels’ anti-reflective material to degrade, to which Wadsworth answered, “No longer than the rest of the panel.”
Roth said he was concerned about the potential for neighboring residents to be affected by the panels’ glare. Wadsworth said the anti-reflective material, the slope of the property, walls and buffers would all help conceal any glares.
One of Board Chair Tom Hubert’s concerns was the need for a security bond to ensure the property was maintained if the project fell through or either company involved went bankrupt.
After some back-and-forth with the developers over the issue, Hubert told the developers, “I’ve never had a company put in a $10 million project on 40 or 50 acres of property that residents live around.”
Stedman said after the vote the supervisors sympathized with the plight of the residents in the area of the planned solar farm, but the project met all of the ordinance’s requirements and the supervisors were legally obligated to approve the conditional use because they felt the developers would be successful if they appealed the decision.
“They were great people. They had good questions, and they were very educated on the topic,” Wadsworth said of the residents and supervisors.
While there are still additional approvals that must be secured, Wadsworth said the developers estimate the solar farm will be completed by late 2027 or early 2028.
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“This is the future.”
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While many homeowners already know that solar panels and battery backups can save them money on energy bills and keep the lights on during power outages, fewer are aware of the widespread benefits they have when paired with electric vehicles. 
Ryan Jay Cowan (@ryanjaycowan) shared a short clip on TikTok revealing just how powerful this combination can be. 
Cowan owns a Tesla Powerwall 3 and a Tesla EV. He explained that a new feature allows excess energy generated by his solar panels — that is not being used by his home or battery — to automatically charge his EV.
And the Tesla app gives Cowan control over how much solar energy is being sent to his car versus the grid. 
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers in your area.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
“So every time your car is at home, you just plug it in and the solar system and the solar system, working with the Powerwall and the car will do the rest,” Cowan explained. 
By using solar energy to power an EV, owners can essentially charge their car with low- or no-cost electricity. To see how much solar panels and battery backups can save you, connect with the experts at EnergySage to get quick installation quotes. 
Users in the comment section were impressed by the high-tech feature. 
“This is the future,” one wrote. 
FROM OUR PARTNER
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers that can help you save as much as $10k on installation.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best local options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
“Great feature,” another added. 
If this tech has you interested in a home upgrade, EnergySage can help. The platform lets users compare quotes from vetted installers, understand equipment options, and evaluate available incentives in one place, helping simplify what can otherwise be a complex decision. 
According to EnergySage, the average person who uses its tools can save up to $10,000 on solar purchases and installations by securing more competitive pricing.
EnergySage also offers a helpful mapping tool that shows, on a state-by-state basis, the average cost of a home solar panel system, along with details on solar incentives available in each state. Together, these tools can help homeowners find the best price for rooftop solar panels and ensure they take full advantage of any incentives they may qualify for.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
Adding battery storage to a solar setup is one of the most effective ways to protect your home during power outages, reduce energy costs, and increase energy independence. By storing excess solar energy for later use, home batteries can keep essential appliances running when the grid goes down and help homeowners rely less on utility power.
Homeowners can also explore EnergySage’s free tools to learn about home battery storage options, compare systems, and receive competitive installation estimates from vetted installers.
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Solar glass: Australia-China joint venture to set up in Hong Kong  South China Morning Post
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The United States is doubling down on yesterday’s manufacturing strategy at the very moment the world is racing toward tomorrow.
That is the core flaw in the manufacturing approach associated with Donald Trump. It mirrors his energy policy: just as he has leaned into fossil fuels while the global economy pivots toward clean energy, his manufacturing vision leans toward reviving legacy industries while the rest of the world builds the future.
This is not a question of whether manufacturing matters. It does. Deeply. The question is what kind of manufacturing the United States should lead — and what kind it should let go.
Right now, we are answering that question poorly.
The current approach is built around tariffs, protection, and the idea that we can broadly “bring manufacturing back.” It sounds strong. It polls well. But it misunderstands how modern manufacturing actually works.
Manufacturing is no longer a single, national activity. It is a global system. Supply chains stretch across continents. Components cross borders multiple times before final assembly. Labor, capital, and expertise are distributed based on cost, capability, and specialization.
Trying to pull all of that back within U.S. borders is not strategy. It is nostalgia. And nostalgia is not a growth plan.
The real question is not whether something is made in America. It is what is made in America.
The United States should be the global leader in:
semiconductors
advanced materials
precision manufacturing
AI-enabled production
clean and high-tech industrial systems
These are the industries where:
productivity is highest
wages are highest
environmental impact is lowest
strategic leverage is greatest
These are the factories where workers earn $100,000 a year — not because of protection, but because of skill, technology, and value creation.
That is the future of manufacturing. And that is where the United States should dominate.
At the same time, we need to be honest about what doesn’t belong at the center of U.S. manufacturing strategy.
Labor-intensive, low-margin production — textiles, basic assembly, commodity goods — will continue to migrate to regions with lower labor costs. That is not failure. That is how global economics works.
The goal is not to win every factory. The goal is to win the most important factories.
A serious manufacturing policy would make that distinction clearly and unapologetically.
While the U.S. debates tariffs, China is building capacity.
It is scaling
solar panels
wind turbines
batteries
electric vehicles.
In other words, China is manufacturing the infrastructure of the future global economy.
The risk is not just environmental. It is strategic and economic obsolescence.
If the United States focuses on protecting legacy industries while China dominates next-generation ones, we are not competing — we are conceding.
There is one clear exception to all of this: national security.
Certain industries must be anchored domestically: defense systems, critical infrastructure components, advanced chips and essential medical supplies
In these areas, resilience matters more than efficiency. Redundancy matters more than cost.
But outside of those domains, the goal should not be blanket reshoring. It should be strategic leadership.
The United States faces a simple but consequential choice:
We can try to rebuild the past — protecting industries that are declining globally, raising costs at home, and falling behind in the sectors that will define the next century.
Or we can build the future — investing in advanced manufacturing, aligning education with high-skill production, and competing where it actually matters.
Right now, we are leaning toward the first path.
Because in both energy and manufacturing, the same pattern is emerging: doubling down on what used to work, while the rest of the world moves on.
And in a global economy that rewards innovation, speed, and scale, that is not just a missed opportunity.
It is a strategic mistake.
Ed Gaskin is Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and founder of Sunday Celebrations
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“We are committed to making this right for every customer.”
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Fly By Jing’s Creamy Sesame Noodles are being recalled nationwide after federal regulators announced a potential peanut contamination. The recall covers select lots of the Los Angeles-based brand’s vegan instant noodle product sold online and through major retailers.
According to Fox Business, a notice from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration on Tuesday said that Fly By Jing had begun a voluntary recall of some Creamy Sesame Noodles due to possible peanut contamination.
In the FDA’s notice, the agency warned: “People who have allergies to peanuts run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products.”
Fly By Jing said it discovered the issue after a third-party manufacturer used equipment shared with peanut processing.
According to the FDA, the recalled noodles were sold nationwide on Fly By Jing’s website and at retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Thrive Market. The FDA said retailers received the affected products between Feb. 1, 2026, and May 8, 2026. The company said the products may also have been sold on TikTok.
According to the recall notice, the impacted noodles were sold in single containers and four-packs with lot codes 8-50052-23988-6 and 8-50052-23991-6, and best-by dates of Oct. 15, 2026, Dec. 6, 2026, and March 23, 2027, Fox Business reported. 
BOBS from Skechers has helped over 2 million shelter pets around the world — and the charity program just announced this year’s Paws for a Cause design-winning sneakers.
These “hound huggers” and “kitten kicks” sneakers are machine washable and equipped with memory foam insoles. Plus, they were designed by passionate students who were inspired by their very own rescue pets.
BOBS from Skechers is also committed to donating half a million dollars to the Best Friends Animal Society this year to help every dog and cat experience the safety and support of a loving home.
“We take food quality and safety seriously, and we are deeply sorry for any concern this causes,” Fly By Jing said in a statement. “We are committed to making this right for every customer.”
For people with peanut allergies, even a small amount of exposure can cause a severe reaction. That makes undeclared allergens especially concerning in frozen and shelf-stable foods such as instant noodles, which are often bought in bulk, stored for weeks or months, and eaten without much thought.
The recall also highlights how, while a product may appear safe based on its label, shared equipment or inadequate allergen controls can still pose a danger.
More broadly, recalls like this underscore the vulnerabilities built into large-scale food production. Long supply chains, outsourced manufacturing, shared processing lines, and uneven safety practices can all raise the chances that a problem slips through. 
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Fox Business noted that Fly By Jing said it halted distribution of the recalled products right away, informed customers and retail partners, and put all remaining inventory on hold. The company also said that it has added stricter allergen controls with its third-party manufacturer to help prevent similar issues.
Consumers who purchased the recalled noodles can return them to the retailer for a full refund. Fly By Jing said anyone who bought the product through its website or TikTok Shop will also be contacted directly.
No other Fly By Jing products are included in the recall.
Anyone who believes they may have purchased the affected noodles should compare the lot codes and best-by dates on the package and avoid eating the product if there is any uncertainty, especially in households with peanut allergies.
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Port Augusta hybrid plant  Iberdrola
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Once an extortionate investment reserved for the ‘eco-elite’, solar has rapidly become one of the cheapest electricity sources in the world. But, are the tables about to turn?
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, composed of individual solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity, have plummeted in price by a staggering 90 per cent in the last decade. According to Our World In Data, costs have dropped by around 20 per cent every time the global cumulative capacity doubles.
At the same time, the price of solar batteries, which allow households to store electricity during peak times, have also decreased by 90 per cent since 2010 due to advances in battery chemistry and manufacturing.
The EU now describes solar as a “shining star” of Europe’s clean transition, accounting for almost a quarter (23.4 per cent) of its electricity consumption in 2024. In June last year, the sun was the main source of the electricity generated in the EU.
Amid the war on Iran, solar is helping to cushion households from volatile fossil fuel shocks. Recent analysis found that harnessing sunlight for power saved Europe more than €100 million per day throughout March by reducing gas imports.
If prices remain high, due to Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, experts say these savings could reach €67.5 billion by the end of the year.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has also bolstered interest in household electrification, with multiple energy firms across Europe reporting a recent spike in solar panel and solar battery inquiries.
However, as demand for solar panels soars, foreign tax policy, the price of silver and other influences could soon ignite a price surge.
While the EU describes solar as having a “significant role in its transition towards cleaner, more affordable and secure” energy, it remains heavily reliant on countries outside of the bloc to make PV panels.
In 2024, the EU imported €14.6 billion in green energy products, including €11.1 billion worth of solar panels. China was by far the largest supplier of these panels, accounting for 98 per cent of all imports.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China has invested more than $50 billion (€43 billion) in new PV supply capacity – 10 times more than Europe – and created more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs across the solar PV value chain since 2011. Today, the country’s share in all of the manufacturing stages of solar panels exceeds 80 per cent globally.
“Chinese manufacturers have reached scale and cost levels that cannot be matched outside of China,” Jannik Schall of clean tech startup 1KOMMA5° tells Euronews Earth.
“There are factories in other countries, even in Europe, but they only focus on the final assembly of solar panels and cannot compete with China from a cost perspective.”
China’s monopoly on solar panels hasn’t been a clear victory for the country, with tight competition pushing companies to sell below cost. An IEA report from last year found that China-based solar companies had made cumulative net losses of around $5 billion (€4.3 billion) since the beginning of 2024.
This led to China’s Ministry of Finance and State Tax Administration announcing major reform to its generous renewables subsidies, which were originally designed to support foreign trading.
From 1 April 2026, the nine per cent VAT export rebate on solar products was eliminated, while the nine per cent VAT export rebate on battery products was reduced to six per cent. The VAT rebate on battery products will be completely scrapped from 1 January 2027.
Just before the tax reform came into place, Chinese solar exports skyrocketed as countries scrambled to beat the price hike.
Energy think-tank Ember found that during March 2026, several European countries, including France, Italy, Poland and Romania, hit all-time records for the number of Chinese solar imports.
“The elimination of China’s VAT export rebates alone will cause module prices to rise by around 10 per cent,” Schall tells Euronews Earth. Solar modules is the standard-industry term for a single PV unit.
British newspaper The i has warned that one national solar installer has been forced to charge £800 (€918) more for an average rooftop installation.
So is a blanket price rise expected across the board? It’s not that simple.
Experts say that the market does not react this quickly, and the increasing price of solar panels won’t bite straight away.
Analysts do not expect the rise in cost to limit demand for solar, given its competitive pricing, either. However, it does demonstrate that even renewables are not completely shielded from the intricacies of geopolitics – an argument that frequently arises when speaking about fossil fuel shocks.
InfoLink Consulting, a Taipei-based firm that provides market intelligence, price forecasting and supply chain analysis for solar PV, says that while ground-mounted projects (often used in large-scale solar farms) have edged up in recent weeks, high order volumes have constrained any rise in average prices.
Meanwhile, the price of small-scale or ‘distributed’ solar power systems, like those installed directly on rooftops or carports, has continued to fall marginally, InfoLink said earlier this week (13 May).
To understand why solar costs fluctuate, it’s important to understand how PV panels are designed.
Solar panels are predominantly made of glass, plastic polymer and aluminum. Silver, which is the most effective metallic conductor of electricity and heat, is also a key material for PV panels.
Despite representing less than five per cent of a total PV panel in terms of weight, silver paste accounts for up to 30 per cent of total solar cell costs, analysts at German technology group Heraeus state.
According to the Silver Institute, around 4,000 tonnes of silver, equivalent to 14 per cent of global silver consumption, were used for PV panel production in 2023 alone. Researchers warn this share is expected to increase to 20 per cent by 2030, a fourfold increase since 2014.
Chinese manufacturers have therefore been boosting efforts to tackle this, by replacing silver with cheaper metals such as copper. Experts predict switching from silver to copper-based metallisation could save the solar industry roughly $15 billion (€12.8 billion) per year globally.
However, the price of copper has also increased in recent years, albeit at a slower pace than silver.
“Driven by geopolitical uncertainty, supply shortages and increasing demand from AI data centres, prices for copper, aluminum and lithium have increased significantly since Q4 of 2025,” Schall explains.
“Silver prices have reached 150+ per cent increases within a few weeks in the beginning of 2026, making silver the biggest cost contributor in solar panels. These cost increases on the raw material side need time to trickle down through the value chain and are expected to reach end consumers this summer.”
1KOMMA5° forecasts that the additional high raw material costs, alongside China’s VAT elimination, could cause price increases of 15 to 20 per cent for individual components.
Schall adds that while residential customers will be affected by this in the “medium term” those wanting to install PV panels can still benefit from “more favourable prices” right now.
Euronews Earth reached out to two energy firms in Europe to ask whether they intend to raise their solar panel prices following China’s tax reform and the increasing price of silver. Both declined to comment.
Despite uncertainty, experts point out that solar prices are still around 50 per cent down compared to 2023, making it one of the cheapest sources of electricity in the world.


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‘Nervous energy’: US wind and solar projects at risk as tax credits expire  Financial Times
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The government has re-tendered a utility-scale solar PV plant initially awarded in 2022.
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Graham Platner’s recently released energy plan navigates several tensions, including how to build clean energy projects and transmission lines quickly while also incorporating community input. Such projects are not only needed to fight climate change but to help bring down sky-high electricity prices.
Platner’s plan contains only a short section on this tension, calling for permitting reform for clean energy. But Platner’s limited record in public office vividly illustrates it: As a member of the Planning Board in his hometown of Sullivan, Maine, Platner voted in 2024 to advance a temporary ban on larger solar projects in the town while permanent rules for permitting such projects could be worked out. At the same time, Platner has called for a large, federally-funded buildout of renewable energy, including wind and solar.
As a “home-rule” state, Maine’s constitution grants towns significant control over land use, including energy developments. 
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Platner told Inside Climate News that he was responding to public concerns in voting to pursue a moratorium on all solar projects besides rooftop residential ones. 
“There’s been a lot of community backlash just here locally. Nobody was preparing for these large solar farms. The communities—they just kind of sprung up out of nowhere. And much like the data center stuff, a lot of people were frustrated because they didn’t understand what it was and they didn’t feel like they had any input.”
He says his goal with the moratorium was to buy time for Sullivan and its residents to “get ordinances in place and have a deeper and more nuanced conversation.”
Renewable energy advocates expressed understanding of that rationale. 
“Moratoria can play an important role in giving towns an opportunity to take a beat and understand how they can locate solar or any type of new energy development or any type of development writ large and understand how they can best fit within their community,” said Eliza Donoghue, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association. “Where we get concerned is when moratoria and standards that might follow them become a de facto ban on solar energy generation.” There is no evidence that either the yet-to-be-adopted Sullivan moratorium or the development review ordinance would fit that description.
While town manager Ray Weintraub said that no developers have yet proposed these types of larger-scale solar projects in Sullivan, several have been built nearby, including a 100-acre array on portions of a blueberry barrens in neighboring Hancock and several smaller projects in neighboring Franklin.
“So maybe we as a town should get ahead of this,” Weintraub described his thinking at the time.
The moratorium proposal has not yet advanced to a popular vote and, Weintraub said, almost certainly won’t be ready in time for this summer’s town meeting. 
It was proposed during a time when at least a dozen towns around Maine adopted similar measures. That wave followed the rapid growth in solar installations of all sizes—ranging from a couple panels on a rooftop to 10-acre community solar arrays to utility-scale farms of 30 or more acres.
Total capacity in the latter two categories across Maine grew nearly 13-fold from 2020 to 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, to a total of 1,640 megawatts, or roughly 8,000 acres of land, using a rough average of 5 acres per megawatt. That’s a tiny fraction of the state’s total lands and the arrays are helping Maine produce more of its power locally and without harmful emissions.
Several policies helped spur this growth, from state incentives for rooftop and community solar projects—chief among them the state’s net energy billing program—to federal investment and production tax credits.
But the rapid growth, combined with the perception that the state’s solar subsidies were contributing to higher electricity prices, contributed to a backlash.
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One of the concerns motivating local moratoria was a perception that the solar farms were being built on a limited supply of agricultural land already under pressure from suburban housing growth. In response, Maine passed a law in 2023 requiring developers to get an extra permit and pay a special fee for solar projects on agricultural land that has been identified as especially fertile. (Hosting a solar farm on a portion of agricultural land can also enable farmers to keep their farms intact, and can even be co-located with some agricultural practices, as a stakeholder group reporting on the issue pointed out).
Last year, the state revised its net-energy billing rules to make them less generous to the owners or subscribers of participating solar panels and to exclude all but the smallest community solar projects.
Despite these measures, the movement to regulate solar farms does not appear to be going away. Perhaps in recognition of this, the state’s Department of Energy Resources released a handbook for towns interested in regulating solar arrays and the battery-energy storage systems that can be attached to them.
The handbook includes a model solar development ordinance for towns to draw from. The draft Sullivan ordinance differs from the model ordinance in several minor but potentially impactful ways. Most notably, it includes a noise-decibel limit for solar farms of 50-55 decibels at the property line. Solar panels are noiseless, but the motors and gears that enable them to track the sun and associated inverters and transformers produce low levels of noise.
Weintraub clarified that he had not yet introduced this draft ordinance to the town’s Planning Board during Platner’s time on it and confirmed that his intent was always for the moratorium to precede such an ordinance.
Platner said that he sees local solar ordinances and permitting reform as compatible. “We have a lot of issues in the permitting process these days that are far more than simply input from a community,” he said. These include federal and state environmental reviews and interconnection processes. 
Among the hurdles projects must leap over, Platner sees community input as one that tends to create better outcomes. 
“When you get more community input, you actually come up generally, I find, with better answers,” he said. “Things start getting placed in areas that aren’t going to piss everybody off, because you actually sat down and had a conversation.”
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Senate candidate Graham Platner’s key energy goal is to reduce costs for Mainers. He’d also like to tax the “ever-living hell out of the companies that made a lot of money on fossil fuels while they destroyed the planet.”
By Nathaniel Eisen
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Tennessee solar farm switches to grazing mode so cattle can safely roam beneath the panels  Yahoo
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I’ve been quiet on this issue. But now is not the time to be quiet.
Full disclosure: I was a listing and selling co-broker for the 4,500+ acre Baldwin County property purchased by Silicon Ranch, which has been the subject of public debate. I’ve been involved since day one. As a broker, I clearly had a financial interest in this sale, which recently closed, and I know some folks will read everything below through that lens and toss it. Fair enough. But this is bigger than one deal, so staying silent started to feel like the wrong call.
With more than 22 years of brokering large-acreage tracts, here’s what I’m not doing: I’m not advocating for solar farms. I’m not advocating for development of any kind, or against it. People can disagree on land use all day long, and that’s a debate worth having. It’s just not the one I think we should be having right now.
Here’s the question I want folks in this county – and across Alabama – to wrestle with: What happens to private property rights when politicians can step in and retroactively override what a landowner wants to do with their own land? Especially when opposition comes from people who don’t like the buyer or the intended use – including voices from outside the community.
If it can happen to one of us, it can happen to any of us.
I own land not far from the property in question. I live in Baldwin County. I hunt, fish and swim these woods and waters with my family. A big chunk of my year goes into helping landowners voluntarily conserve land in perpetuity, and I believe in that work down to my boots. But the word that matters is “voluntarily.” Conservation that a landowner chooses is one thing. Conservation forced by political pressure is a different animal entirely, and pretending otherwise is how we lose the plot.
Underneath all the noise and the misinformation flying around this project, the real question has gotten buried. What happens when a deal is approved under existing rules, and then those rules get retroactively rewritten to undo it? It isn’t whether you like solar panels. It isn’t whether you trust the buyer, or the seller, or me. It’s what message recent political actions send to anyone thinking about putting real money or real roots down in Baldwin County, or anywhere in Alabama.
When a private deal between consenting parties can be knocked off the rails by a few swift political moves in response to social media pressure, potential investors and landowners must wonder whether their plans are actually theirs to keep – or whether they hold only as long as the right people are in office. That uncertainty doesn’t stay local. It follows the state’s reputation wherever people are deciding where to put their money.
There must be a balance. Communities have real interests and concerns, and I’m not waving that off. Those concerns should be heard and addressed. But you don’t strike that balance by hollowing out the property rights that people fought hard to secure in the first place. Once you accept that politicians can override a landowner because a deal has motivated opponents, you’ve set a precedent.
Precedents don’t sit still. The next one will look just as reasonable in the moment and just as ugly in the rearview mirror.
So, I’ll say it one more time, plain as I can: If this retroactive taking of private property rights can be forced on one landowner due to a few loud voices, it can be done to all of us. 
That scares me. And it should scare all of you too. 
Clint Flowers is an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC), a nationally recognized and award-winning land broker, and an owner of National Land Realty.

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Texas solar poised to top coal for the first time in major power shift  Yahoo
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Transparent Perovskite Solar Cells Could Turn Windows Into Power Sources  Gadgets 360
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The trend has been building for years.
Photo Credit: iStock
Texas is on track to reach a major clean energy milestone.
In 2026, utility-scale solar power is expected to overtake coal generation across the state’s main electric grid for the first time, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook.
The EIA projects that ERCOT, the grid operator that serves most of Texas, will receive roughly 78 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from utility-scale solar in 2026, compared with about 60 billion kilowatt-hours from coal.
For one of the country’s largest energy markets, that shift marks a significant turning point.
The milestone is especially notable because Texas electricity demand continues to rise rapidly. ERCOT has been dealing with surging power demand driven by data centers, cryptocurrency mining, industrial growth, and oil and gas operations.
Rather than meeting all of that demand growth with more coal generation, Texas is increasingly leaning on solar energy.
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That could bring benefits for both households and the environment. Solar power helps reduce reliance on dirtier electricity sources that release planet-warming pollution and harmful air contaminants.
Expanding renewable energy can also improve long-term energy affordability and diversify where electricity comes from — an important advantage in a fast-growing state vulnerable to extreme weather and grid strain.
The trend has been building for years. According to the EIA, solar climbed from 4% of ERCOT generation in 2021 to 12% in 2025, while coal fell from 19% to 13% over the same period.
Natural gas still dominates Texas generation overall, but solar is gaining ground quickly.
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The EIA also expects Texas to account for roughly 40% of all new U.S. solar capacity additions in 2026.
Among the major projects expected to come online is Tehuacana Creek 1 Solar and BESS, an 837-megawatt facility that pairs solar panels with battery storage.
Batteries are becoming increasingly important because they can store excess solar energy for later use, helping stabilize the grid during periods of high demand.
Just as importantly, the EIA said no new coal plants are currently planned in ERCOT.
Monthly solar generation in ERCOT first surpassed coal in March 2025 and remained ahead through August. By 2027, the agency forecasts solar will outproduce coal in nearly every month of the year.
For Texans, that is more than a symbolic shift. More clean energy on the grid can support cleaner air, lower climate pollution, and strengthen the case for efficient electric technology in homes and businesses.
Homeowners interested in taking advantage of cheaper solar power can also explore generating electricity themselves. EnergySage offers free tools that help homeowners compare competitive bids from local installers and could help users save up to $10,000 on solar installation costs.
For people who are not ready to pay upfront, Palmetto‘s LightReach program offers a $0-down solar leasing option that can lower utility rates by up to 20%.
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After starting out at Technikart in the late 1990s, Arnaud Pagès went on to become a journalist for numerous magazines. A specialist in ecological, technological, and societal transitions, he is recognized for his expertise on the challenges of urban transformation—though the topics he covers go far beyond that single field.
More broadly, his work focuses on explaining the changes currently underway and anticipating the directions they may take. Throughout his career, he has notably collaborated with Slate, Korii, Usbek & Rica, and L’Atelier BNP Paribas, writing articles on renewable energy, the circular economy, new mobility, digital technology, and AI.
From 2019 to 2025, he served as Editor-in-Chief of L’ADN’s Livre des Tendances, a 350-page publication analyzing the major structural trends shaping society, markets, and businesses. In addition to Futura, he currently writes for The Good Goods, an online magazine dedicated to sustainable fashion, and We Demain, “the media outlet for changing times.”
In recent years, he has written extensively about cities and how metropolitan areas can be adapted to climate change—first for Leonard, Vinci Group’s urban innovation hub, and later for Envies de ville and Re-Création, the magazines of Nexity and Vinci Immobilier respectively.
Finally, he is the author of the books Villes de demain, published by Michel Lafon in November 2022, and Villes 2050, co-written with architect Vincent Callebaut and published by Eyrolles in October 2024. He is also a speaker, with numerous talks on the cities of tomorrow to his credit.
To really get what makes this breakthrough so intriguing, let’s rewind and break down how conventional solar panels work. You see, when photons—those tiny packets of light—strike a solar cell, only a portion of their energy can actually be converted into electricity.
Here’s the catch: low-energy infrared photons just don’t have enough oomph to knock electrons into action. Blue photons, on the flip side, are bursting with energy—sometimes a bit too much. But instead of using all of that extra energy, the cell loses it as heat. That means a good chunk of sunlight goes to waste before it ever reaches your kettle or your laptop.
This “missing energy” is what’s known in the field as the Shockley-Queisser limit, which puts the theoretical maximum efficiency of standard photovoltaic cells at about 33%. In plain English: you can convert no more than a third of incoming solar energy into electricity using today’s classic panels. Not exactly thrilling, right?
To break free from this limit, the researchers turned to a jaw-dropping quantum trick known as singlet fission. In a nutshell, this phenomenon lets solar cells use high-energy blue photons more efficiently by splitting their energy into two smaller, usable excitations instead of squandering the excess as heat.
Put another way: a single photon can birth two packets of energy instead of just one. These packets—called excitons in the biz—can then be turned into electric current, seriously boosting the performance of the panels.
But here’s the snag: this energetic split has hit a wall in the past. That’s because excitons have a frustratingly short lifespan—they vanish long before they can be harnessed.
This is where the team’s smart twist comes in. To solve the problem of those fleeting excitons, researchers used tetracene (an organic molecule known for its singlet fission skills) and paired it with a molybdenum-based metal complex dubbed a “spin-flip emitter.” This metal acts as an ultra-fast trap: on a quantum level, it grabs hold of excitons almost instantly after they form—before they can dissipate into the ether.
It’s a clever setup, and it could change the solar game entirely. But let’s keep it straight: this doesn’t mean your panels will magically start producing more energy than they absorb—physics still applies, sorry! What it does mean is that each single photon of light could generate more than one energy state convertible into electricity, paving the way for much, much more efficient solar cells in the very near future.

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Solar energy projects in the Kurdistan Region are gradually expanding as part of broader institutional efforts to diversify power sources, foster private-sector investment, and strengthen environmental sustainability.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A major industrial solar energy facility has been established in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, with an installed capacity of approximately 4.5 megawatts. The plant supplies electricity to support local manufacturing operations for Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI).
According to a report by Kurdistan24’s Ahmed Abdul Samad on Sunday, the newly operational plant marks a significant step in the region’s transition toward renewable energy and represents one of the most prominent private-sector solar initiatives in the area, supplying sustainable power directly to commercial industry.
The development highlights a growing momentum for renewable power within the Kurdistan Region, where local authorities and private enterprises are increasingly collaborating to diversify energy sources.
As detailed by Kurdistan24, these solar infrastructure investments align with broader governmental strategies aimed at reducing environmental impacts and strengthening energy independence through coordinated institutional support and private-sector participation.
Largest Solar Project in Operation
According to Kurdistan24 reporter Ahmed Abdul Samad, the facility is described as the largest solar power generation project currently operating in Iraq.
The installation was developed specifically to supply electricity to a commercial manufacturing company, showcasing how heavy industry can integrate green technology into its operations.
A project manager told Kurdistan24 that the initiative was completed with a financial budget of nearly $3.5 million.
While the company official noted that the facility was built with a working capacity of 4 megawatts, the reporter placed the total generated output at 4.5 megawatts. 
According to the company representative, the solar array successfully covers 57 percent of the manufacturer’s annual electricity requirements, positioning the firm as a pioneer in self-sufficient renewable energy generation within the region’s industrial sector.
Monitoring and Technical Oversight
Maintaining the facility requires strict technical oversight to ensure continuous and reliable energy output. An engineer working at the site told Kurdistan24 that technical teams conduct inspections every one to two hours as part of their daily operational routine.
According to the technician, these regular evaluations are necessary to monitor key performance parameters, including overall production rates, voltage, and amperage.
The engineer noted that the technical team also carefully tracks the exact amount of excess power being supplied back into the government’s electrical grid. 
The report indicated that this rigorous hourly oversight underscores the importance of reliability and precise integration when managing large-scale solar energy systems.
Private Sector and Government Cooperation
The successful deployment of the solar facility relied heavily on institutional coordination between the private sector and regional authorities.
The project manager emphasized to Kurdistan24 that the construction and implementation phases were conducted in direct cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
According to the official’s remarks, the company received crucial administrative support derived from the KRG cabinet’s policies promoting the diversification of energy sources and environmental protection.
The manager told Kurdistan24 that the company only commenced the project after navigating the required administrative channels and securing all necessary approvals from the government, highlighting an organized regulatory environment designed to facilitate renewable energy investments.
Energy Diversification Efforts
The industrial solar plant fits into a wider framework of environmental and energy transition initiatives.
The Kurdistan24 reporter observed that governments globally are actively attempting to mitigate climate change and reduce ecological damage, a strategic approach that regional authorities in Erbil are also adopting.
Abdul Samad noted in his reporting that the KRG consistently backs projects focused on generating electricity through solar power.
These initiatives are part of an ongoing administrative effort to ensure the local environment remains clean while gradually transitioning the region’s energy infrastructure away from traditional, carbon-intensive power sources.
Tara Shwan
Writer

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“We need and want to grow America’s energy capacity — but not at the expense of our best farmland or … agricultural livelihoods.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A Tennessee farm is testing an interesting idea: cattle grazing beneath solar panels.
If it works on a larger scale, the approach could help generate more low-cost electricity while keeping farmland productive and creating a new source of income for ranchers. 
The Associated Press reported that Silicon Ranch recently unveiled a 40-acre solar site in Christiana, outside Nashville, where cows and calves are grazing on lush pasture beneath rows of solar panels. 
This is a bigger step than it may sound. Sheep already graze at many solar farms — an effort known as agrivoltaics, which combines agriculture and solar energy generation. Meanwhile, cattle are much larger and typically can’t fit under the panels or can pose a risk to the expensive equipment. 
To make room for the larger animals, the panels were slightly raised, and software was installed to enable workers to tilt the panels as needed. The cow herd at Silicon Ranch — currently 10 cows and their calves — moves through different portions of the farm every few days. 
Meanwhile, the solar project produces roughly 5 megawatts of power for Middle Tennessee Electric. Silicon Ranch leadership has said the next year will focus on proving that the model can work in the longer term. 
BOBS from Skechers has helped over 2 million shelter pets around the world — and the charity program just announced this year’s Paws for a Cause design-winning sneakers.
These “hound huggers” and “kitten kicks” sneakers are machine washable and equipped with memory foam insoles. Plus, they were designed by passionate students who were inspired by their very own rescue pets.
BOBS from Skechers is also committed to donating half a million dollars to the Best Friends Animal Society this year to help every dog and cat experience the safety and support of a loving home.
When successful, this type of effort can help address multiple growing pressures: pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, rising electricity demands, and the financial strain facing many farmers and ranchers. 
But in addition to offsetting the polluting energy sources typically used to generate power, strengthening local energy systems, and providing revenue to agricultural producers, there may be even more benefits. 
Rancher and scientist Anna Clare Monlezun, who has worked on the Silicon Ranch project, told the AP that the pasture under the array can stay wetter, better withstanding droughts. Cattle grazing in the shade of the panels may also be less likely to experience heat stress. 
As for the economic incentives, Ethan Winter of American Farmland Trust told the news outlet that solar can often bring in around $1,000 an acre — about 10 times what traditional agriculture has historically brought in. That extra income can help farming families pay down debts and keep land in production, strengthening local food systems in the process. 
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Solar power can pay off at the household level, too. If you’re interested in reaping the savings associated with solar panels, EnergySage can help you go solar with its free tools and save you up to $10,000 on installation costs by helping you identify competitive bids from local installers. 
If you’re hesitant about the upfront costs, Palmetto’s $0-down LightReach solar leasing program can lower your utility rate by up to 20%.
Kevin Richardson of the American Solar Grazing Association told the AP that sheep grazing at solar farms had already scaled to more than 130,000 acres as of 2024. The next challenge is to design more cattle-friendly sites and create economic incentives that make the model practical for ranchers. 
“There are more win-wins than trade-offs,” Monlezun told the outlet. 
As Winter put it, “We need and want to grow America’s energy capacity but not at the expense of our best farmland or at the expense of agricultural livelihoods.”
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
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Modules comprised 98.9% of exports, and cells 1.1%
March 9, 2026
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India imported solar cells and modules worth over $1.12 billion (~₹100.2 billion) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, a 53.2% year-over-year (YoY) increase from $723.4 million (~₹61.1 billion), according to data from the Department of Commerce.
In a quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) comparison, module and cell imports together increased by 32.3%, totaling over $837 million (~₹73 billion). Solar module imports rose 40.4%, while cell imports grew 30.5% from Q3 2025.

Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM)-listed module manufacturing capacity increased to 173,144 MW after the latest addition of 11,035 MW, solar cell capacity under ALMM List-II is at 26,477 MW, with the latest revision adding only 437 MW.
The increase in solar cell imports in Q4 2025 was mainly driven by the structural gap between India’s rapidly expanding module manufacturing capacity and relatively limited domestic cell production. While module capacity has grown significantly, effective cell availability remains constrained due to ramp-up timelines, yield inefficiencies, and captive prioritization by integrated manufacturers. As a result, non-integrated module manufacturers continue to rely on imported cells to sustain production and meet delivery commitments.
Additionally, the upcoming requirement that modules must use ALMM List-II compliant domestic cells from June 1, 2026, prompted manufacturers to accelerate cell imports ahead of the deadline to secure supply under the existing framework. The significant capacity mismatch suggests that dependence on imported cells will likely continue until newly announced domestic cell manufacturing capacities become fully operational. Expectations of global price firming also encouraged advance procurement, contributing to the rise in cell imports in Q4 2025.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has also clarified that DCR compliance is mandatory for all new PM KUSUM Component C projects, with no relaxation for projects for which letters of award were issued before March 31, 2024. This reinforcement of domestic sourcing norms triggered short-term procurement adjustments and inventory stocking before full compliance requirements take effect.
The increase in module imports in Q4 2025 was primarily driven by procurement flexibility in non-DCR segments and the timing of policy transitions. Open access, merchant, and several C&I projects continued to procure imported Chinese modules where regulations permitted, supported by cost advantages and immediate availability. At the same time, developers accelerated imports ahead of the June 1, 2026, ALMM List-II domestic cell mandate to secure supply under existing exemption windows, resulting in front-loaded procurement activity.
Domestic cell supply constraints also indirectly influenced import demand. Although DCR-compliant projects must use domestic modules, limited cell availability and captive prioritization by integrated manufacturers tightened overall supply conditions. This pushed segments with sourcing flexibility toward imports to avoid execution delays. In addition, expectations of global price increases following China’s VAT rebate withdrawal encouraged advance procurement, further contributing to the sharp rise in module imports in Q4 2025.
Additionally, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s mandate requiring registration of imported solar components under the Renewable Energy Equipment Import Monitoring System, effective November 1, 2025, has signaled tighter oversight. Importers have front-loaded shipments before full procedural enforcement, driving the quarter’s import growth.
China accounted for 59.6% of India’s solar imports, followed by Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia at 8.6%, 8.5%, 6.1%, and 6%. Other countries accounted for  9.6%.
Cells comprised 79.2% of total import shipments, and modules accounted for the remaining 20.8%.

 
Solar Exports
India exported solar cells and modules worth over $100.21 million (₹8.9 billion) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025, a 52.8% year-over-year (YoY) decrease from $212.2 million (₹17.9 billion).
In a QoQ comparison, module and cell exports declined by 70.9% from over $344.5 billion (~₹30 billion). Solar cell exports decline 85.2%, while module exports fell 70.6%.
Exports fell sharply due to growing global trade restrictions and weaker external demand. India’s exports remain heavily dependent on the U.S. market, which accounted for 96.2% of shipments in Q4. Any demand moderation or regulatory tightening in the U.S. directly impacts India’s export volumes.
Modules made up 98.9% of total shipments, with cells accounting for the remaining 1.1%.
The UAE, Kenya, and Libya accounted for 1.8%, 0.3%, and 0.3% of total exports, respectively. Solar exports to other countries totalled about 1.3%.
As global trade tensions intensified, China filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against India’s solar subsidies, and Canada initiated a review of anti-dumping measures on Chinese solar components, underscoring volatility in global solar trade.
Domestically, India imposed antidumping duties of up to 30% on Chinese solar cells after finding dumping margins of 105–115% and injury margins of 35-40%. While these measures protect domestic manufacturing, they disrupt supply chains and impact export pricing in the short term.
India also extended countervailing duties on solar glass from Malaysia and finalized antidumping duties on solar glass from China and Vietnam. The duties support upstream manufacturing, thereby increasing input costs for exporters during the transition period.
Q4 2025 reflects a transition phase in India’s solar manufacturing ecosystem. Imports increased due to structural cell shortages and policy transition timelines, while exports declined amid heavy dependence on the U.S. market and tightening global trade conditions. Overall, trade trends align with stronger regulatory enforcement and domestic manufacturing support measures, indicating a shift toward a more protected and vertically integrated framework, even as short-term imbalances persist.
Mercom’s India Solar EXIM Tracker provides detailed solar import and export data by component types, suppliers, manufacturers, and developers.
For an in-depth look at the data, analysis, and charts, subscribe to our quarterly market report, Mercom’s Q4 and Annual 2025 India Solar Market Update.
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India’s clean energy ministry is reviewing petitions from solar manufacturers and developers regarding a new mandate for domestically made solar cells. This rule, set to take effect in June, could lead to a significant shortage, increased prices, and project delays due to insufficient local production capacity.

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Labour Brexit civil war erupts as Lisa Nandy scolds Wes Streeting on GB News
Sky high energy bills are crippling the industry
GB News
By Temie Laleye, 
Published: 17/05/2026
The savings came through a combination of generating electricity at home and exporting surplus power back to the grid
A homeowner has revealed how she slashed her electricity bills from around £800 a year to effectively nothing after making the switch to solar power.
Laura Young, known online as Less Waste Laura, spoke exclusively to GB News about how installing solar panels transformed her household energy costs within just 12 months.

Ms Young's family became net contributors of energy, selling excess electricity back to the grid

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GB NEWS

Ms Young’s full solar system cost £11,000, including installation, scaffolding, 12 solar panels, a 5kWh battery and an inverter

|

GBNEWS

Laura Young's solar panels

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GB NEWS

She said: "Ministers should stop exhorting Scots to spending money they cannot afford on technology they do not need and start building Net Zero on the sector’s existing skills, experience and infrastructure."

Ms Greer also claimed Government plans for mass heat pump adoption were unrealistic.

"The notion that millions of heat pumps will be soon be fitted across the UK has no connection with reality. It is a fantasy," she said.

She added: "We need practical measures to cut emissions and protect skilled energy jobs today not more airy promises of a greener tomorrow."

Mr Miliband defended the policy, saying the "cost of living crisis is the biggest issue the country faces" and arguing that "upgrading homes is a crucial part of getting bills down".

The Energy Secretary said the investment was intended to "expand the choices that people have, so something like a heat pump or a solar panel isn't just in the reach of the wealthiest".

"At the time, it felt like a risk. Now, one year on, it feels more like a lens, a way of seeing energy, cost, and resilience differently," she said.
In total, the system generated just over 5,000 kWh of electricity over 12 months, while her household used less than half of that amount.
As a result, the family became net contributors of energy, selling excess electricity back to the grid and earning around £370 over the year.
"We reduced what would have been around an £800 annual electricity bill to effectively £0. That's a combination of generating our own electricity and earning money by exporting surplus energy back to the grid," Ms Young said.
The environmental campaigner explained that she decided to invest in solar shortly after buying her home in Ayrshire, Scotland, despite initially worrying it was the wrong time to take on another financial commitment.
"When we invested in solar panels, we had actually just bought our home, so on paper it felt like the worst possible time to take on another financial commitment," she said.
"But the tipping point was access to finance, which allowed us to spread the cost rather than pay everything upfront. That changed the question from 'can we afford it?' to 'can we start now?'."
Ms Young’s full solar system cost £11,000, including installation, scaffolding, 12 solar panels, a 5kWh battery and an inverter.
Ms Young's family became net contributors of energy, selling excess electricity back to the grid
GB NEWS
The project was financed through Greener Energy Group in partnership with Capital Credit Union, allowing the costs to be spread over several years.
She said: "With energy prices so volatile in recent years, it also felt like a way to take back some control over our bills rather than waiting for the “perfect time,” which rarely comes.
"With global energy markets still shaped by geopolitical instability and price shocks, from conflicts in the Middle East to ongoing disruptions in gas supply, households remain exposed to forces far beyond their control.
"Taking this step a year ago has given us a degree of insulation from that volatility, with more predictable costs and a greater sense of energy security in an increasingly uncertain system.
Ms Young said solar generation naturally drops during winter because of shorter days and reduced sunlight, meaning the household still relies more heavily on electricity from the grid during colder months.
However, the excess energy generated during spring and summer helps offset those costs over the full year.
She added that households with similar properties could potentially achieve comparable results.
Ms Young’s full solar system cost £11,000, including installation, scaffolding, 12 solar panels, a 5kWh battery and an inverter
GBNEWS
"We live in a relatively small home with a south-east facing roof in Ayrshire, Scotland, so households with a similar setup could expect comparable benefits. Savings will vary depending on energy use and system size, but the overall model is widely applicable."
So far, Ms Young said the system has required virtually no maintenance. The solar panels are largely self-cleaning because of rainfall, while bird protection guards help prevent debris building up underneath them.
Peter Chalmers, Managing Director of Greener Energy Group, said long-term maintenance concerns are often overstated.
"In Greener Energy Group's twelve year existence, we have not yet had any solar customers come to us to replace any elements of their solar panels. The panels have a 25-year warranty and are unlikely to cause any issues even beyond that period," he said.
Earlier this year GMB has criticised Ed Miliband's plans to expand the use of heat pumps and other green technologies, warning many Scots still will not be able to afford them despite Government subsidies.
The union argued Miliband’s £15billion package to support solar panels, heat pumps and home batteries would do little to reduce energy bills for most households in Scotland or significantly cut emissions. Around £1.5billion of the funding is set to be shared between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Claire Greer, GMB Scotland organiser in energy, accused ministers of trying to "bully and bribe" Scots into installing heat pumps instead of investing in decarbonising the existing gas network.
Laura Young's solar panels
GB NEWS
She said: "Ministers should stop exhorting Scots to spending money they cannot afford on technology they do not need and start building Net Zero on the sector’s existing skills, experience and infrastructure."
Ms Greer also claimed Government plans for mass heat pump adoption were unrealistic.
"The notion that millions of heat pumps will be soon be fitted across the UK has no connection with reality. It is a fantasy," she said.
She added: "We need practical measures to cut emissions and protect skilled energy jobs today not more airy promises of a greener tomorrow."
Mr Miliband defended the policy, saying the "cost of living crisis is the biggest issue the country faces" and arguing that "upgrading homes is a crucial part of getting bills down".
The Energy Secretary said the investment was intended to "expand the choices that people have, so something like a heat pump or a solar panel isn't just in the reach of the wealthiest".

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Fluke PV Module Lift – Solar Panel Ladder Pulley System With 60ft Rope  Klik Solo News
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Central Electronics Limited has brought a 200 MW Solar Module Manufacturing Line into operation in India. The India-based solar module manufacturer’s line was dedicated by Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh during the commissioning ceremony, according to the Ministry of Science & Technology. Singh has said that India is expanding solar, wind, nuclear, and ocean-based energy systems for its 2070 net-zero emissions target. The 200 MW line has been linked to India’s domestic clean energy manufacturing infrastructure and CEL’s operational expansion. The ceremony was attended by N. Kalaiselvi, Chetan Jain, senior scientists, CSIR laboratory directors, and CEL officials. Singh said CEL manufactured India’s first solar cell in 1977 and established its first solar plant in 1979. CEL has also expanded into vertical axis wind turbines, hybrid renewable systems, data centres, advanced defence electronics, and electronic warfare systems.

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More than 27,000 solar installations were completed last month – the highest monthly total since 2012 as people embrace clean tech as a result of the Iran war, figures suggest.
Government data show that 27,607 solar arrays were added in March, bringing the total to more than two million installations in place across the UK for the first time.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) said the rise was driven mainly by rooftop solar, with two-thirds of the new installations being new panels on homes.
Solar capacity has increased 11.7% over the past year, which has added 2.3 gigawatts (GW) of clean power to Britain’s energy mix, Desnz said.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The numbers speak for themselves – the highest monthly installation of solar in over a decade, rising capacity and more than two million solar installations now powering homes across Britain.
“This is our clean energy mission in action – helping families weather global energy shocks, bringing bills down, and getting Britain off the fossil fuel rollercoaster.”
The Government said it is stepping up solar power across homes, schools and communities, giving consent to the UK’s largest solar farm, Springwell Solar Farm in Lincolnshire, driving forward the roll-out of “plug-in” solar panels for balconies and outdoor space and ensuring they are standard on new homes.
Mr Miliband has previously vowed to “double down, not back down” on the transition to clean energy in the light of the Iran war which has led to soaring fossil fuel prices, even as political opponents call for a slowdown on net zero and more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
The National Energy System Operator has said solar set new records in March, generating more than 15GW of power for the first time, as the grid nears the milestone of 100% clean power for a short period of time for the first time in history.
Commenting on the figures, Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank, said the British public clearly viewed net zero technologies such as solar as the solution to energy bill volatility and back-to-back oil and gas crises.
“They are voting with their feet on accelerating the clean transition through electrification – the logical way to shield households from oil and gas prices soaring as a result of conflict thousands of miles away.
“Once we have installed solar panels or wind turbines, the wind and sun are free, but we will increasingly need to pay other countries for oil and gas as the North Sea continues its inevitable decline, with or without new drilling,” she said.
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ClearVue Technologies, an Australian solar technology company, has established a joint venture with a Chinese partner in Hong Kong to manufacture power-generating glass for building facades. The venture, supported by InvestHK, aims to address rising energy prices amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.
The Australian Securities Exchange-listed firm is collaborating with vacuum-glass maker LandVac to produce the specialized glass. ClearVue’s managing director and CEO stated that the partnership intends to leverage the manufacturing capabilities of mainland China to create affordable glass for commercial buildings.
The technology integrates solar panels into the glass, and tests indicate it could reduce a building’s energy consumption by approximately 70 percent, the CEO noted. He emphasized that cutting energy use in buildings would help reduce dependence on oil price volatility.
InvestHK, the Hong Kong government’s investment promotion unit, advised ClearVue on basing its operations in the city. A representative from InvestHK mentioned that the unit is planning a program to attract investors and encourage adoption of the solar glass. He added that the conflict in the Middle East has fundamentally shifted perspectives on energy use.
Since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran at the end of February, oil prices have repeatedly reached all-time highs. Brent crude has remained above US$105 per barrel, approximately 46 percent above pre-conflict levels, as of Friday.
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This report provides a comprehensive view of the global solar cells and light-emitting diodes industry, tracking demand, supply, and trade flows across the worldwide value chain. It explains how demand across key channels and end-use segments shapes consumption patterns, while also mapping the role of input availability, production efficiency, and regulatory standards on supply.
Beyond headline metrics, the study benchmarks prices, margins, and trade routes so you can see where value is created and how it moves between exporters and importers worldwide. The analysis is designed to support strategic planning, market entry, portfolio prioritization, and risk management in the global solar cells and light-emitting diodes landscape.
The report combines market sizing with trade intelligence and price analytics. It covers both historical performance and the forward outlook to 2035, allowing you to compare cycles, structural shifts, and policy impacts across countries and regions.
For the global report, country profiles provide a consistent view of market size, trade balance, prices, and per-capita indicators. The profiles highlight the largest consuming and producing markets and allow direct benchmarking across peers.
The analysis is built on a multi-source framework that combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, and expert validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to ensure consistency across time series.
All data are normalized to a common product definition and mapped to a consistent set of codes. This ensures that comparisons across time are aligned and actionable.
The forecast horizon extends to 2035 and is based on a structured model that links solar cells and light-emitting diodes demand and supply to macroeconomic indicators, trade patterns, and sector-specific drivers. The model captures both cyclical and structural factors and reflects known policy and technology shifts.
Each country projection is built from its own historical pattern and the regional context, allowing the report to show where growth is concentrated and where risks are elevated.
Prices are analyzed in detail, including export and import unit values, regional spreads, and changes in trade costs. The report highlights how seasonality, freight rates, exchange rates, and supply disruptions influence pricing and margins.
Key producers, exporters, and distributors are profiled with a focus on their operational scale, geographic footprint, product mix, and market positioning. This helps identify competitive pressure points, partnership opportunities, and routes to differentiation.
This report is designed for manufacturers, distributors, importers, wholesalers, investors, and advisors who need a clear, data-driven picture of global solar cells and light-emitting diodes dynamics.
The market size aggregates consumption and trade data at country and regional levels, presented in both value and volume terms.
The projections combine historical trends with macroeconomic indicators, trade dynamics, and sector-specific drivers.
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Utility-scale solar electricity is on track to exceed coal-fired output within the ERCOT grid this year, driven by ongoing large-scale capacity expansions that are transforming Texas’s energy landscape.
According to the latest Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook, a fundamental shift is underway in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market. Solar generation is projected to hit 78,000 GWh in 2026, outpacing the 60,000 GWh expected from coal.
Recently, combined solar and wind output reached a record 17% of total U.S. power generation, and this trend is accelerating. By the close of 2026, solar alone is predicted to supply 12% of Texas’s electricity, while coal’s portion is set to shrink to 13%.
This generation growth is fueled by a sharp rise in physical infrastructure, with Texas accounting for roughly 40% of all new U.S. solar capacity additions in 2026. Developers are planning to bring 14 GW of new utility-scale solar online in Texas as part of a national surge of 86 GW. Notable among these is the 837 MW Tehuacana Creek 1 Solar and BESS facility, expected to be the largest single photovoltaic installation to begin operations in the country this year.
Texas remains a key driver of the domestic energy transition, hosting 12.9 GW—or 53%—of the 24 GW of utility-scale battery storage slated for the U.S. grid in 2026. This battery expansion is essential for maintaining grid stability as renewable energy penetration increases. Total U.S. battery capacity is now forecast to reach 67 GW by early 2027, a substantial rise from the 15 GW added in 2025.
The national picture mirrors Texas’s transformation, with solar and wind combined expected to surpass 20% of total U.S. electricity generation by early 2027. Beyond solar, wind additions are projected to double to 11.8 GW, aided by the completion of major offshore projects such as the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1. While solar and storage dominate the 2026 pipeline, small-scale solar is also anticipated to add 8 GW of new capacity, further broadening the decentralized grid.
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Scientists from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, led by Annalisa Bruno, have created perovskite solar cells that are around 50 times thinner than conventional perovskite solar cells. Their results were published in ACS Energy Letters.
Despite their thinness, the devices achieved some of the highest power conversion efficiencies reported for ultrathin perovskite solar cells to date.
In opaque devices, the cells achieved power conversion efficiencies of about 7 percent, 11 percent and 12 percent for perovskite layers measuring 10, 30 and 60nm respectively. A semi-transparent cell with a 60nm thin perovskite layer allowed about 41 percent of visible light to pass through, while converting sunlight into electricity at 7.6 percent efficiency.
To make the cells, the NTU team used thermal evaporation in which the source materials are heated in a vacuum chamber until they evaporate. The vapour then settles on a surface, where it forms a thin film.
The method allows very thin and uniform perovskite layers to be deposited over large areas. It also avoids the use of toxic solvents and helps reduce defects in the solar cells, improving their ability to convert light into electricity.
By adjusting the process, the researchers were able to control the thickness of the perovskite layer and create both opaque and semi-transparent devices.
The team believes this is the first time ultrathin perovskite solar cells have been made entirely using vacuum-based processes.
Using the technique, the researchers produced ultrathin perovskite absorber layers down to 10 nm while retaining useful solar-cell performance.
First author of the paper, Luke White, a former PhD student at NTU, said: “By precisely controlling thermal evaporation, we are able to adjust the transparency of the solar cells. This opens up new possibilities for sustainable architecture, such as tinted windows that generate electricity.”
Giving an independent comment, Sam Stranks, professor of Energy Materials and Optoelectronics, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, said: “This approach offers a high level of control over film thickness and uniformity, which will be needed if semi-transparent solar cells are to move towards larger-area applications.”
“Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells are an exciting route to harvesting energy from surfaces that are difficult to use with conventional silicon panels, such as windows, façades and lightweight electronics. The results reported here show a promising balance between transparency and power generation in very thin devices, while the next critical tests will be long-term stability, durability and performance over larger areas,” he added.
Because the new solar cells are semi-transparent and colour-neutral, they could potentially be incorporated into windows and façades without significantly changing how a building looks, according to the team.
“The built environment accounts for roughly 40 percent of global energy consumption, so technologies that seamlessly convert buildings’ surfaces into power-generating assets are gaining urgency,” said Bruno, who is a pioneer in the field of perovskite solar cells.
“Our perovskite solar cells offer distinct advantages as they can be manufactured using simple processes at relatively low temperatures. They can also be tuned to absorb specific wavelengths while remaining transparent, and could potentially be scaled over large areas, reducing their carbon footprint,” she added.
As an example, if the technology were scaled up while maintaining similar performance, large glass façades could be transformed into active surfaces for solar power generation.
Preliminary estimates suggest that a deployment across a major glass-fronted building, such as an office tower at Raffles Place or Marina Bay, could theoretically generate several hundred megawatt-hours of electricity annually.
Depending on the usable glass area and building orientation, this level of energy generation would be equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 100 four-room HDB flats.
A patent for the development of the ultrathin perovskite films in a novel structure has been filed through NTUitive, the University’s innovation and enterprise company.
The researchers are now in talks with companies to validate and standardise the thermal evaporation process used in this study. They will also work to improve the long-term stability, durability and large-area performance of the perovskite solar cells before they can be commercially deployed.

Compound Semiconductor™ is an Angel Business Communications publication.
   

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