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Solar panel waste is piling up faster than the world’s recycling rules can handle
The world is installing solar panels at a pace never seen before, and the industry’s success is quietly creating its next big problem: what to do with all those panels when they reach the end of their lives. A comprehensive review published in Energy, Sustainability and Society examines how Europe, the United States, China, and India are preparing for the coming wave of photovoltaic waste, and its conclusion is sobering. Existing recycling capacities are insufficient to manage the end-of-life modules that will soon arrive, while logistical and technical barriers continue to limit material recovery, according to the study’s authors.
The scale of the challenge is enormous. In 2025, total global solar capacity reached 3 terawatts, with 655 gigawatts of new installations, up from 597 gigawatts in 2024. The deployment pace has been extraordinary: it took nearly seven decades to install the first terawatt of solar capacity, but the second terawatt was added in less than two years. Projections suggest global solar capacity could exceed 5 terawatts by the end of 2030, and some scenarios point toward 1 terawatt of annual deployment. Every one of those panels will eventually need to be dismantled, and the volume of end-of-life modules is poised to grow sharply in the coming years.
The waste projections vary widely depending on assumptions about module lifetimes and replacement rates. Under a best-case scenario, the world could accumulate 54 million metric tons of photovoltaic waste by 2050, while a worst-case scenario estimates 160 million metric tons. Other studies predict cumulative PV waste approaching 80 million tonnes by midcentury, roughly 10 percent more than the total mass of electronic waste. Europe alone is forecast to generate more than three million tons of cumulative PV waste by 2030 and more than twenty million tons by midcentury, with China projected to have 66 percent more PV waste than Europe in 2050. Recent forecasts also suggest accumulated solar waste in the European Union might reach up to 8 million metric tons by 2030 and 70 million tons by 2050.
Europe currently has the most developed regulatory framework. The European Union introduced its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive in January 2003, and a 2012 amendment extended producer responsibility to all types of e-waste management, including PV waste, across all member states. The directive requires that from August 2018, 85 percent of all modules should be recovered, and 80 percent of the total mass of used PV modules should be reused and recycled. Germany has adopted these guidelines through its ElektroG Act, which mandates an 85 percent recovery rate and an 80 percent recycling rate for PV mass as the national target quota. Manufacturers selling solar panels in Europe are liable for the costs of collecting and recycling end-of-life modules, though they may delegate this responsibility to third-party organizations.
Yet even Europe’s comprehensive system faces implementation challenges. The review notes a gap between formal compliance with extended producer responsibility procedures and their actual execution. Most firms in the EU focus on meeting legal requirements through collective takeback schemes, incentives, and eco-fees, while true lifecycle responsibility, such as product design improvements and material circularity, is inconsistently adopted across the e-waste industry. Manufacturers also have less motivation to recycle PV panels due to shortages of workforce for specialized technologies, a lack of uniform practice, and cost and profitability issues. The increasing variety of solar module designs, formats, and materials creates further hurdles to establishing uniform recycling methods, because additional steps are required to sort the products.
The United States presents a fragmented picture. There is no federal mandate specifically for PV waste, so management falls to a patchwork of state and local regulations built around the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. When a solar module is discarded, it becomes solid waste categorized under RCRA subtitle D through state and local government programs. Washington introduced an extended producer responsibility policy in 2017, requiring PV manufacturers to take back, reuse, and recycle modules at no cost to customers. California implemented a regulation in January 2021 that permits solar modules to be managed as universal hazardous waste, and New Jersey and North Carolina enacted laws in 2019 to investigate end-of-life management options. The review identified 15 state bills focused on end-of-life PV modules that were proposed and failed since 2014, underscoring the difficulty of building consensus. The US currently has a total solar capacity of 260 gigawatts, and solar electricity accounts for more than 60 percent of all new electricity generation capacity added to the grid.
China leads the world in PV installations, with capacity growing from 43 gigawatts in 2015 to 890 gigawatts in 2024, and total cumulative installed capacity surpassing 1.1 terawatts in 2025. Despite this dominance, categorical policies specifically for PV waste management and recycling are still missing. The country has a national solid waste law, amended and improved at the 13th National People’s Congress and effective since 2020, along with technological policy frameworks for electronic waste recycling that provide guidelines including PV waste. However, gaps remain in these regulations that need to be addressed to ensure PV waste is collected, processed, and recycled in a climate-friendly manner. China has launched initiatives including the NDRC’s 2023 guidelines for wind-power and photovoltaic equipment recycling and a 2023 initiative aiming for a mature renewables recycling system by 2030. Yingli Solar established the country’s first demonstration project for recycling PV modules in early 2023 at the Solar Industrial Park in Li County, Hebei Province.
India is in the earliest stage of regulatory development. The country added about 45 gigawatts of solar installations in 2025, bringing total installed capacity to 133 gigawatts, and ranks fifth globally in solar installations. Yet no regulations exist specifically for PV waste, as it is not considered hazardous, and India ranks third in the global e-waste stream behind China and the United States. Around 70 percent of that e-waste remains unprocessed due to a lack of proper recycling technologies and industry. Guidelines from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy require developers to ensure the collection and proper disposal of solar panels at the end of their life cycle when setting up grid-connected solar power plants, and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified similar policy guidelines on PV waste inclusion in the e-waste category. The review identifies ambiguous guidelines, the absence of penalties or landfill taxes, and the lack of a national monitoring and reporting system as key challenges.
Technological innovation is advancing alongside these regulatory efforts. According to a report by the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme, there are 456 PV module recycling patents worldwide, with the United States currently leading in recycling patents, followed by China. These patents cover techniques including mechanical recycling, light pulse treatment, water-jet cleaning, pyrolysis, and chemical treatments. Research focuses on recovering high-value materials such as glass, silver, and silicon, and Europe is developing hydrometallurgical processes and closed-loop recycling systems. The economic incentive is substantial: the cumulative recoverable materials in PV modules are estimated to be worth 15 billion dollars, and these materials could be used to produce two billion new modules. Recycling silicon modules and cadmium telluride panels also minimizes landfill waste and reduces the release of hazardous materials such as lead and cadmium into the environment.
The study’s authors argue that the primary bottleneck is the creation of interconnected material loops, analogous to natural cycles of decomposition and nourishment. They envision a three-phase evolution for PV recycling over the next three decades: a growth phase in which recycling has minimal effect on material demand, a consolidation phase in which recycling must reduce the need for new materials, and a steady state in which module production and retirement reach equilibrium with minimal amounts of new materials required. Achieving this vision will require synchronized, harmonized frameworks across regions, advanced recycling technologies, and enforceable performance-based targets that prioritize high-purity recovery of glass, aluminum, and critical metals. The authors conclude that expanding recycling capability and implementing synchronized uniform policy and technological innovations will be critical for improving circularity and achieving the sustainable development goals of clean and affordable energy and climate action.
Subject of Research: Comparative review of photovoltaic recycling regulations and waste management readiness in Europe, the United States, China, and India
Article Title: Are we ready to handle PV waste? A review of PV recycling regulations in Europe, the United States, China, and India
Article References: Shahzad, U., Mihai, C. I., & Peters, I. M. (2026). Are we ready to handle PV waste? A review of PV recycling regulations in Europe, the United States, China, and India. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 16(1), Article 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-026-00595-7
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1186/s13705-026-00595-7
Keywords: photovoltaic waste, solar panel recycling, WEEE directive, extended producer responsibility, circular economy, e-waste, renewable energy policy, material recovery, end-of-life management, sustainability, ready, handle
News Source: Sloane Callahan. (October 30, 2026). Solar panel waste is piling up faster than the world’s recycling rules can handle. Scienmag.
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New audit framework benchmarks solar farms on cost, carbon and labour
Utility-scale solar farms are multiplying across the world’s grids faster than anyone can consistently judge whether they are actually delivering on their promises. A study published in Discover Energy on 17 September 2026 argues that the missing piece is not more technology but a common yardstick, and it proposes one: a standardised auditing protocol that folds economic, environmental and social performance into a single, reproducible benchmarking module for grid-connected photovoltaic plants.
The research, led by Kaovinath Appalasamy, R. Mamat and Sudhakar Kumarasamy, responds to what the authors describe as a fragmented assessment landscape. Existing studies, they note, tend to isolate technical efficiency or financial returns, leaving stakeholders without clear thresholds for sustainability. Even widely used metrics such as the levelized cost of energy are calculated inconsistently across projects, undermining cross-project comparison. The new framework is designed to let auditors evaluate any solar farm without bespoke consulting models or proprietary software, using standardised formulas and transparent benchmark values.
At the core of the proposal is a three-stream workflow. Auditors begin with plant-level data collection, gathering financial records, energy generation figures, land use information, water consumption, biodiversity measures, labour records and community-related information. These inputs are then processed through parallel economic, environmental and social assessments. The economic stream evaluates levelized cost of electricity, levelized cost of storage, net present value, internal rate of return, payback period and benefit-cost ratio. The environmental stream examines carbon dioxide reduction, water footprint, land footprint and native tree replantation. The social stream covers fair labour standards, occupational health and safety, community engagement, complaint management, human rights, land use conflict and labour sufficiency.
Results are then compared against benchmark values synthesised from a three-tier evidence hierarchy: Malaysian regulatory limits and national policy guidelines first, peer-reviewed empirical studies from Malaysia or climatically comparable Southeast Asian contexts published within the last ten years second, and industry datasets or international peer-reviewed studies where regional data were unavailable. Studies were included only if they reported a quantified value for at least one target indicator from an operating or simulated utility-scale installation of at least one megawatt. Where multiple sources reported values for the same indicator, the benchmark is presented as a range reflecting the observed spread, so the range itself communicates uncertainty rather than implying false precision.
The economic benchmarks point to strong financial viability under current Malaysian market conditions. The framework places the levelized cost of energy between RM 0.24 and RM 0.48 per kilowatt-hour, with a payback period of four to eight years. A benefit-cost ratio greater than 1.0 indicates financial viability, although the analysis cautions that projects with ratios close to 1.2 remain vulnerable to cost overruns and revenue delays. For plants incorporating storage, the levelized cost of storage ranges between RM 0.65 and RM 0.95 per kilowatt-hour, which the study says can still yield favourable returns when matched with peak tariff demand. The framework also sets a strategic benchmark for total initial investment: solar farms exceeding RM 4 million per megawatt typically overspend on modules or inverters, while those below RM 2.5 million often compromise on quality, leading to premature component degradation.
On the environmental side, the audit quantifies a carbon mitigation potential of 700 to 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide per megawatt per year for a well-performing one-megawatt plant in Malaysia, based on current grid emission factors. The study stresses that these reported mitigation yields are maximised only when maintenance protocols prevent efficiency losses, keeping greenhouse gas reductions consistent with theoretical models. Biodiversity is addressed through a restoration goal of at least 1,000 native trees replanted per megawatt, alongside recommended land footprint limits per megawatt of installed capacity. The authors acknowledge that biodiversity loss from land clearing can be reduced but not fully avoided, with partial ecological recovery observed when operators adopt habitat restoration and native planting.
Water consumption is regulated through a benchmark of 20 litres per megawatt-hour annually, a reference value intended to let operators track usage against a reasonable baseline. Panel cleaning and cooling can strain local resources, particularly in drier regions where water stress is already present, and the study argues that unmonitored cleaning systems can lead to unsustainable resource depletion. Simple measures such as rainwater harvesting are recommended to keep consumption near the benchmark. All environmental benchmarks are drawn from peer-reviewed studies and national guidelines, which the authors say keeps the framework transparent and adaptable across different sites and scales.
The social dimension is anchored by a Labour Sufficiency Index that sets a minimum workforce ratio of 0.7 full-time equivalent staff per megawatt, or roughly 35 employees for a 50-megawatt facility. Unlike construction-phase employment, operational staffing directly influences long-term plant reliability and worker well-being, and the assessment deliberately excludes construction-phase labour. Understaffed sites, the study notes, often rely on excessive overtime, increasing fatigue and safety risks while reducing productivity and job satisfaction. The ratio is intended to ensure adequate coverage for routine tasks including panel cleaning, electrical inspections and inverter maintenance, transforming social sustainability from a qualitative concept into a measurable performance indicator. A companion checklist audits six social parameters: community engagement, land use management, employment conditions, workplace health and safety, grievance systems and human rights standards.
Beyond the benchmarks, the framework prescribes targeted mitigation strategies for each dimension. Routine panel cleaning is prioritised because dust and debris reduce energy output and contribute to heat buildup that accelerates material degradation. Active or passive cooling systems are recommended to mitigate overheating, extending module longevity and reducing lifecycle replacement costs. Bifacial photovoltaic modules at optimal tilt angles are proposed to enhance energy density by capturing additional irradiance, while agrivoltaics integration offers dual-purpose site utility, supporting both energy generation and local vegetation and reducing the facility’s land and water footprint when passive cooling is applied. On the social front, meeting workforce benchmarks requires hiring adequate local staff during the operational phase.
The authors position their framework against existing sustainability assessment approaches, arguing that none is specifically designed for standardised operational assessment of utility-scale solar farms. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment is comprehensive but its application depends on assessment boundaries and data quality, limiting consistency between studies. ISO 14001 and ISO 26000 provide guidance for environmental management and social responsibility but lack quantitative operational indicators for photovoltaic systems. Multi-criteria decision-making tools such as AHP and TOPSIS produce relative rankings rather than universal performance benchmarks, and the Triple Bottom Line framework relies on case-specific indicators that reduce comparability. ESG reporting frameworks emphasise reporting quality rather than technical performance, with scoring methods differing among them. The proposed framework, by contrast, focuses exclusively on solar farm operation and can be reproduced using a supplementary spreadsheet without external consultants. The authors acknowledge that their benchmarks are derived from secondary data rather than direct field validation, which may limit accuracy under site-specific conditions, and that the framework focuses on the operational phase without fully capturing construction or decommissioning impacts. When audited performance meets or exceeds a benchmark, the system provides positive feedback and assigns a star rating; when it falls below, the framework generates targeted recommendations followed by corrective actions and re-evaluation after one year.
Subject of Research: A standardised auditing framework for evaluating the economic, environmental and social sustainability of utility-scale solar farms
Article Title: A standardised auditing framework of economic, environmental, and social impact of utility-scale solar farms
Article References: Appalasamy, K., Mamat, R., & Kumarasamy, S. (2026). A standardised auditing framework of economic, environmental, and social impact of utility-scale solar farms. Discover Energy, 6(1), Article 65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43937-026-00189-6
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s43937-026-00189-6
Keywords: solar energy, utility-scale solar, sustainability auditing, levelized cost of energy, carbon mitigation, biodiversity, water footprint, labour standards, photovoltaics, benchmarking, Malaysia, agrivoltaics
News Source: Faith Mcneil. (October 30, 2026). New audit framework benchmarks solar farms on cost, carbon and labour. Scienmag.
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Solar power installations in the Mahajanga region of Madagascar have completed technical inspections by the Rural Electrification Development Agency (ADER), marking the final administrative step before operational launch in the villages of Satrokala and Andiolava. The project, executed by Tozzi Green Madagascar, comprises photovoltaic systems with a total capacity of 856 kilowatt-peak (kWp), supported by approximately five kilometers of mini-grid distribution lines. This infrastructure is designed to provide 24-hour electricity, a significant shift from intermittent daytime availability, necessitating the integration of energy storage units to sustain load during night hours and periods of low solar irradiance.
The physical connection of over 240 beneficiaries, including households, small enterprises, and social services, represents a change in local productive capability rather than merely expanded coverage. The availability of reliable power enables the operation of electric water pumps for agricultural irrigation and the use of electro-mechanical tools for primary processing of local agricultural products. These applications directly increase the added value of goods produced in the area and extend operational hours for local businesses, addressing a core supply-chain constraint for small-scale manufacturers in rural Madagascar.
Financed through a public-private partnership with support from the DECIM fund and the World Bank Group, the system’s value now hinges on its operational stability. The transition from installed capacity to consistent service delivery requires proven technical resilience, ensuring that the theoretical availability of power translates into a dependable utility for the local economy.

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Daqo New Energy Narrows Net Loss to $52.9 Million in Third Quarter  energynews.pro
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Standard Solar Acquires 43.3 MW of Illinois Community Solar From Trajectory  energynews.pro
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Greece’s Metlen gets permits for three PV parks totalling 290 MW in southern Romania  Romania Insider
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Researchers recommend early bushfire assessment for solar sites.
Smoke from major bushfires could cut solar electricity generation by 70% at farms within 50 kilometres (km) and by around 30% even from more than 150 km away, according to UNSW Sydney.
Findings suggest solar farm operators should improve smoke pathways forecasting, inspections and panel cleaning
UNSW examined the effects of two major Australian bushfires — the Black Summer fires and the Black Saturday fires — using historical weather and satellite data to model how smoke and airborne particles impact generation and temperatures of panels.
The study said that smoke and airborne particles block sunlight from reaching the panels, lowering electricity production.
In the Black Summer bushfires, researchers found that electricity generation fell by 70% at locations within 50 km of the fire for several consecutive days, whilst up to 30% for regions further than 150 km away.
In the Black Saturday bushfires, generation was down 18% near the fires, and up to 10% in distant regions.
The study said impacts vary with the fire severity and weather conditions.
The researchers also said the figures are estimates, as they were unable to separate smoke-related losses from other factors.
The study said that bushfire information, wind patterns and smoke-trajectory modelling can be combined to predict which solar farms are likely to be affected.
Dr Shukla Poddar, the author, said that historical wind patterns could help predict when and where smoke would travel, allowing operators to plan inspections, schedule cleaning or adjust panel positioning before the smoke arrives.
The study also suggested that developers could assess bushfire history and wind patterns before investing in a solar farm site.
“This approach is transferable to other bushfire-prone regions globally, where recurring bushfire activity and atmospheric transport pose similar risks to solar energy generation and asset management,” the study said. 
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Lights out on solar farm project after 10-year delay  The Courier Mail
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ZEELAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Ottawa County is officially entering the state review process for the proposed Silver Maple Solar project after commissioners voted 10-1 Tuesday to intervene in the case before the Michigan Public Service Commission.
WATCH: Ottawa County votes to intervene in Silver Maple Solar case
The vote gives the county a formal role as state regulators consider the nearly 1,900-acre solar project proposed across Zeeland and Jamestown townships.
Commissioner Doug Zylstra cast the lone vote against intervention. Ottawa County Board Chair Josh Brugger said Zylstra did not believe the case was compelling enough for the county to become involved, while the other 10 commissioners voted to move forward.
Tuesday’s meeting included three votes tied to the county’s involvement.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Ottawa County could decide Oct. 27 whether to join Silver Maple Solar case
“The first vote was on whether or not the county should intervene,” Brugger said. “The second vote was on how to go about doing that.”
Both votes passed 10-1. The second authorized the county to move forward with the intervention process, including working with staff and hiring outside legal counsel.
Commissioners then voted to accept $50,000 in intervenor funding from RWE. The money is required to be offered under Public Act 233 and can be used to help cover the county’s legal expenses associated with participating in the case.
“That was a unanimous vote to make sure that local taxpayer dollars are not going to be used on the front end as we work through this process,” Brugger said.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Judge rules in favor of RWE in dispute with Ottawa County farming family over solar project land

Brugger stressed that the decision to intervene does not mean commissioners have taken a position for or against the Silver Maple project.
Instead, county leaders will now decide which countywide issues they want the MPSC to consider as it reviews RWE’s application.
“We’ll let the Michigan Public Service Commission know what impact this might have on Ottawa County, and offer suggestions on how best to mitigate any negative impacts,” Brugger said.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Ottawa County judge weighs future of Silver Maple Solar project in dispute with farming family
Brugger said the county could raise a range of issues as it develops its position in the case.
“We’ll sit down as a board of commissioners, look at the different areas where the county ought to share its opinion with the MPSC and just to make sure that they’re taking into account the county’s interests, which could be farming, could be housing, and could be water, maybe all of the above,” Brugger said.
Brugger also said the county could examine other issues, including the electric grid, as commissioners and their legal counsel develop a strategy.
“I really do believe that solar is a part of the solution when it comes to energy in the long run,” Brugger said. “In this case, we just have to figure out how this solar project fits best in Zeeland, Jamestown Township, and into Ottawa County.”
PRIOR COVERAGE: Zeeland Township asks Trump administration to back local control fight against solar farm

For some residents who have opposed the Silver Maple proposal for more than a year, Tuesday’s decision was welcome news.
Laurie Vanhaitsma, a Jamestown Township farmer and township official, lives near the proposed project site.
“We own a sesquicentennial farm,” Vanhaitsma said. “That means it’s been in my husband’s family over 150 years. The same family. Which is why we’re so passionate about preserving farmland.”
PRIOR COVERAGE: Silver Maple Solar Farm application refiled with Michigan regulators amid dueling lawsuits
Vanhaitsma said residents had urged commissioners to intervene in the case.
“These farmers need our help. They need our support, and there were a lot of residents that came to that meeting to express, to encourage the board to do that,” Vanhaitsma said. “And they listened. To their credit, they listened. I think that’s great.”
Vanhaitsma said she plans to continue opposing the project and raising concerns about Public Act 233, the state law that shifted approval authority for large renewable energy projects from local governments to state regulators.
PRIOR COVERAGE: RWE faces pushback at Silver Maple Solar Farm public meeting held in Zeeland Township
“We just need to keep fighting,” Vanhaitsma said. “People need to be wise about how they vote. The reason this is happening is our Michigan Legislature has passed PA 233. They took away local authority and control. People need to do their research.”
Zeeland Township resident Cadence DeVree, who has also followed the project throughout the local and state proceedings, said she believes the county can bring broader issues into the discussion.
“They’re able to take their side of the story, looking at it for the community of Ottawa County as a whole, saying, ‘Yeah, we have agriculture. We have a housing crisis, not just here, all over,’” DeVree said.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Zeeland Township approves new data center and energy facility moratorium to protect local planning
DeVree said she was grateful for Tuesday’s decision.
“It just goes to show you that politics can be a little bit fun sometimes,” DeVree said. “It shows that politics, it can be useful. And I was so thankful and so excited.”
Ottawa County has until Nov. 12 to file its intent to intervene with the MPSC.
“We intend to do that already,” Brugger said. “We’ve given staff the authority to go forward with that, and then the informal hearing, the first hearing is going to be on November 19th.”
PRIOR COVERAGE: Ottawa County weighs role in paused Silver Maple solar farm case as neighbors continue opposition
Brugger said commissioners expect to meet with legal counsel before the first hearing to determine how best to represent Ottawa County residents during the proceedings.
The Silver Maple Solar project still requires approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission before it can move forward.
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Botswana’s state-owned Water Utilities Corporation has launched a tender for floating photovoltaic systems to be built at dams owned by the water and wastewater utility, according to pv magazine. The process opens with an expression of interest phase, through which eligible and qualified companies, joint ventures and consortia are invited to submit bids.
Winning bidders would take on the design, development and operation of the floating solar plants. Full tender documentation is available for download on the utility’s website, and expressions of interest must be delivered by post by November 19.
The utility previously tendered a feasibility study for floating solar on its dams in 2024. At that stage it organized site visits to the Gaborone and Bokaa dams, the Lotsane dam, and the Letsibogo and Dikgatlhong dams, all in the eastern part of the country. The Dikgatlhong and Gaborone dams are the two largest in Botswana.
According to figures in the project database of the Africa Solar Industry Association, 190.5 MW of solar capacity is operational in Botswana. Earlier this year a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a 500 MW solar project, the largest of its kind under development in the country, which is to be paired with 500 MWh of battery energy storage.
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Net-zero dream home falls short as hot tub and design gaps drain its energy balance
A carefully designed net-zero energy house in Strathroy, Ontario, could not live up to its label once real occupants moved in. The shortfall was driven largely by an outdoor electric hot tub that nobody had included in the design-stage energy model, along with underestimated heating demand and lower-than-expected photovoltaic output. The team concluded that, despite meeting Ontario Building Code and Energy Star requirements, the house cannot honestly be called a net-zero energy home.
The Strathroy House was built as a net-zero energy house, or NZEH, intended to generate as much energy on site each year as it consumes. Its roof carries 33 photovoltaic modules rated at 260 watts each, for a total capacity of 8.745 kilowatt-peak, with an estimated annual generation of 11,471 kilowatt-hours. Heating and cooling come from a hybrid system pairing an air source heat pump with a natural gas furnace, supplemented by an energy recovery ventilator. Natural gas also serves domestic hot water, the cooking range and a fireplace. The occupants, a retired couple, use an outdoor electric hot tub year-round, more heavily in winter.
To evaluate the house, the research team installed a full monitoring and data acquisition system recording natural gas consumption, electricity use, photovoltaic generation, indoor and outdoor temperatures, humidity, solar radiation and wind conditions. They began with an ASHRAE Level III energy audit, including combustion tests, thermal imaging and a blower door depressurization test, and documented the owners’ thermostat set-points of 20 degrees Celsius in winter and 24 in summer. Notably, the air conditioner was barely needed, since the house stayed comfortably below the cooling set-point. The audit data fed into calibrated TRNSYS building simulations used throughout the analysis.
The photovoltaic system itself underperformed its design estimate. The initial prediction of 10,636 kilowatt-hours per year ignored real-world losses from dirt, debris, snow cover and wiring, and the installed inverter caps output at 7.6 kilowatts, below the array’s 8.745 kilowatt-peak rating, clipping generation during peak hours. Measured annual generation came in at 9,746 kilowatt-hours against household consumption of 10,375 kilowatt-hours. When the natural gas used for space heating, water heating and other purposes, equivalent to 8,228 kilowatt-hours of electricity, is added to the load, the analysis shows the house would need an additional 8,857 kilowatt-hours of on-site generation to reach true net-zero status.
The hot tub emerged as the single most striking discrepancy. Set in standby mode, it cycles on several times a day to maintain water temperature, drawing spikes of nearly 6 kilowatts lasting about twenty minutes each, with rare events stretching to 6.6 hours. Each spike consumes roughly 1.7 kilowatt-hours, and these loads, absent from the original HOT2000 design model, significantly widened the gap between electrical demand and generation. The researchers found that discretionary baseloads of this kind, particularly during winter months, represent a dominant and previously unaccounted-for demand, and that reducing them offers the highest impact per unit cost without major capital investment.
Heating demand was also badly underestimated at the design stage. The discrepancy reflects differences in weather data, house specifications, operating assumptions and modelling methodology, plus the fact that the original model was built before occupancy and relied on estimated internal gains. It also omitted the natural gas stove and fireplace entirely.
The hybrid heating hardware itself performed largely as specified. Combustion testing showed the natural gas furnace operating at an average efficiency of 89 percent. The air source heat pump, which cannot operate below minus 15 degrees Celsius, delivered a maximum heating capacity of 10,814 watts at 8 degrees Celsius, falling to 5,920 watts at minus 15. An experimentally derived coefficient-of-performance curve matched the manufacturer’s laboratory curve closely, though the laboratory conditions flatter real-world performance. Domestic hot water use, at 85 litres per day for two occupants, came in at less than half the 188 litres per day the IEA Annex 42 benchmark would predict for the household.
A central contribution of the study was testing the Smart Dual Fuel Switching System, an intelligent predictive controller that chooses between the heat pump and the gas furnace using time-of-use electricity prices, outdoor temperature, heat pump coefficient of performance and furnace efficiency. Against conventional natural gas heating it delivered roughly 3 percent lower operating costs and a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Whether the house counts as net zero depends on the accounting method. Applying source-to-site energy ratios, which account for generation and transmission losses and average around 3 for grid electricity, the analysis found the house had a negative net-zero balance. Under the Canadian ratio of 1.96, the pre-occupancy HOT2000 model suggested the building was nearly net zero, but the measured data contradicted that, with electrical baseloads higher than modelled and ventilation loads far above predictions. The authors conclude that achieving net zero here requires trade-offs among expanding on-site photovoltaic capacity, cutting electrical baseloads and improving the envelope, with load reduction first and PV expansion second, given roof space constraints and seasonal variation.
The team is candid about the study’s limits. It covers a single owner-occupied dwelling, so findings may not generalize to other climates, building types or occupancy patterns. The 295-day campaign captured only one heating season, late-winter energy use was extrapolated, and inter-annual weather variability was not assessed. The calibrated TRNSYS model relies on idealized equipment curves and simplified zoning, with no stochastic occupant behaviour modelling, and the economic analysis excludes capital, maintenance and lifecycle costs. No formal uncertainty or probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Future work, the authors write, should extend monitoring to multiple housing archetypes and climates, test thermal storage such as phase change materials and water tanks, and apply Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis to strengthen the quantitative conclusions.
Subject of Research: Monitoring and evaluation of an owner-occupied net-zero energy house with solar photovoltaics and a hybrid heating system in cold-climate Ontario
Article Title: Monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of an owner-occupied net-zero energy house with solar photovoltaics and a hybrid heating system in cold-climate Ontario, Canada
Article References: Tung, K., Demirezen, G., Fung, A. S., & Kumar, R. (2026). Monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of an owner-occupied net-zero energy house with solar photovoltaics and a hybrid heating system in cold-climate Ontario, Canada. City and Built Environment, 4(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44213-026-00071-0
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s44213-026-00071-0
Keywords: net-zero energy house, solar photovoltaics, air source heat pump, hybrid heating, Smart Dual Fuel Switching System, TRNSYS simulation, HOT2000, Strathroy Ontario, discretionary loads, greenhouse gas emissions, building energy monitoring, cold climate
News Source: Denise Maddox. (October 30, 2026). Net-zero dream home falls short as hot tub and design gaps drain its energy balance. Scienmag.
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Home → Environment → Renewable Energy
Most solar panels stand still while the sun moves. But a Massachusetts seventh grader fixed the problem with a low-cost solution and gravity.
Every great invention starts with a problem that needs fixing, and for 13-year-old Jason Chang, that problem was Christmas lights.
His mother repeatedly asked him to head outside and manually tilt the family’s solar-powered holiday decorations so they would stay pointed at the sun. Annoyed by the routine in freezing weather, the seventh grader at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts decided to engineer his way out of the chore.
“I got kind of frustrated,” Chang told CBS Boston. “What if I could fix this problem?”
Over the next year, the backyard annoyance evolved into a device that could one day find its way into millions of solar panels. The device in question is a completely passive, motor-free solar tracker built for less than $25.
In outdoor head-to-head testing, Chang’s prototype increased solar panel voltage output by roughly 20% compared to a standard fixed panel — earning him the title of National STEM Champion and an invitation to showcase his work in Washington, D.C.
Most residential and off-grid solar panels are bolted into a single, fixed position. You of course put the panels on the side of the roof that gets the most sun over the course of the day and that’s kinda it. Yet, because the sun arcs across the sky from east to west, a stationary panel only captures direct, perpendicular sunlight for a small window during the middle of the day.
During the morning and late afternoon, sunlight hits the panel at steep angles, leaving up to 20% of potential energy on the table.
Commercial solar farms solve this challenge with motorized single- or dual-axis trackers driven by electronic sensors and actuators, but these systems carry steep drawbacks for everyday or off-grid setups. Beyond adding hundreds or even thousands of dollars to an installation’s upfront cost, their motorized components create a parasitic energy drain by consuming a portion of the very electricity the panels produce.
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Compounding both issues is the constant risk of mechanical failure, as complex gears and sensitive electronics inevitably struggle to hold up against harsh outdoor environments.
Instead of chasing the sun with expensive motors, Chang leaned into one of the oldest mechanisms in history — gravity and fluid dynamics, reminiscent of an ancient water clock.
His tracker mounts a solar panel onto a balanced, seesaw-style frame crafted from inexpensive and recycled materials, completely replacing optical sensors with a precisely calibrated fluid system. Operation begins simply at the start of the day when the user pulls a stopper from an upper water reservoir, initiating a steady, tightly controlled drip into a collection bucket hanging from one side of the frame. As this bucket gradually fills, the shifting weight slowly tips the seesaw downward, guiding the solar panel in a smooth, continuous tilt across the sky that mirrors the sun’s natural arc.
“All you have to do is pull on the plug, and the water starts flowing,” Chang explained. “Over time, it will add water slowly into the bucket, weighing the panel down gradually to follow the sun’s movement.”
Getting the panel to match the earth’s rotation without tipping too fast or stalling took more than a year of trial and error.
“The hardest part was the fluid control frame,” Chang noted. “It has to be very precise — the measurements have to be exact for the panel to move correctly.”
When Chang placed his gravity-powered tracker outside next to a conventional stationary panel, the moving panel generated approximately 20% more voltage over the course of the test.
While a 20% voltage bump is impressive for a middle-school science project, the real breakthrough lies in the system’s cost-to-performance ratio. Because the tracker requires zero electricity to run and relies on everyday parts that cost under $25, its practical utility stretches far beyond suburban holiday lights.
In off-grid rural communities across developing regions — where families frequently depend on a solitary solar panel to charge phones, illuminate LED lamps, or keep critical medical refrigerators running — squeezing an extra 20% from existing infrastructure without buying additional hardware is transformative. That same low-cost resilience could make it a valuable tool in disaster relief zones, where hurricanes or earthquakes routinely knock out centralized power grids, leaving emergency responders desperate for rugged, field-repairable setups that operate reliably without delicate circuit boards.
“I hope my project can help people around the world to provide more electricity,” Chang said. “Since it’s very low cost, I believe that it can be made anywhere around the world.”
Like any good engineer, Chang is quick to point out his prototype’s current limitations. One of them is New England winters. Because the mechanism relies on liquid water, freezing temperatures bring the seesaw to a halt.
He is already engineering a next-generation, all-weather version designed to operate year-round in sub-zero conditions, ahead of his trip to present the project at the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C.
When CBS Boston meteorologist Jacob Wycoff surprised Chang in class with the news that he had been selected as one of the nation’s top young innovators, National STEM Festival co-founder Jenny Buccos called the 13-year-old one of “the 55 reasons to believe the future is in incredible hands.”
As for the kid who just wanted a break from adjusting his mom’s Christmas lights, the experience has already shaped his career plans — and his life philosophy.
“I think most problems in life, instead of working hard, you should work smarter,” Chang said. “When I’m older, I want to be an entrepreneur, create products, and make everyone’s life easier.”

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.
© 2007-2025 ZME Science – Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.
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This report, produced by Ember in partnership with African Tech Futures Lab (ATFL), presents Ember’s estimates of solar power capacity installed in every African country from 2023 to 2026, built from Chinese customs data using a new calibrated methodology. It compares these estimates with official national and international statistics, examines the split between utility-scale and distributed solar, and reviews Africa’s emerging solar panel manufacturing. It follows Ember’s August 2025 report, “The first evidence of a take-off in solar in Africa.”
A year after Ember found the first evidence of a take-off in solar in Africa, a new methodology makes the boom measurable – and shows it running far ahead of the official record.
Chinese exports of solar panels to Africa surged in the 12 months to June 2026, to levels similar to each of the Middle East and Latin America. This report introduces a new methodology, showing around 73% of Chinese imports globally have been installed, with an average six-month delay. This makes it possible to estimate full-year 2026 installations already. This shows 17 GW of solar was installed in 2026, equal to around 100,000 solar panels every day. That is a 45% rise year-on-year; 2025 rose by 51% and 2024 by 25%.
19 countries have seen year-on-year growth of over 100%, including 544% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 282% in Zimbabwe, 176% in Egypt and 117% in Zambia. Solar growth used to be dominated by South Africa, but its share of African installations in 2026 will be below 20% for the first time since 2019, as other countries surge. Solar is now the single biggest addition to grid capacity in many African countries – Senegal will add solar capacity from 2023 to 2026 equivalent to almost 80% of its entire 2023 grid capacity, with DRC and Kenya adding more than half.
2026’s installations will generate around 23 TWh a year – 2.3% of Africa’s electricity generation, above the 2.2% average annual demand growth of 2014 to 2024. There are ten countries where 2026’s new solar will add more than 10% to annual grid electricity generation – Sierra Leone (97%), Togo (24%), Somalia (21%), Djibouti (21%), DRC (14%), Comoros (14%), Namibia (12%), Liberia (12%), Chad (11%), Lesotho (10%). Together these countries are home to 190 million people.
Ember’s 2025 solar growth estimate is twice that of international statistics – 12.0 GW in 2025, compared with 6.2 GW from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and 4.6 GW from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Ember forecasts annual installations in 2026 will rise another 45%, potentially increasing this gap further. However, international reporting can only be as good as national reporting, and that barely exists in many countries. We could only find official reporting for national solar capacity for 36 out of 54 countries; only 14 of those were for 2025, and even those 14 countries seem to underestimate the rise in solar. Only three countries – South Africa, Tunisia and Tanzania – publish some solar data monthly or quarterly.
Distributed solar, which is small-scale, customer-side solar installed mostly on rooftops – makes up most of Africa’s solar growth, and it’s the hardest type to measure. Ember estimates that 75% (20 GW of 26 GW) of the total solar capacity added between 2023 and 2025 is distributed solar. That’s because only a quarter of new solar can be explained by utility-scale and off-grid solar – utility-scale solar is fairly well-documented and visible through government procurement projects, and although off-grid solar is growing fast, its scale would still be very small in context of the gap.
This is the case even in countries with large utility-scale solar projects – in Egypt, for example, still 43% of its solar growth is estimated to be distributed.
There are just 12 countries that report an official or semi-official distributed solar figure, yet those still underestimate the growth. The lack of visibility on distributed solar is not unique to Africa, but a combination of factors makes it worse. A surge in companies, registries and licences show the solar rise is real.
Output will reach around 3.5 GW in 2026, a fifth of what Africa installs, led by new plants in Egypt and Tanzania aimed at the US market. 94% of panels installed in Africa are still imported from China, and huge Chinese cell and wafer shipments to Africa point to re-shipment rather than use in African solar panel manufacturing. Overall, manufacturing data quality is very poor, and it’s hard to state these numbers accurately.
The rise in solar capacity is likely to meet much of Africa’s electricity demand growth, and the sheer scale of cheap new supply could spur more demand growth too, creating huge human benefits.
Some of the solar is undoubtedly up-ending Africa’s diesel economics. Batteries, paired with solar, are the new diesel generator. A year of Chinese panel imports cost $2.4 billion USD; generating the same electricity from diesel would cost around that every three months. Africa is now importing more dollars of batteries than solar panels from China, led by Nigeria and DRC.
The rapid spread of distributed solar in sub-Saharan Africa is an underreported success story. However, since African countries are running blind to this change, they are not reflecting this rise in distributed solar in their plans. This will impact grid and battery investments. Countries also need to make sure they don’t overinvest in fossil fuel power plants that will sit idle.
It’s incredible seeing so many businesses and individuals, across so many African countries, choosing to install solar. Solar panels have become so cheap, the economics are compelling. But so much of this growth is hidden from view – national governments need to get better at gathering solar data. Countries are already leapfrogging into faster, more secure, cleaner energy growth, and the governments that get ahead of it stand to gain all the benefits.
Across Africa, distributed energy resources are rapidly expanding, and in many cases, overtaking grid capacity. This transition is chaotic and disruptive, and far from the orderly model planned in national strategies. Policymakers need to start responding to this shift. The choice now is whether these distributed assets remain a parallel power system that compensates for grid failure or are integrated in ways that unleash a wider range of benefits.
Chinese solar panel exports into Africa surged in 2026. It is possible to use this to estimate solar installations for full-year 2026. This is happening in almost all African countries, and is enough to meet rising electricity demand.
Chinese exports of solar panels to Africa surged to 23 GW in the 12 months to June 2026, a 53% rise on the 12 months to June 2025.
Almost all of this growth was driven by countries outside of South Africa; in 2023, 52% of Africa’s solar imports went to South Africa, and by June 2026 that share had fallen to 20%.
Chinese exports to Africa are now similar to both the Middle East and Latin America. In the 12 months to June 2026, China exported 23 GW to Africa, 23 GW to the Middle East and 25 GW to Latin America.
New global analysis shows how Chinese exports can be used to estimate installations in African countries.
Ember analysed the EU and five other countries over four years, comprising 368 GW of solar installations. All have fairly robust levels of data on annual installations and a fairly strong reliance on Chinese imports, so they can be used to help calibrate African installations from Chinese export data.
Chinese solar imports are a good proxy for installations, but there are two factors that can make them inaccurate predictors of actual deployment. First, panels are not installed at the time of shipping, so we apply a six-month time lag to Chinese exports, which is the approximate time-lag visible in the data, made up of 1-2 months’ shipping time from China, plus 4-5 months to move panels to site and install them. Second, we add three further adjustments to the Chinese data: solar panels imported from countries other than China (calculated from COMTRADE data), re-exports of solar panels, and domestically manufactured solar panels.
The results were that 73% of reported Chinese solar panels have been installed. There is a fairly high range from about 60-90% across years and across countries. 73% represents the total of the countries, weighted by installations, covering the full 368 GW of installations. In total, we consider that 73% is representative to apply to Africa. The box below explains why 73% is potentially even on the conservative side.
Ember has been analysing this global trend for years, and we believe it is a combination of four factors.
Chinese export values were likely slightly over-reported prior to April 2026. Chinese companies could claim VAT rebate (13% before December 2024 and 9% to end March 2026), which encourages them to over-report the value of their exports. This cannot be done indiscriminately, and historic literature suggests it could account for 5% over-reporting.
Exports are likely overestimated because solar panel prices fell so aggressively for so long. Chinese customs data reports only the value of solar panels – Ember converts this into megawatt capacity at spot prices. However, in a falling market, the price, which would have been agreed prior to shipping, is likely to have been higher than the spot price, resulting in overestimating the capacity.
Stocking of solar panels. Only 73% of solar panels are installed “so far”. That’s because many are in warehouses. In the EU, solar stocks reached around one year’s installation rate, so this can be significant.
Not all solar installed is reported. The 73% is calibrated against reported installations, not actual installations. Even in the EU and other advanced countries, there’s some evidence that reported data is missing some installations – especially for off-grid uses, which is often explicitly not included.
The 73% is likely to be conservative in the context of estimating solar installations in 2026. Factors 1 and 2 above are now effectively redundant in 2026: the VAT rebate ended from 1st April 2026, and the solar panel prices broadly stopped falling in late 2024. Of course, on factor 4, we are estimating actual not reported installations, so this isn’t relevant. Only factor 3, stocking, is relevant – especially in the context that solar sales are just picking up in Africa, so there is likely a lot of stocking of solar panels happening.
It is possible to estimate solar installations for every country in Africa, using the methodology laid out in section 1.2 above. Furthermore, it’s possible to do this already for the full year 2026, because Chinese export data is already available until June 2026 and there’s a six-month delay to installations. The full calculations by country are available to download as an Excel file.
Ember estimates 17 GW of solar will be installed across Africa in full-year 2026. This is a 45% rise, following a 51% rise in 2025 and a 25% rise in 2024. That is an installation rate of 47 MW – around 100,000 solar panels – every day during 2026.
6% of solar panels installed were manufactured domestically, across a number of smaller plants in South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Kenya. The remaining 94% were imported from China. In previous years, a small proportion were imported from outside of China – in India and South Korea – but these are now more profitable to sell into the US.
There is likely little re-export of solar panels from Africa so far. Although the US is reporting large imports of solar panels from some African countries, the data suggests this is likely Chinese solar cells and wafers rather than panels. There are re-exports of Chinese panels to other African countries, which we explore in chapter 1.4. There are also exports of domestically produced solar panels to the US, which we explore in chapter 3.
The solar boom is happening everywhere. 36 out of Africa’s 54 countries are expected to install record amounts of solar in 2026.
19 countries have seen year-on-year growth of over 100%, including 544% in the DRC, 282% in Zimbabwe, 176% in Egypt and 117% in Zambia.
Six countries are now gigawatt markets – we estimate South Africa will install 3.3 GW in 2026, 2.0 GW in Egypt, 1.7 GW in Nigeria, 1.7 GW in the DRC, 1.4 GW in Algeria, and 1.0 GW in Morocco.
One caveat – it may be that solar installations in some landlocked countries are underestimated, and the coastal countries overestimated. Ember’s analysis takes into account COMTRADE trade flows – e.g. Kenya into Uganda, and South Africa into Zimbabwe. However, that data is out of date, and in some cases isn’t reported at all.
Solar is now the single biggest addition to grid capacity in many African countries. Ten countries will each add at least 1 GW of solar between 2023 and 2026. Senegal will add the equivalent of almost 80% of its entire 2023 grid capacity, with DRC and Kenya adding more than half – while Egypt and Algeria, with two of the continent’s largest grids, will add less than a tenth. The most dramatic expansions are in the countries with the smallest grid capacity, where solar additions will match or exceed their entire existing national grid.
Solar growth is enough to meet electricity demand growth in many countries and is helping to reduce diesel demand. And now that battery investment is stepping up, this growth could ultimately reduce the burden on the grid rather than increase it.
The scale of solar build in 2026 is roughly enough to meet Africa’s historic electricity demand growth.
The 17 GW of solar installed in 2026 would add 23 TWh of generation a year, assuming a conservative 15% capacity factor – equal to 2.3% of Africa’s annual electricity generation of 982 TWh in 2024. This is slightly more than the historic rise in electricity demand, which averaged 2.2% per year from 2014 to 2024.
In over half the countries in Africa – 28 out of 54 – the rise in solar generation will exceed the historic demand growth.
It is the countries with the smallest electricity systems that will see the biggest impact. There are ten countries where 2026’s new solar will add more than 10% to annual grid electricity generation – Sierra Leone (97%), Togo (24%), Somalia (21%), Djibouti (21%), DRC (14%), Comoros (14%), Namibia (12%), Liberia (12%), Chad (11%), Lesotho (10%). Together these countries are home to 190 million people.
Ironically, the two countries with the most new solar in 2026 – South Africa and Egypt – see their solar generation share increase below average, because they are also the two countries with by far the largest electricity systems. 2026’s new solar will add only 1.8% to South Africa’s electricity generation and 1.0% in Egypt’s, compared to the 2.3% African average.
Electricity demand growth in Africa is low. It averaged 2.2% per year from 2014 to 2024, which is lower even than the global rate of 2.6%.
Solar has helped Pakistan to leapfrog to higher electricity demand growth, after years of paltry growth. In Pakistan, total electricity demand rose by 21% in just two years from 2023 to 2025, met entirely by the newly installed distributed solar generation.
But what’s more, Ember’s research showed this solar actually helped Pakistan’s electricity demand to rise – creating huge societal benefits.
Distributed solar was faster: in just two years, 27 GW of distributed solar was installed, equivalent to the capacity of all operating coal, gas and oil plants ever built in Pakistan. Distributed solar was cheaper – residential solar with a medium battery produces electricity at around PKR 20 per kWh, half the PKR 40 cost of grid electricity – air conditioning at grid prices is just unaffordable for many. Distributed solar was better – it eliminated daytime loadshedding, avoided more than $12 billion USD in oil and gas imports by February 2026, reduced CO2 and air pollution and saved transmission and distribution losses.
Like in Pakistan, many African countries have low electricity demand because of low electricity supply. Solar can help to drive the electricity demand growth that African countries need.
The US-Iran conflict and the removal of subsidies in some countries, including Nigeria and Egypt, have led to a sharp rise in retail diesel prices. The economics before were compelling; now they are urgent.
Diesel generators are commonplace across the many countries in Africa which face unreliable electricity supply. A 2022 report from WoodMac showed at least 17 African countries have more distributed diesel generator capacity than they do grid-connected power-generation capacity.
Solar is undoubtedly being installed by people who own a diesel generator, to save money buying diesel. There is also a large amount of off-grid diesel that will be replaced with solar. Irrigation might be the biggest. In Pakistan, there is already an estimated 7 GW of solar tube wells providing irrigation – Morocco already had 40,000 solar irrigation pumps by 2020, and Egypt likely has a lot more. The use of solar to replace diesel generation at smaller, rich off-grid houses or tourist hotels is likely to have grown rapidly. Also, one company alone in Nigeria added 60 MW of solar to power phone masts.
This reduces imports – the import cost of a Chinese solar panel is a fraction of what the import cost of diesel would be for diesel generators. Generating the same electricity from a diesel generator as from a solar panel would cost as much in diesel, every three months, as the solar panel itself. Yet solar panels last for 30 years or more, saving significant costs on constant diesel top-ups.
The Chinese solar panel exports into Africa in the 12 months to June 2026 cost $2.4 billion USD, according to the Chinese customs agency; at $1.40 USD per litre of diesel, generating the same amount of electricity as those imported solar panels would need $2.4 billion USD of diesel every three months. So, in the hypothetical extreme scenario that all solar is displacing diesel generators, Chinese solar panels would save $2.4 billion USD on imports every three months, having paid for themselves in the first three months.
Since 2024, Africa has imported more dollars of batteries than solar panels from China. In the last two years, the value of solar panel exports doubled, but battery exports quadrupled.
The largest markets are Nigeria and DRC, where battery imports far exceed solar imports. In Nigeria, it’s likely that the batteries are purchased by households and businesses to provide electricity in loadshedding hours to replace buying diesel for generators. In the DRC many of the battery imports are linked to 24-hour solar+storage schemes at copper mines to replace diesel.
In most other markets, battery imports are less than solar. Egypt and Algeria have large utility-scale solar farms that aren’t yet installing a lot of batteries alongside, so all of that output is confined to daylight hours.
Batteries and solar will enable African countries to leapfrog to a new distributed grid, skipping the need to build a large national grid. The majority of electricity generation can be where it is used, day and night – either on rooftops directly, or embedded in megawatt scale (instead of gigawatt scale) in the local grid. Only a small grid is then needed to help balance supply and demand.
National reporting is inadequate – only three countries produce solar capacity data quarterly or more often, and even where 2025 reporting exists it misses a large amount of installations. These missing installations are thought to be mostly distributed solar.
Ember estimates Africa installed 12.0 GW of solar in 2025; that’s around twice that of the International Energy Agency (IEA) of 6.2 GW and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) of 4.6 GW.
Ember forecasts annual installations in 2026 will rise another 45%, potentially increasing this gap further.
IRENA published 2025 statistics initially in March, and then updated them in July. They show solar capacity stayed unchanged in 60% (32 out of 54) of African countries. The IEA published its renewables tracker last October. It has solar capacity data for 7 of the 54 countries, plus a total for Africa.
The biggest barrier to good international reporting is a lack of good national reporting. International reporting can only be as good as the national reporting beneath it – and the next section shows that it barely exists in many countries.
Both the timeliness and quality of reporting are not fit for purpose in most countries.
In our analysis of national statistics, we could only find official reporting for national solar capacity for 36 out of 54 countries – and only 14 of those were for 2025. Even in those 14 countries reporting 2025 data, our estimates for what was installed in 2023-2025 alone far exceed the national cumulative capacity, suggesting that – where reported – solar capacity is not capturing all of the installations.
South Africa, Tunisia and Tanzania publish some solar data quarterly, and some even monthly. It’s increasingly common to do this internationally – Ember tracks 25 countries across the world that already report solar capacity monthly.
There are many implications of this underreporting solar growth.
First, in national and regional electricity planning. Distributed photovoltaic (PV) data is required to forecast net demand and future capacity needs. If it is excluded, planners may overestimate demand, procure unnecessary generation or select an unsuitable generation mix. The African Union’s Continental Power Systems Masterplan completely misses the solar trend: it shows 23 GW of solar forecast to be installed in Africa by 2040, which is less than the 26 GW estimated to have been installed in the last three years. South Africa’s IRP is perhaps the only national power plan in Africa that explicitly accounts for distributed generation.
Second, in system operation: System operators need the data for PV forecasting, dispatch, balancing and reserve planning. Without it, changes in midday demand and evening ramps become harder to predict and manage. Location-specific data supports assessments of hosting capacity, voltage, reverse power flows, congestion and protection requirements. Unregistered systems can therefore create technical and safety risks.
Third, in tariffs and utility planning: Reliable data is needed to assess changes in electricity sales, network use and utility revenues. Without it, tariffs and network charges may be based on incomplete assumptions.
Fourth, in policy monitoring: Registration allows governments and regulators to track market development, renewable energy (RE) targets and avoided emissions. Without consistent reporting, it is difficult to evaluate whether policies are working.
Africa installed an estimated 20 GW of distributed solar between 2023 and 2025.
Ember estimates Africa installed 26 GW of total solar between 2023 and 2025, yet only a quarter of new solar can be explained by utility-scale and off-grid solar, leading us to assume the rest is distributed solar. Global Energy Monitor (GEM) shows only 5.9 GW of utility-scale solar plants were built, and IRENA shows only 0.2 GW off-grid solar was installed. Utility-scale solar is fairly well-documented and visible through government procurement projects; therefore, there’s unlikely to be a big gap here. Off-grid solar is likely growing much faster than IRENA estimates, yet its scale would still be very small in the context of the gap.
In almost every country, over half of the solar is estimated to be distributed solar. Egypt added the second-most utility-scale solar, and yet 43% of its solar is still distributed.
Distributed solar is grid-connected solar on the customer side of the distribution network (i.e., “behind the meter”) and primarily for self-consumption. This is distinct from grid-scale solar farms interconnected into the high-voltage transmission network, and from any off-grid solar that isn’t connected to the electricity grid (like mini-grids or solar pumping irrigation systems). The vast majority of distributed solar installations are rooftop PV systems.
The rapid spread of distributed solar in sub-Saharan Africa is an underreported success story. Unlike in mature markets outside of Africa, where adoption has been concentrated in the residential sector and driven by generous government subsidies, adoption in African countries has been an organic response to falling technology costs, energy security, reliability needs, and, of course, compelling economics. Commercial and industrial customers have been the enthusiastic early adopters.
In most African countries, at least until recently, prosumers (households and businesses that both produce and consume their own power) would earn nothing for their exports, meaning systems get sized optimally for self-consumption. This explains why commercial and industrial customers — whose daytime load profile matches solar output — make up at least 80% of the total distributed solar installed capacity in most African markets with payback periods as short as 2-5 years.
The distributed solar boom has largely been on the back of China’s manufacturing glut, which drove module prices to record lows, together with the 2022 oil crisis linked to the Russia-Ukraine war. Where policy played a role, it rarely targeted distributed solar directly. South Africa lifted its generation licensing threshold in the middle of the worst loadshedding on record, and some 7 GW of distributed capacity followed, much of it through private wheeling, where businesses buy power directly from off-site generators.
Zambia opened its market to private supply in 2023 after drought cut its hydropower generation by nearly 90% – its worst in decades. Nigeria removed its fuel subsidy in May 2023 and sharply raised tariffs for its high-paying ‘Band A’ customers the following year, making self-generation the cheaper option for anyone with access to capital. Kenya, on the other hand, and the vast majority of African markets, needed no trigger at all, as expensive electricity and unreliable supply were sufficient to stir investments in these distributed assets.
African countries need expanded frameworks that anchor these unplanned, grid-edge distributed assets in a coherent national strategy, particularly in light of shrinking aid flows, mounting energy security pressures, fragile utilities, and the unfinished business of universal electrification. This all starts with gaining visibility.
The lack of visibility on distributed solar is not unique to Africa, but a combination of factors makes it worse here. Many installations are carried out informally. This is compounded by the absence of distributed generation regulation, which leaves privately owned assets with no formal route into the market, and therefore no incentive to register themselves. And even where such regulations exist, they are often not operationalised.
Countries with even minimally operational regulation, licensing and permitting do have some visibility, although rarely much. About 12 report an official or semi-official distributed solar figure — net-metering registers, captive-power licences, or utility estimates, according to research from Sustainable Energy Africa. In some of them, Ember’s estimate of the capacity added in just the last three years exceeds the entire official stock recorded across all years. Tunisia and South Africa, which have among the oldest and most robust policies, regulations and permitting procedures on the continent, are also the two countries showing the smallest share of unrecorded distributed capacity.
That tide is now shifting, as governments take notice and system operators are stepping up to streamline registration and permitting for this increasingly important market segment. At least 15 African countries have registration and permitting procedures at an advanced draft stage, with several more in force or running as pilots. These are mostly reactive, and still behind the pace of the market, but are nonetheless expected to start closing the statistical gap. South Africa has gone a step further, building a digital platform for small-scale embedded generation, now used by more than 55 municipal distribution utilities, which moves permitting online and captures each installation’s geolocation. Eswatini and Namibia will launch theirs in early September 2026.
In Nigeria, 370 new solar companies registered in 2025, almost seven times higher than the 56 registered in 2019. In South Africa, GreenCard installer certifications show 638 installation companies certified in 2023 alone as solar installations boomed from chronic loadshedding. In Kenya, EPRA’s register of licensed solar firms in 2023/2024 was around six times that of 2019/2020.
Distributed solar is driving the biggest disruption of Africa’s power system from the bottom up, funded by private investment. Fundamentally about access, affordability and reliability, these assets also help defer new infrastructure upgrades and free up capacity on already overloaded transformers and substations in urban nodes. On the other hand, forcing businesses into self-generation at two to four times the all-in cost of utility-scale capacity is a hard foundation for industrial competitiveness. And every large customer that reduces its dependence on the grid takes with it the revenue that cross-subsidises poorer households, worsening the position of an already precarious supply industry.
If anything, Africa needs better planning — planning that constructively embeds these distributed assets so that they support the grid, and so that the benefits are shared across a wider base.
New large solar panel manufacturing plants have come online in Egypt and Tanzania, and other gigawatt-scale plants are planned. This should bring value-add for many countries, even though it has a strong reliance on Chinese inputs. The immense reported exports of Chinese cells and wafers to Africa far exceed the scale of Africa’s solar panel manufacturing needs, and suggest large-scale reshipping.
Africa’s solar panel manufacturing will quadruple this year as new large plants come online in Egypt and Tanzania to around 3,500 MW (Egypt 2,000 MW, Tanzania around 500 MW, six others around 1,000 MW), compared to around 800 MW in 2025.
This is equal to 20% of the 17 GW of solar panels installed during 2026. However, in both markets, the solar panels are predominantly for export to the US, where prices are much higher than for Chinese panels due to US tariffs on Chinese goods. The panels installed in Africa are predominantly Chinese-imported panels.
Ember estimates 2026 manufacturing output will be 2,000 MW in Egypt and around 500 MW in Tanzania – both up from near-zero in 2025. In addition, smaller plants in other countries are estimated to add a further 1,000 MW in 2026, more than doubling from 460 MW in 2024.
However, the data to assess this is extremely limited. There seems to be little documentation of the status of solar plants – either by governments or publicly elsewhere.
A large Ethiopian solar plant came online in 2025, manufacturing wafers into cells for sale to the US, where they are turned into solar panels. We exclude it here, since we are looking at only solar panel manufacturing.
Ember’s 2026 production estimate of 2,000 MW is based on EliTe’s output ramping quickly up to full capacity, and no output yet from the Sunrev plant. Customs data shows this 2026 ramp may be slower: Egyptian customs data shows US solar panel exports ramped up to 48 MW by April 2026, and the US reports zero imports as yet from Egypt. However, Chinese cell and wafer reported exports were much larger, at 2.4 GW of cells and wafers in the first half of 2026 alone, suggesting a large step-up in production is coming.
In Egypt, the rise in solar manufacturing is only just beginning. There are three large solar panel manufacturing plants – one began production at the start of this year, another started shortly after, and another is due to begin in early 2027.
In Tanzania, there is just one plant: Tanzol’s building at Kwala, in Kibaha, with a reported $300 million USD first phase and operations said to have been relocated from Vietnam and China. A special economic zone official confirmed in May 2026 that it is running, but no start date or capacity has been published. Reports imply it could be as big as 2 GW per year, but there is no confirmation of this.
Ember’s 500 MW Tanzanian estimate is very much a guess. US customs isn’t reporting any imports yet in its data to April 2026 (and Tanzania customs doesn’t report data either way). However, Chinese customs data does report large exports of cells – 945 MW in the first half of 2026 – and also 1,481 MW of wafers (although no known Tanzanian plant could use wafers). Some is feedstock; some may simply be passing through.
Meanwhile, six further countries have a smaller amount of solar panel manufacturing, which has been rising as more plants come online or have been expanded. We estimate 2026 output in Nigeria and South Africa will triple compared to 2024, Morocco and Algeria will double, and also Tunisia and Kenya will rise.
Nigeria’s output has risen because a second large line – LPV Technologies’ 200 MW plant in Lagos – started up in January 2025, joining incumbents Auxano, NASENI and Blue Camel. Its rural electrification agency puts national capacity at 300 MW, up from 120 MW two years earlier, though no Nigerian manufacturer publishes output.
Nigeria’s pipeline is large but stalled. Tranos broke ground on an 800 MW plant in June 2025 but has not commissioned its first line; the 1 GW Solarge–InfraCorp hub has neither construction nor a site; Oando’s 1.2 GW is a pre-investment decision.
In Morocco, two 1.2 GW plants have been proposed, but both are at early stages of development.
Trump announced new tariffs on solar cells and panels, which will make all imports of cells and panels much more expensive from 1 December 2026. It will reduce the ability for Egypt, Tanzania and Ethiopia to sell panels and cells into the US.
The premium is also closing from the other side: China removed its 9% export VAT rebate on 1 April 2026, lifting Chinese panel prices 4-8% and improving the economics of an African-made panel sold in Africa.
This could mean solar panels end up being used domestically. This would replace Chinese imports and ultimately mean Africa becomes more directly self-sufficient.
Both the Egyptian and Tanzanian plants are value-adding to the national economies, despite a strong Chinese reliance. But of the two large plants that have come online in 2026, the value-add is very different.
The Egyptian plant includes cell manufacturing and is using new production lines. The Tanzanian plant is for panel assembly only and seems to use older, relocated production lines, running on Chinese cells.
Egypt is manufacturing cells, and has plans for wafer, glass and frames manufacturing, but overall progress is slow to go beyond importing components. No solar glass is made anywhere in Africa (including even in South Africa); a proposed $700mn USD Suez plant would be first. All EVA, backsheet, ribbon and junction boxes are thought to be imported.
India provides a good example of building industrial strategy for solar and batteries, and is one of the few countries to properly scale supply chains that can compete on price with China.
China exported ten times as many cells and wafers to Africa as Africa has manufactured solar panels, according to import data from Ember’s China’s Solar PV Export Explorer. 28 GW of solar imports – 19 GW of cells and 9 GW of wafers – compared to just 2.7 GW estimated to have been manufactured in the 2.5 years to June 2026. In fact, 19% of Chinese solar cell exports and 13% of wafer exports in H1-2026 were destined for African countries.
We think that, in a small part, this reflects the step-up in African solar manufacturing that will continue into late 2026 and beyond.
But we think the majority would not actually be imported into the country, but rather re-shipped most likely to the US. Customs in most African countries do not report imports of cells and wafers, so there is no data there that helps to clarify.
Ethiopia imports cells, yet there is no manufacturing capacity to convert and build them into panels. Tanzania and Kenya reportedly received large exports of solar wafers from China, despite having no manufacturing plants to convert them into cells. Nigeria imported 3.1 GW of solar cells in the 12 months to June 2026, which far exceeds its small manufacturing capability.
Therefore, these Chinese exports give few insights into African solar panel manufacturing.
Ember: Matt Ewen, Daan Walter, Kingsmill Bond, Nic Fulgham, Kostantsa Rangelova, Rini Sucahyo, Rashmi Mishra, Sachin Sreejith and Chelsea Bruce-Lockhart.
We thank our external reviewers Mark Clinton Thurber (Stanford University), Rose Mutiso (African Tech Futures Lab), Tanaka Shumba-Mukudu (Sustainable Energy Africa) as well as Bhoomika Tiwari and Chris Gross (GET.transform).
Aerial view of rooftop solar in Africa
Credit: Sustainable Energy Africa
Ember is an energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy. Ember is the trading name of Ember Energy Research CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England & Wales #06714443. ‘Ember’ is a trademark held at the United Kingdom and European Union Intellectual Property Offices. All content is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY-4.0). Website powered by 100% renewable electricity.
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China is exporting a record amount of clean energy technology and that is making a dent in global emissions. Interest in renewables has surged due to the energy crisis from the Iran war. A report released Thursday shows that China’s exports of clean energy equipment such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles will avert an estimated 450 million metric tons of carbon dioxide this year. Experts say this is a small sign of progress in faltering global efforts to curb climate change. Such issues are likely to be on the agenda of annual United Nations climate talks kicking off next month in Turkey.
Installers haul a solar panel onto the roof of a home in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026.
A visitor inspects the interior of a BYD car during an auto exhibition organized by the Indonesian Electric Vehicle Industry Association (Periklindo) in Tangerang, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026.
Installers unbox solar panels from the Chinese manufacturer LONGi at a project site in Manila, Philippines, on April 30, 2026.
BANGKOK (AP) — China is exporting a record amount of clean energy technology and equipment as the energy crisis from the Iran war drives surging demand for renewables, and that will help reduce global emissions, according to a report released Thursday.
Once installed or deployed, these 2026 exports will likely avert emissions of about 450 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, roughly equal to Brazil’s annual emissions, says the analysis by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
It’s a small sign of progress as global efforts to curb climate change fall short. In November, Turkey will host annual U.N. climate talks where electrification is expected to be a leading topic.

“This is a pivot point for the outlook of global energy and global emissions,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, with CREA. “We’re seeing growth in clean energy that is much, much faster than anyone predicted just a few years ago.”
China ​is by far the largest global supplier of renewable energy equipment, from solar panels and wind turbines to electric vehicles and batteries. Most of what it makes is sold domestically, but a sizeable share is exported.
In the first nine months of 2026, CREA tracked a 61% increase in exports of electric vehicles, a 45% jump in shipments of wind turbines, a 39% spike in battery exports and 22% growth in overseas sales of solar equipment, compared to the same period last year.
Southeast Asia was a major destination. China’s clean energy exports to the region jumped nearly 160% from last year to this September, according to Ember, an independent global energy think tank.
The value of China’s electric vehicle exports hit $72.8 billion in the first nine months of this year, up from $39.7 billion last year, according to the research firm Atlas Public Policy.
If these export trends continue for the rest of 2026, about 8,400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide will be averted over the lifetime of all the clean tech China exported this year, CREA estimates.
That’s about 24% of annual global emissions, more than the United States’ and India’s emissions combined.
The analysis by CREA is based on export data, the electricity systems in destination countries and Chinese emissions during manufacturing. Independent experts said the estimate was in line with the scale of China’s exports, but were unable to validate the data.
Despite President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs, Chinese clean tech exports to the U.S. rose 13% in January-September compared to a year earlier.
“The demand is much stronger than I expected,” Myllyvirta said. “That’s certainly noteworthy.”
China is both the world’s biggest provider of clean tech equipment and the largest global source of carbon emissions.
Muyi Yang, a senior policy analyst at Ember, likened China’s energy transition to replacing the engine of a ship while it’s still at sea.
The drastic war-related disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, usually the source for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, hit import-dependent Asian countries first and hardest.
Renewed interest in clean energy options is likely to persist even after the war, said Yu Sun Chin, with the research group Zero Carbon Analytics.
Consumers in Southeast Asia are paying more for their electricity and fuel and opting for renewable alternatives such as rooftop solar.
Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have offered various incentives for installing solar and purchasing electric vehicles to help reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.
The Philippines implemented similar policies and became the second-largest destination for Chinese solar exports in the first quarter of 2026. Indonesia has pledged to install 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2029.
“The surge in clean energy policies in Southeast Asia shows there is a paradigm shift happening,” Chin said. “Considering Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate impacts, every emission cut matters in limiting a rise in global temperatures.”
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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HEXA Renewables Japan Signs 20,000 kWdc Solar PPA with Chubu Electric Power Miraiz  energynews.pro
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Integrated Solar Street Lights with LiFePO4 Battery: Long Lifespan Craftsmanship by AUTEX  EIN News
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“The smart move and what we’ve seen the industry move to is to use your own solar power instead of exporting it.”
Photo Credit: iStock
California homeowners shopping for solar are facing a different math problem than buyers did just a couple of years ago.
Under the state’s new net billing rules, sending extra power to the grid pays far less than it once did. That shift is pushing many new buyers toward another major expense: battery storage systems that can cost over $14,000, according to ABC 10News San Diego.
California’s NEM 3 policy — the state’s net billing tariff — reset the compensation rules for new rooftop solar customers when they send electricity to the grid.
For homeowners focused on cutting utility costs, the effect is straightforward: Extra solar power exported during the day is worth far less than it used to be.
Customers who connected before April 2023 stay on their original terms for 20 years from their connection date, Ryan Gallentine of the California Solar & Storage Association told ABC 10News. For anyone who went solar after that, the change was major. 
“It cut those export generation credits by about 80%,” Gallentine said.
That changed the savings outlook for recent buyers, including San Diego Gas & Electric customers. 
“In everyday terms, the power that your panels send to the grid now earns about a quarter of what it used to,” Gallentine told ABC 10News.
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
Going solar is still one of the best ways to save money on home energy, and solar leases in particular can deliver hundreds of dollars in monthly savings without any upfront costs. EasyHome‘s free explorer tool shows you potential savings from vetted installers in your area.
The rule change didn’t just reduce export credits; it also highlighted the importance of when households use the electricity their panels make.
Brian Grems of Stellar Solar told ABC 10News that before NEM 3, the best value usually came from midday solar production because customers received one-for-one credits. He added that NEM 3 puts more weight on evening electricity prices.
That leaves many new homeowners pursuing lower bills and cleaner energy with higher upfront costs. High energy bills were already squeezing households, and a policy that stretches out solar payback can make a money-saving upgrade less accessible.
Battery storage is the main way to adapt, as it lets households hold on to the electricity their panels produce and use it later when rates are higher.
“The smart move and what we’ve seen the industry move to is to use your own solar power instead of exporting it,” Gallentine told ABC 10News.
Grems said batteries allow customers to “take control of the situation” by saving electricity for evening use instead of sending it back to the grid at a steep discount. That can help homeowners recover some of the value lost when export credits were reduced.
EnergySage data cited by ABC 10News put the cost of a standard home solar battery in California at over $14,000
EasyHome‘s free explorer tool can help people decide whether solar still makes sense. EasyHome can also help you explore backup battery options, and pairing solar with a battery lets homeowners maximize savings and keep the lights on when the grid goes down.
If you’re weighing the investment, ask direct questions about pricing and return. 
“There is a payback period. It’s now a little bit longer than it used to be, but it does still make economic sense,” Gallentine told ABC 10News.
These stories take a closer look at how NEM 3 is reshaping solar decisions in California.
• A California buyer learned NEM 3 can punish homes that skip battery storage.
• After export rates fell, one homeowner saw their bill barely move without batteries.
• In California, SDG&E’s 4-to-9 pricing sent one homeowner shopping for a battery.
• In California, a renter tried to avoid NEM 3 traps by adding batteries.
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Graeme Sandral and Matt Muller are helping lead new research into the use of transparent solar panels. (ABC News: Emily Doak)
Charles Sturt University is investigating transparent solar panels for Australian agriculture.
Researchers say the panels could improve animal welfare, increase production and help farmers save money. 
The first results from the research are expected in late 2027. 
New research into the use of transparent solar panels in agriculture is being touted as a possible solution for cash-strapped farmers dealing with rising diesel costs.
The panels have gaps between the photovoltaic cells, allowing light to pass through. The Charles Sturt University (CSU) study will look at their use in livestock and horticulture management.
CSU researcher Graham Sandral said in one project, the panels were installed in a sheep feedlot previously reliant on diesel generators.
"[They're] designed to capture energy, which drives the automatic feeders, and allows enough light through so that in winter, sheep who happen to be sitting under the shade are still exposed to light and some warmth," he said.
Transparent solar panels have been installed on a sheep feedlot as part of research into their use. (Supplied: Charles Sturt University)
The sustainability director at CSU's AgriPark, Matt Muller, said apart from animal welfare benefits, there was growing interest from farmers in reducing input costs by switching to renewable electricity.
"We've seen it with the price of diesel this year," he said.
The panels vary in transparency from 10 to 48 per cent, allowing for variables such as location, industry, and generation need.
A secondary project will look at using the panels in vineyards.
The hope is they will act as a greenhouse-like roof over the vines and be movable to allow for pruning.
The company behind the technology, Sharp EIT, said the panels are already being used on farms in France, Austria and Belgium.
Transparent solar panels are used in some European farms.  (Supplied: Sharp EIT)
Mr Sandral said it was important the panels were tested in Australian conditions.
He said the panels had the potential to provide multifaceted benefits for grape growers.
"You're protecting [the crop] from hail and other natural occurrences, which can bring potential damage, " he said.
"But, you're also producing power at the winery, that can be utilised from the paddock, back into the wine production side of things."
The transparent solar panels are double the price of regular solar panels, which retail between $80 and $300 depending on size and wattage.
Farmers for Climate Action outreach officer Peter Holding welcomed the research but said it would be vital it proved the panels delivered a return on investment and productivity gains.
"The cost will come into it, because that's one of the major barriers to people putting them up in the first place," he said.
"If they're twice as expensive, I can't see how a transparent panel would benefit anybody, putting them on a roof or putting them on unused ground."
Mr Holding said while the panels could potentially drive down diesel costs, the electrification of farm machinery such as tractors and headers was where the biggest savings could be made.
Peter Holding said the panels' cost could be a barrier to wider take-up of the technology.  (Supplied: Econnect Communication)
Wine Australia's environmental, social and governance (ESG) manager Julian Marchant said wineries were big users of electricity, so the panels did offer opportunities.
He said there has been an increasing uptake of solar in the sector, but questions remained.
"All the parts that make up the solar panels will need to be tested for their corrosiveness to farm chemicals," Mr Marchant said.
"The sprayers go out quite often, so we'd need to make sure that they're protected from any spray that gets captured there."
A transparent solar panel at CSU's AgriPark in Wagga Wagga. (ABC News: Emily Doak)
Mr Muller acknowledged there were land use tensions in regional Australia when it came to agriculture and renewable energy generation.
"It's important that we demonstrate how they can work together and how the benefits can go for farming," he said.
"I think if we get that, it will prove to individuals that this is something worthwhile to do and you can do it on your own property as well."
Monitoring in the livestock project will start next month, with the analysis of results expected in late 2027.
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Australia’s energy minister seeks AEMC rule change forcing data centres to contract new firmed energy  PV Tech
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Paper and Leaves Both Cut Solar Panel Output, but Paper Blocks More Light in Ugandan Field Test
Shading is one of the most stubborn enemies of solar power, and in tropical cities it often arrives in the most ordinary forms: a fallen leaf, a scrap of paper carried by the wind, dust washed against a panel after rain. A new open-access study published in Discover Energy on 21 September 2026 set out to quantify exactly how much these everyday materials matter, comparing paper and Ficus lyrata leaves as shading layers on a small photovoltaic panel in Kansanga, Makindye Division, Kampala, Uganda. Over 80 days of measurements, the researchers found that both materials sharply reduced the panel’s electrical output, but paper proved the more damaging of the two, blocking more of the incoming solar radiation despite being far thinner than the leaves.
The experiment centered on a TOP SOLAR monocrystalline module with a rated maximum output of 40 W, 36 solar cells, an open-circuit voltage of 25.04 V, and a short-circuit current of 2.05 A. The panel was mounted on a fixed stand in an open area, oriented toward the sun, with unshaded conditions serving as the baseline control. The team then applied one, two, and three layers of paper and of Ficus lyrata leaves directly to the panel surface, taking care to keep placement and coverage consistent between tests. Measurements were taken between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. under clear weather conditions, using a digital multimeter for voltage and current, a solar power meter for irradiance, and a digital thermocouple thermometer for cell and ambient temperature. Power output was calculated as the product of current and voltage, and efficiency was computed from power output relative to solar irradiance and panel area.
The unshaded panel set a clear benchmark. Its average voltage was 24.85 V, its average current 1.22 A, its average power production 30.24 W, and its average efficiency 12.61%. From that baseline, the effects of shading unfolded in a steady, layered progression. Under leaf shading, average power output fell from 15.28 W with one leaf layer to 7.45 W with three, while efficiency dropped from 5.70% to 2.90% and average current declined from 0.64 A to 0.32 A. Paper shading produced still deeper losses: average current fell from 0.43 A to 0.21 A across one to three layers, power output dropped from 10.35 W to 4.80 W, and efficiency sank from 4.21% to just 1.88%.
The pattern held across intermediate layers as well. With paper, average current reached 0.43 A, 0.30 A, and 0.21 A for one, two, and three layers respectively, while leaf shading yielded gentler declines of 0.64 A, 0.43 A, and 0.32 A. Efficiency under leaf shading stepped down through 5.70%, 3.93%, and 2.90%, compared with 4.21%, 2.68%, and 1.88% under paper. Average power fell to 15.28 W, 10.10 W, and 7.45 W under one, two, and three leaf layers, and to 10.35 W, 6.93 W, and 4.80 W under the corresponding paper layers. In every comparison, the paper-shaded panel performed worse than the leaf-shaded one.
What makes this result physically interesting is that the materials differ in the opposite direction when it comes to thickness. The leaves averaged 0.39 mm, 0.75 mm, and 1.17 mm for one, two, and three layers, while the paper layers measured only 0.10 mm, 0.19 mm, and 0.29 mm. Despite being several times thicker, the leaves transmitted more usable light, likely because their internal structure allows partial light penetration, whereas paper is comparatively opaque. The authors attribute the greater losses under paper to this lower light transmittance, which blocks a larger fraction of incident radiation from reaching the photovoltaic cells.
The statistical analysis reinforced the hierarchy of harm. Correlation analysis found stronger associations under paper-shaded conditions (r = 0.63) than under leaf shading (r = 0.58). Regression models told a similar story: paper shading explained 35.3% of the variation in panel efficiency (R² = 0.35, p < 0.001), while leaf shading explained only 9.1% (R² = 0.09, p = 0.06), a result that was not statistically significant. For power output, paper shading accounted for 14.4% of the variation and leaf shading for 12.8%. Analysis of variance confirmed that the paper-shading model was statistically significant (F = 13.83, p < 0.001), and coefficient analysis showed that a single layer of paper had the largest individual effect on efficiency (β = 0.52, p < 0.001).
The leaf-side statistics were more nuanced. Correlations between the unshaded panel and panels shaded with one, two, and three leaves were weak (r = 0.04, 0.13, and 0.30 respectively), and the overall leaf-efficiency model was not significant. However, shading with three leaves did show a substantial individual effect on panel efficiency (β = 0.33, p = 0.02), suggesting that heavy leaf accumulation can meaningfully hamper conversion even when lighter coverage does not. For power output, the leaf model was statistically significant overall (F = 3.67, p = 0.02), with two-leaf shading contributing significantly (β = 0.36, p = 0.01), though one-leaf and three-leaf terms did not. On the paper side for power output, the overall model was significant (F = 4.22, p = 0.008), yet none of the individual layer counts—one paper (β = 0.23, p = 0.14), two papers (β = 0.06, p = 0.68), or three papers (β = 0.15, p = 0.29)—independently predicted output.
Those modest coefficients of determination carry an important caveat that the authors themselves emphasize: shading is only part of the story. Even the stronger paper-efficiency model left roughly two-thirds of the variance unexplained, pointing to other environmental factors—solar irradiance, panel temperature, ambient temperature, and wind speed—as substantial contributors to the day-to-day fluctuations in power generation. Collinearity diagnostics supported the reliability of the regression estimates, with variance inflation factors below roughly 2 and condition indices below 10, indicating that the shading variables acted independently rather than muddying each other’s effects.
The physics behind these losses is well established. Because cells within a photovoltaic module are connected in series, the output of the entire panel is constrained by the performance of the most shaded cell, which is why even a small shaded area can cause disproportionate power losses. Current is the parameter most sensitive to shading, since it is directly proportional to the sunlight absorbed by the cells, while voltage is generally more resilient under mild shading. Shading can also force shaded cells into reverse bias, making them behave as loads rather than generators and producing localized hotspots that can damage cells and shorten module lifespan—risks documented in earlier studies of partial shading, including work reporting power losses of 74.42% to 98.97% under complete shading of individual cells, branches, or rows.
Set against earlier research, the Kampala findings fill a specific gap. Prior studies have examined dust accumulation on panels in Nansana, Kampala, shading losses across module types, and modeled shading from obstacles in settings such as northeast Tehran, where southern obstacles caused over 50% energy loss. But few had tested simple, locally available materials like paper and leaves in a tropical field setting. The practical message for solar installers, policymakers, and consumers in similar climates is concrete: common urban shade sources such as litter and vegetation can impose significant energy losses, and managing them through regular panel cleaning, vegetation control, and careful placement away from trees and buildings is essential. The authors also flag directions for future work, including additional shading materials, other photovoltaic technologies such as thin-film and polycrystalline modules, mitigation strategies like maximum power point tracking and bypass diodes in real field conditions, and long-term degradation effects. For now, the study offers a measured, quantified reminder that in tropical cities, the difference between a well-sited, clean panel and one littered with leaves and paper can be measured in watts—roughly 30 W of output versus under 5 W under the heaviest paper shading in this experiment.
Subject of Research: The effects of paper and leaf shading on the electrical performance of a small monocrystalline solar panel in Uganda.
Article Title: Comparative analysis of tree leaves and paper shading materials on solar photovoltaic performance in Makindye, Uganda
Article References: living, O., Baron, M., Mundu, M. M., Judith, A., Uzorka, A., & Peter, J. (2026). Comparative analysis of tree leaves and paper shading materials on solar photovoltaic performance in Makindye, Uganda. Discover Energy, 6(1), Article 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43937-026-00186-9
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s43937-026-00186-9
Keywords: photovoltaics, partial shading, solar energy, Uganda, monocrystalline panel, field experiment, energy efficiency, regression analysis, tropical climate, panel maintenance, Comparative, analysis
News Source: Denise Maddox. (October 29, 2026). Paper and Leaves Both Cut Solar Panel Output, but Paper Blocks More Light in Ugandan Field Test. Scienmag.
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Refresco, a leading independent provider of Complete Beverage Solutions, has commenced a major 21.5MWp solar PV programme across four of its UK manufacturing facilities, marking one of the largest commercial and industrial solar deployments undertaken in the UK.
The investment supports Refresco’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its manufacturing operations, increase onsite renewable electricity generation and strengthen the long-term resilience of its energy supply.
At the centre of the rollout is an 8.5MWp installation at Refresco’s Bridgwater facility, which is expected to become the UK’s largest solar PV system installed on a single continuous roof. The project will comprise more than 18,000 high-efficiency solar modules and is expected to generate approximately 7.5GWh of renewable electricity annually.
Once operational, the system is expected to supply around 17% of the site’s annual electricity demand, providing a significant source of renewable power directly at the point of use and reducing reliance on grid-supplied electricity. Refresco selected GB NRG following a competitive procurement process involving twelve leading commercial solar providers, appointing the company to develop, design, engineer and deliver the four-site programme across its UK operations.
GB NRG also took the portfolio to market on Refresco’s behalf, running a competitive process that resulted in Zestec Renewable Energy being selected to fund and manage the solar infrastructure over the long term.
The projects will be delivered through Zestec’s long-term Power Purchase Agreements backed by Octopus Energy Generation managed funds. Installation of the flagship project is already well underway.
Delivering an installation of this scale on a live 24/7 manufacturing facility presents significant engineering and operational challenges. GB NRG has worked closely with Refresco to develop a solution that maintains uninterrupted production, protects roof integrity and ensures the highest standards of health, safety and long-term system performance throughout construction.
The scale of the installation places the project at the forefront of commercial rooftop solar deployment in the UK and demonstrates the potential for major manufacturers and other large energy users to turn previously unused roof space into a significant source of onsite energy generation.
James Logan, Managing Director of Refresco UK, said: “Reducing the environmental impact of our manufacturing operations is an important part of Refresco’s long-term strategy, alongside maintaining the scale, efficiency and reliability our customers expect.
“This programme will enable us to generate more renewable electricity directly at our production facilities, reduce our reliance on grid-supplied electricity and strengthen the long-term resilience of our operations. By reducing emissions from our manufacturing activities, we can also support our customers in achieving their own sustainability objectives and addressing emissions within their supply chains.
“We are particularly excited by the scale of the flagship installation. We have worked closely with GB NRG to develop the programme and identify the right delivery and funding solution, and we are pleased to be moving forward with GB NRG and Zestec.”
Jon Antoniou, Founder and CEO of GB NRG, said: “We are extremely proud to have been selected by Refresco to deliver what is a genuinely landmark solar programme.
“An 8.5MWp installation on a single roof is an exceptional project in its own right, and across the four sites we expect to deliver 21.5MWp of onsite solar generation.
“Our role has gone beyond designing and installing the systems. We took the portfolio to the funding market on Refresco’s behalf and selected Zestec through a competitive process, bringing together the technical, commercial and funding solution required to deliver solar at this scale.
“Being trusted to deliver the programme, following Refresco’s own competitive process involving twelve solar providers, is a major endorsement of the GB NRG team and the expertise we have built over the past 16 years.”
Toby Smith, COO of Zestec Renewable Energy, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Refresco and GB NRG on such a significant portfolio of commercial solar projects.
“Large-scale rooftop solar gives businesses such as Refresco the opportunity to make productive use of existing roof space, reduce reliance on grid electricity and make meaningful progress towards their sustainability objectives, without the need for upfront capital investment.
“This programme demonstrates what can be achieved by bringing together an ambitious end user, an experienced delivery partner, and long-term investment capital. As the funding and asset management partner, we look forward to supporting Refresco over the long term.”
For Refresco, the programme represents a major step in integrating renewable energy into its manufacturing infrastructure and supporting its long-term sustainability objectives.
For GB NRG and Zestec, the programme represents another major milestone as both companies continue to expand their involvement in delivering multi-megawatt commercial and industrial solar projects across Great Britain.
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Lower Guidance Clouds First Solar Earnings Despite Rays of Light on the Horizon  Barron’s
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Funding Opportunities
The American-Made Solar Prize is a multimillion dollar competition designed to spur innovations in U.S. solar hardware and software technologies and address challenges to rapid, equitable solar energy deployment. This challenge requires competitors to make progress quickly, form private-sector partnerships, and engage customers to bring their ideas to life.
The competition contains an optional Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest that runs parallel with every phase of the competition. Competitors have three opportunities to vie for additional cash prizes if their solution addresses solar market barriers faced by underserved communities and work to substantially advance their approach toward JEDI goals.
On June 15, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched Round 6 of the Solar Prize. In Round 6, the previously separate hardware and software tracks merged into one track for all competitors.
On December 8, 2022, 20 teams from 10 states were selected to receive $50,000 and advance to the next phase of the competition. Two teams were also selected to win the JEDI Contest and receive an additional $25,000.
On April 5, 2023, 10 teams from eight states were selected to receive $100,000 and advance to the final phase of the competition. Their concepts are grouped into the following categories: photovoltaics, systems integration, business and finance models, systems operations, and systems design. Three teams were also selected to win the JEDI Contest and equally divide an award pool of $50,000.
On September 12, 2023, two winning teams were announced at a live even at the RE+ conference. Each team received $500,000 in cash and $75,000 in vouchers to use at the National Laboratories and other qualified fabrication facilities. One of those winners was also awarded the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Contest prize of $50,000 for its role in expanding solar access to underserved communities. 
ReJoule’s Second-Life Solar (Signal Hill, CA) – This team is developing a fast, new method for testing the health of decommissioned electric vehicle batteries and using these batteries to develop an integrated solution for storing solar power and dispatching it at peak hours. This allows for fast screening of used batteries and certification for use in grid scale storage of solar energy. JEDI Contest Winner.
Latimer Controls (Boulder, CA) – This team is developing an intelligent control software that enables utility-scale photovoltaics (PV) to provide power reliably and on demand. This will replace grid reliance on fossil fuels, drive higher profitability for PV operators, and generate revenue increases for solar asset owners with low capital cost.
Mirai Solar
Project Name: Retractable Solar Modules for Buildings and Beyond
Location: Mountain View, CA
This team is developing a retractable photovoltaic (PV) shade screen for use in greenhouses. This provides on-site energy production for the greenhouses while also providing proper shade for plant production.
PI Energy
Project Name: Ultra-Thin Flexible Solar PV, for More Surfaces
Location: San Diego, CA
This team is developing ultra-thin, flexible, crystalline silicon solar PV cells that can wrap around buildings and vehicles. The technology will enable low-cost installation for the vehicle-integrated PV market, offset needs for grid-charging electric vehicles, and expand access to renewable energy.
Beam Solar
Project Name: The Beam Module: PreFab Solar for Commercial Roofs
Location: San Francisco, CA
This team is developing a prefabricated solar panel with integrated racking for commercial flat roofs. This solution will reduce costs by eliminating onsite fabrication or assembly for faster installation, design, and permitting.
Noria Energy (Finalist)
Project Name: Autonomous Cable-Free Anchoring for Floating Solar
Location: Sausalito, CA
This team is developing autonomous motors for floating solar, replacing traditional anchors and mooring systems. This simplifies installation, and reduces cost, redundant engineering for each project, and diving teams needed for installation.
Portable Solar
Ready! JEDI Contest Winner
Project Name: Ground-Based Mounting System for Rural Solar 
Location: Miami, FL
This team is developing a ground-based solar panel mounting system that can be assembled by anyone and connected by an electrician. This system is convenient for renters, rural households, and tribal areas, increasing solar adoption opportunities.
SolTek Nano
Project Name: Maximize Efficiency
Location: Las Vegas, NV
This team is developing a self-cleaning and chemically resistant nanocoating that prevents soiling of solar panels. This protection can increase panel efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.
Snow-Free Solar (Finalist)
Set! JEDI Contest Winner
Project Name: Facilitating Snow Removal from Solar Panels
Location: Toledo, OH
This team is developing a durable strip coating that is applied to the lower edge of solar panels to help shed snow. By shedding snow from panels in a quick and low-cost way, solar plants continue to operate efficiently year-round.
RUTE Foundation Systems (Finalist)
Set! JEDI Contest Winner
Project Name: Clearing the Hurdle of High-Cost Agrivoltaics
Location: Portland, OR
This team is developing a high-clearance single-axis tracker for PV systems that will be integrated into active farmland (agrivoltaics). Using raised cables to stabilize and move the panels, this technology lowers costs and uses less steel than traditional agrivoltaic racking systems.
Crack Catcher AI
Project Name: Crack Catcher AI
Location: Klamath Falls, OR
This team is developing a system of lasers and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess mechanical stress on PV cells, sensing and predicting fracturing. This will reduce defects that lead to reliability and quality issues, increase manufacturing yield, enhance long-term durability, and secure U.S. competitiveness in the PV market.
ReJoule (Finalist)
Set! JEDI Contest Winner
Project Name: Second-Life Solar
Location: Signal Hill, CA
This team is developing a fast, new method for testing the health of decommissioned electric vehicle (EV) batteries and using these batteries to develop an integrated solution for storing solar power and dispatching it at peak hours. This allows for fast screening of used batteries and certification for use in grid scale storage of solar energy.
Vellex Computing
Project Name: Grid-on-a-Chip: Accelerating Solar Interconnection
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
This team is developing a grid simulation platform that enables faster feasibility studies for interconnecting solar and other renewable energy resources to the grid. With this platform, simulations that used to take days can now be completed in minutes.
NC Solar Inverters (Finalist)
Project Name: World’s Most Reliable Inverter
Location: Cary, NC
This team is developing a new, low-cost inverter that combines efficient, older technology with new control techniques to create a fully sealed inverter design that uses natural cooling. This allows for higher reliability and performance for utility-scale solar compared to other inverters on the market.
Hawai’I Innovation
Ready! JEDI Contest Winner
Project Name: Deployable Off-grid CSP Desalination with MEDAD
Location: Honolulu, HI
This team is designing an off-grid, small-scale concentrated solar-thermal power (CSP) desalination system that harvests heat from the sun to produce fresh water. This modular, affordable, and efficient desalination system can deliver potable water to areas with freshwater shortages.
SandBox Solar
Project Name: SolarBound Build Confidence Build Trust Build Solar
Location: Fort Collins, CO
This team is developing an online marketplace for appraising solar land value and generating portfolios for developers. This tool could increase the percentage of successful solar projects by mitigating risks for developers and customers.
Edgeli (Finalist)
Project Name: Building Grid Capacity with Data and Models
Location: Portland, ME
This team is developing a cloud-based, collaborative data and modeling platform for developers and utilities to use shared data, models, and maps to site and size solar energy projects. This software will result in faster approval times and fewer projects clogging the interconnection queue.
Hail Cat
Project Name: Identify, Quantify, and Mitigate Hail Risk
Location: San Jose, CA
This team is developing a web-based software platform that allows solar developers and insurance companies to identify, quantify, and prevent hail damage. This enables sound financial assessments of potential risk-mitigation strategies and a rational basis for insurance prices and terms.
Latimer Controls (Finalist)
Project Name: Grid-Flexible Solar Control Software
Location: Boulder, CO
This team is developing an intelligent control software that enables utility-scale PV to provide power reliably and on demand. This will replace grid reliance on fossil fuels, drive higher profitability for PV operators, and generate revenue increases for solar asset owners with low capital cost.
Fliteworks (formerly SatAlpha) (Finalist)
Project Name: Autonomous Solar Site Monitoring
Location: New York, NY
This team is developing software to automate drone piloting of solar field aerial thermography scans. Automating this process can lower the cost of each thermal report, increase the frequency of inspections, and collect more data to improve the performance of each solar farm.
Solesca (Finalist)
Project Name: Fast and Quality Site Origination for Developers
Location: Chicago, IL
This team is developing a utility-scale solar design platform to help solar developers identify promising solar sites. Features of this platform include site filtering, community sentiment information, and a live collaboration tool.
LEAF (Finalist)
Project Name: LEAF Solar Design Assistant 
Location: Stow, OH
This team is developing a computer-aided design plugin that automates the layout design of utility solar sites for solar engineers. This decreases the manual redrawing of strings for each project, reducing labor hours and costs.
The American-Made Solar Prize is a part of the American-Made Challenges and is administered by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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Infinity Power issues notice to proceed for Egypt’s Nefer Minya solar project  Utilities Middle East
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Editing: Megan Rowling
Trade measures that impose tariffs and penalties on cleantech and emissions-intensive goods are poised to re-emerge as a challenging issue at the UN climate talks in Türkiye next month, after China signalled it wants COP31 to focus on ensuring the free flow of green technologies.
China, which dominates global manufacturing of cleantech equipment, has staunchly denounced US and EU tariffs and measures restricting the import of Chinese green technologies, which Washington and Brussels argue receive unfair government subsidies that threaten their nascent domestic industries.
China’s vice-minister of ecology and environment, Li Gao, told a press conference last week that COP31 should discuss the free flow of green technology as well as trade “unilateralism ​and protectionism”, warning that Beijing would give a “firm response” to attacks against it.
This story is exclusively available to paid subscribers. A free account gets you a selection of our reporting and our Climate Weekly newsletter. But a subscription gets you every story in full, our Bulletin emails from negotiations and conferences, two subscriber-only newsletters, and our monthly Editor’s column.
Trade measures that impose tariffs and penalties on cleantech and emissions-intensive goods are poised to re-emerge as a challenging issue at the UN climate talks in Türkiye next month, after China signalled it wants COP31 to focus on ensuring the free flow of green technologies.
China, which dominates global manufacturing of cleantech equipment, has staunchly denounced US and EU tariffs and measures restricting the import of Chinese green technologies, which Washington and Brussels argue receive unfair government subsidies that threaten their nascent domestic industries.
China’s vice-minister of ecology and environment, Li Gao, told a press conference last week that COP31 should discuss the free flow of green technology as well as trade “unilateralism ​and protectionism”, warning that Beijing would give a “firm response” to attacks against it.
Trade tensions spilled over into the climate negotiations at COP30 in Brazil last year, quickly becoming one of the talks’ major flashpoints after large emerging economies, including China, India and South Africa, pushed to get “unilateral trade measures” on the agenda of the UN climate negotiations.
Observers of the UN talks told Climate Home News trade is likely to re-surface as a major sticking point between the EU and emerging economies, including China, during COP31 this November after newly created spaces for dialogue on climate and trade adjacent to the formal negotiations have so far failed to yield practical solutions on a way forward.
“We should be prepared for the climate-trade issue to be one of the prominent issues in Antalya,” said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
Although there is currently no designated track in the negotiations to discuss trade issues, China and other large emerging economies have repeatedly used the climate conference to air their grievances over trade barriers. How far China is willing to push the issue within the UN climate process and what it hopes to achieve remain unclear, however.
The vehemence which characterised the trade discussions at COP30 could be tempered in Antalya next month, Li said.
“My expectation is that all sides will be mindful of the trade issue creating more frictions to the multilateral system and will be more measured at COP31,” Li told Climate Home News. “That said, we should continue to expect rhetoric around this issue. Domestic politics in different countries will demand emotions on this issue to be unleashed.”
An EU-China deal struck earlier this month to halve exports of Chinese hybrid vehicles to the bloc could also help ease tensions, with further talks planned in March.
The Trump administration did not send an official delegation at COP30 and is not expected to attend COP31 either, after it quit the Paris Agreement and is also withdrawing from the UN climate convention.
At COP30, China and other large emerging economies used the trade discussions to take aim at the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which they staunchly oppose.
The mechanism imposes a border levy on imports of high-emitting products from countries with less stringent emissions regulations to protect European industries from unfair competition and help drive down emissions. The UK is set to implement its own version from January.
But China and other developing countries argue that the levy violates international trade rules and disproportionately punishes countries with fewer resources to clean up their industries or pay a premium for greener products in their supply chains.
To keep the issue outside the formal negotiations, the COP30 Brazilian presidency bundled trade with other contentious issue into an overarching political decision, in which governments agreed to establish the first UN climate and trade dialogue.
The “Global Mutirão” decision repeated previously agreed language that unilateral measures to address climate change “should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade”. Brazil also launched a voluntary climate and trade forum for countries to discuss how trade can support sustainable economic growth.
But recent discussions “have remained stuck at the level of principled debate and have failed to identify practical solutions”, said Ellie Belton, who tracks climate and trade issues for think-tank E3G.
During the first of three trade dialogues scheduled annually between now and COP33, countries largely reiterated their existing positions at the June session in Bonn.
The EU defended its carbon border mechanism, and noted that the dialogue “should not become a space to address trade disputes or make judgements about the legitimacy of climate measures”. A spokesperson for the European Commission told Climate Home News that the bloc “welcomes continued dialogue” to enhance cooperation on measures to prevent carbon leakage.
Russia and the group of African countries suggested the creation of a formal negotiation track for trade discussions at the UN climate talks. But the EU and other developed economies will be reluctant to reopen the matter in Antalya, said Belton.
Meanwhile, the first meeting of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT) – also held during the Bonn climate talks – was poorly attended after last-minute participation by Russia, which led many developed countries skipping the dialogue, three attendees told Climate Home News.
Countries that joined the session “had a useful discussion but it wasn’t the meeting it was originally envisioned to be”, one delegate said.
Although the World Trade Organization is the obvious venue to discuss trade issues, it does not assess the climate impacts of trade interventions – a gap the UN climate talks could help bridge, observers say.
“Trade can generate real economy benefits to help advance global climate action – failing to address this at the UNFCCC is a missed opportunity,” said Belton, of E3G. “Unfortunately, it is likely to remain challenging to focus attention on the positive role of trade co-operation at COP31 if these longstanding tensions continue to consume so much bandwidth,” she added.
Some of the solutions proposed by countries in the first trade dialogue included ways to make different carbon markets work together, including by exchanging data, and using free trade agreements to lower barriers for clean technologies.
Access to affordable clean energy technologies such as solar panels, EVs and batteries has become a key issue for developing countries seeking to wean their economies off expensive and polluting fossil fuels. At the same time, nations want a share of cleantech value chains to create jobs and spur development.
A background paper for the climate and trade forum, seen by Climate Home News, shows that some of the areas identified for co-operation include reducing the cost of low-carbon trade, protecting trade flows after climate-induced disasters, and better connecting systems to report and verify the sustainability of traded goods.
Alden Meyer, a senior associate at E3G, said the forum is meant for countries to “hold hands and move together in a more ambitious and faster way” without the need for global consensus required by formal negotiations.
Meanwhile, the accompanying trade dialogues are designed to “feed into the negotiations over the second Global Stocktake” at COP33, where countries will issue a set of recommendations to ramp up global climate policies. This package could include trade provisions for the first time.
“That could be useful if the next two years demonstrate that there’s a willingness to look for ways in which the UNFCCC can be constructive in the trade space, and make trade a driver of climate ambition rather than a finger-pointing exercise and an irritant,” Meyer said.
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The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) has officially launched Megawatts for Maryland, a multi-phase competitive auction program aimed at expanding in-state renewable generation and energy storage capacity while putting downward pressure on regional electricity rates.
Backed by up to $100 million for Fiscal Year 2027, with an additional $100 million anticipated for FY 2028, the initiative draws funding from the state’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund. The program targets grid-scale deployment to tackle climbing electricity demand and regional transmission cost pressures.
The launch comes as state leadership works to expand a mid-Atlantic solar and storage footprint that currently stands at 3,440 MWdc of installed solar capacity across 119,137 individual installations, representing $7.7 billion in total investment and generating 8.77% of Maryland’s electricity.
While solar currently powers over 408,000 homes, the state’s battery storage capacity remains modest at just 35 MWh, underscoring the need for near-term grid-scale storage incentives. With a robust local footprint of 200 solar companies including 17 manufacturers and 100 installers and developers supporting nearly 5,000 jobs, current market forecasts project Maryland will add 2,637 MW of solar capacity over the next five years.
The initiative utilizes a strict two-stage competitive bidding process designed to weed out speculative proposals and back projects capable of reaching commercial operation. Developers must establish baseline eligibility by November 30, 2026, through a preliminary application where MEA will evaluate initial project parameters, real estate control, and interconnection standing.
Applicants cleared in this first stage must then submit their final bid price per megawatt-hour alongside comprehensive financial models and documentation by January 22, 2027. MEA anticipates issuing grant decisions in Spring 2027, with selected projects required to achieve commercial operation within seven years of funding allocation.
MEA is casting a wide net for asset classes, opening eligibility to Tier 1 renewable energy generation projects not participating in net energy metering, energy storage systems encompassing standalone battery energy storage systems as well as systems co-located with net-metered or non-net-metered Tier 1 renewables, and hybrid assets coupling generation and storage directly. Rather than relying on fixed incentives, MEA will award grants to eligible developers requesting the lowest price per megawatt-hour through the closed-bid auction format.
Renewable energy and energy storage projects are the quickest, cleanest, lowest cost option to develop local energy supply, according to MEA Director Kelly Speakes-Backman. Developers can review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement, financial model templates, and submit proposals through the online My MEA portal.
From pv magazine USA
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OMV Petrom announces that three photovoltaic parks developed in partnership with Renovatio have become operational and are now delivering power to the national grid. The projects have a total gross installed capacity of 130 MW and are located in Țăndărei, Bucovăț and Căzănești. The net capacity attributable to OMV Petrom’s interest in the three projects is around 65 MW.
The total gross estimated annual production of the three parks of 0.2 TWh is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 110,000 households in Romania.
“The commissioning of these solar parks is another step in advancing our renewable power portfolio. Operational assets in our portfolio, including partnerships, now have a cumulative total capacity of around 200 MW. A further 1,200 MW is under construction, and we target over 2,500 MW of operational capacity by 2030. These new renewable power capacities support Romania’s energy transition,” said Franck Neel, member of the Executive Board of OMV Petrom, responsible for Gas & Power.
Total investment for the three projects amounts to approximately EUR 78 million, thereof EUR 26 million grants under Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
OMV Petrom is strengthening its position in the electricity market with a portfolio that includes the 860 MW Brazi power plant, over 2,500 MW of renewable capacity projects (including partnerships) currently in various stages of implementation, and power storage projects in Romania and Bulgaria.
Since 2004, ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ aims to bring a fair and balanced analysis and comprehensive coverage of the political and business scene in Romania.
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Pulau Tekong, Singapore’s largest outlying island, is one of the areas identified as holding potentially vast reserves of subterranean geothermal energy. Photo by triplefivedrew / Flickr.
 
Singapore discovered geothermal resources at potentially 60 times its annual electricity consumption.
Energy regulators appointed a consortium to run a 15-month assessment on generating utility-scale geothermal power.
The 2035 solar goal was meanwhile raised to 4GWp, targeting unconventional spaces like building facades and carports.
 Solar will meet just 10% of 2050 demand, driving the push for round-the-clock low-carbon energy alternatives.

Singapore’s geothermal resource potential is more than 60 times its current annual electricity consumption, its two-year survey has concluded.
Following these preliminary findings, Singapore’s Energy Market Authority has appointed a consortium formed by state-owned Surbana Jurong and Canadian energy consulting firm GLJ to study the feasibility of generating geothermal power from the newfound resources it detected several kilometres deep.
The study will commence by the end of 2026 and is estimated to take about 15 months.
“We are at the start of our journey, and have not yet made a decision on whether to deploy geothermal in Singapore. It could take many years before we get to that decision point. Nevertheless, we will explore this option seriously,” said Tan See Leng, Singapore’s minister for energy, trade and industry.
Given the constraints in deploying its most viable domestic renewable energy source, Tan said geothermal energy is one of the alternative pathways Singapore is “seriously studying”.

Meanwhile, Singapore has raised its 2035 solar target to 4 gigawatt peak (GWp) as part of its efforts to decarbonise its gas-reliant grid.
But even with its new target, solar is not expected to meet more than 10% of projected electricity demand in 2050, said Tan at the annual Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW) on Monday. 
“Ultimately, we need sources of low-carbon energy that can meet baseload demand at utility-scale.”
To date, Singapore has deployed 2.3GWp of solar, and is on track to meet its current 2030 target of 3GWp. The land-scarce nation has already installed solar panels on reservoirs, interim vacant lands and building rooftops, but plans to make a bigger push into underutilised spaces.
A new tender has been launched to deploy solar in less conventional spaces in the public sector, such as through replacing the rooftop materials of parking structures with solar panels, also known as solar carports, or building-integrated photovoltaics, where solar cells double as building facades. 
The government is also exploring the use of containerised solar solutions, paired with mobile battery storage systems, on vacant plots and remote construction worksites that currently rely on diesel generators. 
It has also partnered with the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore to link up private homeowners to solar installers to maximise residential solar deployment.
Meanwhile, Singapore industrial landlord JTC has awarded a tender for the country’s first overhang solar project to renewables giant EDP APAC. The project, which involves suspending solar panels between two existing buildings, aims to export 250 kilowatt peak (kWp) of power to the grid and will be licensed to operate for 10 years, once commissioned.
Under Singapore’s recently announced S$800m (US$624m) initiative to develop emerging low-carbon technologies, it has co-funded a pilot project by the Asia-Pacific arm of Portuguese/Spanish giant EDP Renewables and Chinese solar firm GCL Perovskite to roll out higher efficiency tandem perovskite-silicon panels – designed to generate more solar using the same amount of space – within the next decade.
“We are really pushing all boundaries and surfaces, literally… to harness solar across Singapore,” said Gan Siow Huang, minister of state for energy, trade and industry of Singapore. 
“But even so, we know there are limits to how much solar energy we can deploy here.”
This page was last updated October 29, 2026
Gabrielle See is an award-winning journalist based in Singapore who has written for Green Central Banking since 2025. She has covered the intersections of finance, geopolitics and energy transition in Asia over the past five years for regional and international publications, including CNBC, Eco-Business, Southeast Asia Globe and the Business Times.
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Asean’s first ever adaptation guide warns against financing projects that worsen climate risks under the guise of adaptation, such as monocultures and replanting drained peats.
Malaysia’s regulators are exploring a centralised nature-data platform, but will better data help banks assess environmental risks and make nature-positive projects bankable?
Most banks say climate-related risks are already captured in market prices, with only few explaining how these risks are reflected in banks’ financial statements.
Japanese policymakers should work with the investment sector to ensure its economic growth plans help the energy transition, argues policy expert Sam Hall.
The country wants fairer export terms for the regional initiative, while calling for more investment in its planned 100GW solar buildout.
Global 2050, 35 Smiths Neck Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371 USA. [email protected]
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© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
“Most people selling electrical items are migrating to solar.”
Photo Credit: iStock
In Nigeria, wedding gift lists increasingly include solar panels, batteries, and inverters next to staples like microwaves and bed linens, reflecting how backup electricity has become a household necessity rather than an upscale extra.
The financial payoff is winning over many families — BloombergNEF estimated a small solar setup could recoup its cost in as little as 16 months as generator fuel prices continue to rise.
Running a generator became costlier after gas subsidies ended in May 2023, compounding Nigeria’s chronic power shortages. 
According to BloombergNEF, Chinese manufacturers have made solar panels, batteries, and inverters a much more realistic purchase for consumers.
A solar setup for a three-person home costs around $4,500, compared with a new petrol generator that sells for about one-seventh of that. 
However, BloombergNEF modeled generator fuel costs alone at roughly $200 per month, which helps explain why that upfront price gap can narrow much faster than many buyers expect.
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By the end of 2025, Bloomberg reported that Nigeria’s small-scale solar capacity had surpassed the amount of power supplied through the national grid.
The pressure on generator users has been particularly intense in cities such as Lagos, where fuel spending can quickly eat up a large share of a household budget. 
One Lagos resident said weekly fuel spending had reached about 70,000 naira ($52) before subsidy cuts made it even harder to afford, per Bloomberg.
The man eventually took out a loan for a 3-kilowatt Felicity Solar system. After switching, he kept his generator only for water pumping.
Nigeria added as much solar capacity in 2026 as in 2024 and 2025 combined, but environmental concerns aren’t the main driver behind the change. 
Households are reacting to unreliable grid service and soaring fuel bills by seeking a steadier, more affordable way to power lights, appliances, and other basic home needs.
The commercial response has been rapid. 
Alaba International Market in Lagos boasts more than 200 solar shops, with solar goods filling its most prominent aisles beside televisions and refrigerators.
The companies selling into Nigeria are scaling up, too. 
Felicity Solar entered Nigeria after struggling in China’s saturated domestic market. Its Nigerian managing director reported 250% sales growth in 2023 and a 200% average annual growth rate.
Traditional generator brands are also moving into the category by adding solar equipment to their product lines. The crossover suggests sellers see sustained consumer demand, not a short-lived spike.
For households, part of the attraction is flexibility. 
Abuja-based energy consultant Lande Abudu explained that the power source lets people “build with solar and scale up,” then add panels, batteries, or appliances as they can afford them, rather than paying for a full system at once.
The change is visible in Lagos storefronts. 
“Most people selling electrical items are migrating to solar,” said Nnamdi Nkemka, owner of CNN Global Solar.
Nigeria’s household solar boom is part of a broader move away from expensive diesel and unreliable power grids. The articles below look at that shift from several angles, including Nigerian manufacturing, emerging-market financing, and off-grid batteries.
• Across Nigeria, solar is drawing industry away from diesel generators and weak grid service.
• Across emerging markets, solar now beats fossil fuels on upfront costs and financing.
• In Africa and Asia, all-in-one off-grid batteries target homes still reliant on diesel.
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.
© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.

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The IROSA solar array unrolls under during the Oct. 29 spacewalk under the watchful eye of astronaut Anil Menon. Image: NASA.
Over seven hours and 11 minutes, the alternating darkness and sunshine of low Earth orbit set the pace as NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk successfully installed and unfurled the seventh of eight new solar panels designed to power the outpost through its retirement in 2030.
“Night is dark and full of wonders,” one of the spacewalkers radioed after the hatch to the station’s airlock swung open.
Menon, 50, and Kutryk, 44, switched their spacesuits to battery power at 7:57 a.m. EDT and began repressurizing the Quest airlock at 3:08 p.m. EDT, ending the seven-hour, 11-minute outing. The pair finished the IROSA work far enough ahead of NASA’s planned timeline that they could tackle “get-ahead tasks,” including preparations for the final IROSA installation Nov. 5.
“The spacewalk was essentially flawless,” NASA Mission Control commentator Rob Navias said.
The extravehicular activity, or EVA in NASA parlance, was the 285th devoted to station assembly, maintenance and upgrades and was the first of two planned spacewalks to install the final pair of IROSAs. NASA says the eight arrays will raise the station’s available power from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts.
“Engineers and electrical officers here in Mission Control are happy with what they’re seeing from the new array, which will add 8 kilowatts to the overall power capability of the complex,” Navias said after the 60-foot solar panel unfurled from its rolled-up configuration over about 10 minutes.
Kutryk, making his first spacewalk after arriving on station Oct. 1 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, became the fifth Canadian astronaut to walk in space and the first since David Saint-Jacques in 2019. It was Menon’s fourth spacewalk, bringing his total time spacewalking to 26 hours and 31 minutes, all of it logged since he arrived at the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz in July.
The successful EVA brought NASA’s cumulative spacewalk time outside the station since assembly began in 1998 to 75 days, seven hours and 14 minutes, and brought 2026’s total number of spacewalks to eight.
Thursday’s operations got off to a quick start.
After Menon and Kutryk worked through a series of bolts to free the IROSA from the carrier it launched on, Menon locked his boots into a foot restraint affixed to the end of the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm, Canadarm2, and rode it, array in hand, out to the left, or port, side of the station’s main truss.
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney piloted the arm from inside the station while Kutryk made his way to the installation site along the truss. Flight director Greg Whitney led the spacewalk from Mission Control in Houston.
By about three hours and 13 minutes into the spacewalk, the pair had the array installed at the P4 truss work site on a bracket astronauts previously installed during a March spacewalk. In all, Menon spent more than two hours anchored to the end of the station’s robotic arm before rejoining Kutryk on the truss.
Because the new array’s power cables can only be handled and hooked up to the station while it’s in Earth’s shadow, when none of the ISS’ solar panels are generating electricity, mission planners timed the cable work to coincide with orbital night.
During the first available nighttime pass — an entire eclipse earlier than planned, according to Mission Control — Menon and Kutryk connected three of the four main power connectors before the station slipped back into sunlight, where it would remain for about an hour.
That was no issue, as the spacewalkers were running “about an hour ahead of the timeline,” Navias said as the EVA neared the four-hour mark. At 12:20 p.m. EDT, Menon and Kutryk released the final restraints, and the IROSA began to unfurl — no motors required — thanks to energy stored in carbon-fiber composite booms.
Mission Control’s electrical engineers had already determined the array was safe to deploy with three of the power connectors mated, and Menon made the fourth and final connection during the next nighttime pass, after the array had unrolled.
During an Oct. 20 briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Garrett Hehn, the flight director who will lead the Nov. 5 spacewalk, likened the IROSA panels to a snap bracelet that, once released, “just continues rolling out steadily.”
“All of the work has gone very much by the book today,” Navias said during the roughly 10 minutes it took the IROSA to unfurl. “So far, so good.”
The two final arrays arrived at the station rolled up and folded on a carrier in the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Cargo Dragon, which launched Oct. 13 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Each weighs about 750 pounds folded, according to Hehn.
“Overall, these roll-out arrays increase our power generation capability up to 30 percent,” Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager for NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, said at the Oct. 20 briefing.
Space shuttles delivered the station’s eight original solar wings, designed to last 15 years, between 2000 and 2009. Rather than replace them outright, NASA opted to mount the smaller IROSAs in front of the old wings, partly shading them while the original panels’ exposed portions keep producing power. Each IROSA generates about 8 kilowatts of electricity, according to NASA.
The first IROSA unrolled on station in June 2021, though not without a fight: A spacesuit glitch and an array that wouldn’t unfold cleanly forced astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet to finish the job on a second spacewalk. NASA refined the installation process during successive spacewalks, and by 2023, six arrays were in place. That summer, NASA ordered an additional pair — the seventh and eighth.
Menon and Kutryk plan to venture back outside the Quest airlock Nov. 5 to install the eighth and final IROSA at the far right, or starboard, end of the station’s main truss, beyond the reach of its robotic arm. Menon will again ride the arm as far as it will take him. To cover the last stretch, he and Kutryk will pass the array between foot restraints in a maneuver Hehn said the team “lovingly” calls “the leapfrog.”
“Everything today went almost better than could have been expected,” Navias concluded after Menon and Kutryk had returned to the station’s interior.
Safely inside the ISS, Menon reflected on what he called “an incredible milestone.”
“Well, being outside, I can say that it is always sunny in space, except for a few orbits,” Menon told Mission Control. “And it’s quite incredible what we’ve been able to do to provide new solar arrays to space station.”
In his first remarks after venturing into the vacuum of space for the first time, Kutryk was quick to thank Menon for “being a great spacewalking partner.”
“Been wonderful working with you,” Kutryk continued. “A very special thank you to our crewmates Jessica [Watkins] and Luke [Delaney]. Trusted them with our lives to get us in and out today … They did exactly that.”

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Distributed Energy Infrastructure Adapts 3.37 MWdc Solar Project to Bedrock in Upstate New York  energynews.pro
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The UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has granted development consent for Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, a solar photovoltaic project with a maximum generation capacity of 800 MW, incorporating battery energy storage and infrastructure to connect to the national electricity grid.
The decision, announced by the Planning Inspectorate, marks a major regulatory milestone for one of England’s large-scale solar developments, promoted by Elements Green Trent Limited.
The project will be located northwest of Newark-on-Trent, in Nottinghamshire, and will connect to the national grid through the Staythorpe substation.
According to the developer’s estimates, the facility could generate approximately 1.13 TWh of electricity annually, equivalent to the yearly electricity consumption of around 400,000 UK homes.
The project includes solar photovoltaic panels, a battery energy storage system (BESS), and the infrastructure required to transmit electricity to the grid.
Technical documentation indicates approximately 1,120 MW of photovoltaic capacity in direct current (DC), corresponding to 800 MW of generation capacity in alternating current (AC).
The storage system will enable part of the electricity generated to be stored and supplied at other times, improving operational flexibility and supporting the integration of renewable generation into the electricity system.
Development consent includes the BESS installation, although the official announcement does not specify its final power rating or energy storage capacity.
The development will cover approximately 1,765 hectares, of which around 1,025 hectares will be allocated to solar infrastructure. The remaining land will accommodate supporting infrastructure, access routes, grid connections and environmental measures.
Alongside electricity generation, Great North Road incorporates environmental restoration and biodiversity enhancement measures.
Elements Green plans to plant approximately 64,500 trees and establish more than 50 kilometres of new hedgerows, alongside areas dedicated to protecting and restoring natural habitats.
The proposal also includes more than 800 acres of biodiversity areas outside the land occupied by solar panels.
In addition, it provides for 28 new public access routes, including walking paths and bridleways, with a combined length of approximately 34.8 kilometres.
These initiatives form part of the developer’s proposed environmental measures and will be subject to the applicable requirements during construction and operation.
Elements Green submitted its application for development consent on June 27, 2025, and the Planning Inspectorate accepted it for examination on July 22 of the same year.
The project was assessed under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime, which applies to certain large-scale energy developments in the United Kingdom.
During the examination, local authorities, statutory bodies and affected communities had the opportunity to submit representations and supporting evidence.
Following the assessment, the Examining Authority submitted its recommendations to the UK government on July 28, 2026.
Development consent was granted on October 27 through a decision made by Baroness Curran, acting under delegated authority from the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
According to the developer, construction could begin from 2027, although the timetable remains indicative and may change as the project progresses through its next stages.
With this approval, Great North Road has cleared a major regulatory milestone. However, development consent does not mean construction has started or that the 800 MW of solar generation capacity has already been added to the UK’s electricity system.
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Loma Del Norte Apartments in Anthony received solar panels, heat pump upgrades and roof repairs through New Mexico's Energy$mart Weatherization Program.
Housing New Mexico and Southwestern Regional Housing celebrated improvements at Loma Del Norte Apartments, where upgrades aim to reduce heating and cooling costs for low-income residents.
Organ Mountain News report
ANTHONY – Residents of an affordable housing complex in Anthony could see lower heating and cooling costs following energy efficiency improvements that include solar panels, a heat pump and roof repairs.
Housing New Mexico and Southwestern Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation celebrated the improvements at Loma Del Norte Apartments on Thursday, Oct. 29, as part of a local observance of Weatherization Day.
The work was completed through the NM Energy$mart Weatherization Program, which helps low-income households reduce energy consumption and utility costs while improving home safety and comfort.
Improvements at the apartment complex included roof and ceiling repairs, a heat pump and solar panel installation.
“Through weatherization measures, HVAC upgrades and solar panel installations, the residents of Loma Del Norte will be able to reduce heat loss in the winter and reduce heat gain in the summer months,” said Veronika Molina, executive director of Southwestern Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation. “The goal is to reduce the heating and cooling burden by at least 30% for low-income residents.”
The 30% figure is the program’s goal, not a documented reduction in residents’ utility bills.
Southwestern Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation, which provides affordable housing and community resources for low- and moderate-income New Mexicans, facilitated the improvements. The organization received the first award from the state’s Energy$mart Weatherization Program in 2012.
Housing New Mexico administers the statewide program through nonprofit service providers.
“Thanks to partners like Southwestern Regional Housing and Community Development Corporation, we can help many New Mexicans lower their energy costs and improve their health through the NM Energy$mart Weatherization Program,” said Donna Maestas-De Vries, Housing New Mexico’s chief housing officer. “We are appreciative of all the funders of this program and everyone who performs the hard work to make the energy efficient retrofits a reality.”
The Anthony celebration coincided with the 50th anniversary of the federal Weatherization Assistance Program, authorized by the U.S. Department of Energy in 1976.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham proclaimed Friday, Oct. 30, as Weatherization Day in New Mexico, recognizing efforts to improve housing energy efficiency and reduce utility expenses.
The state’s Energy$mart program receives funding from the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, New Mexico Gas Company, New Mexico Health Care Authority’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, New Mexico Housing Trust Fund, PNM and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Other weatherization service providers include Central New Mexico Housing Corporation and Red Feather Development Group.
The program focuses on improvements that can help households reduce energy expenses while addressing health and safety concerns associated with inefficient housing.
Residents interested in learning about eligibility and available weatherization assistance can find information through Housing New Mexico’s weatherization program.
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NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk are performing a spacewalk to install the 7th of 8 ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) to upgrade the orbiting outpost's power system.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk are awaiting the start of today’s spacewalk. They are buttoned up inside what NASA calls Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs), better known as space suits.
The crew is running slightly ahead of the timeline according to NASA commentator Rob Navias. The spacewalk is due to get underway at about 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) but first the spacesuits will be fitted with SAFER units, jet back packs that will be used in the unlikely event a crew member becomes untethered from the space station. They will then move into the crew lock portion of the Quest airlock for depressurization.
The Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a small, self-contained jet pack, is now being fitted to Anil Menon’s space suit.
Menon has now moved into the outer Crew Lock portion of the Quest Airlock. He can be easily identified by the red stripes on his space suit, indicating he is designated EV1 for this excursion. This will be his fourth spacewalk since arriving at the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz craft in July.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk is now being fitted with his SAFER back pack.
Kutryk, who will be referred to as EV2 by Mission Control, has now joined Menon inside the Crew Lock section of Quest. Next up will be closure of the hatch.
The hatch between Equipment Lock and Crew Lock sections of the airlock is now being closed ahead of depressurization of the outer compartment.
Meanwhile at the Kennedy Space Center, the Pegasus barge is departing for the Stennis Space Center. It’s carrying a New Glenn second stage for test firing at the Mississippi facility.
The airlock depressurization is underway. Pressure in the compartment will initially drop to 5 psi where it will be held for space suit checks before being lowered to a vacuum.
Airlock pressure now 9 psi.
Space suit leak checks underway as the pressure in the airlock has reached 5 psi.
Leak checks are reported good and depressurization to vacuum will now continue.
Now 4 psi in the airlock.
Approaching 2 psi now.
Astronaut Nichole Ayers in Mission Control has taken over from the station crew in communicating instructions to the spacewalkers. She is designated Spacewalk Communicator for this excursion. Astronaut Jenni Gibbons is the CAPCOM in mission control, an acronym from the early days of the space program standing for Capsule Communicator.
Pressure inside the Crew Lock section of the Quest airlock is approaching vacuum.
The airlock has reached vacuum and the spacewalkers are starting to open the outer hatch.
The hatch is now open.
The astronauts space suits are now on internal battery power. NASA considers this the start of the spacewalk. The official start time was 7:57 a.m. EDT (1157 UTC), according to Mission Control commentator Rob Navias.
“The night is dark and full of wonder,” said Menon as he opened the thermal cover that protects the airlock hatch. He will be first to leave the airlock.
Menon is now outside the airlock. This spacewalk is expected to last about seven hours.
Joshua Kutryk has also left the airlock. He has now become the fifth Canadian astronaut to make a spacewalk.
Previous Canadian spacewalkers (with the date of their first spacewalk) were: Chris Hadfield (STS-100, April 2001), Steve MacLean (STS-115, September 2006), Dave Williams (STS-118, August 2007), and David Saint-Jacques (Expedition 59, April 8, 2019).
Menon and Kutryk have made their way down the space station truss to the location of the pallet holding the International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) that they will be installing today.
The two spacewalkers are working to release a series of bolts that hold the iROSA to its storage pallet.
The astronauts are using pistol grip tools to release the bolts holding the array.
Now an hour into today’s spacewalk.
Menon is now in a foot restraint, riding on the end of the Canadian robot arm, while Kutryk continues to work in the area of the iROSA pallet.
Final bolts are being released holding the ISS roll-out array in its carrier.
Menon is holding the new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) at the end of the robot arm after it was removed from the stowage pallet on the station’s truss.
Now more than two hours and 16 minutes since the start of today’s spacewalk, Menon is being moved on the end of the Canadarm-2 to begin aligning the IROSA with the bracket for power channel 2A.
Kutryk is translating along the station to position himself for installing the IROSA.
Now more 2.5 hours into the spacewalk, Ayers told Menon and Kutryk that when they’re working on the mod kit for the new IROSA that they shouldn’t make simultaneous or sudden movements.
The solar array has been soft-docked to the 2A electrical power channel.
The manual maneuver of the Canadarm-2 of about half a meter is complete, moving to Menon’s right. His spacesuit has the red stripe on his legs. Kutryk continues working on the IROSA mod kit. The ISS is about 10 minutes away from going into a night pass where they can start making the electrical connections on the IROSA. Navias says things have proceeded as expected so far on today’s spacewalk with no bolt issues.
Now more than three hours into the spacewalk Menon and Kutryk are working to release a hinge restraint on the IROSA. This will allow it to fully unfurl to its full length of about 60 feet. Menon is now being translated away from the IROSA.
Teams in Mission Control Center Houston are determining whether they will use this current night pass to begin hooking up the power cables first or to unroll the IROSA first. Navias says they are still running ahead of the timeline.
Kutryk and Menon are preparing to open the IROSA after engaging the soft capture. There are about 20 minutes remaining in the night pass. Menon says they should proceed with the power cable mating and Kutryk agrees.
Navias says if all of the power connections cannot be completed during this nighttime pass, Menon and Kutryk will pause and wait for the next one, since they don’t want to be interacting with them when power is flowing.
Both Menon and Kutryk are at their de-mate locations. They are working to complete the remaining power hookups during this night pass with Navias reiterating that they are running ahead of the clock.
A little more than 3.5 hours into the mission, Menon and Kutryk have mated three out of the four major power connectors for the IROSA. They will pause on this work for about an hour until they are fully in a night pass again. They are in a safe configuration to pause this work.
Navias says that there have been no issues experienced during this spacewalk as the ISS is currently in a day pass. The station is currently traveling at an altitude of nearly 428 km, passing over the North Pacific Ocean. Our new ISS tracker can show you the station’s position around the globe 24/7: https://spaceflightnow.com/tracker/
Now a little past the four-hour mark in today’s spacewalk, Navias says teams are running about an hour ahead of the original timeline. With three out of the four power connections attached, the fourth will be mated during the next night pass. Right now, Kutryk and Menon are cleaning up the work site as the space station passes over the South Pacific Ocean at an altitude of about 426 km.
Menon and Kutryk are in the midst of releasing the final two restraint bolts. Once the IROSA begins to unfurl, it will take about 10-12 minutes to fully extend. The space station is currently passing over the South Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of about 434 km.
The seventh IROSA is now unfurling. The process will take about 10-12 minutes.
The seventh IROSA has been unspooling for about seven minutes in front of the legacy solar arrays.
With the IROSA now fully extended, and the space station back in a night pass, Menon is preparing to attach the fourth and final main electrical connector. Navias says because they are running as far ahead on the timeline as they are, Menon and Kutryk may also get to some work-ahead items while they have time outside the space station today.
Menon is now driving two tension bolts, which will make the IROSA as taut as possible.
Some of the work-ahead items for Kutryk and Menon will include removing the booms that helped store the seventh IROSA. They may also get to some prep work for next Thursday’s spacewalk, per Navias.
Menon and Kutryk are cleaning up the work site at the P4 truss and are proceeding towards some work ahead items for next Thursday’s spacewalk.
As the 285th spacewalk continues, Kutryk and Menon are beside the eighth and final IROSA that they will install next Thursday. They are moving towards the flight support equipment where they will remove a couple of beams to make that upcoming EVA a bit easier.
Kutryk hands over one of the beams on the final pair of IROSAs to Menon as the space station passes over the South Atlantic Ocean.
Now a little more than six hours into the spacewalk, Kutryk and Menon will proceed towards releasing some of anti-rotation devices (ARDs), which are launch locks that are holding the final set of IROSAs in place and previously did the same for the set that the duo installed on the P4 truss earlier in the EVA.
Menon and Kutryk have returned to the airlock and are exchanging thankyous with their support teams in Mission Control. They have been given a go to close the outer hatch of the airlock.
Mission Control has timed the end of today’s spacewalk at 3:08 p.m. EDT (1908 UTC). A duration of 7 hours 11 mins.
The airlock depressurized and the inner hatch between the crew and equipment locks is now open.
The Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) jet packs have been removed from the space suits. Glove checks and photos will be taken to document any damage that might have occurred.
Menon’s helmet has now been removed.
Kutryk has also removed his helmet.
NASA commentator Rob Navias saying today’s spacewalk was “essentially flawless”.
Over seven hours and 11 minutes, the alternating darkness and sunshine of low Earth orbit set the pace as NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk successfully installed and unfurled the seventh of eight new solar panels designed to power the outpost through its retirement in 2030. Read Houston Harwood’s full report.

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“After Hurricane Maria, our electrical system collapsed and a huge demand for photovoltaic systems began.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A two-unit apartment building in Bayamón chose solar and battery backup to keep daily life going through Puerto Rico’s frequent power outages.
According to Solar Power World, Ricardo Fonseca, owner of Ingenious Solution Services, installed three independent solar-plus-battery setups at the Bayamón property rather than one building-wide system. 
One serves each apartment, and the third supports the electric gates and common-area lighting.
The four parking-access gates and the shared lights run on their own SimpliPHI 6.6 battery.
“The systems operate independently, they don’t communicate with each other, and there are no backup generators,” Fonseca explained. 
“Each apartment has eighteen 550-W solar panels with 19.8 kWh of Briggs & Stratton batteries. The building operated in self-consumption mode for five months after installing the three systems, as we were waiting for electrical approval from Luma Energy.”
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Every apartment carries a substantial household load, including an air conditioner, heater, stove, lights, and other typical home electrical needs.
Puerto Rico has struggled for years to maintain reliable electricity because of an aging power system and repeated hurricane damage. Fonseca noted that solar demand surged after a major storm. 
“After Hurricane Maria, our electrical system collapsed and a huge demand for photovoltaic systems began,” he said.
Fonseca has worked with solar and battery storage in Puerto Rico for more than 20 years, even though his company started in another field. 
“Our business began by offering services to the pharmaceutical industry in the area of ​​validations,” he said. 
Demand then expanded into electrical, plumbing, refrigeration, appliances, and thermal studies.
The systems provide backup power for daily life without forcing residents to wait out outages in the dark or depend on a fuel-powered generator.
Fonseca has continued using Briggs & Stratton’s SimpliPHI 6.6 batteries across Puerto Rico, completing about a dozen installations over more than eight years with the company.
“SimpliPHI batteries are reliable, long-lasting, and fast-charging,” he told the outlet. “I’ve never had any problems with them.” 
“They’re smaller than Tesla batteries, so they take up less space, they’re lighter and easier to handle. Best of all, they’re easy to install, and now that the new controller can be connected from either side, it’s even more convenient.”
Fonseca said another customer who uses three air conditioners overnight has not needed a backup generator because the batteries can cover the full load.
Fonseca plans to expand that work beyond his current footprint, naming Mayagüez, Fajardo, and possibly the central municipalities of Naranjito and Aibonito as future growth areas.
Discussing the Bayamón project, where there was no space for a generator, Fonseca described a new level of reliability. 
“The system works wonderfully,” he noted. “They’ve never run out of electricity. If there’s plenty of sun, the batteries charge in 75 minutes with the panels.”
“If there isn’t as much sun, it takes a maximum of 150 minutes. With the meters installed and the electrical certification, they’ll be able to start exporting energy to the grid.”
Others have used solar and battery backup to get through outages. 
• One solar owner rode out a weeklong outage after pushing for battery recharging from the grid.
• Two seniors weighing backup options found whole-home batteries versus gas generators brought very different trade-offs.
• One homeowner learned a blackout still required gas cans and extension cords without battery backup.
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Researchers in Sweden have investigated how climate change could affect the country’s solar power generation potential throughout the 21st century, aiming to provide more accurate projections of PV output in high-latitude regions. The study accounts for factors such as panel orientation, temperature and snow cover, which are often overlooked in conventional assessments of PV potential, potentially leading to inaccurate estimates in cold climates.
“We found that the combined effects of air temperature and snowfall are as crucial as solar radiation for PV production in high-latitude regions,” corresponding author Wujun Wang told pv magazine. “This is quite different from the case in low- and mid-latitude regions. In Sweden, climate change will lead to an approximate 5% increase in PV generation, which means global warming might be positive for PV generation.”
The researchers assessed PV generation from 1951 to 2100 in four Swedish cities: Malmö in the south, Gothenburg on the west coast, Stockholm on the east coast, and Kiruna in the far north. Malmö recorded the highest temperatures and solar radiation levels and the least snowfall, while Kiruna had the coldest conditions, lowest solar radiation levels and approximately twice as much snowfall. Stockholm and Gothenburg represented intermediate climatic conditions. The team combined an hourly snow-PV model with climate projections from the HCLIM43-ALADIN regional climate model at a spatial resolution of 12.5 km.
The researchers considered two climate scenarios: a low-emissions scenario involving strong climate action (SSP1-2.6) and a high-emissions scenario involving limited climate action (SSP3-7.0). Their model calculated direct, diffuse and reflected solar radiation reaching the modules, accounting for incidence-angle and snow-related losses. It also estimated cell temperatures based on ambient temperature, irradiance and nominal operating cell temperature, before calculating electricity generation using module efficiency and its temperature coefficient. For south-facing modules, the researchers tested tilt angles ranging from 0 degrees to 90 degrees in 0.1-degree increments. They compared projected yields with a historical baseline covering 1951 to 2014 and a reference tilt angle of 15 degrees.
“The projected trends depend on both location and scenario,” the researchers said. “Under SSP1-2.6, annual generation increases by 1.52–2.60 kWh/kW per decade, corresponding to less than 0.5% per decade. Under SSP3-7.0, PV output increases in Stockholm and Kiruna; however, it decreases in Gothenburg and Malmö. Nevertheless, the net change remains within approximately 30 kWh/kW by 2100.”
Compared with the historical period, annual PV output variability is projected to decrease in the three southern cities but increase in Kiruna. The frequency and duration of consecutive periods with zero generation are also generally expected to decline, potentially reducing energy storage requirements.
“In the future, an installation tilt of approximately 35° is suitable for all selected cities and can increase annual generation by about 3–6% relative to the commercial angle currently used,” the researchers said.
“The findings provide valuable insights into photovoltaic potential in a changing climate,” the researchers concluded. “It provides a powerful tool for a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, PV plant owners, power grid operators, investors, and engineers, to estimate the impacts of local climate change on PV generation, particularly in high latitude cold regions with long snow seasons.”
The findings are presented in “Impact of climate change on the photovoltaic power potential in Sweden across 21st century,” published in Communications Earth & Environment. The research team included scientists from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, as well as China’s Zhejiang University of Technology.

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pv magazine hosts its four-day virtual event on European solar and energy storage, exploring market opportunities, solar-plus-storage business cases, technical quality, and cybersecurity in the years ahead.
As a media partner of Genera 2026, pv magazine will organize and moderate a session in Spanish in Madrid, during International Electrification and Decarbonization Week.
Monday, November 2, 2026
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Thursday, November 5, 2026
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Monday, November 23, 2026
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The investment is expected to support UK clean energy goals and create local construction jobs.
Elgin, a renewable energy company backed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), has outlined plans to invest nearly £400m ($531m) in five new projects across the UK, with a combined capacity of 230MW.
The company expects all five sites to reach final investment decisions by the end of the first quarter of 2027, with four projects anticipated to meet this milestone by the close of 2026.
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The proposed developments are located in Suffolk, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire, and Staffordshire.
These projects will form part of Elgin’s solar and energy storage portfolio and are expected to move closer to supplying electricity to the UK grid following these investment decisions.
Elgin said the projects will represent around 0.5% of the government’s solar capacity target, which aims for between 45GW and 47GW of capacity by 2030 under its Clean Power Action Plan.
Furthermore, the company stated that its investment comes at a time when the UK government is seeking to attract greater private sector involvement in renewable power as part of national efforts to enhance energy security and support economic growth.
In addition to supporting the country’s clean energy targets, the projects are expected to provide construction employment and generate longer-term roles in operations and maintenance.
Work related to the developments is also expected to create opportunities for local businesses in areas including civil engineering, site management, electrical work, and environmental services.
Elgin chief executive Dermot Kelleher said: “The UK remains one of Elgin’s most important markets and this investment reflects our confidence in its long-term future. These five projects represent a major commitment and will help turn the country’s renewable energy ambitions into reality.
“Renewable energy is considerably cheaper than the alternatives and with improvements to grid access and planning processes, can be delivered more quickly – supporting economic growth, strengthening energy security and delivering more homegrown power.”
The plans follow Elgin’s continued expansion in the UK, where the company reports a pipeline of more than 10GW in solar and battery storage projects.
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ENGIE has announced the full commissioning of two solar projects in India totalling 450 MW. The projects are the 250 MW Khaba solar farm in Rajasthan and the 200 MW Khavda solar farm in Gujarat.
According to the company, the Khaba plant is expected to generate around 650 GWh of electricity per year, compared with 350 GWh for the Khavda facility. The Khavda plant benefits from a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited.
Executive comments
Sharing the development on LinkedIn, Pedro Vasconcelos, ENGIE Executive Vice President for Renewable & Flexible Power, said the commissioning reflects the company’s continued effort to build scale in a market undergoing one of the world’s major energy transitions. He noted that as electricity demand grows and energy needs become more complex, addressing them requires a broader combination of solutions.
Vasconcelos said solar and wind remain the foundation, but the energy landscape is changing, with corporate PPAs, battery storage, flexibility and energy management becoming an increasingly important part of the equation and helping build a more resilient power system. He added that ENGIE has secured its first standalone and co-located battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects in India, while strengthening its energy management capabilities to better connect generation with demand.
Storage pipeline
The new capacities add to the company’s recent award of two projects incorporating battery storage. These are a 280 MW/560 MWh facility awarded in November 2025 and a hybrid project combining 200 MW of solar power with 100 MW/600 MWh of storage, awarded in January 2026. ENGIE said it is continuing to expand in India by combining renewable power generation with flexibility solutions.
In July this year, ENGIE achieved financial closure for its 250 MW Khaba Solar Project in Barmer, Rajasthan, with construction expected to be completed by Q3 2026.
US states and companies are continuing renewable energy efforts despite federal policy rollbacks under President Donald Trump, according to a Climate Council report. China, meanwhile, is emerging as a global clean energy leader. California, powered two-thirds by clean energy, remains a national climate leader, while Texas is the top US wind producer. Across the country,…
Read More US states advance renewables despite setbacks
JSW Neo Energy Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of JSW Energy Limited, has acquired a 4.7 GW renewable energy platform from O2 Power Pooling Pte Limited. O2 Power is a joint venture between global investors EQT and Temasek. The acquisition, valued at Rs 124.68 billion, includes a mix of operational and under-construction renewable assets. Of…
Read More JSW Neo acquires 4.7 GW renewable energy platform from O2 Power
Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) has completed the e-reverse auction for its 375 MW / 1,500 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) tender under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Tranche 2 scheme. Three bidders have been selected to develop standalone storage projects on a build-own-operate basis. KCC Buildcon Private Limited and Agastya Energy Industries…
Read More UPPCL awards 375 MW BESS under VGF Tranche 2 auction
Oyster Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd has appointed Sandeep Arora as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), as the hybrid renewable energy solutions provider expands its portfolio and presence among commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers. Arora will be responsible for strengthening the company’s financial strategy, capital management and long-term financial planning, while supporting its next phase of…
Read More Oyster Renewable Energy appoints Sandeep Arora as CFO
ReNew Energy has received $331 million in debt financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to develop a large-scale clean energy project in Andhra Pradesh. The financing includes up to $291 million in local currency from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $40 million from the ADB-administered Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund 2. The loan forms…
Read More ReNew Energy secures $331 million ADB loan for hybrid project
Juniper Green Energy Limited has started operations of 60 MWh of its 100 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Bikaner, Rajasthan, marking the company’s entry into merchant energy storage operations. The BESS project has been developed through Juniper Green Energy’s subsidiary, Juniper Green Cosmic Private Limited. This is the company’s first operational merchant…
Read More Juniper Green commissions 60 MWh of merchant storage project in Bikaner
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THORNTON, Colo., Oct. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (“Ascent” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ASTI), the leading U.S. innovator in the design and manufacturing of featherweight, flexible thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solutions, today announced its participation as co-host of an executive networking event held October 20, 2026, in Willow Springs, California. The event brought together leaders and innovators from across the commercial space industry to discuss emerging technologies, mission requirements and opportunities for future collaboration.
Ascent leadership, including CEO Paul Warley, Chairman of the Board David Peterson and Director of Strategic Sales Tom Bawol, liaised with executives and representatives from various organizations including Venturi Astrolab, Impulse Space, Breakwater Strategies, Sophia Space and others. These discussions showcased Ascent’s thin-film PV technology and its ability to help meet modern space mission power needs to organizations that are actively developing next-generation space technology.
As commercial space missions expand their reach into increasingly ambitious projects, like orbital data centers, lunar exploration and advanced spacecraft platforms, the demand for lightweight, reliable and high-performance power generation solutions grows larger. This demand positions Ascent’s flexible solar technology as a reliable, readymade solution to support these evolving mission needs, as it offers significant advantages in mass reduction, design flexibility and integration versatility.
“Space innovation is accelerating rapidly. As that exponential growth occurs, so too does the fundament need for reliable, efficient power generation to enable the next generation of missions,” said Paul Warley, CEO of Ascent Solar Technologies. “Directly engaging with the very organizations that are shaping the future of space allows us to better understand their evolving needs while also demonstrating how Ascent's technology can help power their ambitions. The connections established during this event have led to ongoing relationships and discussions that could lead to future revenue that would expand the role our flexible solar solutions play throughout the space industry.”
Ascent's fully U.S.-manufactured solar solutions and secure domestic supply chain differentiate the Company within an industry that is increasingly focused on supply chain resilience and alignment with U.S. government and defense procurement requirements. These domestic manufacturing capabilities position Ascent to readily support both commercial space innovators and government programs in swift need of reliable solar power technologies.
About Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
Backed by 40 years of R&D, 15 years of manufacturing experience, numerous awards, and a comprehensive IP and patent portfolio, Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of innovative, high-performance, flexible thin-film solar panels, optimized for use in space, military and defense, and other applications where mass, performance, reliability, and resilience are paramount.
Ascent’s photovoltaic (PV) modules have been deployed on space missions, multiple airborne vehicles, agrivoltaic installations, in industrial/commercial construction as well as an extensive range of consumer goods, revolutionizing the use cases and environments for solar power. Ascent Solar’s research and development center and 5-MW nameplate production facility is in Thornton, Colorado.
To learn more, visit https://www.ascentsolar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute “forward-looking statements” including statements about the financing transaction, our business strategy, and the potential uses of the proceeds from the transaction. Such statements also include, but are not limited to, statements related to the intended use of proceeds from the offering and the potential exercise of the series warrants. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the company's actual operating results to be materially different from any historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current assumptions, expectations, and projections about future events. In addition to statements that explicitly describe these risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements that contain terms such as “will,” “believes,” “belief,” “expects,” “expect,” “intends,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “plan,” to be uncertain and forward-looking. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of our future revenues, stock price, or results of operations. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.
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Silver traders are being pulled in two directions at once, and neither the Federal Reserve nor the solar industry is offering much relief. The metal settled at 52.72 USD per troy ounce at the day’s close, down 2.4%, with Sucden Financial pointing to a combination of firm US rate expectations and fading support from photovoltaic demand. The trading house was careful to note that these factors describe the market backdrop rather than pin down a specific trigger for the session’s decline — a distinction that matters when a single day’s move gets attributed to any number of headlines.
That caution is warranted. A restrictive rate environment can persist for months without explaining every individual loss, and the same logic applies to the physical side of the market.
Yesterday’s policy decision left the benchmark rate unchanged, despite inflation that remains stubbornly high. Two members — Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack — voted for a 0.25 percentage point hike, a split that undercuts any reading of the pause as a signal of easing. Reuters reported that US Treasury yields climbed further after the announcement.
Sucden Financial draws a line from higher oil prices through mounting inflation concerns to firmer US yields, with the dollar catching a bid along the way. Silver, the house notes, is sensitive to shifting expectations around US rates, and investor positioning played a role in the recent pullback according to its weekly report. Higher yields and a stronger greenback are the classic headwinds for a metal that pays no interest.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Silber Preis?
The next real test arrives on October 29, when the PCE inflation report for September is due. That release could reshape expectations for the policy path, and the possibility of a December rate increase remains a live topic in market commentary.
On the demand side, Sucden’s quarterly outlook, published Tuesday, sketches a softer picture. Industrial fabrication is projected to fall 3% to 639.6 million ounces in 2026, according to the World Silver Survey cited in the report. Photovoltaics — long the sector’s most dependable growth engine — are expected to account for a 19% drop to roughly 151 million ounces, driven by lower silver loadings per cell and a shift toward copper-based technologies.
Those are forecasts, not settled annual results. Still, they expose the limits of any rally built on supply alone: relief on the dollar and yields would address only one side of the pressure, leaving weaker demand expectations as an independent factor in how the silver price should be read.
The supply picture looks altogether different. Sucden estimated 2026 mine production at 844 million ounces on Monday, a 0.3% decline from the prior year, alongside an expected market deficit of 46 million ounces. The house also flagged falling registered COMEX inventories and limited free float in London, shifting attention from annual output to the availability of metal already above ground.
CME Group data for yesterday put total holdings in approved warehouses at 337.2 million ounces, split between 99.8 million ounces in the “registered” category and 237.4 million ounces “eligible.”
Silber Preis at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
A tight supply forecast is not a guarantee of higher prices, however. Reuters noted on Monday that solar manufacturers could cut silver consumption per module or substitute alternative materials — meaning scarce supply has to be weighed against potential savings on the demand side.
UBS Global Wealth Management weighed in on Saturday with a forecast of 70.00 USD per ounce by December 2026, citing demand from AI infrastructure and structural supply deficits as supports. The call came with explicit risks attached: prolonged rate hikes, a global economic slowdown and industrial substitution.
For silver, the expected supply gap remains a longer-term argument. In the near term, inflation data and the trajectory of demand will have to carry any recovery — and with two Fed members already voting for tighter policy, the market has little room to assume the pressure is lifting.
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For utility-scale PV plants, DC-side cabling often spans considerable distances, making conductor selection an important factor in overall material costs. SUNKEAN’s copper-to-aluminum jumper solution uses a dedicated transition structure that allows aluminum conductors to be used in selected sections of the DC-side circuit, reducing copper consumption while maintaining the required connection performance. Project experience indicates that, under suitable application conditions, the copper-to-aluminum approach can deliver cost savings of nearly 50%. For cable runs exceeding 20 meters, the economic advantage of aluminum becomes increasingly significant.
Installation efficiency is another consideration behind the jumper design. SUNKEAN supplies the copper-to-aluminum jumper as a pre-assembled cable harness, with the copper-to-aluminum connector assembled before delivery. At the project site, installers only need to crimp the copper connector to the copper cable, eliminating the need for complex copper-to-aluminum conversion work in the field. For utility-scale projects involving large numbers of repeated DC connections, this prefabricated approach can reduce field operations and improve installation consistency.
The copper-to-aluminum connector is central to the solution. The challenge in adopting copper and aluminum conductors is not simply replacing one material with another but ensuring a stable connection between dissimilar metals over the operating life of the system. SUNKEAN’s copper-to-aluminum terminals use solid-state friction welding, in which heat generated by high-speed friction, combined with applied pressure, creates a solid-state bond between copper and aluminum without melting the materials.
Compared with conventional fusion welding, the process avoids key manufacturing challenges associated with the different melting points and thermal expansion characteristics of copper and aluminum. The terminals also feature a high-performance multilayer protective coating to enhance environmental resistance at the connection interface and reduce the impact of moisture, heat, salt spray, and other environmental factors. Contact resistance is controlled at ≤0.3 mΩ, with current ratings of 46 A, 55 A, 70 A, and 95 A available for different applications.
As utility-scale PV projects continue to focus on reducing BOS (Balance of System) costs and improving construction efficiency, copper-to-aluminum conversion is emerging as an option for optimizing conductor materials on the DC side. SUNKEAN’s copper-to-aluminum jumper applies this approach through a prefabricated DC-side harness, offering a way for PV projects to reduce copper consumption while simplifying field installation.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
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Venerdì, 19 Novembre 2026
11:00  – 12:00 CET, Roma
pv magazine hosts its four-day virtual event on European solar and energy storage, exploring market opportunities, solar-plus-storage business cases, technical quality, and cybersecurity in the years ahead.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
As a media partner of Genera 2026, pv magazine will organize and moderate a session in Spanish in Madrid, during International Electrification and Decarbonization Week.
Monday, November 2, 2026
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Missed pv magazine USA Week 2026?
Catch up on three days of expert discussions on U.S. solar manufacturing, distributed energy, and solar-plus-storage.
Thursday, November 5, 2026
10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Monday, November 23, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

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© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
“That doesn’t seem like missing data to me?”
Photo Credit: iStock
A Tesla Powerwall owner said a battery that briefly appeared to hit 0% in the app may point to a bigger problem than a missing graph point after a similar issue lasted 24 hours, stopped solar generation, and forced the home to rely on grid power.
On Reddit, not everyone saw the graph as evidence of a real system failure.
One user said, “That just means the data is missing for that time period,” later describing it as “normal.”
The owner pushed back, noting that the house appeared to pull electricity from the grid during both events and that the 24-hour outage put the home on grid power for a full day. 
“That doesn’t seem like missing data to me?” they said.
A second commenter took a more cautious view, saying, “It usually indicates a connectivity problem (or worse, an issue with the system) and is worth investigating.”
The original poster said the support flow ultimately sent them back to their installer’s contact details, but the installer was “seemingly” not answering emails.
They also added they could still access the setup through WiFi and that it “seemed like the powerwalls had just stopped communicating with everything else.” That would point to something beyond a simple app-display issue during the 24-hour disruption.
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
Homeowners who want to compare battery setups can explore EnergySage for home battery storage options, including competitive installation estimates. EnergySage has teamed up with electrification brand Qmerit to help homeowners get the best price on home battery storage solutions.
Another user said, “Check your utility portal for daily usage info etc. maybe it is just a data drop.” 
The OP noted that a review showed heavier utility use during the outage, helping separate missing app data from actual grid consumption.
Someone else offered another possibility for the shorter event: “The 30 minutes of 0% battery can be that the system is restarting, such as for an update.” 
Owners can compare the app with utility usage, log into the system locally if possible, and document whether solar generation and battery communication actually stop.
For homeowners who want backup power but are not ready for a whole-home setup, Pila offers another option. The company’s plug-and-play batteries are priced at a fraction of what a whole-home backup system would cost, which may appeal to shoppers looking for a simpler starting point while they evaluate installer support and system complexity.
Other homeowners have run into similar questions about whether a battery issue was just bad data, a restart, or a real system failure. 
• One customer watched their panel and battery system report a grid outage for hours, leaving the home dark.
• A homeowner’s solar panels stopped working during outages even with battery backup installed.
• Some Powerwall owners said server errors froze controls and made stored home energy harder to manage.
• One solar panel system saw output drop as batteries filled because pre-PTO rules blocked exports.
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Spacewalkers begin final phase of multi-year space station power system upgrade  CBS News
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India’s federal government has decided it wants more floating solar and is backing its ambition with investment and incentives. Deployed floating solar capacity in India stands at roughly 700 MW in 2026, but a new support mechanism approved by India’s cabinet in July aims to see that expanded by 5 GW in a five-year period. The Pradhan …
Venerdì, 19 Novembre 2026
11:00  – 12:00 CET, Roma
pv magazine hosts its four-day virtual event on European solar and energy storage, exploring market opportunities, solar-plus-storage business cases, technical quality, and cybersecurity in the years ahead.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
As a media partner of Genera 2026, pv magazine will organize and moderate a session in Spanish in Madrid, during International Electrification and Decarbonization Week.
Monday, November 2, 2026
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The government of Togo is asking stakeholders to comment on documents covering the development of a large-scale solar project ahead of issuing a competitive tender.
The Nangbéto solar PV project, with a planned capacity of 100 MWac, represents the first tranche of a planned 400 MW clean power program in Togo.
Earlier this year, Belgium-headquartered clean energy non-profit RELP entered into an agreement with the Togolese government to support the development of a government-led renewable energy program.
A social media post published by RELP explains that before the government opens the competitive tender for the Nangbéto project, it is asking the market to review the draft documents. Documents available for comment include the concession agreement, power power agreement, tender dossier and technical requirements.
Togo’s Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Robert Koffi Messan Eklo, explained during the launch of the public consultation why Togo was requesting the feedback.
“If I sign at the wrong price, we’ll be paying for it for 25 years,” the minister said.
Independent power producers, contractors, suppliers and financiers are invited to give feedback on the documents. The deadline to submit comments is November 9.
RELP says the feedback will help make the final documents “clear, balanced and bankable, ahead of the tender launch expected by year-end.”
“Togo is starting something that matters for investors: a multi-year programme and a transparent, competitive process will give developers and lenders a credible pipeline and will provide the government good value,” Andrea Bertello, RELP Regional Director for Africa and Asia, told pv magazine.
RELP is also working with other West African nations to develop similar government-led renewable energy procurements, including Ghana, Senegal and Guinea.
Togo’s largest operational PV project is the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed solar plant, according to data from the Africa Solar Industry Association’s (AFSIA) project database, with a total capacity of 70 MW.
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Venerdì, 19 Novembre 2026
11:00  – 12:00 CET, Roma
pv magazine hosts its four-day virtual event on European solar and energy storage, exploring market opportunities, solar-plus-storage business cases, technical quality, and cybersecurity in the years ahead.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
As a media partner of Genera 2026, pv magazine will organize and moderate a session in Spanish in Madrid, during International Electrification and Decarbonization Week.
Monday, November 2, 2026
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Missed pv magazine USA Week 2026?
Catch up on three days of expert discussions on U.S. solar manufacturing, distributed energy, and solar-plus-storage.
Thursday, November 5, 2026
10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Monday, November 23, 2026
11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

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