France’s National Assembly economic affairs committee has adopted an amendment to remove Article 82 from the 2027 budget bill, which proposes changes to existing solar power contracts. Led by Julie Laernoes, a member of the Ecologist and Social group, the amendment was co-signed by 35 lawmakers but must still be approved by the full parliament. Article 82 would allow the early termination of solar contracts signed between 2006 and 2010 for installations larger than 250 kW, and extend restrictions on generation during periods of negative electricity prices to installations from 100 kW, with reduced compensation. The government aims to save around €120 million ($134.8 million) in 2027 through the measures. According to the French Renewable Energy Association (SER), more than 8,000 S21 solar contracts would be affected. The contracts underpin investments by farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other businesses. SER says the S21 scheme has supported around €10 billion in investment, generated local economic and tax revenues, created jobs, strengthened agricultural businesses and added several terawatt-hours of low-carbon electricity each year. The association signed a joint statement opposing the proposed changes with ELE Entreprises Locales d’Énergies, Enerplan, GMPV-FFB, FNCCR and FNSEA. The committee’s decision is an initial step. The amendment must still be considered by the full National Assembly and the Senate, which can also amend the budget bill. Debate in the National Assembly is scheduled to begin on Oct. 27, with a vote on the full budget planned for Nov. 17. The National Solar Energy Federation (FNES) says it is not seeking additional tariffs or subsidies, but wants stable rules for existing contracts. It argues that changing contractual terms after investments have been made risks undermining confidence among project stakeholders. Laernoes has called on the government to take the committee’s vote into account as the budget process continues. From pv magazine France 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]. 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, November 2, 2026 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Wednesday, October 28, 2026 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today! pv magazine USA hosts its multi-day virtual event on U.S. solar and energy storage, covering domestic manufacturing, distributed energy and the growing role of solar-plus-storage in meeting AI-driven power demand. 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. Join pv magazine for an expert session exploring quality, technology and the challenges of scaling India’s solar industry. Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, October 26, 2026 10:30 am – 11:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
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Solar Power World By Ben Zook, founder, Belmont Solar | The solar industry has been through a lot over the past 25 years: major advancements, setbacks and plenty of ups and downs. But what needs to change next isn’t the tech. The next chapter of solar depends on how we conduct ourselves, run our businesses and work with our communities. The way I see it, if we improve our businesses, we can improve our relationships with our customers and work together to help the public better understand what solar can do. An early Belmont Solar installation. After 25 years in the solar industry, I’m still optimistic about where it’s headed. When times get rough, it helps to remember where you started. When I first began, I was young, my team was young and residential solar, at least in our area of Pennsylvania, was pretty young too. Money was tight. At more than one point, the thought entered my mind of just going to work somewhere else, but I knew that what we were doing was important, and I figured someone had to care about the potential for solar power in my community; it might as well be me. Of course, the technology is quite different today. The improvements we’ve seen mean that installers can add systems much quicker, there’s much less clutter in a mechanical room or power conversion area, the arrays are nicer, everything is a lot neater, people get more value out of the systems as a whole and we see solar being used for more people, not just benefiting those early adopters. We’ve learned how to do things better than ever before. But some of the most important lessons I’ve learned have very little to do with the technology itself. A mid-2010s installation by Belmont Solar. People have always mattered most in this industry, and now, as they did 25 years ago, they have to come first. Doing good work and growing, either as a business or as an industry, requires good relationship-building and good friendships, and those relationships have to be based on trust. Dishonest sales practices or leaving a customer with an unrealistic expectation about what their solar system can do damages everyone. The solar industry experiences rises and falls; I’ve seen several throughout my time in it, but what helps you make a sale is providing genuine help to your customers and understanding their specific needs. Solar power has had, and I think it still has, a huge amount of untapped potential. That’s what you have to consider when you’re thinking about solar long-term. Then you have to be able to communicate to your customers and your community that investing in solar has benefits for tomorrow, benefits for five years from now, and benefits 20 years down the road. For someone entering solar today, I’d start with this: take the long view. Be dedicated to the technology and learn all you can about changes and advancements, and never stop chasing the full potential of solar power. When you work to help everyone around you succeed, you lift up your whole community. When one person wins, everyone else should be able to win as well. Build, design and install a system that genuinely meets your customers’ needs. Be honest about where it might fall short of expectations. Moving solar forward is a group effort. Early community education efforts by Belmont Solar. Taking the long view also means never stopping learning. Learning is not meant to start or stop in the classroom. My team and I started in the industry very young. We had to be willing to learn so much about what we did not yet understand. My team was all still in their 20s at the beginning of the 2010s. Our youth is part of what helped us. When you have an always-learning mentality, it’s much easier to embrace and question the areas where no one has all the answers yet. To be able to learn, you have to admit what you don’t know and then dive into it to figure it out. Starting young meant learning work, responsibility and what to do with a sense of purpose at a young age. At the same time, we also got to help our community be less polluting and more sustainable in terms of energy and finances, which is a blessing. Now, I see younger generations coming into the solar industry. It’s important to me that they contribute, ask their questions and develop their own expertise so that the collaboration inherent in this industry becomes that much more effective. Training, sharing your knowledge and professional curiosity are all part of the job. You lose out on a lot if you treat education as something that ends after you get a certification or a degree. One of my main focuses with my business is workmanship. Over the years, the technology has improved, which helps installations a lot. Standardized components and systems weren’t around or accessible to us when we first started. But better, smarter equipment has not eliminated the need for thoughtful, skilled, design-oriented, problem-solving installers. You can have the best technology in the world and still fail if you’re not paying attention to detail, quality control and what the customer in front of you needs. Workmanship matters. “Buy nice or buy twice” applies to solar too. A more recent installation by Belmont Solar. Solar’s progress has not been a straight line, so why would we expect it to continue to be? You have to go back to that long-term view of solar’s benefits. Work on educating yourself and your community about the benefits. That will save you as the market changes. We all know that solar improves people’s quality of life, their environment and their finances. To get through rougher times together, we have to let people know what it can do. There are still so many misconceptions I run into today that have lasted since 2001 that I want to continually work to fix. You know the ones. People who think “solar doesn’t work,” that they’re “too old” to see the benefits, that it “would never be worth it,” and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. People have to know that solar works and, when done right, works incredibly well. As a solar professional, success looks to me like building a company that delivers value to its community over the long term while also building and maintaining meaningful relationships with that community. We just participated in the ASES National Solar Tour; it’s events like this that connect us to our local community and allow us to tell people all that solar can do for them. The solar industry has and will change again. But learning, staying focused on doing good work and putting customers first will keep solar afloat even as changes happen. I’d like to challenge you to try or learn something new every day. The way I see it, over the next 25 years, solar can exponentially grow as long as we all work to exponentially improve. Ben Zook is the founder, owner and NABCEP Certified Master Electrician at Belmont Solar, a solar panel installation company based in Gordonville, Pennsylvania.
PASADENA, Calif.— Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) will host a residential Solar Power and Battery 101 virtual workshop on Thursday, November 5 at 6 p.m., giving customers a clear, simple introduction to going solar and what to expect from the process, including how residents can save an average of 20%–30% on upfront costs. In addition to sharing rebate information, PWP staff will cover the essential steps of solar power and battery storage installation including how to choose reputable vendors, the benefits of solar and battery storage, and navigating permits and electric code requirements. “Choosing to install solar power and battery storage at home is a meaningful investment that pays off for both our customers and our city. It delivers clean energy, supports Pasadena’s path toward 100% carbon-free electricity by the end of 2030, and gives homeowners greater control over their energy use and costs,” said David Reyes, PWP General Manager. Visit PWPweb.com/SolarNovember5 to register for the Solar Power and Battery 101 virtual workshop. For accessibility information, or to request an accommodation, please contact (626) 744-7311 or CSC@CityOfPasadena.net. Providing at least 72 hours advance notice will help ensure availability. For more information on available solar power and battery storage rebates, visit PWPweb.com/Solar. Subscribe to receive City news releases directly into your inbox.
• October 21, 2026 • October 21, 2026 • October 21, 2026 • October 19, 2026 • October 16, 2026 City Hall 100 N Garfield Avenue, Room S228 Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 744-4333 Contact Form Hours of Operation: Monday-Thursday & every other Friday 7:30 am – 5:30 pm Scheduled City Closures • October 21, 2026 • October 21, 2026 • October 21, 2026 • October 19, 2026
Italy’s electricity demand reached 27.8 TWh in September 2026, up 6.5% compared with the same month last year, according to data published by Terna, the country’s electricity transmission system operator. This represents the highest electricity consumption recorded for September since 2014 and marks the thirteenth consecutive month of growth in Italian electricity demand. The increase comes amid continued expansion of renewable electricity generation and new capacity additions. During September, Italy installed 675 MW of additional renewable energy capacity, bringing total installed renewable capacity to 88.8 GW, including 48.3 GW of solar and 14 GW of wind power. According to Terna, electricity demand was partly influenced by average temperatures approximately 2°C higher than those recorded in September 2025. However, even after adjusting for the temperature effect, electricity demand increased by 4.6% year-on-year. During the first nine months of 2026, Italy’s electricity demand reached 245.8 TWh, representing a 5.2% increase compared with the same period in 2025, equivalent to approximately 12 TWh of additional consumption. Growth was recorded across all regions of the country in September, although regional differences emerged. Electricity demand increased by 5.3% in northern Italy, 7.7% in central regions and 8.3% in southern Italy and the islands. Regarding industrial activity, Terna’s IMCEI index, which monitors electricity consumption among approximately 1,000 energy-intensive companies, recorded a year-on-year increase of 0.2% in September. However, over the January–September period, industrial electricity consumption increased by 3.3%, according to the transmission system operator’s measurements. Source: Terna
Renewable capacity expansion continued in September, with 675 MW of new installed capacity. Solar photovoltaic technology accounted for most additions, with 657 MW, followed by wind power with 18 MW. The figures also include smaller additions of hydropower and bioenergy capacity. With these installations, Italy’s cumulative renewable capacity reached 88,792 MW at the end of September, up 9.9% compared with the same month in 2025. By technology, installed capacity was distributed as follows: Solar photovoltaic: 48,347 MW. Hydropower: 21,350 MW. Wind power: 14,050 MW. Bioenergy: 4,091 MW. Geothermal: 955 MW. Between January and September 2026, Italy added a total of 5,263 MW of renewable capacity, including 4,834 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity and 421 MW of wind power. Electricity generation from renewable sources reached 10.9 TWh in September, covering 39.4% of national electricity demand. Total renewable generation increased by 0.6% compared with September 2025, although individual technologies recorded different trends. Solar photovoltaic generation rose by 27.1%, reaching 5.3 TWh, while wind generation increased by 0.8% and bioenergy production grew by approximately 3.3%. By contrast, hydropower generation declined by 29.2%, while geothermal production fell by 2.6%, limiting overall renewable generation growth. During the first nine months of the year, renewable electricity generation reached 103.4 TWh, up 1.1% compared with 2025, accounting for 42.1% of Italy’s electricity demand. Over the same period, solar generation increased by 20.5% and wind generation by 7%, while hydropower output declined by 20.2%. Terna’s report also provides updated figures on electrochemical energy storage systems installed across the country. At the end of September 2026, Italy had 20 GWh of electrochemical energy storage capacity and a combined nominal power rating of 8.3 GW. These figures represent the total installed storage capacity recorded by the transmission system operator. However, the statement does not specify how much capacity was added during September or provide a breakdown of new installations by storage system type. Energy storage technologies contribute to managing renewable electricity generation and providing flexibility to the power system, particularly as solar and wind penetration increases. In September, domestic electricity production covered 85.2% of Italy’s electricity demand, while the remaining 14.8% was supplied through the net balance of electricity exchanges with other countries. Net domestic electricity generation reached 24 TWh, an increase of 6.5% compared with September 2025, equivalent to approximately 1.5 TWh of additional production. To meet higher electricity demand, imports increased by 7.7%, while thermal electricity generation also rose. Terna noted that thermal generation helped meet peak electricity demand, which increased by 14.7% year-on-year, reaching 56.1 GW. Meanwhile, the services sector electricity consumption index for July, the latest available reading, registered a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, the highest value recorded for that month since measurements began in 2019. With September’s results, Italy has recorded thirteen consecutive months of electricity demand growth, alongside continued renewable capacity additions and expansion of its energy storage infrastructure. Terna’s data show that, despite rising solar generation, lower hydropower output and increasing electricity consumption contributed to greater reliance on thermal generation and imports to meet the country’s electricity demand. Sé el primero en comentar…
Thursday, October 22, 2026 The Denmark-based solar and battery storage developer European Energy has sealed long-term agreements with traditional owners in Queensland that cover three of its major solar and battery projects, including the first gigawatt-scale PV project in Australia. The 30-year agreementsestablish long-term frameworks for cultural heritage protection and financial contributions to traditional owner communities and relate to three solar and battery projects – Upper Calliope, Bullyard, and Tyrone. Upper Calliope will be the biggest of them all, and at 1.1 gigawatts (GWac) will be the first gigawatt scale solar project to be built in Australia. It also has a 25-year power purchase agreement with Rio Tinto to help power its giant smelters and refineries in Gladstone, and European Energy is also looking at adding a 1.1 GW, 4.4 GWh battery at the site. European Energy is looking to reach financial close on the project before the end of this financial year, and at like other gigawatt scale projects is looking for finance and possible equity partners in the project. The smaller 100 MW Bullyard solar and battery project near Bundaberg is likely to be the first to begin construction, given its smaller scale and because it has also locked in a power purchase agreement with Amazon, as well as an underwriting deal with the federal government under the Capacity Investment Scheme. The Tyrone project is sized at around 400 MW, also near Gladstone, is in its early stages of development. European Energy says the First Nations agreements have been struck with the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda peoples, the traditional owners and native title holders of the Bundaberg and Gladstone regions, and which are represented by the FNBGGGTB Group. “Developing renewable energy projects requires long-term cooperation with the communities and landholders involved,” said Catriona McLeod, the managing director of European Energy Australia. “These agreements establish a framework for progressing our projects while protecting cultural heritage and ensuring that the Traditional Owners share in the benefits generated over the lifetime of the projects.” Matthew Cooke, the CEO of FNBGGGTB, says the group has been working with European Energy for three or four years. “The renewables transition offers exciting opportunities for First Nations people and these partnerships allow us to maximise those opportunities,” he said in a statement. The Clean Energy Council recognised the partnership between European Energy and the FNBGGGTB Group in 2025, when the organisations received its First Nations Engagement and Participation Award. To join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free,click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
MORGANTON, N.C. (WHKY) – Siegwerk Environmental Inks is investing more than $1 million in a solar energy installation at its Morganton facility, reinforcing the company’s commitment to sustainability while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project, known as Project HoriSun, is supported by Siegwerk’s Global Green Fund and will bring renewable energy generation directly to the company’s manufacturing operations at 1 Quality Products Road in Morganton. Once operational, the solar installation is designed to supply the majority of the facility’s electricity demand, delivering long-term environmental and business benefits. The solar panels are being installed in a field near the rear entrance of the facility’s WB Building. With Phase 1 complete and installation underway, Project HoriSun represents a significant investment in the facility’s energy infrastructure and long-term sustainability. Over the expected lifetime of the installation, the project is projected to avoid approximately 10,805 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalencies, that reduction is comparable to the emissions from driving approximately 24.6 million passenger vehicle miles or the carbon dioxide absorbed by 162,077 trees grown for 10 years. “With our solar expansion in Morganton, we are bridging the gap between operational excellence and environmental responsibility to meet our customers’ evolving needs.” said Scott Bartlett, Head of Operations/Supply Chain. For Burke County, Project HoriSun reflects the continued commitment of local manufacturers to modernize their operations, invest in their facilities, and plan for long-term growth. “Investments like Project HoriSun demonstrate how manufacturers in Burke County are embracing innovation and investing in the future,” said Brandon Ruppe, President and CEO of Burke Development, Inc. “These projects strengthen our manufacturing base, demonstrate a commitment to responsible operations, and reinforce Burke County’s position as a place where companies can grow and thrive.” The project also brings a significant investment in renewable energy to Morganton, where Siegwerk has maintained a presence as part of the local manufacturing community. “We are proud to see Siegwerk making a significant investment in renewable energy right here in Morganton,” noted Mayor Ronnie Thompson. “This project reflects the company’s commitment to sustainability and represents the kind of forward-looking investment that benefits our community. We appreciate Siegwerk’s continued presence and its contributions to Morganton.” At the county level, the investment highlights the role established manufacturers play in strengthening Burke County’s economy while making long-term improvements to their operations. “Siegwerk’s investment in solar energy is an important example of the innovation taking place across Burke County’s manufacturing sector,” added Jeff Brittain, Chair of the Burke County Board of Commissioners. “We value companies that continue to invest in their facilities, their operations, and their long-term future here. Project HoriSun demonstrates how economic growth and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand.” Siegwerk is a global provider of printing inks and coatings for packaging and labels, serving customers across a range of industries. With operations around the world, the company focuses on developing innovative solutions that support its customers and advance sustainability in the packaging industry. NEWTON, N.C. (WHKY) – More than 12,000 ballots have been cast during early voting for… WASHINGTON, D.C. (WHKY) – Today, Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10) introduced the Automated License Plate Reader… HICKORY, N.C. (WHKY) – Starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 26, a private contractor…
Generally clear. Low 54F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Generally clear. Low 54F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Updated: October 21, 2026 @ 5:48 pm Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt, with a solar panel and testing equipment. Optivolt Power Balancer connected to panel cells.
Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt, with a solar panel and testing equipment. Optivolt Power Balancer connected to panel cells. SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct 21, 2026– Optivolt, a power electronics company building the intelligence layer for solar, today announced a $32M Series A led by VXI Capital, a new hard tech fund founded by the former CTO of the Defense Innovation Unit of the U.S. Military, with participation from RA Capital, Valo Ventures, and Atlas Innovate. This round brings Optivolt’s total capital raised to date to $42M. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Copyright Business Wire 2026.
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The construction of gigawatt-sized solar farms could be transformed by adopting four technical innovations, according to research by Lightsource bp. The UK-headquartered independent power producer (IPP) has shared findings from the investigation phase of its NextGen Solar Programme, which is reviewing how gigwatt-scale solar farms are built. The programme is exploring how four areas of innovation – automated foundation piling, a frameless panel design that uses steel rather than aluminium, press-fit bolt-free module installations, and on-site pre-assembly – can reduce the costs and time required to construct gigawatt-sized solar farms. Results from the initial investigation found combining these four construction innovations could cut direct installation costs by around 22% and reduce installation time by up to 30%, when compared with current standard practice. Chris Buckland, Global Technical Director of Lightsource bp, told pv magazine the analysis is based on assessment of “newly-developed solar industry offerings from China, Europe and Northern America, with a focus on automation and novel installation method.” Buckland added that a construction approach combining the four innovations is intended for large-scale PV development from 2028 onwards. “It remains at the development stage but is expected to become relevant to major projects over the next three years,” he explained. “We plan to run trials in Australia and the United States to validate supplier data points and support technical assessment and bankability, with initial results targeted within the next 18 months.” Lightsource bp’s analysis says automated piling rigs that use GPS precision can reduce installation time by up to 12.5%. Automated piling replaces manual pile driving, it adds, in turn lowering costs and improving consistency while also potentially reducing the risk of injury to site workers. Additional analysis by the IPP says a press-fit, bolt-free solar module installation that enables solar panels to click into position has the potential to reduce installation time by up to 30% when combined with automated piling and a new module design. “The solution aims to simplify module installation by replacing conventional clamps and bolts, delivering potential savings through reduced installation time and balance-of-system costs,” Buckland told pv magazine. “We are also exploring replacing aluminium frames with steel options. Due to confidentiality requirements, we cannot provide the cost assessments.” An additional statement from Lightsource bp explains its NextGen Solar Programme now moves from modelling and analysis into real-world validation, with trials on active projects including automated piling systems, robotic module placement and advanced cable harnessing solutions to verify cost, time and safety assumptions. “We know that demand for solar energy is rising, and building for gigawatt scale is constrained by existing construction methods, impacting some projects commercial viability,” Buckland explained. “The NextGen Solar Programme has delivered a practical, evidenced-based roadmap for scaling solar farm construction efficiently, and we are now moving to validate these solutions under real operating conditions.” 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]. 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, November 2, 2026 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Wednesday, October 28, 2026 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today! pv magazine USA hosts its multi-day virtual event on U.S. solar and energy storage, covering domestic manufacturing, distributed energy and the growing role of solar-plus-storage in meeting AI-driven power demand. 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. Join pv magazine for an expert session exploring quality, technology and the challenges of scaling India’s solar industry. Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, October 26, 2026 10:30 am – 11:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Fraunhofer ISE said it has cycled 25 Ah pouch cells with silicon-rich anodes more than 1,000 times, with the cells retaining over 83% of their original capacity at a cell-level gravimetric energy density of 280 Wh/kg. The 40-layer cells were built on a semi-automatic production line in the cleanroom of the institute’s Center for Electrical Energy Storage in Freiburg, Germany, using commercially available electrode foils. They pair a silicon-carbon/graphite anode with a nickel-rich nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathode. The silicon-carbon composite made up 51% of the anode active material, and the anodes reached a specific capacity of more than 1,000 mAh/g and an areal capacity of more than 5 mAh/cm². “Cycle life is one of the key hurdles to the widespread industrial use of silicon-rich anodes,” said Lukas Dold, team leader for battery materials technology and scaling at Fraunhofer ISE. “More than 1,000 cycles with a capacity retention of at least 80 percent is considered an important performance target here.” The cell-level 280 Wh/kg was achieved in the institute’s non-optimized PrecISE research cell format. Dold said an industrially optimized pouch format is expected to reach about 330 Wh/kg. Pressure dependence The researchers cycled the cells at 1C at two axial contact pressures, 300 kPa and 1,000 kPa. The 83% retention figure applies to cells held at 1,000 kPa. “At a lower contact pressure of 300 kPa, a significantly greater decline in usable capacity over time is observed, particularly during 1C operation,” said Marc Kissling, group leader for battery cell production and technology evaluation. “Mechanical cell pressure is therefore an important parameter for the stable operation of silicon-rich pouch cells.” Fraunhofer ISE did not publish a retention figure for the 300 kPa cells. It also reported that as the cells aged, capacity measured in periodic check-ups at low discharge rates increasingly diverged from the capacity available during regular 1C cycling. The institute said performance under real-world operating conditions must be considered alongside capacity retention when evaluating silicon-rich cells. Silicon’s theoretical specific capacity is 10 times that of graphite, and Fraunhofer ISE said silicon-carbon composites could reduce global dependence on graphite and shift raw-material value creation toward the European Union. The StrOboBatt project is led by PCC Thorion with Fraunhofer ISE and Glatt Ingenieurtechnik, with LG Chem Europe, E-Lyte Innovations and UniverCell Holding among its partners. It received €2.6 million in federal funding and is scheduled to run for three years, PCC said when the project launched in 2024. The partners cited stationary storage of surplus solar and wind power as a target application, along with electric mobility and aerospace. Other silicon-carbon anode developers are moving toward commercial scale. In July, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded up to AUD 45 million ($31.6 million) to Himadri-backed Sicona for a commercial-scale demonstration plant at BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla precinct in New South Wales. ARENA said Sicona’s material could raise lithium-ion energy density by up to 20% and enable charging up to 40% faster than conventional graphite anodes. From ESS News 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]. 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, November 2, 2026 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Wednesday, October 28, 2026 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today! pv magazine USA hosts its multi-day virtual event on U.S. solar and energy storage, covering domestic manufacturing, distributed energy and the growing role of solar-plus-storage in meeting AI-driven power demand. 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. Join pv magazine for an expert session exploring quality, technology and the challenges of scaling India’s solar industry. Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, October 26, 2026 10:30 am – 11:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Sponsored By ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT JAMESTOWN — Officials with New Leaf Energy met with stakeholders and landowners on Monday, Oct. 19, to talk about the proposed Buffalo solar project in Fried Township and its benefits, including additional tax revenue. “The intention of today’s meeting is to try to get some momentum with the constituents of the township and the greater public to have the township make a decision on what to do with the project,” said William Dean, lead project developer with New Leaf Energy. ADVERTISEMENT New Leaf Energy held an open house meeting on Monday at the Gladstone Inn & Suites in Jamestown. The meeting was an opportunity for community members to speak with the New Energy Leaf team about the proposed Buffalo solar project in Fried Township. New Leaf Energy is working with Fried Township to permit, develop and build a 247-megawatt solar project north of Jamestown. The estimated cost of the Buffalo solar project — a solar farm — is $370 million. The Buffalo solar project would be located on about 1,600 acres of land north of Jamestown in Fried Township. Solar panels would be placed on land along North Dakota Highway 20 and on land north of 29th Street Southeast east of the highway. The solar farm would connect to Otter Tail Power Co.’s high-voltage power grid near its substation located about 7 miles north of Jamestown. Dean said the next step is for Fried Township to amend its ordinance that is more than 20 years old. He said Fried Township has the authority to permit the project and would need to change its governing rules and laws to accommodate a solar energy conversion facility. “Once we have the ordinance in place where it lays out all the requirements to build a solar facility, then we apply for the permit,” he said. “They would ideally, for our sake, pass and approve the permit sometime at the end of this year, early next year.” Dean said New Leaf Energy received a draft ordinance from Fried Township Board in August for solar energy conversion facilities that didn’t include any specifications on a setback distance. He said Stutsman County’s ordinance on solar energy conversion facilities has very specific requirements that will protect the residents while also allowing for that type of development and covers more area than the township. ADVERTISEMENT The Stutsman County Commission approved amendments to the county zoning ordinance for solar energy conversion facilities in February that include a setback distance of 1,320 feet, or a quarter mile, from occupied residences. “It affects a lot more people, and we found that ordinance to be workable, developable, but also protect the interest of the community and those who are going to be next to it without infringing on their well-being on the land,” he said. Dean said the Buffalo solar project would be “100% buildable” with the half-mile setback. If Fried Township permits the Buffalo solar project, New Leaf Energy would then work with the North Dakota Public Service Commission to approve the project in 2027. After that, New Leaf Energy will need to line up financing for the project. “That takes a while,” he said. “You have to line up the engineering, procurement, construction permits.” He said construction wouldn’t begin until the end of 2028 or early 2029. Construction would take 16 to 18 months. Allen Falk, chairman of the Fried Township Board, said the board would make a decision as soon as it receives information it requested from New Leaf Energy. He said safety is a priority and the township wants to ensure the project won’t affect the water. ADVERTISEMENT Falk said the setback distance wasn’t included in the draft ordinance because the township board is researching what that could be. He said New Leaf Energy has been working on the project for three years, and the township board found out about the project in November 2025. Vicky Simonson, who owns a small portion of land where the solar project would go, said she and the other landowners wanted to view the photos of what the viewshed would potentially look like after the project is complete. “We wanted to look at the timeline and make sure that you know everything was going in line with the timeline that we were hoping that we’re getting everything agreed upon,” she said. “We’re the landowners, so we want to make sure we do everything right. We’ve done a ton of research into this even before this point in time to make sure that this is the best use for our land because it’s generational legacy land too. So we want to be the best stewards we can.” Dean previously said larger trees that are more dense would be planted about 250 feet from North Dakota Highway 20 and potentially 29th Street Southeast to block the view of the solar panels. The solar farm would have grasses native to the area as well. Simonson said the landowners have been connected by other solar companies but never moved forward with contracts with them because they weren’t ready to engage with the companies at the time. She said New Leaf Energy has been a good partner that helps the landowners understand why it is beneficial to have a solar farm on it. “We are needing more electricity,” she said. “So, this is a great way to help generate more electricity for the state, and it’s just we felt that it was a good opportunity to explore further.” Simonson said her father and uncle have been good stewards of their land, which is better now than it was before. ADVERTISEMENT “They also made sure that when things progressed in the community, that they help allow things like the water lines coming in for rural water,” she said. “They allowed that at no charge in the middle of their field.” She said her father and uncle also allowed for transmission lines to make sure people have electricity at their farms. Dean said New Leaf Energy has held many public meetings to address any concerns of the Buffalo solar project. “I would say we have a lot more support than opposition,” he said. He said North Dakota needs clean, cheap energy and solar energy is the cheapest form of electricity in the U.S. “This would be a private investment into the state of North Dakota that benefits everyone around it,” he said. New Leaf Energy has proposed a community benefit agreement that would boost Fried Township’s revenue in 2027. ADVERTISEMENT Dean said New Leaf Energy is willing to commit $50,000 to Fried Township once an ordinance is approved for solar energy conversion facilities. He said the township would receive an additional $100,000 from New Leaf Energy if the Fried Township Board approves a permit for the project and another $50,000 once the project is finalized at the state level. Dean also said New Leaf Energy would pay a permit application fee estimated at $75,000 to $150,000. He said the amount of the permit application fee depends on what the Fried Township Board approves in its ordinance for solar energy conversion facilities. “This would be roughly a 300% increase in their general fund revenue,” he said. “Ideally, they can improve a lot of the roads that the constituents have been driving on and have had issues with. It’s a fund to pay back gravel contracts and volunteer firefighting and all the things that a township manages, pay back invoices and stuff like that.” New Leaf Energy also estimates paying about $23.4 million in state and local taxes over the 30-year lifespan of the project. The estimated allocations on what New Leaf Energy expects to pay in taxes to individual entities over 30 years are:
Simonson said the additional revenue that New Leaf Energy will provide to the township will help with maintaining the roads. She said the township doesn’t have enough money to maintain the roads or for snow removal in some areas. John Doehler, a Fried Township resident, agreed that the additional revenue will help the township maintain its roads. ADVERTISEMENT “The big thing for the community is to get it in, get it going, get it established, so we can start getting money to maintain our roads and do other things for the community, for the people that live in our area,” said Doehler, who would live less than a half mile from the project. “We are missing out on so many things that some of these people just don’t realize. We need money. We don’t have it. This is one way for our community to generate cash for the better of everybody that lives in it.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT
All Local, All The Time Byron Kominek, owner and manager of Jack’s Solar Garden, under the solar panel canopy amidst the crops with banners featuring some of his commercial partners. Byron Kominek, owner and manager of Jack’s Solar Garden, with Steely Dan, a symbol of the rotational grazing of cattle through the solar panels. Kominek is an advocate of rotational grazing in various settings and notes that it is not limited to cattle; sheep, goats, chickens, and even horses have been successfully grazed among solar-managed microclimates worldwide. Jack’s Solar Garden, located at 8102 N. 95th Street in Longmont, hosted its last public tour of the year on Oct. 17. Owner and manager Byron Kominek conducted the tour with opening remarks and guidelines (“Please don’t touch the wires!”) in the parking area flanked by the “Happy Hen House” and a golden cottonwood-framed silo, moving into the five-acre garden space canopied by 3,276 solar panels of varying heights and adjustable angles, all geared to the production of 1.2 MW of solar energy and a wide variety of agricultural goods and services. Jack’s Solar Garden is one of the first-of-its-kind agrivoltaic enterprises in the country, combining solar energy production, enough to power over 300 homes, with agricultural outputs ranging from medicinal herbs, fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds like flax, and even (unusual for this area) hazelnuts, to pastureland for livestock. It opened in 2020 and has partnered with several research institutions and businesses to flourish in its impact both locally and nationally over the course of the last six years. The tour began with a history of the farmland purchased by Kominek’s grandfather, Jack Stingerie, in 1972. Traditional hay and alfalfa production became less viable over time and with the transfer of the land to a new generation, a new vision began to take shape: “Connecting our community to clean energy and local food.” The road to realizing that vision included working with Boulder County to change longstanding Land Use Code limitations, figuring out how to effectively combine solar power with farming, securing financing for an innovative (and risky) business, and ultimately building the infrastructure. Having the land and access to three-phase transmission lines along with solar incentives from Xcel Energy were essential. Overcoming over-restrictive land use regulations and NIMBY-ism posed a different kind of challenge. “Rural character is going to go away if we can’t figure out a way for people to make a living from their land,” Kominek explained. Jumping those hurdles led to confronting three “buckets” of necessities to making the proposed project work: accessibility, allowing the free movement of machines, people, and animals through the rows of solar panels; wire management, “high and tight,” ensuring a safe installation; and avoiding the destruction of the land during construction. “It’s hard for the land to come back,” Kominek reminded tour attendees, citing examples such as pathway shortcuts and the Oregon Trail syndrome where wagon wheel ruts remain unvegetated 150 years after being ground into the earth. Kominek explained that the key to how solar panels work to promote abundant agriculture is the creation of microclimates. The shift of the panels from eastward-facing in the morning, to flat-out at noon, to westward-facing in the afternoon ensures an optimal distribution of shade-sun-shade for the harbored plants. Kominek said that the myth of the need for “full sun” exposure in hot and dry climates like Colorado’s is being debunked by research out of the University of Arizona showing that crops use only three hours of sun in the morning before they are “panting like dogs,” waiting for cooler afternoon relief. Another microclimate aspect Kominek described is the distribution of water, which solar panels also facilitate. Whether it’s the dumping of rainwater runoff, or snow or even hail, the beds bordering the panel edges illustrate the power of moisture in addition to the benefits of strategic shading. Even in the most drought-fraught years of 2024 and 2026 (record-breakers), 20% more grass grew inside the solar array than outside, especially along the drip edges, according to research at Colorado State University. And it showed that shade significantly inhibits CO2 emissions from soil inside the panels compared to outside. Shade helps not only plants but also workers and livestock. Rotational grazing at Jack’s is implemented one day at a time at various times of year and will be increased going forward, Kominek said. Under the panel canopy, a metal cow sculpture called “Steely Dan” stands in for the herd in its absence. Kominek said he is “solidly in the camp of wanting livestock grazing on land instead of feedlots. If we keep the land healthy, the livestock healthy, and workers healthy, we’ll put more money in the pockets of ranchers and reduce grocery prices for all of us,” he said. Jack’s Solar Garden public tours may be over for the year, but one last opportunity to experience the farm is coming up on Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 3 p.m. Not just for kids, “Pumpkins and Panels” includes U-Picks, a garden tour at 1 p.m., and a costume parade at 2 p.m. No other solar array in the country offers regular public access like Jack’s, including welcoming over 1,500 school children a year in addition to government officials and policymakers, who are essential to furthering the garden’s mission. Kominek, who is also Executive Director of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center, will be there, and eager to share much more of the Jack’s Solar Garden story including information about the Colorado State Land Board’s Renewable Plus Program, the Audubon Rockies Perennial Pollinators Initiative, and several new research results to be published in coming days. “I like to take a little bit of credit,” Kominek said, for showing how it can be done. “If we develop solar arrays to enable and enhance rural land use, they will last a long time and make Boulder County strong.”
Aresearch team in Germany has investigated whether compressive stress relaxation measurement (CSRM) can be used to monitor polymer degradation in aging photovoltaic modules. The technique is typically used in manufacturing quality control to assess the degree of encapsulant cross-linking after lamination. “This publication uses the CSRM not only for lamination control, but also to monitor the mechanical response of the mini-modules’ rear side,” the researchers explained. “To achieve a higher resolution and sample throughput, the cross-linking density will be used to calibrate the CSRM. The influence of encapsulants and backsheet degradation on the CSRM during weathering is of interest. Therefore, the degradation of the encapsulant and the backsheet will be decoupled.” CSRM is a non-destructive technique commonly used to assess encapsulant curing after PV module lamination. It involves pressing a tip into the rear surface of a module and measuring how the force decreases while the indentation depth remains constant. The response reflects the mechanical properties of both the encapsulant and the backsheet. To evaluate CSRM as a method for monitoring aging, the researchers fabricated 200 mm × 200 mm mini-modules incorporating passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cells, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulants, and polyethylene/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) backsheets. They varied lamination times at 155 C to achieve different degrees of cross-linking. For each CSRM measurement, they heated the test location to 89 C, pressed a 4 mm steel tip approximately 100 µm into the module’s rear surface, applied a force of less than 20 N, and recorded the decline in force while holding the tip in place. The modules were subjected to damp heat (DH) testing at 85 C and 85% relative humidity for up to 3,500 hours, or combined heat and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation at 85 C, 60% relative humidity, and an irradiance of 227 W/m2 for up to 2,000 hours. At 250-hour intervals, the team used CSRM to monitor mechanical changes and measured the modules’ electrical performance. Additional solvent tests and thermal analyses helped distinguish changes in encapsulant cross-linking from backsheet degradation. “After the first 250 h of the DH test, the encapsulants showed an increase in the degree of cross-linking but maintained differences between the samples throughout the test,” the researchers said. “As a result, the PV module power degradation correlated with the initial cross-linking state. By the end of the test, the encapsulant and the backsheet had degraded, resulting in a drop in the CSRM response.” The results also showed that the encapsulant’s cross-linking density subsequently decreased, while the backsheet underwent post-crystallization and exhibited chain scission. “The combined DH+UV weathering test caused post-cross-linking within the first 250 h, leading to leveling of the cross-linking states,” the researchers concluded. “The canceled chemical differences in the encapsulants became reflected in a similar module power degradation. Thus, overacceleration shall be avoided by all means to deliver realistic reliability predictions.” The findings are presented in the study, “Non-destructive monitoring of polymer degradation in PV modules by compressive stress relaxation measurement and implications for the PV module reliability,” published in Polymer Testing. The research team included scientists from Germany’s Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and Fraunhofer CSP. 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Join pv magazine for an expert session exploring quality, technology and the challenges of scaling India’s solar industry. The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
Date: A team at the University of Surrey has printed flexible perovskite solar mini-modules at just over 18 percent efficiency without using the toxic solvents that printable perovskite inks have depended on for more than a decade. On paper, that efficiency figure is unremarkable. In a factory, it may matter far more than any small-area record. The research, published in Nano Energy and announced by the university on 15 October 2026, replaces dimethylformamide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, and acetonitrile with an ink built from ethanol and a bio-derived solvent called 2-methyltetrahydrofuran. The team coated the ink at room temperature and dried it with a jet of gas, steps compatible with the roll-to-roll printing used to make newspapers. The finding lands squarely in the part of perovskite solar manufacturing that rarely makes headlines, which is not how efficient a cell can be but whether a production line can be run safely and at scale. Table of Contents Perovskites are crystalline materials that can be dissolved into a liquid ink, coated onto a surface, and dried into a thin film that absorbs sunlight. That is their commercial appeal: unlike silicon, which has to be grown at high temperature and cut from ingots, a perovskite layer can in principle be printed onto flexible plastic or glass in a continuous process. The Surrey group formulated what they call a significantly reduced-toxicity solvent system, built around ethanol and 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, the latter derived from renewable sources such as farm and forestry waste. A small amount of a milder additive controls how the film forms as it dries. The resulting ink was used to coat mini-modules with active areas up to 11.5 square centimetres, reaching power conversion efficiencies above 18 percent, with the headline result reported as 18.2 percent. Three process details matter as much as the number: The work was led by Surrey with collaborators at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, the MAX IV Laboratory in Sweden and the National Physical Laboratory, and was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the EU Horizon 2020 project MUSICODE. That stability question is the one the wider field has been wrestling with for years. Earlier work on treating perovskite interfaces to make cells more reliable attacked the problem from the encapsulation and materials side; the Surrey paper attacks it from the ink chemistry side, and both are needed before a panel can be sold with a warranty. Dimethylformamide, usually shortened to DMF, is a workhorse of solution-processed electronics. It dissolves lead halide salts and organic precursors exceptionally well, it can be blended with other solvents to tune how quickly a film dries, and it produces smooth, uniform crystals. Acetonitrile plays a similar role in some ink formulations, helping precursors stay in solution and encouraging rapid drying. N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, or NMP, has also been widely used in the field. The problem is not performance. It is that these solvents are hazardous to the people who handle them and to the environment around a plant. Under European chemicals regulation, DMF, NMP and dimethylacetamide are listed as substances of very high concern because of reproductive toxicity, and they carry the warning that they may damage the unborn child. Since 12 December 2023, DMF has been subject to restriction in the EU, with exposure limits set at 6 mg per cubic metre by inhalation and 1.1 mg per kilogram of body weight per day through the skin. In a fume cupboard in a university basement, that is manageable. On a coating line running continuously, it is a completely different proposition. The Surrey release contains one figure that deserves more attention than the efficiency result. Producing a gigawatt of electricity from these perovskite modules can consume more than 90,000 litres of solvent on a single coating line. To put that in perspective, 90,000 litres is roughly a tenth of an Olympic swimming pool, consumed repeatedly as the line runs. Every litre of it has to be bought, stored, pumped, recovered or disposed of, and every worker who comes near the coating head has to be protected from it. A solvent that is merely annoying in a laboratory becomes an industrial-scale logistics and liability problem. That single sentence explains why the quiet chemistry in Surrey’s paper is more commercially significant than yet another efficiency headline. The industry does not have a problem making high-efficiency perovskite cells in square millimetres. It has a problem making them economically and safely in square metres. Substituting a solvent sounds straightforward until you consider what the solvent has to do. It must dissolve the precursors completely, stay stable in the ink, wet the substrate evenly, and then evaporate at just the right speed. Too slow, and the film dries unevenly. Too fast, and the perovskite crystallises badly, leaving defects that trap charge carriers and cut efficiency. Ethanol is an obvious candidate on safety grounds: it is widely used, well understood and far less hazardous than DMF. But ethanol alone dries too quickly and dissolves some precursors poorly. The Surrey solution pairs it with 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, a solvent that can be made from agricultural and forestry residues and which helps balance the drying behaviour while keeping the precursors in solution. The small amount of milder additive gives the team fine control over film formation, which is where most solvent substitutions fail. The result is an ink that is not merely less toxic by a small margin but one that removes an entire category of handling infrastructure. As the team’s own framing puts it, simpler solvent chemistry means less solvent handling, less waste treatment and less safety equipment to build and maintain. This is not the only route being explored. A separate research effort, reported in Science and covered in the comparison below, used gamma-valerolactone, another bio-derived solvent, combined with 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and dimethyl sulfoxide. The convergence on 2-methyltetrahydrofuran across independent groups suggests it is becoming a common building block for greener perovskite inks. Surrey’s paper arrived after a much larger demonstration in Science, and the two are easy to misread against each other. They used different coating methods, different module sizes and different certification routes. The table below sets out what each study actually demonstrated. The two studies are complementary rather than competitive. Surrey’s contribution is the ink: a formulation that removes three problematic solvents and the anti-solvent step on a process route that can be scaled. The Science paper’s contribution is proof that a greener ink can be pushed through to a commercially relevant module size and survive the reliability standards a product would need to meet. Neither one alone closes the gap to a factory, but together they map out the two halves of the problem. It is tempting to read the table and conclude that Surrey’s smaller module is better because its number is higher. That comparison does not hold, for three reasons. In other words, the lower number belongs to the harder achievement. A realistic reading is that Surrey has shown its safer ink can produce respectable performance at a scale where manufacturability can begin to be assessed, while the Science work has shown that a different green ink can reach a genuinely commercial module size and pass product-level reliability tests. The obvious next step for the Surrey approach is to demonstrate the same chemistry at hundreds of square centimetres with independent certification. That step would make the two lines of work genuinely comparable for the first time. The gap between a laboratory cell and a factory module is where most solar technologies stall. A record cell might measure a tenth of a square centimetre. A commercial module is several square metres and consists of many sub-cells connected in series, with each connection introducing a small dead area and a small resistance penalty. The losses compound. Films must be uniform across the full width of the substrate, which becomes harder as the coating head widens. Conductive transparent layers add resistance over longer distances, so current collection has to be redesigned. Edges dry differently from centres, producing defects at the boundary. Reviews of the field have noted that most reported perovskite modules remain under 100 square centimetres and can lose around 30 percent of the efficiency of a comparable small cell. There is also a whole set of steps that a laboratory cell never needs. The coated film has to be cut into individual cells by laser scribing, wired together through scribed contact channels, then sealed and encapsulated against the weather. Each of those steps adds equipment, yield risk and a way for the process to go wrong at speed. Fully roll-to-roll fabricated perovskite modules, including printed back electrodes, have been demonstrated under ambient room conditions, which shows the principle works outside a glovebox. What has not yet been shown is that a safer ink performs identically on a line running metres of film per minute. Green solvent chemistry adds a further constraint, because a safer solvent often behaves differently from the hazardous one it replaces. A formulation that works beautifully on a 1-centimetre slide may fail when the drying front has to travel across 60 centimetres of moving substrate. That is why the Science team’s edge-protection strategy, which used a surfactant to keep evaporation rates consistent near film edges, was as important as its solvent choice. Readers searching for perovskite solar panels in 2026 will find few consumer products and a growing number of pilot lines. The most advanced is not a panel at all: a 250-metre film-type installation on the roof of a bus terminal at Expo 2025 in Osaka, made by Sekisui Chemical on a roll-to-roll line producing film 30 centimetres wide, with a one-metre-wide line targeted and a 100-megawatt factory planned by 2027. The technology’s route to market is most likely through tandem panels, where a perovskite layer sits on top of silicon to capture more of the solar spectrum. Early optimism about perovskite’s cost and processing advantages was well founded, but the path to market has proven longer than those first predictions suggested. The solvent question cuts across all of those routes. A manufacturer planning a gigawatt-scale line has to satisfy environmental permitting and worker-safety regulation, and the economics are unforgiving: Silicon module spot prices have sat below 0.30 dollars per watt, while the most detailed cost model for fully roll-to-roll printed perovskite modules puts them at roughly 0.7 dollars per watt. It also has to meet the sustainability criteria of the buyers funding the plant. A process built on reproductive toxins requires enclosed handling, solvent recovery systems, monitoring and insurance. A process built on ethanol and a bio-derived solvent does not remove those requirements, but it shrinks them substantially. That is why the Surrey result should be read as a manufacturing story. The efficiency number will be surpassed by other groups within months, as it always is in photovoltaics. The demonstration that a high-performing ink can be made without DMF, NMP and acetonitrile, and without an anti-solvent bath, is the kind of result that changes what a factory looks like. Neither study closes the case for perovskite commercialisation, and it is worth being precise about what is still unknown. Field stability and total-cost economics are the two that matter most. These are the questions that separate an impressive paper from a product. The industry has learnt, sometimes painfully, that a promising absorber material is only the beginning of the problem. Only in limited and specialised forms. Several companies are building pilot and early commercial lines, mostly for tandem products and for applications such as building-integrated photovoltaics. Large-scale retail availability of perovskite panels for residential rooftops is not yet a reality, and the sector is still working through reliability and scale-up questions. The finished cell is usually encapsulated, but two concerns recur. Many high-efficiency perovskites contain lead, and the traditional manufacturing inks rely on solvents such as DMF and NMP that are classified as reproductive toxins. The Surrey work addresses the second concern directly by removing those solvents from the ink while leaving the lead question to be handled through encapsulation, recycling and, in some research lines, lead-free formulations. The perovskite layer is deposited from a liquid ink containing dissolved precursor salts. Common laboratory methods include spin coating, but commercial production is expected to use scalable techniques such as slot-die coating, blade coating and bar coating, often on a roll-to-roll line. After deposition the film is dried and annealed, then sandwiched with charge-transport layers and encapsulation. Larger areas introduce longer current paths and more series resistance, demand greater film uniformity, and increase the chance of a defect affecting performance. Modules also contain inactive gaps between sub-cells, which is why total-area efficiency is lower than the active-area figure for the same device. It could, indirectly. Removing hazardous solvents reduces the need for enclosed handling, solvent recovery, waste treatment and monitoring equipment, and it may simplify permitting. Surrey’s team argues this points towards more compact, resource-efficient and potentially lower-cost manufacturing. Whether that translates into a lower price per watt will depend on solvent prices, yields and the cost of encapsulation. The perovskite field has spent a decade chasing efficiency records on ever-smaller devices. The more consequential work now happening is less photogenic: reformulating inks, proving processes on wider substrates, and passing the unglamorous reliability standards that determine whether a panel survives twenty years on a roof. Surrey’s contribution sits firmly in that second category. An 18.2 percent mini-module is not a record, and the paper does not claim one. What it does show is that the toxic chemistry underpinning printable perovskite inks is replaceable without collapsing performance on a process route designed for roll-to-roll production. For an industry that will need to consume tens of thousands of litres of solvent for every gigawatt it builds, that is the kind of breakthrough that actually unlocks a factory. Share post: Popular
Luis Reyes Oct 21, at 8:00am ET You’ve probably been blinded by a windshield at some point. Low sun, a parked car angled just wrong, and for a second or two you can’t see the road in front of you. Now put that glass on the ground, multiply it by 230,000, and lay it out directly under the final approach to one of the busiest runways in Europe. That’s roughly what happened next to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, and it took a court case, three government bodies and well over a year to sort out. The fix, in the end, wasn’t a film or a fence. It was pulling out every single panel and starting over with different glass. The farm’s called De Groene Energie Corridor, and it runs along the A9 highway near the village of Zwanenburg on about 247 acres (100 hectares) of former farmland. It sits under the approach paths to two runways, the Polderbaan and the Zwanenburgbaan. Pilots started filing reports almost as soon as the panels went in, and in early 2025 Schiphol, Dutch air traffic control, KLM and easyJet made a joint call: no landings on the Polderbaan between 10 a.m. and noon whenever the weather was sunny, starting March 4, 2025. Two hours doesn’t sound like much. But the Polderbaan is Schiphol’s preferred runway for noise reasons, so every landing it couldn’t take got pushed onto runways that fly over more houses. According to a spokesperson quoted by Dutch news site Nu.nl at the time, somewhere between 55 and 65 aircraft normally land there in that two-hour window. The problem’s a fairly simple one once you think about it. A standard solar panel has a smooth glass front, and smooth glass reflects light the way a mirror does, in one tight beam at one specific angle. For most of the year the sun never lines up with the panels and the cockpit at the same time. For a few weeks in late winter and again from late August into the fall, it does, and a pilot a couple of miles out on final suddenly has a very bright field in exactly the spot they need to be looking. The measure was lifted after a few weeks because the sun moved on. Everybody involved knew it’d be back. Talks between the airport, the farm’s owner, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and the Dutch infrastructure ministry went nowhere fast, so Schiphol sued. On July 16, 2025, a judge in the Noord-Holland district court ordered the owner to remove just over 78,000 panels from the two fields closest to the runway, half by September 1 and the other half by October 15. Stick with the court’s reasoning for a second, because it should make any developer near an airport a little nervous. The farm had a valid permit. It’d been studied by the Dutch aerospace center, NLR, against the FAA’s glare guidance, because the Netherlands didn’t have a glare standard of its own. And the judge ruled that having a permit didn’t let the owner off the hook: by creating a serious hazard to flight safety and then not fixing it, the company was acting unlawfully toward Schiphol regardless of what the paperwork said. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in new window) Schiphol wanted all 230,000 gone. The judge said the other two fields weren’t proven to be the main source of the glare and left them standing. Did that settle it? Not really. By late August the sun was heading back toward the bad angle, and the airport had to restrict afternoon landings on the Zwanenburgbaan from August 28 through September 29, 2025, this time diverting traffic to the Schiphol-Oostbaan, the airport’s shortest runway. That’s when the four parties finally cut a deal: take everything down, make it non-reflective, put it back, with the whole job due by September 2026. That was the original plan, apparently. Anti-reflective film exists, and a German company had been pitching one for exactly this situation. But by the time the panels were off the racks at the end of 2025, the owner says it’d done the math and decided new panels were both cheaper and more practical than peeling, coating and re-racking 230,000 old ones. Here’s the detail I’d want to know if I’d been paying taxes in Haarlemmermeer. Dutch broadcaster NH reported that the original permit specified panels with “deep textured” glass, and that’s the stuff that scatters light instead of beaming it. The developer told NH those panels weren’t available when it came time to build, so it chose an alternative type. That alternative’s what ended up blinding people. The municipality has said it followed the rules in granting the permit, and the parties agreed to treat the whole thing as an unforeseen situation rather than anyone’s fault, which is frankly a pretty generous way to describe it. The replacements come from Longi, the Chinese manufacturer, and the owner says they were developed specifically for solar farms near airports. Longi’s anti-glare line pairs a chemically etched, textured glass surface with matte black back-contact cells, so there’s no shiny metal busbar on the front and no smooth surface to make a clean reflection. The company’s own figures claim total reflection under 1 percent on the earlier version of that module. Several independent test labs signed off on the Schiphol batch, according to the owner’s March 9, 2026 announcement, which also said the farm expected to be fully back online by the end of June. As far as I can tell, nobody’s publicly confirmed that it hit that date. The owner’s news page hasn’t been updated since March, and the government’s own deadline was always end of September. I’d assume the panels are in, but I can’t show you a source that says the farm is producing again. The bill for the fix came to a little over €14 million (that’s roughly $16 million), and everybody chipped in. The national government sent €6.84 million to the municipality, the municipality put in close to €7 million of its own, Schiphol paid a share, and the owner covered the biggest piece. The owner had reportedly put about €90 million into building the farm in the first place. And the old panels? They were sold. NH reports they ended up in Africa and Eastern Europe, which I’ll admit I find slightly funny, because they were brand new and there wasn’t a thing wrong with them. The catch, according to the owner’s spokesperson, is that unbolting a panel voids its warranty, so 230,000 nearly new modules with no warranty went to whoever would take them. The spokesperson said he didn’t know what they sold for. If you’ve been following the German wind turbine that got taken apart because a village couldn’t sleep, this is the solar version of the same story: a machine that was legal, permitted and working, and still had to come down because of something nobody measured properly beforehand. The difference is that the solar farm gets to go back up. You might wonder whether the whole mess could have been avoided with better rules. The Dutch government apparently thinks so. In July 2026 the infrastructure ministry announced a national glare standard for solar farms near runways, built on a “prudence criterion” that NLR came up with during the Schiphol fight and that’s stricter than the FAA guidance the farm was originally checked against. The ministry’s temporary framework is dated April 20, 2026, covers 2026 through 2028, and was due to be published by the end of September, with EASA expected to follow with Europe-wide glare rules after 2029. What do you think? Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 8, 2026 Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 14, 2026 Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 7, 2026 Luis Reyes · Oct 5, 2026 Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 20, 2026 Dave McQuilling · Oct 1, 2026 Dave McQuilling · Oct 21, 2026 Luis Reyes · Oct 21, 2026 Dave McQuilling · Oct 21, 2026 Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 21, 2026 Luis Reyes · Oct 21, 2026 Autonotion is the English-language automotive editorial by Autonocion.com — car news, reviews, and industry analysis for American readers. Other links Company Subscribe Get the latest car news in your inbox: By submitting your email you allow autonocion.com to send you news or promotions. More info
Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt, with a solar panel and testing equipment. Optivolt Power Balancer connected to panel cells.
Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt, with a solar panel and testing equipment. Optivolt Power Balancer connected to panel cells. SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct 21, 2026– Optivolt, a power electronics company building the intelligence layer for solar, today announced a $32M Series A led by VXI Capital, a new hard tech fund founded by the former CTO of the Defense Innovation Unit of the U.S. Military, with participation from RA Capital, Valo Ventures, and Atlas Innovate. This round brings Optivolt’s total capital raised to date to $42M. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261021369977/en/ Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt, with a solar panel and testing equipment. (Courtesy of Optivolt) The solar panel has become a commodity. Optivolt gave it a brain. Its Power Balancer embeds active power electronics directly into the panel, managing energy among cell groups in real time to recover power otherwise lost to shade, weather, dirt and uneven degradation. This creates a foundation for adaptive, connected solar systems. With more than 20,000 panels incorporating the Power Balancer already shipped, the company will use the new financing to expand manufacturing and bring the technology to solar systems at every scale, from individual homes to utility-scale projects designed to help power AI data centers. “Solar became cheap enough to compete. I founded Optivolt to make it intelligent enough to power the world,” said Rohit Kalyanpur, founder and CEO of Optivolt. “For nine years, we’ve rebuilt the solar panel from first principles, embedding aerospace-grade power electronics so it can respond to Earth as it actually is, not the ideal conditions of a lab. The result is the first solar panel system that thinks for itself – one that adapts to shade, weather, dirt and degradation in real time, recovering energy conventional solar leaves behind. The next step is putting it everywhere.” “The next era of energy will not be built by simply installing more of the same passive solar panels we already have. It will be built by making solar intelligent enough to become the backbone of the global power system,” said Orin Hoffman, Managing Director at VXI Capital. “Optivolt has spent nine years building the architecture for that future. This financing is about taking it from a technical breakthrough to the platform on which the next generation of solar is built.” “At Enphase, we transformed rooftop solar by managing power at the output of each panel. Today, rising panel power, the widespread adoption of storage, and the urgent need to reduce costs demand a new approach. Optivolt is bringing a new class of power electronics inside the panel itself to unlock the next leap in performance and economics,” said Paul Nahi, the founding CEO of Enphase and Optivolt investor. “I helped build the last generation of solar power electronics. At Optivolt we are building the next.” Solar, Rebuilt from the Inside Out Despite decades of progress, the conventional solar panel remains fundamentally passive hardware. Solar panels are rated under controlled laboratory conditions, but operate in a world of shade, dirt, debris and uneven degradation. Inside a conventional panel, one underperforming cell can constrain the output of an entire cell group – or cause a bypass diode to take that group out of production altogether. A localized problem can therefore suppress the output of a much larger section of the panel. Optivolt redesigned the electrical architecture inside the panel around a power electronics brain. Its Power Balancer redistributes energy among the panel’s cell groups in real time, addressing mismatch before it becomes a larger loss. It replaces conventional bypass diodes and builds rapid shutdown and monitoring into the panel, allowing solar systems to be designed without separate module-level optimizers, microinverters or rapid-shutdown devices. Putting active power electronics inside a solar panel created a fundamental engineering problem: heat. To solve it, Optivolt assembled a team with experience designing power systems for satellites, bringing the discipline of aerospace – where every watt matters and hardware must survive without repair – to a product built to spend decades inside a solar panel. That team developed the Power Balancer, which operates at 99.4 percent conversion efficiency under typical conditions. Optivolt holds 19 issued patents and has 27 additional patent applications pending, covering key elements of its panel-integrated power electronics architecture. Optivolt has earned UL certifications covering its integrated junction-box enclosure, panel-integrated electronics, rapid-shutdown system and solar-module safety. In Optivolt’s internal testing, panels incorporating the technology produced up to six times as much power as panels using bolted-on optimizers under defined shade scenarios. Changing the Economics of Solar “At SunPower, we spent nearly three decades pushing the limits of how efficiently a solar panel could turn sunlight into electricity. Optivolt is attacking the other half of the problem: how much energy that panel actually delivers in the real world once it leaves the factory,” said Tom Werner, former CEO of SunPower and Optivolt investor. “The next great solar panel won’t just produce more power under ideal conditions. It will deliver more energy across the imperfect conditions of its working life.” “I’ve spent most of my career making clean energy financeable at scale – building new financing tools, redesigning markets and driving deployment costs down,” said Richard Kauffman, former Chairman of Energy and Finance for New York and an Optivolt investor. “But finance can only take the industry so far. When the same solar project produces more energy over its lifetime, the economics change everywhere. Optivolt rewrote that equation inside the panel itself, dramatically expanding the share of the world’s energy demand that solar can economically serve.” About Optivolt Optivolt is a power electronics company building the intelligence layer for solar. Its panel-integrated Power Balancer redistributes energy among cell groups in real time, helping solar systems deliver more energy under real-world conditions while simplifying the hardware around the panel. Optivolt’s long-term goal is to make every solar panel an intelligent, connected node in a global energy network, capable of both managing its own performance and coordinating with the system around it. Founded by Thiel Fellow Rohit Kalyanpur, Optivolt is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. To learn more, visit optivolt.com View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261021369977/en/ Media Contact:media@optivolt.com KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: UTILITIES CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY SUSTAINABILITY ENVIRONMENT ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ENERGY BUILDING SYSTEMS GREEN TECHNOLOGY SOURCE: Optivolt Copyright Business Wire 2026. PUB: 10/21/2026 10:01 AM/DISC: 10/21/2026 10:02 AM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261021369977/en Copyright Business Wire 2026. Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks. We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
This September, Governor Newsom signed SB 868, the Plug and Play Solar Act. Scott Wiener wrote it, and California is now roughly the tenth state to make room for balcony solar. These are small kits that plug into a standard outlet and push power straight into the home’s circuits. For renters, condo owners and anyone told “you can’t go solar here,” it’s a real change. Most of the practical questions still fall on the homeowner, though. A plug-in system is one or two panels and a microinverter, mounted on a railing, a patio or a ground stand and plugged into a receptacle. Under SB 868, a qualifying device is capped at 1,200 watts of AC output per dwelling. It has to be designed to offset your own consumption. It has to meet the National and California Electrical Codes, carry a UL (or equivalent lab) certification as a plug-in PV system, and shut itself off from the grid during an outage so it never backfeeds onto lines a utility crew is working on. Qualifying devices are exempt from interconnection agreements, utility approval, extra equipment requirements and utility fees. Utilities, including municipal ones like LADWP, may ask you to fill out a simple online registration form. They cannot make you wait for permission. A rooftop system is a different thing. A typical Southern California home system runs 5 to 10 kilowatts or more and is permitted, inspected and wired to the panel by a licensed contractor. Balcony solar is a useful supplement, not a replacement. Your HOA or landlord. SB 868 deals with your relationship to the utility. It doesn’t override your lease, your CC&Rs or building rules about what you can attach to a railing. Get permission in writing. Your circuit, not just your outlet. I worry about this one most. A plug-in kit feeds power into a branch circuit, and that breaker can’t see the solar current coming in. If the same circuit also carries a space heater or a window AC unit, the wiring can carry more than it was designed for. Use a dedicated or lightly loaded outlet, never an extension cord or power strip. In an older home, have an electrician look at the circuit first. The listing. The law’s protections apply only to devices that meet every condition it sets out. A kit with no recognized certification for plug-in PV doesn’t qualify, whatever the listing says. Check the certification mark and look it up. Utility and export rules. The law waives interconnection. It doesn’t promise to pay you for exported power. Treat any energy that leaves your home as worth roughly nothing, and size the kit to what you use during the day. Insurance and fire safety. Tell your insurer. Keep panels and cables out of exit paths, off combustible surfaces, and secured against wind. On a balcony, a loose panel can hurt someone below. Balcony solar makes the most sense where rooftop solar doesn’t work: renters, apartments, condos with shared roofs, shaded houses. A well-placed 800-watt kit in Southern California sun might produce on the order of 1,000 kilowatt-hours a year. A vertical railing that faces north or sits in shade will make much less. At today’s California rates, that can mean real savings and a payback in the low single-digit years. Most single-family homes with a decent roof face different math. Under California’s net billing tariff, exported solar earns far less than it did under the old net metering rules. The value now comes from using your own power, including after sunset when rates peak. A battery is what lets you do that. The federal residential tax credit ended after 2025, so rooftop systems have to make sense on their own merits, and in many SoCal homes with high bills and EV charging they still do. A 1,200-watt plug-in kit simply can’t cover an evening peak or keep your refrigerator running during a Public Safety Power Shutoff. The required anti-islanding feature switches it off when the grid goes down. Expect a gold rush and some overpromising. Be skeptical of: Pull 12 months of usage from your utility account and look at what you use during daylight hours. If you rent, live in a condo, or can’t put panels on your roof, a certified plug-in kit on a safe, lightly loaded circuit is a smart, low-risk first step. If you own a single-family home with a usable roof, get a rooftop-plus-storage assessment first, then decide whether a plug-in kit fills a gap. SB 868 runs through January 1, 2030, when the interconnection exemption expires unless the Legislature extends it. If the industry wants that extension, the next four years need to go well, which means consumers have to have good experiences. The industry should give them honest advice now. Oren Tamir is Founder & CEO of NRG Clean Power, a residential solar and battery storage installer based in Woodland Hills, California, serving homeowners across Southern California. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine. 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 2, 2026 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Wednesday, October 28, 2026 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today! pv magazine USA hosts its multi-day virtual event on U.S. solar and energy storage, covering domestic manufacturing, distributed energy and the growing role of solar-plus-storage in meeting AI-driven power demand. Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Monday, October 26, 2026 10:30 am – 11:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
Solar panels on a house in Pasadena (Photo – Kate Bartlett) By News Desk The Solar Power and Battery 101 workshop will cover the process of installing solar panels and explain how residents may save an average of 20% to 30% on upfront costs. PWP staff will discuss rebates and installation steps, including choosing vendors, understanding the benefits of solar and battery storage, and meeting permit and electrical code requirements. “Choosing to install solar power and battery storage at home is a meaningful investment that pays off for both our customers and our city,” said David Reyes, PWP general manager. “It delivers clean energy, supports Pasadena’s path toward 100% carbon-free electricity by the end of 2030, and gives homeowners greater control over their energy use and costs.” Registration is available at PWPweb.com/SolarNovember5. For accessibility information or to request an accommodation, call (626) 744-7311 or email CSC@CityOfPasadena.net. Requests made at least 72 hours in advance will help ensure availability. Information about solar power and battery storage rebates is available at this link. We hope you enjoyed this article. We live in and care about this community. For more than a decade, Colorado Boulevard Newspaper has investigated local issues, asked difficult questions, and worked to hold power accountable—without shareholders, corporate agendas, or outside influence. Your support helps fund the time, research, and reporting needed to uncover stories that matter. A $5 gift or subscription helps keep local journalism strong. Please explore the many ways you could support us by clicking the blue button below. Support Our News Desk department consists of a collective of news gatherers in order to keep the community informed and safe. Award-winning Colorado Boulevard Newspaper is your go-to source for informative news, engaging events, and vibrant community life in the greater Pasadena area. We’re proud to be recognized for excellence in journalism and remain committed to informing, educating, and collaborating to create a better world, both locally and globally. See all articles Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
China has proposed higher efficiency requirements for TOPCon, HJT, and BC solar cells and modules New manufacturing projects would face stricter limits on energy and water consumption, with greater emphasis on recycling and product quality The draft rules are open to stakeholder consultation until November 15, 2026 China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has proposed tougher standards for solar PV manufacturers, including higher efficiency requirements for solar cells and modules, as part of its efforts to curb overcapacity in the industry. Under the proposal, new and expanded solar cell production lines would need to achieve average conversion efficiencies of at least 26.2% for TOPCon, 26% for heterojunction (HJT), and 26.6% for back-contact (BC) technologies. For solar modules, the proposed minimum average efficiencies are 24.2% for TOPCon, 24% for HJT, and 24.4% for BC modules. The draft also sets minimum efficiency requirements for existing production facilities. Solar cells would need to achieve average efficiencies of at least 25.3% for TOPCon and HJT and 25.6% for BC technology. For existing modules, the proposed thresholds are 23.4%, 23.4%, and 23.7%, respectively. However, according to TaiyangNews TOP SOLAR MODULES Listing, commercial module efficiency of BC has already reached 25%, led by AIKO and LONGi (see TOP SOLAR MODULES Listing – October 2026). The draft also introduces efficiency thresholds for emerging technologies. New tandem solar modules would need to achieve an average efficiency of at least 27%, compared with 25% for existing products. New perovskite modules will be required to meet the minimum efficiency of 20%. The proposed standards also target the energy and water consumption of solar manufacturing, particularly in the polysilicon production stage. The draft includes requirements covering waste management, recycling, environmental protection, and worker safety. It also encourages manufacturers to improve automation and digital manufacturing processes to increase production efficiency and reduce costs. The draft retains a minimum equity-capital ratio of 30% for new and expanded manufacturing projects. It also requires manufacturers to invest at least 3% of their annual sales revenue in research and development and process improvements. The changes come as China’s solar manufacturing industry continues to face excess production capacity and financial pressure. The government has been seeking to encourage a shift away from capacity expansion driven mainly by price competition toward technological development, improved product quality, and more efficient production. The proposed specifications also revise the system used to identify manufacturers that meet industry requirements. Authorities would conduct regular reviews and could remove companies from the list if they no longer comply with the standards. The proposed rules are open for public consultation until November 15, 2026. Details are available on MIIT’s website. MIIT previously clarified how manufacturers are expected to meet the five mandatory national standards covering the solar PV industry, ahead of their 2027 rollout (see China Clarifies New Mandatory Solar PV Standards). The proposal is separate from China’s planned controls on exports of certain solar manufacturing technologies (see China Proposes Export Curbs On 12 Solar PV Technologies). TaiyangNews 2024
A new United States-headquartered metal roof engineering company S-5! white paper challenges the assumption solar attachment points must be directly located over purlins to ensure structural adequacy. The ‘Solar Mounting Off Purlin on Metal Roof Sheeting’ technical paper investigates the assumption via laboratory testing for Australian building codes and standards and documented field performance. The paper presents evidence that metal roof sheeting can reliably support solar attachments between purlins when systems are property engineered and installed. Wind uplift resistance, load distribution and the structural role of roof panels are all examined in the paper, supported by static and cyclic load testing results, full-assembly testing and examples of solar installations that have withstood extreme hurricane conditions. The paper points to utilising proper load distribution and not just proximity to structural purlins as key to evaluating the complete load path, including roof sheeting, solar fixings, and supporting structure. “Metal roofs come in two distinct styles, each with a different method of attachment: standing seam (or concealed-fix), and exposed-fastened (exposed-fix). In both roof types, the seams or ribs that run from the eave to the ridge act as structural elements,” the paper says. The paper’s findings support the integrity of S-5!‘s PVKIT 3.0 rail-less solar mounting system and Facet Mount. “Clamps or brackets are attached to the seams or ribs with an interface called the PVKIT® to secure the PV module frames, eliminating the need for rails. The clamps and brackets can be attached anywhere along the seams or ribs, as well as directly over the purlins,” the paper explains. The PVKIT 3.0 is available in standard and optional integrated 50 mm riser configurations, providing additional space for wire routing, module-level power electronics and other balance of system components. The S-5! high-pressure cast aluminium Facet Mount offers 16 fastening locations designed for flexibility and increased load distribution while preserving single-ply membrance roof integrity. S-5! will be exhibiting at All Energy Australia, October 28-29, in Melbourne at Stand Q101.
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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
AGS Airports has unveiled Horizons – Looking ahead, acting together – and celebrated a major sustainability milestone as Glasgow Airport’s solar farm begins generating enough renewable electricity to meet around 25% of the airport’s on-site demand. The multi-million-pound project was developed by AGS Airports in partnership with leading energy transition adviser and developer Ikigai Group.
The impressive 10MW farm located on Glasgow Airport land near Barnsford Road has been funded and delivered by Zestec Renewable Energy, who will manage and optimise the infrastructure long-term.
Comprising more than 14,300 photovoltaic panels, the development generates renewable energy to help power airport operations and reduce reliance on energy from the grid.
The solar farm is a key initiative within Horizons, AGS Airports’ sustainability & ESG strategy, which sets out the group’s long-term ambitions across four strategic pillars: Under the strategy, AGS Airports has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving net zero for its own emissions by 2035 while continuing to create positive impacts for the communities it serves, investing in its people and championing innovation across the aviation sector.
The completion of the solar farm represents one of the most significant achievements in AGS Airports’ journey towards net zero and demonstrates the company’s commitment to turning strategy into action.
Fiona Smith, Executive Director of ESG & Sustainability at AGS Airports, said: “The launch of Horizons marks an important moment for AGS Airports as we set out a clear vision for building a more sustainable future for our airports. Looking ahead, acting together captures our belief that meaningful progress can only be achieved through collaboration. The solar farm is an example of that approach in action and a major milestone on our sustainability journey.”
The opening of the farm sees AGS Airports achieve another of its targets, generating 25% of on-site renewable energy for its own use at Glasgow Airport by the end of 2026, improving energy efficiency across its airport operations.
Crucially, the solar farm is also expected to save around 1100 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) based on grid electricity emissions per year.
Toby Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Zestec, said: “We are pleased to have delivered this significant renewable energy project for Glasgow Airport. With the solar farm now operational, we look forward to managing and optimising it over the long term, helping the airport make the most of the renewable energy it generates.”
The success of the project has been underpinned by strong partnership with SP Energy Networks (SPEN), the electricity network operator for central and southern Scotland.
Martin Maxwell, SPEN’s District General Manager for Ayrshire and Clyde South, said: “It’s fantastic to see this new solar farm now up and running – powering a cleaner and greener future for AGS and Glasgow Airport and kickstarting a new era for this thriving transport hub. We’re proud to have played our part in bringing this project to life and working with AGS to ‘look ahead and act together’.” Helena Anderson, Chief Operating Officer at Ikigai, commented: “We supported Glasgow Airport from inception to energisation, jointly developing the onsite generation project and securing the most competitive investor. It is rewarding to see that collaboration now delivering clean, competitively priced electricity for the airport.”
Looking to the future, innovation will remain a core focus of the Horizons strategy, with attention now turning to how the success of the solar farm can be replicated at Aberdeen International and Southampton airports. The company has also set its sights on helping to deliver the UK’s first scheduled zero-emission passenger route.
Earlier this year, AGS Airports supported the UK’s first real-world electric aviation demonstration programme with BETA Technologies’ all-electric ALIA aircraft completing flights across Scotland.
The trials showed how zero-emission aircraft could operate from existing airport infrastructure in the years ahead.
Kam Jandu, Chief Executive Officer at AGS Airports, commented: “By generating clean energy on-site, we are reducing our carbon footprint, strengthening our energy resilience and creating long-term value for the airport and the communities we serve. “Horizons reflects our ambition not only to reduce our environmental impact but also to help shape the future of sustainable aviation. Horizons and the targets we have set ensure AGS Airports continues to lead by example.”
The construction of gigawatt-sized solar farms could be transformed by adopting four technical innovations, according to research by Lightsource bp. The UK-headquartered independent power producer (IPP) has shared findings from the investigation phase of its NextGen Solar Programme, which is reviewing how gigwatt-scale solar farms are built. The programme is exploring how four areas of innovation – automated foundation piling, a frameless panel design that uses steel rather than aluminium, press-fit bolt-free module installations, and on-site pre-assembly – can reduce the costs and time required to construct gigawatt-sized solar farms. Results from the initial investigation found combining these four construction innovations could cut direct installation costs by around 22% and reduce installation time by up to 30%, when compared with current standard practice. Chris Buckland, Global Technical Director of Lightsource bp, told pv magazine the analysis is based on assessment of “newly-developed solar industry offerings from China, Europe and Northern America, with a focus on automation and novel installation method.” Buckland added that a construction approach combining the four innovations is intended for large-scale PV development from 2028 onwards. “It remains at the development stage but is expected to become relevant to major projects over the next three years,” he explained. “We plan to run trials in Australia and the United States to validate supplier data points and support technical assessment and bankability, with initial results targeted within the next 18 months.” Lightsource bp’s analysis says automated piling rigs that use GPS precision can reduce installation time by up to 12.5%. Automated piling replaces manual pile driving, it adds, in turn lowering costs and improving consistency while also potentially reducing the risk of injury to site workers. Additional analysis by the IPP says a press-fit, bolt-free solar module installation that enables solar panels to click into position has the potential to reduce installation time by up to 30% when combined with automated piling and a new module design. “The solution aims to simplify module installation by replacing conventional clamps and bolts, delivering potential savings through reduced installation time and balance-of-system costs,” Buckland told pv magazine. “We are also exploring replacing aluminium frames with steel options. Due to confidentiality requirements, we cannot provide the cost assessments.” An additional statement from Lightsource bp explains its NextGen Solar Programme now moves from modelling and analysis into real-world validation, with trials on active projects including automated piling systems, robotic module placement and advanced cable harnessing solutions to verify cost, time and safety assumptions. “We know that demand for solar energy is rising, and building for gigawatt scale is constrained by existing construction methods, impacting some projects commercial viability,” Buckland explained. “The NextGen Solar Programme has delivered a practical, evidenced-based roadmap for scaling solar farm construction efficiently, and we are now moving to validate these solutions under real operating conditions.” From pv magazine Global 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]. Comments Please login to comment Monday, November 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, November 5, 2026 10:00 am – 11:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Thursday, October 29, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid Friday, October 23, 2026 11:00 am – 12:00 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid The new issue of pv magazine Global is out now! Available in print and digital – get your copy today!
Solar-boosted ocean power plant fails the price test, but one clever twist wins A computational techno-economic study found that a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal and ocean thermal energy conversion plant was not economically advantageous over an uncooled photovoltaic array paired with a standalone OTEC plant under central cost assumptions. The verified break-even electricity price ranged from $1.77 to $3.12 per kilowatt-hour along the optimized trade-off at the design site, above the $0.30–$0.80 per kilowatt-hour diesel-generation cost reported for remote Indonesian grids. The study modeled a closed ammonia OTEC cycle whose evaporator received heat from a PVT field through an intermediate heat exchanger. The PVT coolant simultaneously cooled the photovoltaic cells and delivered recovered heat to the OTEC cycle. The analysis compared this hybrid with Case A, an uncooled photovoltaic array beside a standalone OTEC plant, and Case B, an actively cooled array that rejected its recovered heat to ambient. Researchers optimized collector aperture area, specific heat-transfer-fluid flow, evaporator conductance and one of five commercial photovoltaic technologies. NSGA-III simultaneously optimized net plant power, system exergy efficiency and the crossover price, defined as the break-even electricity price for the incremental hybrid investment. Annual energy was calculated from long-term monthly solar climatology, with no thermal storage credited at night. Machine-learning surrogates replaced repeated high-fidelity calculations during the search. Gaussian-process models were selected for the physical regression targets, while gradient-boosted trees classified whether a cycle solution existed. The annual hybrid energy increment relative to the uncooled reference had a cross-validated R² of 0.9980 and mean absolute error of 0.19 kWh per square metre per year. Among 26 front designs re-evaluated with the full model, 25 were feasible. The surrogate overestimated the crossover price relative to the uncooled reference by a mean $0.002 per kilowatt-hour, and its Spearman rank correlation with verified values was 0.9985. Verification also identified one design that violated the evaporator approach limit by 0.012 K, which was removed from the reported results. The verified Pareto front covered net hybrid outputs of 39–588 kW and exergy efficiencies of 11.6–21.7%. A selected knee design used 2,411 m² of collectors with TOPCon cells and delivered 459 kW at 19.7% exergy efficiency, but had a verified crossover price of $2.53 per kilowatt-hour. Multicrystalline silicon produced the lowest crossover price because its larger temperature coefficient produced a greater benefit from cooling; efficiency alone did not determine the ranking. Relative to the actively cooled array, routing recovered heat to the OTEC evaporator had a coupling crossover price of $0.12–$0.13 per kilowatt-hour along the design-site front, below the reported diesel-cost range. This comparison excluded the cost of obtaining the cooled PVT field because that hardware was common to both configurations. The result supports using recovered heat once a PVT field has been justified for other reasons, rather than using OTEC coupling alone to justify the field. At an electricity price of $0.40 per kilowatt-hour, the break-even PVT-specific cost was $43–$82 per square metre, compared with a documented range of about $200–$550 per square metre. A 20,000-draw Monte Carlo analysis produced a 5th–95th percentile crossover-price range of $1.76–$3.74 per kilowatt-hour, and every draw exceeded $0.80 per kilowatt-hour. The analysis was limited to a steady-state model, one ammonia-based plant scale, no thermal storage and uncertain utility-scale PVT procurement costs. Collector areas above 2,000 m² and conditions outside the design-site climatology were extrapolations, and the diesel range was regional rather than a site-specific avoided-cost estimate. Subject of Research: Techno-economic optimization of a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal and ocean thermal energy conversion plant Article Title: Locating the economic threshold of a hybrid PVT/OTEC plant: a surrogate-assisted multi-objective optimization with high-fidelity verification Article References: Ahmadi, M., Aghanajafi, C., & Vojdani, M. M. (2026). Locating the economic threshold of a hybrid PVT/OTEC plant: a surrogate-assisted multi-objective optimization with high-fidelity verification. Results in Engineering, 32, Article 113607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2026.113607 Image Credits: AI Generated DOI:10.1016/j.rineng.2026.113607 Keywords: PVT/OTEC hybrid, photovoltaic-thermal, ocean thermal energy, techno-economic optimization, crossover price, surrogate modeling, NSGA-III, high-fidelity verification, Locating, economic, threshold, hybrid News Source: Denise Maddox. (October 21, 2026). Modeled hybrid PVT/OTEC plant breaks even only with low-cost collectors or recovered heat. Scienmag. We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Solar Power World By Billy Ludt | Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, has activated a rooftop solar installation spanning approximately 3.5 acres atop the resort’s convention center. Featuring 4,696 solar panels, the array is designed to supply up to 20% of the resort’s electrical load during peak production periods and offset up to 50% of the electricity purchased from the local utility. Credit: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center “This project is an important example of how we are partnering with Marriott International to invest in initiatives that support our shared conservation goals and create long-term value for our shareholders,” said Mark Fioravanti, president and CEO of Ryman Hospitality Properties. “With this project complete, we’re reducing demand on the local power grid while improving operational efficiency and strengthening the resort’s climate resiliency for years to come.” The array came online in June 2026 and has already produced the equivalent power of approximately 48 average U.S. households for one year. Gaylord National partnered with REV Energy Ventures to develop and implement the solar project. “Gaylord National’s solar project demonstrates how large hospitality properties can integrate renewable energy while maintaining seamless operations,” said Jeff Bedard, founder and CEO of REV Energy Ventures. “The project’s scale highlights the role on-site renewable energy can play in supporting both operational efficiency and sustainability goals.” Since 2018, Gaylord National’s on-site Cogen system has generated electricity while repurposing waste energy for heating, helping meet more than 75% of the resort’s energy needs. “The addition of solar power strengthens the foundation we have established through our Cogen system and other efficiency investments,” said Derek Brauner, director of engineering at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. “By generating electricity on site, capturing thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted and continuously monitoring our building systems, we are able to operate more efficiently. The solar array is another important component of a broader resort-wide strategy focused on energy efficiency, resource conservation and long-term sustainability.” Additional initiatives include energy-saving building technologies, continuous operational monitoring, rooftop beehives, an on-site herb garden and a commitment to local and sustainable sourcing. The resort also supports waste-reduction efforts through single-stream recycling, paperless billing, the elimination of single-use toiletry bottles and recycling up to 170,000 pounds of cardboard each month. News item from Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.
Solarcentury Africa has commenced full commercial operations at its 34.5 MWp Mailo 2 solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Zambia, bringing the total operational capacity of the Mailo solar project to 59.5 MWp. The milestone follows the successful completion of construction and grid compliance testing. Mailo 2 represents the second phase of the planned 118 MWp Mailo solar PV development. The project received equity investment from Solarcentury Africa’s parent company, BB Energy, while Standard Bank South Africa provided debt funding. Alensy Energy Solutions was appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, completing construction in under 12 months. The second phase builds on the performance of the first phase, which has been operating since July 2025. The initial installation sells electricity on a merchant basis through the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), demonstrating the commercial potential of merchant solar generation in Zambia. The additional capacity is expected to contribute to Zambia’s electricity supply, support energy security and economic growth, and help the country meet its energy transition objectives. Mailo is part of Solarcentury Africa’s broader portfolio of 350 MW of solar projects under operation, construction and development across Zambia, highlighting the company’s expanding presence in the country’s renewable energy sector. Jason de Carteret, Chief Executive Officer of Solarcentury Africa, said the start of commercial operations marked a significant milestone for the project and reflected the efforts and collaboration of the teams involved. “We are proud to have delivered the second phase of the Mailo development and to continue supporting Zambia’s growing demand for reliable and sustainable electricity,” de Carteret said. Author: Bryan Groenendaal
October 7, 2026
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