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Nature Communications volume 17, Article number: 4193 (2026) Cite this article
The performance of all-perovskite tandem solar cells is critically hindered by the defective and high-roughness surfaces of lead-tin narrow-bandgap subcells, which induce non-radiative recombination and impede carrier extraction. Herein, we report a robust and multifunctional strategy to convert the above narrow-bandgap perovskite surface into an efficient and smooth one by a picosecond ultraviolet pulsed laser polishing technology combined with surface reconstruction. The polished surface is decoded as [PbI₆]⁴⁻/[SnI₆]⁴⁻ octahedral frameworks with metastable A-site vacancies. By screening guanidinium bromide as an A-site passivator, the polished surface is reconstructed into a guanidinium-cesium-based perovskite phase, substantially enhancing carrier extraction and suppressing ion migration. The resulting single-junction lead-tin and tandem solar cells, fabricated via an antisolvent-free method, achieve efficiencies of 23.47% (certified) and 29.80%, respectively, alongside exceptional operational stability. This versatile interface engineering paradigm surmounts a pivotal barrier in the advancement of next-generation photovoltaic technologies.
Tandem solar cells (TSCs) offer the potential to reach over 43% power conversion efficiency (PCE) by minimizing thermalization losses, thereby surpassing the Shockley-Queisser limit (33%) of single-junction solar cells^1,2. Currently, all-perovskite TSCs have achieved 30.1%³ certified PCE in less than two decades, ascribing to unique photoelectrical properties, demonstrating as promising candidates for the next generation of photovoltaic (PV) technology.
As the bottom subcell of all-perovskite TSCs, the narrow-bandgap (NBG) perovskite (~1.25 eV) one plays the vital role in driving the efficiency of tandem cells to new heights⁴. The present NBG perovskite SC performance suffered from serious open-circuit voltage (V_OC) deficit and relatively low fill factor (FF), primarily induced by the NBG-perovskite/C₆₀ interface defects related non-radiative recombination⁵. They were introduced from asynchronous crystallization process from SnI₂ and PbI₂ reaction with organic halides^6,7,8,9, resulting in Sn-rich surface with Sn²⁺ oxidation-based self-doping defects¹⁰. Moreover, for scalable commercial production technology, vacuum/gas-assisted crystallization methods for NBG perovskite fabrication feature a solvent extraction rate that is roughly four orders of magnitude slower than antisolvent-assisted quenching¹¹, further worsening asynchronous crystallization related defects^12,13. On the other hand, high-quality polycrystalline perovskite film typically shows large grains, yet inevitably parasitizes high surface roughness¹⁴, leading to critical interfacial issues. One is non-uniform contact between electrodes and perovskites, leading to local shunting risk⁵. The other exacerbates carrier scattering, hindering the carrier extraction^10,15,16.
To address above challenges, many studies regulated the crystallization rate of Pb-based and Sn-based perovskite through solvent engineering⁹ or additive strategies⁴ to realize a synchronized crystallization process. Instead of controlling the crystallization rate, surface chemical polishing strategies have also been developed to remove severe phase segregation surface by polishing agents, such as 1,4-butanediamine¹⁷ and 1,2-diaminopropane¹⁸. However, these polishing agents have to meet the target-selective etching and avoid damage to underlying perovskite. Thus, a universal and controllable polishing strategy is essential for addressing above challenges. Different to chemical polishing methods, physical strategies have also been developed such as tape stripping¹⁹ and mechanical nano-polishing²⁰. While all the above removal methods are in contacting style, which leads to the application limits due to the high sensitivity of perovskite films. Inspiringly, laser processing technology is characterized with non-contact style, high robustness and high precision, widely applied in polishing, additive manufacturing, annealing^21,22 etc.
Herein, we firstly develop a high-resolution and robust laser polishing strategy to remove defective Pb-Sn perovskite surface. The newly exposed surface is decoded with [PbI₆]⁴⁻/[SnI₆]⁴⁻ octahedral frameworks, rich in A-site vacancies (V_A). By utilizing this distinct opening platform, we further screen guanidine hydrobromide (GABr) to reconstruct the polished surface. The resulting NBG perovskite SCs achieve a PCE of 24.07% (certified 23.47%), and its TSCs obtain a top 29.80% efficiency based on antisolvent-free method. And the optimal device can retain 80% of its initial efficiency after 650 h under operational conditions.
The Pb-Sn perovskite films prepared by vacuum-driven percrystallization (VDP) technology face a defective and high-roughness surface⁹. The resulting interface between perovskite layer and electron-transport layer (ETL, C₆₀) hinders interfacial charge extraction and poses local shunting risks, thereby inducing severe non-radiative recombination¹⁴ as schematically described in Fig. 1a. In order to solve the above challenges, we devised a picosecond ultraviolet pulsed laser polishing technology (PLPT) (Fig. 1b), which was expected to remove and smooth the defective surface to enhance carrier extraction with negligible thermal effect.
a, b Schematic diagram illustrating carrier extraction behavior in control (a) and PLPT-treated (b) perovskite solar cell devices. The red region represents perovskite, and the blue region represents the electron transport layer. c Schematic diagram of PLPT. d 3D-AFM images of control (top) and PLPT-treated (bottom) NBG perovskite films. Scale bar: 500 nm. e The thickness statistics of Pb-Sn perovskite films with different PLPT recipes. f Atomic ratio values of Sn, Pb, and I of control and PLPT-treated films with different polishing depths. g ToF-SIMS of control and PLPT-treated perovskite films with 50 nm polishing depth. h Sn 3d XPS spectra of control and PLPT-treated perovskite films surface with different polishing depths.
The fabrication process of Pb-Sn perovskite films was described via VDP technology as shown in Supplementary Fig. 1. The annealed VDP film was denoted as control sample. To remove the low-quality surface layer, the control film was treated by laser polishing (Fig. 1c). A picosecond ultraviolet pulsed laser was screened for present work to mitigate laser-induced damage to the interior film. The polishing recipe was optimized for power and scanning speed as shown in Supplementary Table 1.
Firstly, we investigated the evolution of the surface morphology and chemical information for the picosecond-ultraviolet-pulsed-laser-treated Pb-Sn perovskite films (PLPT). Their atomic force microscopy (AFM) images directly illustrated that the average roughness decreased from 29.8 nm to 10.2 nm (Fig. 1d). A series of characterizations and simulations confirmed that the PLPT-treated perovskite films exhibited an overall uniform and flat surface on a large scale (Supplementary Figs. 2–6). Figure 1e statistically analyzes the thickness of Pb-Sn perovskite films with different PLPT parameters. The polishing resolution and depth could be conveniently adjusted by varying the laser power and scanning speed. It has been demonstrated that present PLPT strategy was capable of achieving ~0.90 nm nanoscale-precision in a non-contact manner. Hundreds of polishing batches further verified the strong reliability (Supplementary Fig. 7) and high compatibility (Supplementary Fig. 8) of present strategy comparing with reported results^19,20.
The surface and interior chemical information of control and PLPT-treated Pb-Sn perovskite samples were further investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). As shown in Fig. 1f, the ratio of I/(Pb + Sn) for the top surface of the control sample is 1.64:1, obviously deviating from the stoichiometric ratio of 3:1 (dashed line). And its Sn/Pb ratio reaches ~2.9 showing a Sn-accumulated surface state much larger than stoichiometric ratio of 1:1 (dashed line). It is noted that the above two kinds of atomic ratios gradually return to its ideal values after PLPT treatment with increasing polishing depth. When polishing to a thickness more than 50 nm, both the Sn/Pb and I/(Pb + Sn) values met ideal values. The atomic proportion profiles were further investigated by ToF-SIMS. In Fig. 1g, the element content of control film surface exhibits a gradient distribution. And it gradually stabilizes at a depth of approximately 50 nm. The oxidized Sn⁴⁺ content plays crucial role in device performance, thus it was further analyzed for different polishing depth films. XPS spectra of Sn 3d of perovskite samples were shown in Fig. 1h, and the ratio of Sn⁴⁺ in the control film surface is 20.2%. This may be attributed to the accumulation of Sn²⁺ readily oxidized to Sn^4+ 23. The surface characteristics strongly indicated the subpar surface quality of the control film with Sn-rich and I-deficient surface states, leading to the serious non-radiative recombination losses⁴. When precisely polishing the top surface more than 50 nm, the surface percentage of Sn⁴⁺content was significantly decreased to 5.2%. Thus, the polishing thickness was selected as 50 nm for optimal recipe.
To assess PLPT effect to device performance, Pb-Sn NBG PSCs were fabricated based on the control and PLPT-treated films. The device structure utilized a typical inverted structure. In Fig. 2a, the PLPT-treated device without post-passivation held a V_OC of 0.852 (0.852) V, a short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 31.72 (31.70) mA cm⁻² and a FF of 80.14% (79.01%), yielding a PCE of 21.65% (21.33%) under reverse (forward) scanning. And the control device achieved a V_OC of 0.841 (0.842) V, a J_SC of 31.02 (30.98) mA cm⁻², and an FF of 75.32% (70.89%), yielding a PCE of 19.64% (18.49%) under reverse (forward) scanning. It demonstrated an obvious improvement of the J_SC and FF values of PLPT-treated devices compared with the control ones (Fig. 2b and Supplementary Fig. 9). More interestingly, the hysteresis index (HI) decreased from 8.42% to 1.17% (Supplementary Fig. 10).
a J–V curves of control, PLPT-treated Pb-Sn NBG PSCs without post-passivation. b Statistical photovoltaic parameters of control and PLPT-treated Pb-Sn NBG PSCs. Box-plot elements: center line, median; box limits, upper and lower quartiles; whiskers, 1.5× interquartile range; data points, individual values from 9 independent devices. Error bars represent the standard deviation (SD) values. c, d The GIXRD results of the control and PLPT-treated film. e Fitted line of 2θ-sin²ψ from GIXRD results for the control and PLPT-treated film. f TRPL measurements of the PLPT-treated perovskite films with thickness varying from 250 to 850 nm. g Thickness dependence of the TRPL lifetime with analysis to extract the bulk carrier lifetime and the surface recombination velocity. h τ_b–S_rv curves. i The dynamic interaction process of the perovskite surface structure during laser polishing (E_p: The energy was received by atoms per mole in perovskite.).
After PLPT treatment to remove the defective surface, the corresponding devices demonstrated a PCE improvement from 19.64% to 21.65%. To understand PLPT-treated working mechanism, we aimed to decode its surface information. Grazing-Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXRD) measurements were utilized to investigate the residual stress and thermal effects of PLPT treatment. As illustrated in Fig. 2c, d, at different tilt angles ψ, PLPT-treated films obtain much smaller systematic shift (0.04°) than control (0.13°). By fitting the relationship between 2θ and sin²ψ, the residual tensile strain of the PLPT-treated perovskite film was 21.78 MPa, one third of the control film (72.59 MPa) (Fig. 2e and Supplementary Note 1). For comparison to present UV-laser-treated film, the infrared laser treated ones showed obvious thermal effects (Supplementary Fig. 11) and large residual tensile strain (125.06 MPa). (Supplementary Fig. 12). Thermal effect of PLPT was further simulated by COMSOL software on the perovskite film, indicating a little thermal effect from PLPT process (Supplementary Figs. 13, 14 and Supplementary Note 2). Besides, XRD results showed that the main peak intensities of the PLPT-treated film increased (Supplementary Fig. 15) and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) values decreased (Supplementary Table 2) compared with the control samples. It was noted that the PbI₂ impurity peak at 2θ = 12.71° of control was completely eliminated^24,25. And the bandgap remained unchanged ~1.242 eV after PLPT treatment (Supplementary Fig. 16). Thus, PLPT treatment could release the surface stress, change the stoichiometric ratio to the ideal one with little thermal effects.
Next, the thickness dependence of time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) decay kinetics was examined to decouple the quality diagnosis for surface and bulk. Figure 2f and Supplementary Fig. 17 show the normalized TRPL decay curves with varied thickness values for control and PLPT-treated films with a step of 200 nm. The TRPL lifetimes (τ_TRPL) of the PLPT-treated films were longer than those of the control film at approximately the same thickness level. And the TRPL decays became faster with reduced film thickness for both samples (Supplementary Table 3). In general, the measured τ_TRPL are composed of the surface recombination velocity (S_rv) and bulk recombination lifetime (τ_b) by the following equation²⁶:
where d is the film thickness. According to the fitting relationship between 2/d and 1/τ_TRPL (Eq. (1)), S_rv and τ_b values were obtained using the extracted slope and intercept parameters (Fig. 2g). The extracted τ_b value of PLPT-treated film reached approximately 3.0 μs, notably surpassing the value of the control film (2.2 μs) (Fig. 2h). Nonetheless, the S_rv value of PLPT-treated films ~ 5.3 cm s⁻¹ did not exhibit an obvious decrease compared to the control one (5.5 cm s⁻¹). Thus, the enhanced τ_TRPL values of the PLPT-treated perovskite films were primarily attributed to the increase in bulk lifetime. Combining the detailed analysis (Supplementary Notes 3, 4), we have decoded the dynamic interaction between PLPT-treatment and perovskite. According to laser power attenuation, the laser polishing process could be roughly delineated into two distinct stages (Fig. 2i). At initial stage (stage Ⅰ), the laser energy (E_p) was much greater than the desorption energy of B-site ions (E_B), where E_B was the highest one among the desorption energies of A-site ions (E_A), E_B and X-site ions (E_X). All atoms were etched away indiscriminately into ions fragments and clusters²⁷. At ending stage (stage Ⅱ), E_p value attenuated to around E_B, insufficient for perovskite etching instead of surface ion releasing¹⁹. And the surface ions with lower bond desorption energies demonstrated a greater probability of being dissociated²⁸. Thus, PLPT-treated film showed rich of A-site vacancies (V_A) according to our experimental testing and reported work results²⁷.
According to the above decoding and experimental analysis, the PLPT-treated perovskite film surface was mainly composed of V_A arrays (PLPT, Fig. 3a). By utilizing these V_A arrays, it helped to support an opening platform to reconstruct polished surface with new A-site ions in order to achieve the synergistic effect of defect elimination and stability enhancement. By screening A-site library, guanidinium (GA⁺) can form effective hydrogen bonds two times larger than normal A-site cations (FA⁺, MA⁺)²⁹ (Supplementary Fig. 18), possessing the ability to enhance stability and suppress ion migration^29,30,31. Hence, GABr was prioritized for reconstructing the polished surface. Hereafter, the PLPT films reconstructed by GABr treatment were marked as target ones (Target, Fig. 3a). The optimization GABr concentration was 1 mg/mL and the details can be found in Supplementary Figs. 19, 21.
a Schematic diagram illustrating the evolution routes of the perovskite surface structure from control to target. b Atomic ratio data of A-site ions of PLPT-treated and target films surface after 5 nm, 10 nm, and 20 nm Ar-etching. c The A-site (FA⁺, Cs⁺, MA⁺ and GA⁺) ions distribution of PLPT-treated and target films. d Enlarged and normalized GIXRD spectra collected from the surface of the PLPT-treated and target perovskite films. The blue peak represents the V_A-rich phase. e, f High-angle annular dark-field TEM images for the different regions from PLPT-treated and target samples. Scale bars are 2 nm. The second row shows the calculated interplanar spacing for each lattice.
The target sample was investigated by XPS with Ar-etching to survey the A-site and iodide atomic percentage. A-sites atomic ratio of PLPT-treated film surface (the top part of Fig. 3b) was 0.53 (Supplementary Note 5), while it stabilized around 1.00 after Ar-etching for over 10 nm. In contrast, the A-site atomic ratio of target film kept constant with uniform distribution in increasing depth via Ar-etching (the bottom part of Fig. 3b). Additionally, X-site atomic ratios of the target film surface showed slight increase compared with PLPT-treated film after GABr surface reconstruction (Supplementary Fig. 22). We further used ToF-SIMS to investigate the A-site cation composition after GABr treatment. A distinct signal of GA⁺ was clearly observed on the film surface comparing with PLPT-film (Fig. 3c). Through XPS and SIMS results, it can be confirmed that GA⁺ had entered the crystal lattice and obtained a new GA_1−xCsₓ-based perovskite surface.
To study target surface information, GIXRD technology was employed to detect the crystal structure for PLPT and target samples (Fig. 3d). For the PLPT-treated surface, the characteristic peak localized at around 28.3°, which was indexed for the (200) plane of perovskite. When the incident angle was lower than 0.1° approaching surface, there was a new shoulder peak at around 28.8°. These emergent shoulder peak gradually weakened with an increase of the incident angle and ultimately vanished, attributed to substantial A-site vacancies causing lattice distortion^32,33. After surface reconstruction with GABr, the shoulder peaks were completely eliminated, directly demonstrating that GA⁺ effectively incorporated into the crystal lattice and thereby resolved the structure distortion (the right part of Fig. 3d). Notably, when the incident angle was 0.05°, the diffraction peak of the (200) plane exhibited a slight shift (~0.01°) toward the lower angle. Moreover, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images were collected to further survey the newly recontruction surface. For the PLPT-treated film, the d values of interplanar spacing were measured to be about d =  3.48 Å (Fig. 3e), lower with the values reported in the literature attributed to partial A-site ions loss³⁴. In contrast, the target film shows a d value of 3.57 Å (Fig. 3f), slightly higher than the literature³⁴, attributed to larger radius of GA⁺ ion²⁹. Thus, GA⁺ incorporation filled in A-site vacancies and reconstructed the surface composition of PLPT samples according to GIXRD and TEM results.
We further investigated the film quality and stability for target samples. Figure 4a shows enhanced (100) and (200) plane intensities of the target sample compared with the control and PLPT-treated ones, and the PbI₂ peak at 2θ = 12.71° was completely eliminated. The absorption spectra of target sample remained unchanged (Supplementary Fig. 23). While new characteristic peaks were observed at 6.5° and 11.7° with a high concentration of GABr, attributed to the formation of GA₂PbSnI₄ phase³⁵ (Supplementary Fig. 24). The steady-state photoluminescence (PL) and TRPL measurements were conducted to investigate the defects intensity and carrier dynamics for the perovskite films. As shown in Fig. 4b and Supplementary Fig. 25, the steady-state PL intensity for target sample is significantly enhanced comparing with the control and PLPT-treated ones from both top and bottom incidence, indicating improved film quality and reduced non-radiative recombination. The average carrier lifetime of the target film reached 2.82 µs longer than that of the PLPT film (2.44 µs) and the control sample (1.97 µs), indicating a reduced defect density (Fig. 4c and Supplementary Table 3). Furthermore, large-area PL-mapping was employed to characterize the film uniformity. The emission spectra of the control sample exhibited lower intensity and larger peak intensity fluctuation with a standard deviation (SD) of ~0.18 compared to the PLPT-treated sample (SD = 0.05) (Fig. 4d, e). In contrast, the target film displayed significantly higher emission intensity and smaller SD (0.04) relative to the PLPT-treated and control samples (Fig. 4f). This distinct difference directly confirmed that the target film possessed substantially improved lateral homogeneity, a key advantage for scalable optoelectronic application³⁶.
a XRD patterns of perovskite films. The star mark represents the characteristic peak of PbI₂. b Steady-state PL spectra of perovskite films excited from the top surfaces. c TRPL measurements of perovskite films. d–f PL intensity imaging of perovskite films deposited on glass substrates (2.5 × 2.5 cm²). The color bar shows the normalized PL intensity. g Band alignment of control, PLPT-treated and target films compared with C₆₀. h PLQY data from control, PLPT-treated and target films, with and without C₆₀. i The density values of mobile ions of the control, PLPT-treated and target films were obtained by BACE measurements in dark.
The obtained perovskite/C₆₀ interfaces were further investigated by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). Figure 4g and Supplementary Fig. 26 display obvious p-type behavior for the control film surface due to the self-doping effect of Sn⁴⁺, leading to the emergence of an energy offset with C₆₀. This led to minority carrier accumulation at the perovskite/C₆₀ interface, and an approximately 140 meV band offset between perovskite and C₆₀. This misalignment hindered carrier transport and aggravated defect-assisted carrier recombination losses at the interface³⁷. The Fermi level of the target perovskite film showed a significant upshift from −4.75 eV to −4.64 eV relative to the control film. The band offset was reduced with 50 meV for perovskite/C₆₀ interface, facilitating charge extraction. To verify the suppression of non-radiative recombination, photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) was carried out to assess the perovskite/ETL interface properties (Fig. 4h). The PLQY of the perovskite samples were gradually improved from 1.88% (control), to 2.72% (PLPT) and further to 4.71% (target). Upon contact with the C₆₀ ETL, the PLQY value at the control interface dropped markedly to 0.91%, which testifies to the non-radiative recombination and energy loss at the perovskite/C₆₀ interface. In contrast, the PLQY values of the PLPT-treated and target perovskite/C₆₀ samples reached 1.15%, and 3.26%, respectively. Thus, the target surface reconstruction could remove the interfacial defects, favor energy level alignment, which synergistically suppressed carrier trapping and non-radiative recombination losses.
To study the defect distribution of Pb-Sn NBG PSCs, three kinds of devices from control, PLPT and target films were fabricated and analyzed by drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP) and electroluminescence (EL)-mapping. The surface defect density for the target film was reduced by two-thirds compared to that of the control (Supplementary Fig. 27). EL-mapping of control, PLPT-treated, and target PSCs (Supplementary Fig. 28) further demonstrated that target PSCs had a higher and more uniform EL intensity at the same applied current. Therefore, the combination of DLCP and EL mapping results verified the effective suppression of trap density and carrier recombination by the present strategy.
Next, target perovskite film stability with GA_1−xCsₓ-based surface was further investigated by quantifying the density of mobile ions. The density of mobile ions and their extraction time could be obtained by bias-assisted charge extraction (BACE) measurements in dark^38,39 (Supplementary Fig. 29).
The amount of diffused charges (({Q}_{{{{rm{dif}}}}})) was obtained by integrating the displacement current ({I}_{{{{rm{tran}}}}}) with time t (Eq. (2)), then the density of mobile ions (ρ) was calculated by Eq. (3), where ({Q}_{{{{rm{dif}}}}}) was divided by active volume (({A}_{{{{rm{act}}}}})) and elementary charge e. For the PLPT-treated film, the (rho) value was measured to be about 1.08 × 10¹⁷cm⁻³ (Fig. 4i), lower with the value of the control film (1.81 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³). After GABr reconstruction, (rho) value further decreased to 0.72 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. The efficient suppression of ion diffusion contributed to the obvious improvement of device hysteresis⁴⁰. We then compared the formation energy of Pb-Sn perovskite with different A-site ions. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations demonstrated that GA_1−xCsₓ-based perovskite exhibited a smaller formation energy compared with Pb-Sn perovskite with other calculated A-site ions (Supplementary Fig. 30), confirming an pronouncedly improved surface stability⁴¹.
We then fabricated a series of Pb-Sn NBG PSCs for control, PLPT-treated and target devices in typical inverted structure. The champion device was obtained from target device with a V_OC of 0.882 (0.881) V, a J_SC of 33.25 (33.04) mA cm⁻² and an FF of 82.11% (81.82%), yielding a PCE of 24.07% (23.82%) under reverse (forward) scanning (Fig. 5a and Supplementary Table 4). And the target PSCs achieved a record efficiency of 24.07% (certified 23.47%) by antisolvent-free technology (Fig. 5b, Supplementary Fig. 31 and Supplementary Table 5). Compared with control devices, the target devices showed improved values in all photovoltaic parameters (Supplementary Fig. 32). It was noted that the target devices exhibited much smaller hysteresis index (0.72%), compared with the control device (8.44%), primarily attributed to the reduction of defects acting as channels for ion migration (Supplementary Fig. 33A). The target PCEs also demonstrated a narrow distribution as shown in Supplementary Fig. 33B. The steady-state output (SPO) efficiency at the maximum power point reached 23.01%, while the control one was only 16.74% (Supplementary Fig. 34).
a J–V curves of control, PLPT-treated and target Pb-Sn NBG PSCs. b A summary of reported PCEs of Pb-Sn NBG PSCs fabricated by antisolvent and antisolvent-free methods. c EQE spectra of control, PLPT-treated and target Pb-Sn NBG PSCs. d TPV decay curves of control, PLPT-treated and target Pb-Sn NBG PSCs. e, f The analysis of V_OC and FF losses of control, PLPT-treated and target Pb-Sn NBG PSCs. g Cross-sectional SEM image of a representative tandem device. Scale bar: 1 μm. h J–V curves of the target TSC and device architecture (inset). i MPPT curves of the control and target tandem devices with encapsulation under continuous 1 sun illumination.
The integrated J_SC values derived from external quantum efficiency (EQE) curves of the control and target PSCs were 30.99 mA cm⁻² and 32.10 mA cm⁻² (Fig. 5c), respectively. The main EQE improvement stemmed from photons beyond 750 nm (dashed rectangle), which could be converted more efficiently by target device. Interestingly, the thinner target (50 nm less) absorber achieved a higher J_SC value compared with the control. On one hand, it was ascribed to the improvement of perovskite film quality (Fig. 4). On the other hand, the target film surface improved the utilization yield of light. Compared with control device, when light illuminated from the ITO glass side, the smoother perovskite surface and smoother Ag electrode led to stronger specular reflection of the initially unabsorbed light (Supplementary Fig. 35), which ultimately obtained a longer optical path within the perovskite film (Supplementary Fig. 36), thereby decoupling the high requirements for both carrier lifetime and mobility of NBG film³⁵. As shown in Fig. 5d, transient photovoltage (TPV) characterizations confirm a longer decay lifetime for the target device (761 μs) relative to the control device (342 μs), verifying the significant suppression of carrier trapping and nonradiative recombination. This could be further corroborated by light intensity-dependent photovoltage, where the ideality factor (n) of the target device (1.53) was much smaller than those of the control (1.97) and PLPT-treated (1.67) devices (Supplementary Fig. 37). Excitingly, the present strategy was not only efficient for present absorber bandgap (~1.25 eV), but also applicable to other bandgap PSCs for p-i-n and n-i-p structures, such as ~1.75 eV, ~1.55 eV, ~1.33 eV (Supplementary Fig. 38).
A quantitative loss analysis for V_OC and FF was performed by referencing device performance from the ideal Shockley–Queisser limit (Supplementary Notes 6–7). Based on quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS) results, V_OC losses were ascribed to bulk, ETL-interface, and HTL-interface loss components (Fig. 5e and Supplementary Table 6). The target film presented notably lower bulk and ETL-interface losses than control, verifying that surface polishing and reconstruction gave rise to the V_OC improvement. In addition, FF losses are mainly induced by non-radiative recombination and transport loss (series resistance)⁴². The control device indicated high non-radiative recombination and transport loss, while PLPT-treated devices primarily reduced transport loss, explaining the FF increase. And target devices further suppressed the above two kinds of losses with negligible transport loss by GABr surface reconstruction (Fig. 5f).
Two-terminal all-perovskite TSCs were fabricated based on the target NBG perovskite device. The top subcell had an absorber composition of DMA_0.1Cs_0.4FA_0.5Pb(I_0.75Br_0.25)₃ with 5 mol% MAPbCl₃ additives. The detailed information of the wide-bandgap (WBG) top cells can be found in Methods. The tandem devices utilized a typical inverted structure (Fig. 5g and the inset of Fig. 5h). Ultimately, our champion device obtained a PCE of 29.80% (29.52%) under reverse (forward) scanning, with a V_OC of 2.16 (2.16) V, a J_SC of 16.60 (16.62) mA cm⁻² and an FF of 83.12% (82.24%) (Fig. 5h and Supplementary Table 7). The present PCE value represented a notable advancement for antisolvent-free methods, one percent net PCE higher than previous work⁹. The integrated J_SC values of the WBG and NBG subcells from EQE spectra (Supplementary Fig. 39) were 16.11 and 16.04 mA cm⁻², respectively, in good agreement with the J_SC value from J–V measurements. The device demonstrated a SPO efficiency of 29.18% at the maximum power points (MPP, Supplementary Fig. 40). Based on the advantages of high uniformity and robustness of laser processing, we further fabricated 1 cm²-size and 20.07 cm²-size TSCs. The 1 cm² device yielded a V_OC of 2.15 (2.15) V, a J_SC of 16.28 (16.15) mA cm⁻², and an FF of 81.90% (81.82%), corresponding to a PCE of 28.67% (28.41%) under reverse (forward) scanning (Supplementary Fig. 41). The 20.07 cm² mini-modules, yielded a PCE of 24.38% (24.27%) under reverse (forward) scanning, with a V_OC of 17.00 (17.01) V, a J_SC of 1.83 (1.82) mA cm⁻², and an FF of 78.39% (78.41%) (Supplementary Figs. 42, 43 and Supplementary Table 8). The encapsulated small-area TSC retained 80% of its initial PCE for approximately 650 h of MPP tracking under AM 1.5 G in N₂ ambient condition at room temperature (Fig. 5i), top value among reported data^1,18, whereas the control device decayed to lower than 80% after only 172 h.
In summary, our work has demonstrated a robust strategy for converting the defective and rough surface of NBG film into an efficient and smooth one. PLPT is first developed to precisely remove the defective surface of NBG perovskite films, thereby improving surface compositional uniformity and flatness. By further decoding the treated surface, we screen GABr for reconstructing the newly exposed surface into GA_1−xCsₓ-based perovskite, achieving enhanced carrier extraction efficiency and stability. The smooth perovskite surface obtains a substantial increase in optical path length, which results in a higher photocurrent. Impressively, the target Pb-Sn PSC yields a record PCE of 24.07% (certified 23.47%) and exhibits negligible hysteresis via an antisolvent-free approach. In contrast, the control device attains a PCE of only 21.58%. The target two-terminal all-perovskite TSC achieved an efficiency of 29.80%, one percent net PCE higher than previous work, demonstrating exceptional operational stability. The present surface conversion strategy effectively eliminates the key surface-effect bottleneck across various perovskite compositions, paving the way for universal performance improvement.
All raw materials were not purified and were used as received. PbI₂ (99.999%), SnI₂ (99.999%), PbBr₂ (99.99%), PEAI (99.5%) and NiO nanocrystal (99.999%) were purchased from Advanced Election Technology Co., Ltd. FAI (99.5%), MAI (99.5%), MACl (99.5%), Pb(SCN)₂ (99.5%), FABr (99.5%), CsBr (99.9%), CsI (99.999%), PbCl₂ (99.9%), DMAI (99.5%), EDAI₂ (99.5%), PDADI (99.5%), GAI (99.5%), GABr (99.5%), GASCN (99%), PEDOT:PSS, C₆₀ and PC₆₁BM were purchased from Xi’an Yuri Solar Co., Ltd. SnF₂ (99%) was purchased from Aladdin Co., Ltd. 4PADCB was purchased from Vizuchem Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China). Bathocuproine (BCP) was purchased from TCI. Tin Powder (99.999%), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, 99.8%), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, 99.9%), chlorobenzene (CB, 99.9%), toluene (TL, 99.5%) and isopropanol (IPA, 99.5%) were purchased from Sigma Aldrich.
The mixed Cs_0.1FA_0.6MA_0.3Sn_0.5Pb_0.5I₃ narrow-bandgap perovskite precursor with a concentration of 1.8 mol L⁻¹ was prepared by mixing CsI (46.8 mg, 0.180 mmol), FAI (185.7 mg, 1.08 mmol), MAI (85.8 mg, 0.540 mmol), SnI₂ (335.3 mg, 0.900 mmol), PbI₂ (414.9 mg, 0.900 mmol), SnF₂ (14.1 mg, 0.090 mmol), and Pb(SCN)₂ (2.7 mg, 0.036 mmol) in mixed solvents of 0.25 mL DMSO and 0.75 mL DMF.
The wide-bandgap perovskite precursor with a concentration of 1 mol L⁻¹ was prepared by mixing CsBr (42.56 mg), FABr (31.24 mg), DMAI (17.30 mg), MACl (3.38 mg), Pb(SCN)₂ (3.25 mg), PbCl₂ (13.90 mg), PEAI (2.5 mg), FAI (42.99 mg), CsI (51.99 mg), PbBr₂ (55.05 mg), and PbI₂ (391.85 mg) in mixed solvents of 0.2 mL DMSO and 0.8 mL DMF. The precursor solution was filtered through a 0.22 μm PTFE filter before using.
The pre-patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates underwent a cleaning process involving ultrasonication in deionized water, isopropanol, and ethanol for 30 min in succession. poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) which was diluted by n-propyl alcohol (1:5) was coated on the cleaned ITO substrate at 2,000 r.p.m. for 30 s and then heated at 125 °C for 20 min. After cooling, the substrates were transferred to an N₂-filled glovebox quickly, and perovskite films were spin-coated onto the substrate at 3,500 r.p.m for 10 s. The wet films were then directly transferred into a vacuum chamber (100 mL). After the vacuum pump was turned on, the vacuum level dropped to 3 Pa within 4-5 seconds. The total vacuum quenching time was about 12 s. Subsequently, the perovskite films were annealed at 100 °C for 10 min. After cooling, the perovskite films were post-treated by spinning a solution of EDAI₂ (0.5 mg mL⁻¹) in 1:1 IPA:CB solvent at 4,000 r.p.m. for 20 s, followed by heating at 100 °C for 5 min. After cooling down to room temperature, 20 nm fullerene (C₆₀) film and 7 nm bathocuproine (BCP) were subsequently deposited by thermal evaporation at a deposition rate of 0.15 Å s⁻¹. Finally, 150 nm Ag electrode was deposited by thermal evaporation at a deposition rate of 0.5 Å s⁻¹.
For the narrow-bandgap perovskite solar cell with PLPT and GABr surface passivation. After annealing NBG perovskite films at 100 °C for 10 min, the films were polished with a picosecond ultraviolet pulsed laser. GA⁺ surface reconstruction solution was prepared by adding GABr (GASCN and GAI) into IPA at concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mg mL⁻¹. GABr was further dissolved in mixed solvents of IPA and TL with different ratios (IPA:TL = 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3). After PLPT, GABr solutions were spin-coated onto the perovskite at 4,000 rpm for 20 s, then the film was annealed at 100 °C for around 5 min. The subsequent process is the same as above.
NiO nanocrystal dissolved in deionized water (4 mg mL⁻¹) was spin-coated onto the ITO substrates at 5,000 r.p.m. for 30 s, followed by an annealing process at 150 °C for 10 min. After cooling, oxygen plasma was used to treat the substrate for 5 min, and then the self-assembled monolayer 4PADCB dissolved in ethanol (0.5 mg mL⁻¹) was spin-coated onto the substrates at 3,000 r.p.m for 30 s, followed by heating at 100 °C for 10 min. After cooling, 45 µL of wide-bandgap perovskite precursor was dropped on the substrate and spin-coated through a two-step process: 1,000 r.p.m. for 5 s and 4,500 r.p.m. for 40 s. At the twentieth second, hot gas flow (70 m s⁻¹, 50 °C) started, the gas flow was maintained for 4–6 seconds, resulting in the film turning dark brown. After gas purging, the samples were then annealed at 100 °C for 10 min. After cooling to room temperature, the perovskite films were post-treated by spinning PDAI₂ solution (1 mg mL⁻¹ in 1:1 IPA: toluene) at 5,000 r.p.m. for 30 s, followed by heating at 80 °C for 5 min. Then, 20 nm C₆₀ was deposited on top of the perovskite films by thermal evaporation at a rate of 0.15 Å s⁻¹. The samples were then transferred to an ALD system to deposit 30 nm SnO₂. After that, 1 nm Au was thermally evaporated. After that, NBG subcells were fabricated using the abovementioned methods.
The mini-modules were fabricated on the 6.0 cm × 6.0 cm sized glass/ITO substrate using a 355 nm nanosecond laser scribing with a power of 0.1 W (P1), isolating into 8 subcells with a width of 5.6 mm. All the spin-coated layers in mini-modules were spin-coated at the same spin-coating speed as that used for small-area devices. The power of P2 scribing is 0.12 W. The effective monolithically inter-connected modules were formed by laser scribing (0.5 W) to form P3 lines.
The active area of small-area devices, including narrow-bandgap, wide-bandgap, and tandem devices, was 0.0768 cm². For the PCE measurements conducted in our laboratory, the aperture area of mask was 0.0395 cm². For the certification tests performed at the third-party laboratory, the aperture area of the mask was 0.0401 cm². The film surface and cross-section morphology were characterized using a Hitachi S4800 SEM. The XPS spectra for powder and film samples were conducted using the AXIS SUPRA+ instrument from Shimadzu-Kratos (Japan). The ToF-SIMS measurement (Helios 5 HX/Helios 5 UX/Helios 5 FX DualBeam) was performed with a BiMn primary ion beam (3-lens 30 keV) for the analysis. A 50 × 50 µm² area was analyzed with a 256 × 256 primary beam raster. Sputtering depth was acquired with 1 keV Cesium ion beam (6 nA sputter current) with a raster of 150 × 150 microns. The AFM height images were obtained in the ambient atmosphere using a Bruker Dimension Icon XR AFM. UV-Vis absorption was measured by a SolidSpec-3700 spectrophotometer. XRD were recorded using Rigaku D-MAX 2200 equipment. The theta/2theta modes were conducted with a Cu Kα radiation and an anode operating at 40 kV and 250 mA. Film morphology and cross-sectional structures of devices were measured by a field-emission scanning electron microscope (ZEISS Gemini 300). Steady-state PL was measured using a laser confocal Raman spectrometer (LabRAM HR800, Horiba JobinYvon). The light was illuminated from both the top and bottom surface of the perovskite films (excited by 532 nm). Time-resolved PL was measured using a spectrofluorometer (QuantaMaster 8000 series fluorometers, Horiba), samples were excited by a 532 nm pulsed laser.
The measurements of EL-mapping were obtained by combination of lock-in amplifier (SR830), electric-meter (Keithley 2000, Keithley 2400), and photodector (Thorlabs PDA100A). The J–V characteristics were measured using a Keithley 2450 sourcemeter and a solar simulator (EnliTech, Class AAA, AM1.5 G). The AM 1.5 G was calibrated with NREL reference solar cells (KG-5 and KG-0 reference cells were used). Bias voltages for J–V measurements of single-junction NBG perovskite solar cells were scanned from −0.1 V to 1 V (forward scanning) and from 1 V to −0.1 V (reverse scanning) with a scanning step of 0.05 V. The active area was determined by the aperture shade masks (3.95 mm²) placed in front of the solar cells. Bias voltages for J–V measurements of tandem cells were scanned from −0.1 V to 2.2 V (forward scanning) and from 2.2 V to −0.1 V (reverse scanning) with a scanning step of 0.05 V. EQE measurements were performed in ambient air using a QE system (EnliTech) with monochromatic light focused on a device pixel and a chopper frequency of 20 Hz. For EQE measurements of tandem solar cells, two light-emitting diodes with emission wavelengths at 450 nm and 850 nm were used as the bias lights to measure NBG and WBG subcells, respectively. The operational stability tests were carried out under multicolor light-emitting diode illumination in N₂. No UV filter was used during the stability tests.
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All data are available in the main text and Supplementary Information or upon request from the corresponding authors.
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This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62374065, 62574096), the Wuhan Key Research and Development Program (2025010602030106), Project for Building a Science and Technology Innovation Center Facing South Asia and Southeast Asia (202403AP140015), the Innovation Project of Optics Valley Laboratory (No. OVL2021BG008, OVL2024ZD002), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20250604190827037), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Projects of Hubei Province (GJHZ202500083), Natural Science Foundation of Wuhan (2025040601020188), Hubei Optical Fundamental Research Center (HBO2025TQ003). The authors thank Engineer Jun Su from the Center of Optoelectronic Micro and Nano Fabrication and Characterizing Facility, WNLO of HUST for the support in the SEM test.
These authors contributed equally: Tianjun Ma, Dingfu Luo.
Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Tianjun Ma, Wenjiang Ye, Jun Yan, XuKe Yang, Mingyu Li, Yuheng Li, Salman Ali, Shiwu Chen, Haisheng Song & Jiang Tang
School of Optical and Electronic Information (SOEI), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Dingfu Luo, Xinzhao Zhao, Hao Wang, Ruiheng Gao, Sifan Liu, Ying Zhou, Chao Chen, Haisheng Song & Jiang Tang
China-EU Institute for Clean and Renewable Energy (ICARE), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Qilin Guo & Haisheng Song
Hubei Key Laboratory of Optical Information and Pattern Recognition, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P. R. China
Bingxin Ding & Pingli Qin
Houston Technology Research Center, CNPC USA Corporation (CNPCUSA), Houston, TX, USA
Michael Wang & Chris Cheng
Optics Valley Laboratory, Wuhan, China
Chao Chen, Haisheng Song & Jiang Tang
Shenzhen Huazhong University of Science and Technology Research Institute, Shenzhen, China
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H.S. and J.T. conceived the idea and directed the overall project. T.M. and D.L. fabricated all the devices by PLPT and conducted the characterizations. W.Y, X.Z., Y.Y., H.W., X.Y., and M.L. helped to set up laboratory equipment and optimize the vacuum-assisted devices. Y.L., S.L., A.S, R.G., and S.C. performed maximum power points tracking measurement. B.D., S. H., M.W, C.C.(Chris), Y.Z., C.C., and P.Q. helped to discuss and analyze data. T.M. and H.S. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.
Correspondence to Haisheng Song or Jiang Tang.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Nature Communications thanks Han Chen, Jiangang Liu and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.
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Ma, T., Luo, D., Ye, W. et al. Non-contact laser polishing and reconstruction towards high-efficiency all-perovskite tandem solar cells. Nat Commun 17, 4193 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71017-7
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Received: 29 November 2025
Accepted: 10 March 2026
Published: 08 May 2026
Version of record: 08 May 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71017-7
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Home – Tech – A floating solar plant in Southeast Asia will be built on water rather than land, with batteries capable of powering factories and data centers
A man-made lake in Malaysia’s Terengganu state is about to do double duty. The Hydro Hybrid Floating Solar (HHFS) plan at Kenyir Lake is moving into a major construction phase after a 595 MWac floating solar and battery contract was awarded, with completion targeted for late September 2028.
Local officials say the first phase could bring the state about RM10 million a year ($2.5 million) once it is fully running. That mix of climate goals and hard cash is why floating solar is catching fire across Asia, where most of the world’s floating PV capacity has been built so far.
The core contract is for engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of a 595 MWac floating solar photovoltaic plant with a battery energy storage system at Kenyir Lake. Sunview says the contract price is RM1.962 billion ($250 million), work starts June 2, 2026, and the target completion date is September 29, 2028.
On the ground, the project is also a political and economic story. Terengganu Incorporated’s CEO, Datuk Burhanuddin Hilmi Mohamed, said the state expects RM10 million annually once Phase 1 is fully completed, and framed it as a way to reduce reliance on oil royalty income.
The same briefing pointed to the jobs angle, with about 5,000 workers expected in the first phase and more than half described as local labor. Phase 2 and 3 could push total capacity as high as 2.5 GW within five to ten years, according to the same reporting.
Solar overall is having a blockbuster run, with global additions in 2024 estimated in the hundreds of gigawatts. (iea-pvps.org) Floating solar is still a niche, but it has scaled quickly, with IEA PVPS estimating cumulative floating PV capacity at 7.7 GW by the end of 2023, and noting that almost 90% sits in Asia.
The business logic is simple. Reservoirs already have grid connections nearby, and using water surfaces can ease land pressure that would otherwise pit projects against farms, forests, or housing.
The World Bank’s floating solar handbook also highlights potential benefits like reduced land needs and possible evaporation reductions, though it stresses site-by-site design and monitoring.
Hybridizing with hydropower is the real twist at Kenyir. TNB describes the concept as using daytime solar while hydropower continues operating, with reservoir operations helping smooth supply when sunlight fades, and it has already run a Kenyir floating solar pilot tied to dam operations.
Floating solar is often pitched as “low impact,” but the lake is still an ecosystem. A 2024 Nature Communications Earth & Environment study on water-surface PV systems found changes that included lower water temperature and dissolved oxygen saturation, alongside shifts in plankton and bird communities.
On the other hand, the science is not one-note. A 2025 Frontiers in Water study across several sites reported minimal discernible impacts on common water-quality indicators under some conditions, and the IEA PVPS report warns that environmental effects depend heavily on the water body, climate, design, and coverage.
This is where monitoring stops being a box-checking exercise and starts being the whole project. TNB says its Kenyir pilot includes an environmental monitoring system tracking weather and operating conditions, and it positions that data as useful for designers and authorities planning larger deployments.
Big renewable plants are not just panels and cables anymore. They are software-heavy systems built around inverters, sensors, remote maintenance, and digital controls, which means cybersecurity becomes part of “keeping the lights on,” not an IT afterthought.
NIST has published cybersecurity guidance for smart inverters, flagging practical issues like secure logging, update integrity, and remote access pathways. That matters because inverters are the gatekeepers between solar generation and the grid, and a weak link can become a real operational headache.
Energy infrastructure is increasingly treated as national security infrastructure, even when it is “green.” NATO says it is working to support national authorities in protecting critical energy infrastructure, reflecting how modern power systems sit closer to security planning than they used to.
In the United States, federal law explicitly ties military readiness to energy security and energy resilience, which is part of why microgrids and backup power systems keep showing up in defense planning documents.
When grids get more digital and more distributed, resilience is not automatic, and that is true whether the asset is a gas pipeline or a solar lake.
For residents and investors, the next two years are about execution. Watch the schedule, local hiring promises, and how clearly developers explain lake coverage, boating and fishing access, and long-term monitoring plans, because public trust is much easier to lose than to rebuild.
For everyone else, the question is performance in real life, not just on a slide deck. Will the battery and hybrid operations actually reduce curtailment and smooth supply when demand spikes during sticky evening heat, and will the lake’s health indicators stay stable as the footprint grows?
The official statement was published on Insage.

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24/7 Renewables Outcompete Fossil Fuels on Costs  International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
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MOORHEAD — The city of Moorhead is looking to the sun to reduce energy costs.
The city plans to install solar panels to two city buildings: one of Moorhead’s fire stations and The Loop, the new community center and public library.
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The panels are part of a host of energy efficiency projects the city plans to execute at various city facilities in the next couple years. Other projects include installing energy-efficient lighting and improving building exteriors to reduce energy use.
Moorhead Assistant City Manager Mike Rietz said the city plans to pay for the projects with money saved by reducing utility costs.
“It basically reduces the cost of our utilities in such a way that we can fund the improvements over time out of that savings, and make it budget neutral, so we don’t have to increase our budget to pay for these items,” Rietz said.
The financing arrangement is part of an agreement recently approved by the Moorhead City Council. On April 27, council members approved an agreement with McKinstry, a business that helps municipalities identify and build energy efficiency projects.
The estimated cost of improvements is $4 million. However, the council approved up to $6 million worth of improvements. Rietz said the next step in the process will be an investment grade audit to determine a final cost for the project.
“In doing this little bit deeper dive, they might find some additional projects that could be worth doing that could be more than the initial $4 million,” Rietz said.
According to McKinstry’s presentation at the City Council meeting, the city spends a little more than $1 million per year in energy costs. The proposed improvements could reduce energy costs by $165,000 to $240,000 per year, or by 16% to 23%.
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The solar panel portion of the larger project identified buildings with newer roofs where panels could generate most of the power used in the building.
The Loop is the recently opened Moorhead Public Library and community center. It features a large, flat south-facing roof. Panels there would offset 94% of energy costs, Rietz said.
The fire station identified as a potential location for solar panels is Fire Station No. 2. The station is on 20th Street, just north of Minnesota State Community and Technical College. At the fire station, solar panels would offset 92% of energy costs.
As council members approved the McKinstry agreement, some voiced concerns about placing solar panels on the fire station.
In a City Council workshop on March 10, Moorhead Fire Chief Jeff Wallin said Station No. 2 will require significant repairs in the future. The facility was built in 1971, and has seen multiple additions to accommodate larger fire crews. Issues include the building’s water and sewer infrastructure.
Rietz said he does not yet know how the city will proceed with putting solar panels on Station No. 2.
“The next step in the process is to do a deeper dive into these proposed projects, and really tighten up the numbers,” Rietz said. “So we’ve got some time to make that decision.”
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Rietz said he expects that deeper dive to wrap up sometime in July, with projects starting after. The city has a goal to finish projects by the end of 2027.

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG.
A bird appears to smoke after flying through concentrated solar beams, known as "solar flux," at the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in 2016, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (U.S. Geological Survey)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Regulators are allowing an Obama-era “clean energy” solar plant to continue operating even as its reflected solar beams kill thousands of birds each year, with no fines or enforcement action taken since it opened, a Fox News Digital investigation has found.
The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a sprawling facility built with taxpayer support in the Mojave Desert near the California–Nevada border, remains in compliance under existing regulations, even as birds are burned, injured or killed after flying through the beams which reflect sunlight onto the plant’s three central towers.
Regulators were aware of those risks before approving the project as part of a broader push to expand renewable energy. Today, it remains in compliance, meaning the wildlife deaths documented at the site fall within limits set under its environmental approvals. That framework allows the plant to continue operating even as thousands of birds are killed each year.
OBAMA-ERA ‘CLEAN ENERGY’ SOLAR POWER PLANT STILL USES FOSSIL FUELS – AND KILLS THOUSANDS OF BIRDS ANNUALLY
The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility near the California–Nevada border in the Mojave Desert. The solar thermal plant has faced scrutiny over environmental impacts, including bird deaths linked to its concentrated solar energy system. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
“Staff is not aware of any formal enforcement actions or fines issued by either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife related to avian or wildlife mortality at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System,” the California Energy Commission, which oversees large energy projects in the state, told Fox News Digital.
The commission also said it knows of no special regulatory exemptions for renewable energy projects related to wildlife impacts. Instead, the project was approved as long as monitoring and mitigation requirements would be carried out, meaning some level of wildlife mortality was anticipated.
The futuristic-looking facility, known for its three large towers that glow brightly when powered on, was approved during the Obama-era push to rapidly expand renewable energy following the 2008 financial crisis — part of a broader effort to cut emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels in the name of climate change.
At the time, it was hailed as the future of “clean energy” technology, and the federal government provided a $539 million grant for its construction, along with a separate $1.6 billion loan.
But its technology quickly became outdated by conventional solar panels that absorb sunlight directly and convert it into electricity, making Ivanpah’s energy more expensive to produce. The plant also relies on natural gas to start up each day – producing tens of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
CALIFORNIA’S GREEN NEW SCAM COULD COST YOU $20,000
A composite image shows a tower at the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant alongside a bird found with burn injuries linked to concentrated solar heat exposure, according to federal wildlife research. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Researchers say birds are drawn to the bright towers, then fly through the plant’s concentrated solar beams — known as solar flux — where they can be injured or killed. Researchers dubbed the phenomenon “streamers,” and a video released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a bird trailing smoke as its feathers burn. Songbirds, doves, warblers and other migratory species have been found dead at the plant.
Environmental reviews examined by Fox News Digital show that regulators were aware before construction that the project could kill birds, either by being burned by the plant’s concentrated sunlight or colliding with the tens of thousands of mirrors that surround the three towers like lakes. They also raised concerns about damage to the 4,000-acre physical desert habitat it was going to occupy, as well as to protected species that roam the barren terrain, such as the endangered desert tortoise, dozens of which went unaccounted for during early operations.
The project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement warned that climate efforts could come “at the expense of reducing the native biodiversity.”
Even with those warnings, regulators approved the project, allowing it to move forward on the basis that ongoing monitoring and mitigation requirements would be carried out, rather than requiring those risks to be resolved.
A 2016 congressional review raised similar concerns, finding no clear evidence that federal agencies had pursued penalties for bird deaths at Ivanpah — a pattern that appears to have continued.
A peregrine falcon wing shows severe feather damage consistent with exposure to concentrated solar heat, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of the Ivanpah solar plant. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Burned feathers from a peregrine falcon show damage patterns linked to concentrated solar beams at the Ivanpah solar plant, according to federal research. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The plant is regulated under a system that tracks wildlife deaths but does not automatically trigger fines or shutdowns.
Monitoring reports show hundreds of birds are found dead at the site each year, with some estimates putting the total in the thousands.
Responsibility for enforcement is shared across multiple agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management, each of which has authority over different aspects of the project, the CEC said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it reviews monitoring data and provides technical input but did not indicate enforcement action tied to bird deaths at the site.
NRG Energy, which operates the facility, said in a previous statement it remains committed to providing renewable electricity but declined to provide additional comment regarding environmental issues.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility operates in the Mojave Desert near the California–Nevada border, using thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a central tower to generate electricity. (MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
Instead of being treated like a typical environmental violation, the project is governed through a permitting system that emphasizes monitoring and mitigation rather than penalties.
In practice, that means harm can be documented without triggering enforcement action even though federal authorities have pursued penalties for bird deaths in other industries.
Under federal law, violations involving protected migratory birds can carry fines of up to $15,000 per bird.
Such prosecutions of industry have become rare in the United States, however. In 2017, the Department of the Interior reinterpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to apply only to intentional killings — not “incidental” deaths caused by industrial activity such as oil pits, power lines or wind turbines. Federal courts, including the Fifth Circuit, have since reinforced that narrower reading, limiting the government’s ability to penalize companies for equipment-related bird deaths.
But even efforts to reduce harm — including deterrents, lighting changes and operational adjustments — have not eliminated the problem at Ivanpah, with monitoring reports continuing to document annual wildlife deaths.
More than a decade later, Ivanpah shows what that system looks like in practice: a project approved as clean energy that kills wildlife, relies on fossil fuels and continues operating without penalties.
WATCH: Experts weigh in on future of $2.2B Obama-era Ivanpah solar plant as regulators keep it open
This is part 3 of a series on California’s troubled Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in the Mojave Desert
Part 1 – Obama-backed $2.2B green energy ‘boondoggle’ leaves taxpayers on the hook
Part 2 – Obama-era ‘clean energy’ solar power plant still uses fossil fuels – and kills thousands of birds annually
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
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Argentina’s distributed generation sector is rapidly expanding due to higher electricity tariffs, lower equipment costs, and shorter solar project payback periods of around 3–4 years. Growth has accelerated since 2019, reaching over 4,000 user-generators and 143 MW installed, with strong private-sector-driven adoption.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Image: Mario Ame, Unsplash
From pv magazine Latam
Argentina’s distributed generation (DG) sector is experiencing strong growth, driven by recent electricity tariff adjustments and improving project economics.
“As of today, the wind is at our backs in Argentina,” Argentinean electrical engineer and PV specialist Martín Ponsá told pv magazine.
He explained that electricity tariffs “were frozen in 2019” and that subsequent rate increases have significantly altered the economic equation for photovoltaic projects. He added that “equipment prices—specifically for inverters and panels—are at historic lows” and that there is “significant competition in the labor market,” factors that have considerably reduced project payback periods. “Previously, when you calculated the amortization, it came out to seven, eight, or ten years; today, it hovers around three or four years,” he noted.
Ponsá began working in the distributed generation sector in 2019, following the implementation of Law 27,424. As he recalled, at that time “there were no professionals available to officially certify” projects, and “nobody knew anything—neither they nor we did”—referring to utility companies such as Edenor and Edesur. He explained that he learned the necessary procedures alongside the utilities themselves and has since specialized exclusively in the bureaucratic and technical management required to authorize user-generators. “I act as a partner to the installers; I work hand-in-hand with them,” he stated.
The specialist indicated that he has already participated in nearly 400 user-generator authorizations, spanning both residential and industrial installations. He estimated that these projects represent approximately 7 MW of cumulative installed capacity. “In the context of distributed generation, that is a substantial amount,” he asserted. He also noted that around 70% of these installations belong to residential users and that, while initial growth was concentrated in gated communities and private residential estates, “the industrial sector is now recognizing the opportunity to enter the market, and they are indeed entering.”
Regarding the evolution of the Argentine market, Ponsá highlighted that in 2019 there were barely 67 registered user-generators; by March 2026, that figure had risen to 4,253 users, with a total installed capacity of 143 MW. He clarified, however, that the actual figure is likely higher, as off-grid installations and systems that never completed the formal grid connection process are not included in official statistics. “There could be more than 40% of installations that go completely unnoticed,” he asserted.
Regarding the role of electricity distribution companies, he observed that some firms still view distributed generation “as a bogeyman,” although he maintained that the sector also presents new business opportunities. “Every change compels us to reinvent ourselves,” he said, noting the possibility that cooperatives and distributors could develop their own solar farms to reduce supply costs.
Ponsá also highlighted that Argentina has begun implementing tax incentive programs for energy efficiency and renewable energy. As he explained, the recently enacted Decree 242 provides incentives for investments in solar panels, energy storage, and energy-efficient equipment aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “That also aids in the amortization process,” he stated.
The engineer argued that Argentina’s market development still lags behind countries such as Brazil, Chile, and Colombia; however, he praised the fact that local growth has been driven “purely by private effort,” within a context of limited financing and a historical lack of incentives.
Finally, he noted that one of the models he is keen to promote in Argentina involves on-site power purchase agreements (PPAs) for industrial clients, similar to those he observed while working in Spain. Although he acknowledged that “economic hurdles” remain, he maintained that the model could be successfully replicated locally. “There are plenty of things we can copy and emulate that are already working elsewhere in the world,” he concluded.
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FLASH: Jinko Solar hits 400 GW cumu…  Mysteel
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This photo taken with a mobile phone shows Ned Ekins-Daukes, head of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), speaking at the 64th Smart Energy Council Conference and Exhibition (Smart Energy 2026) in Sydney, Australia, May 6, 2026.  (Xinhua/Xue Yanwen)
SYDNEY, May 8 (Xinhua) — China’s photovoltaic (PV) industry has achieved many innovative breakthroughs, and its development experience is worth studying by other countries, said a leading Australian expert on PV.
Ned Ekins-Daukes, head of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday at the 64th Smart Energy Council Conference and Exhibition (Smart Energy 2026) in Sydney.
Even for someone who has visited China many times to tour PV facilities, Ekins-Daukes said he is still astonished by the speed of innovation, adding that he is impressed by China’s strides in the production of silicon photovoltaics feedstock, the automation of manufacturing, and the consolidation of the supply chain.
“The first thing Western countries can learn from China’s approach to scaling clean energy technologies is stability of policy,” he said. “The second thing is the clustering of capability. When they decide to build a factory, it’s not just one building, it’s a whole ecosystem, a whole supply chain built at scale.”
“From outside of China, we should pay more attention to how innovation and technical development take place. We should learn from what is happening inside China rather than just standing outside saying ‘somehow it’s really hard to make solar panels.’ We need to understand why,” he said.
The professor also noted that Chinese PV companies are heading in a new direction under the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which emphasizes high-quality development. “For photovoltaics, that means thinking about how we can get more value from the solar panel,” he said.
The energy market volatility triggered by the current Middle East conflict will further promote Australia-China cooperation in the photovoltaic sector, he added.
During the event, Ekins-Daukes also joined industry leaders from Australia and China at the Australia-China Smart Energy Partnership Forum, where discussions focused on the future of bilateral cooperation in photovoltaics. ■

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FLASH: Jinko Solar to sell 75.1% st…  Mysteel
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Why India curtailed solar energy during peak summer power demand  The Indian Express
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The latest bulletin from Generadoras de Chile highlights the continued expansion of BESS systems linked to solar plants, with over 2.5 GW in operation and an additional 6.3 GW under construction, amid rising renewable energy curtailment and transmission grid congestion in southern Chile.
A PV plant operated by Engie in Chile
Image: Engie Energía Chile
From pv magazine Latam
Solar photovoltaic energy generated 2,141 GWh in Chile’s National Electric System (SEN) in March 2026, equivalent to 28.7% of total monthly generation, according to the latest bulletin from Generadoras de Chile, the trade association representing electricity generation companies. During the month, solar output reached an instantaneous peak share of 75.1% on March 14 at noon.
Operational photovoltaic capacity stood at 11,999 MW at the end of March, with an additional 10,203 MW of renewable capacity under construction, primarily solar projects and storage systems.
The report shows that renewable energy sources supplied 62% of the SEN’s monthly generation, with the renewable share exceeding 50% throughout all 31 days of March. On March 1 at 2:00 PM, renewables reached an instantaneous peak of 92.6%.
Regionally, Antofagasta contributed 35% of total solar generation, followed by Atacama with 22% and the Metropolitan Region with 7%.
Total installed capacity in the SEN reached 38,005 MW in March 2026, of which 26,553 MW corresponded to renewable technologies or 69.9% of the total. Solar PV remained the largest renewable source with 11,999 MW, followed by wind power at 5,965 MW and run-of-river hydropower at 4,005 MW.
In terms of development, Generadoras de Chile reports 10,474 MW under construction in the SEN, of which 2,753 MW corresponds to solar PV and 6,358 MW to battery energy storage systems (BESS), including standalone projects and hybrid solar-storage facilities. Renewable projects account for 97.4% of all capacity under construction.
Energy storage continues to expand alongside solar development. Chile currently has 2,529 MW / 8,786 MWh in operation, 6,361 MW / 22,479 MWh under construction, and 10,560 MW / 52,833 MWh in environmental assessment. A significant share of operational systems consists of BESS units co-located with photovoltaic plants, designed to shift solar generation to evening hours and reduce curtailment.
In the environmental permitting pipeline, 14,587 MW of renewable capacity is under review, including 10,366 MW of solar PV (57.5% of the total), 4,005 MW of BESS, and 1,957 MW of hybrid solar-wind projects.
The report also highlights operational challenges associated with high renewable penetration. In March, curtailment reached 595.8 GWh, or 20% of total solar and wind generation. Of this, 430.3 GWh corresponded to solar and 165.5 GWh to wind.
Generadoras de Chile attributes the curtailment primarily to grid security constraints and transmission congestion, particularly along the Charrúa–Puerto Montt corridor, which experienced congestion during 39.7% of hours in March.
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A recent study published in Materials Advances describes how an international research team enhanced perovskite indoor photovoltaics by adjusting the absorber bandgap to align with the emission spectrum of indoor LED lighting. According to the source, this tuning facilitates improved spectral matching under low-light conditions, with devices reaching efficiencies of up to 37.44% and maintaining stability for over 2,000 hours.
The researchers fabricated three devices using a conventional mesoscopic n-i-p architecture. The structure included a fluorine-doped tin oxide substrate, layers of compact and mesoporous titanium oxide for electron transport, a perovskite absorber on the mesoporous scaffold, a Spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer, and a gold back contact. Only the perovskite absorber composition was varied by changing the iodide-to-bromide ratio to control the bandgap. The first device, with 2% bromide, had a bandgap of 1.55 eV; the second, with 45% bromide, achieved a 1.72 eV bandgap; and the third, with 85% bromide, produced a 1.88 eV bandgap.
Each device was tested under multiple light intensities—1,000, 500, and 250 lux—and LED color temperatures of 3,000 K, 4,000 K, and 5,500 K. Performance metrics included power conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, and fill factor, measured across all nine conditions. Additional characterization involved photoluminescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and long-term stability testing under indoor illumination for up to 2,000 hours.
The study revealed that the 1.72 eV composition performed consistently well across varied light intensities and color temperatures. The corresponding author noted that its reduced sensitivity to spectral changes challenges the conventional belief that wider bandgaps lead to narrow operating windows. The 1.88 eV device achieved a peak efficiency of 37.44% under low-intensity (250 lux, 5,500 K) illumination, showing that near-perfect spectral alignment can offset material limitations in specific indoor conditions.
The research concluded that there is no single optimal bandgap for indoor photovoltaics, as device performance depends heavily on illumination conditions. The next phase of the study will focus on addressing trap-assisted recombination in high-bandgap perovskites through defect passivation and interface engineering, with the goal of integrating these devices into functional Internet of Things systems for real-world validation. Scientists from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, King Saud University, Taibah University, the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Hellenic Mediterranean University, and the University of Crete participated in the study.
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The smarter E, Europe’s largest energy exhibition alliance, has shortlisted candidates for The smarter E Award 2026 in Photovoltaics, Energy Storage, E-Mobility, Smart Integrated Energy, and Outstanding Projects. Winners will be announced on June 22, 2026, a day ahead of The smarter E Europe event at Messe München. The Photovoltaics category has captured current PV trends, including lighter modules, better shade resistance, and higher weather durability. The shortlisted PV developments include ultralight panels, bifacial vertical modules, flexible plastic modules, and lower-carbon module designs. Inverter-related trends include higher power density, 1,000 V AC support, and DC inputs up to 2,000 V. PV finalists represent Germany, China, Spain, Hungary, the United States, and Israel across solar technology segments. The smarter E Europe will bring together four Messe München exhibitions covering solar, energy storage, e-mobility, and integrated energy systems.

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Registration Now Open for the 5th International Integrated-PV Workshop – Online and Free of Charge|Upcoming Events  Solarbe Global
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New £199-a-month Tesla energy bundle combines solar panels and the latest Powerwall home battery as the brand looks to expand into the UK energy market
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Tesla is trying to make owning an electric car a bit more like signing up to an entire energy ecosystem, with a new UK deal that bundles together solar panels and its latest Powerwall 3 home battery system for £199 a month. And with a Tesla Model 3 available from just £295 a month, Tesla will bundle the renewable energy package with a car for £494 a month.
The new renewable energy offer is currently aimed exclusively at Tesla car owners and includes an eight-panel solar installation plus a Powerwall 3 battery, all fitted and installed with fixed costs and zero per cent finance over four years.
Customers will need to put down a £1,747 deposit, but Tesla says the package is designed to make renewable energy more affordable for households already driving electric cars.
The company says the move is part of its wider push to bring what it calls “sustainable abundance” to the UK, linking together electric cars, home batteries and solar energy under one roof.
Tesla owners can apply for the offer through installation partner BOXT, while non-Tesla drivers can still access alternative pricing through the same installer.
The idea is straightforward enough: solar panels generate electricity during the day, the Powerwall stores any unused energy, and that stored power can then be used later to run the home or charge the car.
Tesla says Powerwall owners paired with solar panels can save an average of £1,450 a year on energy bills.
While Tesla has spent the past decade establishing itself as one of the UK’s best-selling EV brands, its ambitions in energy appear to be growing fast too. The company recently received an Ofgem licence allowing it to become an energy retailer in Great Britain, opening the door to future services that could combine vehicle charging, home batteries, solar energy and AI-powered energy management.
Tesla already runs a retail energy business called Tesla Electric in the US state of Texas, and today’s announcement suggests the UK could eventually see something similar.
Beyond homes and cars, Tesla has also been expanding its role in large-scale battery storage projects across Europe – to such an extent that it now operates the three largest battery energy storage systems in Europe by capacity.
In the UK alone, Tesla says it has deployed more than 1GWh of Megapack battery storage systems across more than 15 sites. Those sites store electricity generated from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, before feeding it back into the grid when demand rises.
Tesla says the total energy stored across those sites is roughly equivalent to the daily electricity needs of 100,000 homes.
The company claims these large-scale battery projects help electricity providers like National Grid manage increasing amounts of renewable energy more reliably, while also helping EV drivers charge using greener electricity.
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Zelestra opens first solar plant in Italy, launches academy  Renewables Now
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Plans for another solar farm in Melton could power 10,000 homes but neighbours say the scheme would “destroy” prime farming land.
Melton Borough Council is set to debate an application to turn land near Freeby, spanning the size of 100 football pitches, into a solar farm on Thursday, May 14.
Plans also outline a battery storage system, new tracks, fencing, lighting and CCTV.
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Around a fifth of the space marked for development is classed as “best and most versatile” agricultural land, while around three-quarters is classed as “moderate quality”.
Trenching in 2025 revealed that ancient remains lie under the fields. The layout has been amended to avoid these areas.
The proposals have been called into the planning committee after more than 100 neighbours made representations – 86 were in support and 23 were against.
While many residents responded that the development would be great for energy security, some said it could threaten food security.
In her letter to the council, resident Mrs Beverley Howes said: “Whilst we’re not against solar panels per se, we wholeheartedly object to them being put on yet more greenfield sites when there are plenty of brownfield sites that would be far more suitable/appropriate.
“There are two other solar farms within metres of this application which are currently going through the planning process too.
“Productive farmland would be lost for decades, undermining local food security and rural livelihoods. Also, particularly with the current global conflicts and unrest, we should be holding onto prime grazing and arable land, not building on it, so that we can sustain food production for our nation.”
Another resident, Brian Kettel, wrote: “Sir Keir Starmer gave a talk to the National Farmers’ Union before the 2024 election and said he wouldn’t touch tenant farmers’ land. Here we have two tenant farmers losing their livelihood.
“Melton is fast becoming the rural capital of solar farms, not the rural capital of food.”
The applicant, Downing Renewable Developments, says the project will be decommissioned in 40 years’ time.
In planning documents, they argue the scheme would make a “significant contribution” to local and national energy goals, including net zero.
They add that a biodiversity net gain of more than 35 per cent is planned, with 11 hectares of land left as meadows and sheep able to graze beneath and in between the panels.
Leicestershire County Council (LCC) Ecology has removed its holding objection in light of this.
Officers concluded the benefits of the proposals outweigh potential harm, and have recommended that conditional planning permission be granted. However, the final decision will sit with councillors next week.
Oil prices held onto gains on Tuesday after President Trump said the US would be extending its ceasefire with Iran.
President Trump is threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he does not step aside when his term leading the central bank expires next month.
The president insisted that he is not "fighting" with Pope Leo while falsely claiming that the first U.S.-born pontiff had stated that Iran should be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.
A new government portal went live Monday morning, allowing businesses to begin requesting refunds for the blanket tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court.
The reclassification doesn't suddenly make pot legal in the U.S., but it does mark an important shift in the country's relationship with the drug. 
Investors are taking overnight clashes in stride.
Headline CPI inflation clocked in 3.3% higher than a year ago while being up 0.9% on a monthly basis, a rapid acceleration from February's levels.
EVs can spare you from high prices at the pump, but there are a lot of factors that can affect whether they're the right choice for you.
A rescued black bear cub named Hiro is capturing attention on social media after wildlife officials found him alone and brought him to a rehabilitation center.
President Trump pledges to give private-sector workers without an employer-sponsored retirement plan access to new tax-advantaged accounts similar to those for federal employees.

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Electricity remains expensive, the zero per cent VAT window is closing and more households are installing solar panels – but the numbers still depend on your roof, usage and tariff
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Solar panels have always had one problem: they make sense in theory, long before they feel urgent in practice. This is because the upfront cost is so significant.
Potential energy bill savings from solar panels depend on things like the shape of your roof, where you live in the UK, your electricity use and the tariff you choose. And, unlike switching broadband providers or changing car insurance, installing solar panels is not something most homeowners can decide over a cup of tea and sort out by the end of the afternoon.
But in the current climate, buying solar panels is becoming an increasingly popular option. Electricity bills remain high by historic standards, even after the latest fall in the energy price cap. Plus, the zero per cent VAT rate on domestic solar installations is due to end in March 2027.
More households are adding solar panel storage batteries, EV chargers and smart tariffs into the equation. And after several years of soaring energy prices, the appeal of generating more of your own electricity is no longer just environmental. It’s practical, financial and, for some households, increasingly urgent.
However, that doesn’t mean solar panels are right for everyone. A shaded roof, a low electricity bill, a planned house move or a poor finance deal can all weaken the case. But for homeowners with the right property and the right energy-use pattern, 2026 could be one of the best years yet to make the switch.
Use our comparison tool to get free quotes from leading solar panel installers.
The strongest reason not to leave the decision indefinitely is tax. Solar panels, battery storage and other qualifying energy-saving materials are currently zero-rated for VAT when installed in domestic properties in the UK. That relief is scheduled to run until 31 March 2027, after which the rate is due to return to 5 per cent.
On a small purchase, that difference might be easy to ignore. On a solar installation costing several thousand pounds, it becomes more noticeable. A typical rooftop system for a three-bedroom home can cost around £6,500 to £9,000 fully installed, depending on the number of panels, roof complexity, inverter, scaffolding and whether a battery is included. On that sort of investment, a future 5 per cent VAT charge would not necessarily make solar unaffordable, but it would make waiting more expensive for households that already know they want to go ahead.
There is also a practical point. Homeowners should not assume they can start the process in March 2027 and still benefit comfortably from the current VAT treatment. A good installation takes time to compare quotes, arrange a survey, check roof condition, confirm scaffolding requirements, deal with any distribution network operator paperwork and book an MCS-certified installer.
The worst reason to buy solar panels is panic. But the VAT deadline does give homeowners a reason to start doing the sums now rather than treating going solar as a vague future project.
The April 2026 energy price cap brought some relief for households, with Ofgem lowering the typical dual-fuel bill for a direct debit customer. But lower does not mean low.
From 1 April to 30 June 2026, the capped electricity unit rate is 24.67p per kWh, with a daily standing charge of 57.21p. For households that use a lot of electricity – particularly those with electric vehicles, heat pumps, home offices or people at home during the day, reducing the amount bought from the grid can still have a meaningful effect.
This is where solar panels are often misunderstood. The biggest savings usually come not from selling electricity back to the grid, but from using as much of your own generation as possible. Every unit of solar power used to run a washing machine, charge a laptop, cook lunch or top up an EV is a unit you don’t have to buy from your supplier.
That makes household behaviour important. A family that is out all day and uses most of its electricity in the evening may save less from solar alone than a household that can shift appliances into daylight hours. Remote workers, retirees and homes with daytime electricity use tend to be better placed. Adding a battery can help store excess power for later, but it also adds thousands of pounds to the upfront cost, so the payback needs to be modelled carefully.
The point is not that solar panels remove electricity bills altogether. They do not. The main takeaway is that, while electricity remains expensive, every extra percentage of self-generated power you can use at home becomes more valuable.
The recent focus on the Strait of Hormuz has also highlighted that household energy bills are not shaped only by what happens in the UK.
The link between a geopolitical crisis and a domestic electricity bill is not always immediate or simple. UK household costs are affected by wholesale gas and electricity markets, network costs, policy decisions, supplier pricing and the Ofgem price cap. A disruption to global oil or gas flows doesn’t automatically translate into an instant rise in a homeowner’s electricity unit rate.
But the broader point is hard to ignore. The past few years have shown how exposed households can be to global energy volatility. The Russian invasion of Ukraine meant gas prices soared. More recently, conflict in the Middle East and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have revived concerns that energy prices will rise again.
Solar panels can’t protect a household from every shock. They will not reduce the cost of gas central heating, and they will not eliminate standing charges. But they can reduce the amount of electricity a home needs to buy from the grid. For households that are tired of being at the mercy of global energy markets, that extra degree of control is part of the appeal.
It is about resilience as well as savings. The more electricity you can generate and use at home, the less exposed you are to the full force of future price rises.
The cost of solar panels has fallen significantly over the long term, although homeowners should still treat the installation as a major investment. A typical system for a three-bedroom home often sits in the £6,500 to £9,000 range, while adding a battery can increase the total by several thousand pounds.
The important point in 2026 is that homeowners have a more mature market to compare. There are more installers, more panel options, more battery packages and more tariff combinations than in the early years of domestic solar. That can make the buying process more confusing, but it also gives households more ways to build a system around their actual needs.
A cheaper quote is not automatically a better quote. Homeowners should compare the number and type of solar panels, projected annual generation, inverter specification, battery capacity, monitoring app, bird protection, scaffolding, workmanship warranty and aftercare. They should also check whether the installer is MCS-certified, as this is usually needed to access Smart Export Guarantee payments.
Solar used to be a relatively simple proposition in that the panels on your roof generated electricity during the day, the home used what it could, and the rest was exported back to the grid. That still applies, but the economics are becoming more sophisticated.
Battery storage allows households to keep more of their solar power for the evening, when electricity use often rises. Smart tariffs can reward households for exporting at certain times, importing cheap electricity overnight or charging an EV when demand on the grid is lower. For some households, the strongest choice is no longer just solar panels; it is solar panels plus a battery, an EV charger and a tariff that makes the whole system work harder.
This does not mean every solar installation needs a battery. For some homes, the extra cost will lengthen the payback period. For others, particularly households with high evening electricity use of an EV, a battery can make the system much more useful.
The same is true of export payments. The Smart Export Guarantee means households can be paid for electricity they send back to the grid, but rates vary between suppliers and are usually lower than the price paid to buy electricity. This is why using your own solar power tends to be more valuable than exporting it.
Before committing, homeowners should ask installers to model savings with and without a battery, using realistic assumptions about when they use electricity.
Solar is no longer a niche home upgrade. Government figures show the UK passed two million solar installations in March 2026, after more than 27,000 installations were completed in a single month. That was the highest monthly figure since 2012.
That surge does not prove solar is right for every household, but it does suggest that more homeowners are reaching the same conclusion: generating electricity at home is becoming a mainstream response to high bills, energy volatility and the wider shift towards cleaner domestic technology.
Rising demand can also create pressure. Good installers may get booked up, particularly as the VAT deadline approaches. Homeowners should be wary of companies using that deadline to push rushed decisions, but they should also recognise that leaving it too late may reduce their choice of installer or installation date.
The sensible response is not to hurry into the first quote, but to start comparing options before the market becomes more crowded.
The direction of travel is also clear from recent government policy. The Warm Homes Plan has put home energy upgrades, including insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage, closer to the centre of the UK’s housing and energy agenda.
That doesn’t mean there is a universal solar panel grant available to every homeowner. In most cases, there is not. The most generous support is still likely to be targeted at lower-income households, fuel-poor homes or properties with poor energy efficiency. Other households may have to rely on savings, supplier finance, green loans or future government-backed finance options.
Even so, the policy direction is crystal clear and important to note. Solar panels are increasingly being treated as one part of a broader strategy to cut bills, reduce pressure on the grid and improve the energy performance of UK homes.
For homeowners planning other upgrades, this can change the timing. If you plan to install an EV charger, switch to a heat pump or add a battery in the next few years, it may make sense to think about solar as part of your wider home energy system rather than as a standalone purchase.
Another reason solar is receiving renewed attention is the arrival of plug-in solar panels. These smaller systems, already common in parts of Europe, are designed to be plugged into a household circuit rather than installed as a full rooftop array.
They could make small-scale solar more accessible for renters, flat owners and households without suitable roofs. A balcony panel that helps run appliances during the day is clearly a different proposition from a 4kW or 5kW rooftop system, but it could still have a role in widening access to solar.
For homeowners with a suitable roof, however, plug-in panels are unlikely to be a replacement for a professionally installed solar PV system. They will generate less electricity, may be subject to safety and certification rules, and could require landlord, freeholder or building permission depending on the property.
Their importance is more symbolic than transformative for the average detached or semi-detached homeowner. They show solar is moving from specialist technology into the everyday consumer market.
The strongest candidates are homeowners with an unshaded roof that faces south, east or west, enough space for a meaningful number of panels and electricity use that can be matched to daylight generation.
Solar may be especially attractive if you work from home, have people in the house during the day, run appliances in daylight hours, own or plan to buy an electric vehicle, or expect your electricity use to rise. Households considering a heat pump may also want to look closely at solar, although seasonal demand matters; heat pumps use most electricity in winter, while solar generation peaks in summer.
The length of time you expect to stay in your property also needs to be considered. Solar panels can add appeal to a home, but the financial case is strongest when you remain there long enough to benefit from years of lower bills.
A good rule of thumb is that the more electricity you use, and the more of that use you can shift into daylight hours or store in a battery, the stronger the case becomes.
Solar panels aren’t automatically the right investment for every home. If your roof is heavily shaded, in poor condition or likely to need replacing soon, it may be better to deal with that first. If you are planning to move in the next couple of years, the savings may not have enough time to build up.
Households with very low electricity use should also be cautious. A small bill leaves less room for savings, especially if most generation would be exported at a lower rate than the cost of buying power from the grid.
Leasehold properties, flats, shared ownership homes and properties in conservation areas may involve extra permissions. Finance arrangements also need careful reading. Some solar deals can be sensible, but homeowners should understand who owns the panels, what happens when the property is sold, how maintenance is handled and whether the agreement could complicate a future mortgage or sale.
Solar should reduce risk, not create a new one. For a full breakdown of savings and payback, see our guide to whether solar panels are worth it.
The best starting point is to collect at least three quotes from reputable installers. Each quote should include a site-specific generation estimate, not just a generic national average. It should also show the system size, panel type, inverter, expected annual output, warranty periods, scaffolding costs, monitoring, export assumptions and whether any battery is included.
Ask installers to model different scenarios. What happens if you do not buy a battery? What happens if you add one later? How much of the generated electricity are they assuming you will use at home? What export tariff have they used in their calculation? How would the payback change if electricity prices rise or fall?
It is also worth checking your own habits before the survey. Look at the annual electricity use on your bill. Think about when you use the most power. Consider whether you can run dishwashers, washing machines, immersion heaters or EV charging during sunny periods. The same solar system can produce very different savings in two similar homes simply because one uses more of the electricity it generates.
Finally, check the roof. Solar panels typically last for 25 years or more, so installing them on a roof that needs major work soon can create avoidable cost and disruption.
The case for solar panels has always depended on the details. It still does. A well-sited system on a high-usage home can make excellent sense; a poor installation on the wrong roof can disappoint.
What has changed is the balance of reasons to act. Electricity remains expensive. The zero per cent VAT window is due to close in March 2027. Batteries and smart tariffs are making solar more useful. Demand is rising. And global energy shocks have reminded households how little control they have over the price of power bought from the grid.
That does not mean homeowners should rush. It means they should start. Get quotes, check the roof, compare the numbers and work out whether solar fits the way your household actually uses energy.
For the right home, now may not just be a good time to buy solar panels. It may be the moment when waiting starts to look like the bigger gamble.
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LONGi Green Energy reports weaker margins and lower earnings as global solar panel oversupply pressures prices and profitability.
LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd., known as LONGi Green Energy, has reported weaker profitability and margin pressure in its latest financial results, reflecting broader challenges in the global solar manufacturing sector. The company, one of the world’s largest producers of monocrystalline silicon wafers and modules, cited intense competition, falling module prices and oversupply as key factors weighing on earnings, according to its most recent quarterly filing and investor presentation.
LONGi Green Energy’s latest results show that revenue growth has slowed compared with earlier periods, while gross and operating margins have compressed. The company attributes this to a sharp decline in average selling prices for solar modules and wafers, driven by rapid capacity expansion across China and other manufacturing hubs. LONGi notes that global module demand remains solid, but supply has grown even faster, leading to price erosion and tighter margins across the value chain.
LONGi Green Energy continues to emphasize its cost leadership and vertical integration as competitive advantages. The company operates across polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules, allowing it to capture value at multiple stages. LONGi also highlights ongoing investments in high?efficiency cell technologies, including PERC, TOPCon and HJT, as ways to differentiate its products and maintain market share despite pricing pressure.
LONGi Green Energy’s stock has been volatile in recent months, reflecting investor concerns about oversupply, trade barriers and policy shifts in key markets. The shares trade on the Shanghai Stock Exchange under the ticker 601012, with American investors able to access the company via ADRs or global equity funds. LONGi’s valuation has come under pressure as analysts reassess earnings power in a lower?price environment, even as the long?term outlook for solar deployment remains positive.
LONGi Green Energy’s management has signaled a cautious approach to capacity expansion, indicating that future growth will focus more on efficiency gains and technology upgrades than on sheer volume. The company also points to international diversification, including projects and partnerships in Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia, as a way to reduce dependence on any single market and mitigate policy or trade?related risks.
LONGi Green Energy’s latest results and guidance highlight the tension between strong underlying demand for renewable energy and the cyclical nature of solar manufacturing. While governments worldwide continue to support decarbonization and grid?scale solar deployment, manufacturers face periodic overcapacity cycles that compress margins and test balance sheets. LONGi’s ability to navigate this environment will depend on its cost structure, technology roadmap and access to capital.
LONGi Green Energy’s position as a leading global solar manufacturer makes it a bellwether for the broader photovoltaic sector. For US investors, the stock offers exposure to the long?term growth of solar power, but also to the cyclical risks of manufacturing overcapacity, trade policy and commodity?like pricing dynamics. Investors considering LONGi Green Energy should weigh these factors against their risk tolerance and time horizon.
As of: 09.05.2026
By the editorial team – specialized in equity coverage.
LONGi Green Energy operates as a vertically integrated solar manufacturer, controlling multiple stages of the photovoltaic value chain. The company produces polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules, which allows it to capture value at each step and respond more flexibly to market conditions. LONGi’s core business model centers on high?volume, low?cost production of monocrystalline silicon products, which are widely used in utility?scale and distributed solar projects.
LONGi Green Energy’s strategy emphasizes economies of scale, technological leadership and global reach. The company has invested heavily in large?scale wafer and module factories, often located in regions with favorable energy and labor costs. LONGi also focuses on continuous process improvements and automation to reduce manufacturing costs and improve yield. This cost?driven approach has helped LONGi become one of the world’s largest suppliers of monocrystalline wafers and modules.
LONGi Green Energy’s business model is closely tied to the global solar installation cycle. When demand for solar projects rises, LONGi benefits from higher volumes and relatively stable pricing. However, when supply growth outpaces demand, as has occurred in recent years, the company faces pressure on prices and margins. LONGi’s ability to maintain profitability in such periods depends on its cost advantage, product mix and geographic diversification.
LONGi Green Energy’s main revenue drivers are monocrystalline silicon wafers and solar modules. Wafers form the base material for solar cells and modules, and LONGi has positioned itself as a leading global supplier of high?efficiency monocrystalline wafers. The company’s wafer business benefits from strong demand from other module manufacturers that rely on external wafer suppliers, as well as from LONGi’s own downstream cell and module operations.
LONGi Green Energy’s module business is another key revenue driver, particularly as the company has expanded its presence in international markets. LONGi offers a range of module products tailored to utility?scale, commercial and residential applications, with an emphasis on high efficiency and reliability. The company’s modules are used in large solar farms, rooftop installations and distributed energy projects, giving LONGi exposure to multiple segments of the solar market.
Technology and product differentiation are increasingly important revenue drivers for LONGi Green Energy. The company invests in advanced cell technologies such as PERC, TOPCon and HJT, which offer higher conversion efficiencies than conventional designs. LONGi also focuses on bifacial modules and other innovations that can increase energy yield per installed watt. These technology?driven products often command premium pricing and help LONGi maintain margins in a competitive environment.
The global solar manufacturing industry is characterized by rapid capacity expansion, technological change and intense price competition. LONGi Green Energy operates in a highly concentrated but still fragmented landscape, where a handful of large Chinese manufacturers dominate wafer and module supply. LONGi’s scale, vertical integration and technology focus have helped it maintain a leading position, but the company faces ongoing pressure from rivals that are also expanding capacity and improving efficiency.
LONGi Green Energy’s competitive position is shaped by several factors, including cost structure, technology roadmap, brand reputation and access to international markets. The company’s large?scale manufacturing footprint and long?term contracts with polysilicon suppliers support its cost leadership. LONGi’s investments in high?efficiency cell technologies and module designs help differentiate its products from lower?end competitors. At the same time, trade policies, tariffs and local content requirements in key markets can affect LONGi’s ability to compete on price and market share.
LONGi Green Energy matters for US investors because it is a major supplier of solar components used in projects around the world, including in North America. US developers and utilities often source modules and related equipment from global manufacturers, and LONGi’s products are part of that supply chain. For US?based investors, LONGi offers exposure to the long?term growth of solar power without direct ownership of project assets.
LONGi Green Energy’s performance also provides insight into broader trends in the solar sector, such as pricing dynamics, technology adoption and policy impacts. US investors who follow renewable energy themes may use LONGi as a proxy for the health of the global solar manufacturing industry. However, investing in LONGi involves exposure to China?specific risks, including regulatory changes, currency fluctuations and geopolitical considerations.
LONGi Green Energy may appeal to investors seeking exposure to the global solar manufacturing sector and the long?term growth of renewable energy. The company’s scale, vertical integration and technology focus can support competitive positioning over time, even in cyclical downturns. Investors with a higher risk tolerance and a multi?year horizon may view LONGi as a way to participate in the transition to clean energy while accepting the volatility typical of manufacturing?oriented stocks.
Investors who are sensitive to short?term volatility, policy risk or China?specific factors may want to approach LONGi Green Energy with caution. The stock’s performance can be influenced by trade disputes, changes in Chinese industrial policy and shifts in global solar demand. Investors should also consider diversification and the role of LONGi within a broader portfolio, rather than treating it as a standalone bet on solar growth.
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Additional news and developments on the stock can be explored via the linked overview pages.
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LONGi Green Energy remains a leading global solar manufacturer with a vertically integrated business model and a strong presence in monocrystalline wafers and modules. The company’s latest results reflect the challenges of oversupply and price pressure in the photovoltaic sector, even as long?term demand for solar power continues to grow. LONGi’s ability to maintain profitability will depend on its cost leadership, technology roadmap and international diversification.
For US investors, LONGi Green Energy offers exposure to the global solar manufacturing cycle and the broader energy transition. The stock can be a way to participate in renewable energy growth, but it also carries risks related to cyclicality, trade policy and China?specific factors. Investors should carefully assess these dynamics and consider how LONGi fits within their overall portfolio strategy.
LONGi Green Energy’s performance will be closely watched as a barometer of the solar industry’s health, particularly in periods of rapid capacity expansion and price adjustment. While the company’s fundamentals remain tied to the long?term outlook for solar deployment, near?term volatility is likely to persist as manufacturers navigate overcapacity and shifting policy environments.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute investment advice. Stocks are volatile financial instruments.

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© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
“It’s a huge decision, so you need to be sure.”
Photo Credit: iStock
Ditching expensive fuels and domineering power companies for solar energy is one of the tried and true methods for reducing your energy bills, but it’s vital to understand what you’re signing up for. 
That’s why one individual took to Reddit for advice after learning their in-laws were purchasing a home with a solar lease attached to it. The original poster explained the situation in the r/solar subreddit. 
“My in-laws are buying a house with eight years left on a Sunrun lease. I’ve asked them multiple times to get a copy of the lease, and they are ignoring me,” they said. “What should I expect to have to either deal with myself when I’m selling the house, or when the lease ends?” 
There are several ways to go solar. With a lease, homeowners essentially rent the panels installed on their property. In this setup, the homeowner usually pays a fixed monthly fee to the system owner and, in return, benefits from the low-cost energy they generate.
While homeowners who purchase solar outright typically have the best return on investment, leasing can be a good option for those concerned about upfront installation costs or system upkeep, which are both typically covered by the leasing company. 
If you’re interested in solar, but aren’t sure what system is best for your situation, EnergySage can help by connecting you with quick solar estimates and vetted installers. By working with its experts, you could save up to $10,000 on the cost of installation. 
Luckily for this family, commenters quickly provided advice to help the OP navigate the situation. 
“At the end of the lease, most contracts allow them to either have the system removed at no cost, to enter into a new agreement, or to buy the system at the current market value,” one wrote. “It is always good to double check the contract for specifics.” 
FROM OUR PARTNER
Whatever your solar budget, Palmetto can help you save.
If you want to buy your own panels, Palmetto’s advisors can help you save up to $10,000 on installation through a network of preferred installers. And if you’d rather get solar savings without upfront costs, Palmetto’s revolutionary LightReach subscription program can deliver — including an exclusive $1,000 cashback offer for TCD readers.
LightReach lets you lease solar panels with no money down, making it painless to lock in long-term savings of up to 33% off your current power bill. Palmetto covers a 25-year warranty for the panels, which means you’ll get reliable performance without unforeseen costs.
To get started, just book a short meeting with Palmetto’s experts to explore your options and find the solution that’s right for you.
“Maybe you can call Sunrun Customer Care to see how the process works. It’s a huge decision, so you need to be sure,” another said. 
Although these homebuyers will likely need a bit more information before making a final decision, upgrading your home with solar usually isn’t this complicated. 
In fact, the free tools from EnergySage make it easy to choose the best panels based on your budget and home. If you want to upgrade but are concerned about the upfront investment, Palmetto offers $0-down LightReach solar leasing plans that can lower your utility rate by up to 20%. 
To boost your savings even more, consider pairing solar panels with efficient electric appliances like heat pump HVAC systems. EnergySage can help here, too, with resources for homeowners to find efficient heating and cooling options and to connect with trusted installers.
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.

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Shakti Energy Solutions marked a strong presence at PowerPax India – Renewable Energy Expo, held on 2–3 May 2026 at Deendayal Hastkala Sankul, Varanasi. The two-day event brought together renewable energy stakeholders for innovation, collaboration and knowledge exchange.
The company showcased its advanced on-grid rooftop solar systems under the Shakti On Roof offering. Designed for high efficiency, reliability and long-term performance, the systems target residential, commercial and industrial users seeking dependable clean energy alternatives.
At its exhibit, Shakti Energy Solutions presented rooftop solar systems engineered to maximise energy output and support long-term cost savings. The solutions drew interest from business owners, institutional buyers and industry professionals.
The company said visitor and partner response reinforced confidence in its technology and customer-focused approach. Its participation also strengthened its presence in Uttar Pradesh, where supportive policies and growing awareness are driving rooftop solar adoption.
PowerPax India 2026 provided the company a platform to showcase capabilities, build industry connections and support India’s expanding renewable energy landscape.
Shakti Energy Solutions marked a strong presence at PowerPax India – Renewable Energy Expo, held on 2–3 May 2026 at Deendayal Hastkala Sankul, Varanasi. The two-day event brought together renewable energy stakeholders for innovation, collaboration and knowledge exchange.The company showcased its advanced on-grid rooftop solar systems under the Shakti On Roof offering. Designed for high efficiency, reliability and long-term performance, the systems target residential, commercial and industrial users seeking dependable clean energy alternatives.At its exhibit, Shakti Energy Solutions presented rooftop solar systems engineered to maximise energy output and support long-term cost savings. The solutions drew interest from business owners, institutional buyers and industry professionals.The company said visitor and partner response reinforced confidence in its technology and customer-focused approach. Its participation also strengthened its presence in Uttar Pradesh, where supportive policies and growing awareness are driving rooftop solar adoption.PowerPax India 2026 provided the company a platform to showcase capabilities, build industry connections and support India’s expanding renewable energy landscape.
Waterproofing buildings used to be an annual pre-monsoon affair but the evolution of real-estate development has changed that approach. In new developments, developers are weaving waterproofing solutions into both the design and construction phases, an approach that Nikhil Madan, Managing Director, Mahima Group, says, “is all about ensuring lasting durability [of the building] and keeping lifecycle risks including water seepage and extensive maintenance to a minimum.”Watertight by designAluminium formwork systems aren’t commonly thought of as a waterproofing tool but at the Mahima Group,..
GROHE unveiled its GROHE SPA Aqua Sanctuary at Milan Design Week 2026, transforming Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato into an immersive showcase of water, design and wellbeing. Built on the philosophy of ‘Wellbeing Through Water’, the installation reimagined bathrooms as holistic spaces for relaxation, rejuvenation and self-care.The Aqua Sanctuary was presented through three interconnected sanctums. The first showcased the 3D-printed GROHE SPA AquaTree shower and faucet, highlighting bespoke innovation and biophilic design. The second featured the Atrio Private Collection and GROHE SPA x Buster..
Rahee Group has outlined a multi-year investment roadmap to expand its operational footprint and strengthen manufacturing capabilities for India’s growing railway and urban transit sector. The Group is expanding in Odisha with a new Track Component Casting Unit, for which the groundbreaking ceremony was held on 8 April 2026 in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.The Group’s flagship EPC arm, Rahee Infratech Ltd, continues to focus on complex rail infrastructure projects, including track systems, bridges, viaducts and ballastless infrastructure. Its wholly owned subsidi..
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The National Bank of Egypt has bought a 20% equity stake in Norwegian independent power producer (IPP) Scatec’s gigawatt-scale Obelisk solar-plus-stage project.
Located in Upper Egypt, the two-phase project will eventually combine 1.1GW of PV capacity with a 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
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Under the deal with NBE, the bank will take a 20% economic interest in the project. Scatec’s share will be adjusted to 40%, while the company will retain majority control. The remaining equity is evenly divided between Norfund, the Norwegian state-run investment fund, and French energy utility EDF, which will each hold a 20% stake, following separate equity agreements signed last year. 
“We are very pleased to welcome National Bank of Egypt as an equity partner in the Obelisk project. Having Egypt’s largest bank join the project further strengthens the industrial and financial foundation of Obelisk and underlines the strong local support for this landmark renewable energy development. The partnership reflects our strategy of bringing in high-quality partners to optimise capital structure while retaining control of our core assets,” said Terje Pilskog, CEO, Scatec. 
According to the company, bringing in equity partners is aimed at improving capital efficiency and driving value creation, while maintaining control of the power-producing assets. 
Scatec recently reached commercial operation for the first phase of the Obelisk project. The initial phase comprises 561MW of solar PV capacity, paired with a 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage system. 
Construction is ongoing on the second phase, which will add a further 564MW of solar PV capacity and is expected to come online in summer 2026. Once fully operational, the Obelisk project is set to become the largest solar-plus-storage installation in both Egypt and across Africa, according to the company. 
Last year, Scatec raised US$479 million in financing for the project from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, African Development Bank and British International Investment. At the time, the total project cost was estimated at US$590 million, with approximately 80%, equivalent to US$479.1 million, covered through debt financing. The company had also previously secured US$120 million in equity bridge loans (EBL) for Obelisk. 
Oslo, Norway-headquartered Scatec develops, builds, owns and operates renewable energy assets, with 6.4GW of generation capacity and 2GWh of energy storage either in operation or under construction across five continents. 

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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | May 8, 2026
ReVision Energy is developing a community solar array atop the former municipal landfill of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. The project is expected to come online in early 2027.
Under the agreement, the Town of Jaffrey will lease the capped landfill site to ReVision Energy for the solar installation and receive annual lease payments of $10,000, with an escalator over time.
A previous landfill installation by ReVision Energy in Maine.
“It’s the perfect use of land that can’t do anything else,” said Jaffrey Town Manager Jon Frederick. “This project generates value for the town while supporting families who need energy savings the most.”
Financing for the project is provided by Blue Haven Solar, a solar financing entity of Blue Haven Initiative.
The 1.34-MW community solar array is expected to generate more than 1.7 million kWh annually. Once operational, 100% of the energy produced by the community solar array will benefit some 250 low- and moderate-income households enrolled in, or on the waitlist for, New Hampshire’s Electric Assistance Program (EAP). Participants are projected to receive up to $2 million in bill credits during the life of the system. Participants will be enrolled in the Energy Assistance Program for Low-Moderate Income (EAP LMI) Community Solar, allowing them to receive direct savings of 25% off the electricity supply rate in their utility bills.
Member selection and enrollment will be managed by Eversource, the administering utility, and guided by criteria established by the New Hampshire Department of Energy. Priority will be given first to EAP customers and waitlist households within the project’s zip code, followed by eligible customers in neighboring zip codes, helping to ensure that energy savings accrue locally. If demand exceeds available spots within any priority category, participants will be selected through a randomized process.
“This project shows what’s possible when communities, clean energy developers, and mission‑driven partners come together,” said Mark Zankel, Director of Community Solar at ReVision Energy. “By transforming a capped landfill into a source of clean power and directing 100 percent of the energy to households enrolled in the Energy Assistance Program, the Jaffrey Landfill community solar array will transform an underused site into meaningful, long‑term benefits for the community and for Granite Staters who need it most.”
News item from ReVision Energy
Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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Chemical hardness engineering boosts perovskite tandem efficiency to 30.3%  Tech Xplore
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The new regulation applies exclusively to photovoltaic systems with an installed capacity of more than 20 kW, whose subsidies are based on fixed, non-market-dependent premiums and which were granted under the relevant ministerial decrees between 2005 and 2011. A further prerequisite is that the respective subsidy, under current law, expires on January 1, 2029.
Operators have the option to voluntarily opt for a temporary reduction of their feed-in tariffs. Two models are available:
The decision for one of these models must be declared to the responsible funding body (GSE) by May 31, 2026 (!) at the latest, although it is assumed that the deadline will be extended as implementing decrees are still missing.
For the extension period, a special tariff applies, which results from the average of the previously reduced subsidy values. This ensures that the extension is economically linked to the preceding reduction.
In addition to the temporary reduction, the decree for the first time opens up the possibility of completely exiting the existing subsidy system. Such an exit can be applied for by September 30, 2026, and will become effective on January 1, 2028.
The total volume of this action is limited to an installed capacity of 10 GW.
In return, operators receive financial compensation. This corresponds to 90% of the discounted value of the remaining subsidy payments until the regular end of the subsidy period.
Two central factors are used to calculate this compensation: Firstly, the expected electricity production is determined based on the average of the actual production of the last five years. Secondly, future cash flows are discounted using a discount rate set by the GSE, which is based on the equity costs of photovoltaic investments.
Regarding the selection of systems, the decree provides for a tiered system: system operators who previously chose one of the reduction models will be given priority. For all other systems, a competitive selection process will be carried out, which should be completed by June 30, 2027, at the latest.
In this process, operators submit bids in the form of percentage discounts on a system-specific reference value. This reference value also corresponds to 90% of the discounted residual value of the subsidy. The contracts are awarded to those offers that are expected to provide the greatest benefit to the energy system.
Should demand exceed the planned volume of 10 GW, the selection process will also be applied to the originally prioritized systems.
The compensation is not paid as a lump sum, but in equal installments over a period of ten years. These installments are interest-bearing, with the interest rate set by the GSE and not exceeding a maximum of 6%.
The use of the exit option is tied to extensive investment obligations. Operators must completely renew their systems (so-called repowering) between 2028 and 2030.
The target of these actions is a significant increase in electricity production. In principle, production is expected to at least double. Alternatively, depending on the system type, a minimum increase of 40% is also sufficient.
For ground-mounted systems, especially on agricultural land, as well as for other systems, these minimum increases are explicitly specified.
In addition, there are further requirements: only photovoltaic modules listed in a national register and meeting certain technical and territorial criteria (keyword: EU) may be used.
After repowering, the systems can generally participate in new support mechanisms. However, this support is limited to the additionally created capacity. The electricity production beyond that must be marketed, for example, through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) or comparable instruments, provided this is compatible with European state aid law.
Furthermore, it is clarified that fully renewed systems on industrial sites remain permissible under licensing law, regardless of their future output, provided they continue to operate within an industrial area.
In parallel, the decree provides for a series of further actions to support its implementation.
Thus, within 90 days of the decree’s entry into force, the competent ministry will issue an implementing decree that will regulate, in particular, the details of the auction procedure, the contractual design of the obligations, and possible sanctions for non-compliance.
Spalma Incentivi 2.0 represents a comprehensive approach to reducing the historically grown subsidy burden in the Italian electricity system without coercion.
For system operators, this opens up a scope for decision-making between a temporary reduction in revenue, a state-compensated exit from subsidies, and subsequent integration into the market. The repowering obligation creates incentives for new investments.
Which option is economically sensible largely depends on the individual characteristics of the respective system. From a legal perspective, for existing projects, it must be examined whether the project rights permit continued operation, i.e., whether the operating permit remains valid beyond the subsidy period and whether corresponding land rights exist. The decree contains an explicit regulation for the permissibility of continued operation only for systems in industrial areas; however, the majority of old systems are located on agricultural land. When weighing the options, it must also be considered that the mechanism is complex overall, key economic values still need to be determined, and regulatory details remain open.
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Private equity firm FH Capital to control 2GW of production capacity at Florida plant
Chinese solar and battery companies poured huge sums into setting up American factories to claim Biden-era tax credits. © Reuters
NEW YORK — Major Chinese solar panel manufacturer JinkoSolar Holding has agreed to sell a 75.1% stake in subsidiary Jinko Solar (U.S.) Industries to American private equity firm FH Capital under plans announced Friday.

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24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind  International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
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A China-based research team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 147 studies on how solar PV systems alter land surface processes, covering 609 installations worldwide and 11 key climate variables.
Image: pv magazine/AI generated
From pv magazine Global
The results show mixed but mostly significant environmental effects, including reduced wind speed, albedo, and land surface or soil temperatures, alongside increased soil moisture, while air temperature changes remained largely non-significant.
A research team from China has conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of land surface process changes associated with solar PV systems.
The key questions addressed in this systematic review are:
The review began with 4,909 publications related to PV systems and land surface processes. After removing reviews, reports, non-English papers, and studies lacking direct comparisons between PV and non-PV climate conditions, the researchers screened 90 full-text articles. An additional 30 studies were identified from reference lists, alongside 27 newly published and widely cited studies. The final dataset comprised 147 studies.
These studies covered 609 operational PV systems worldwide and used three main methodologies: field observations, remote sensing, and numerical simulations.
For the meta-analysis, the team evaluated 11 climate variables: daily, daytime, and nighttime air temperature; wind speed; relative humidity; albedo; daily, daytime, and nighttime land surface temperature; soil temperature; and soil water content.
“A clear geographic bias was observed, with 93.6% of PV systems located in the Northern Hemisphere,” the researchers noted. “China (316 systems), the United States (104), and India (44) account for the largest shares.”
In terms of land cover, most studied PV systems were located on grassland (208 systems), followed by bare land (173) and cropland (159). Arid regions dominated the sample, with 27.3% and 31.7% of systems located in BS (semi-arid steppe) and BW (arid desert) climate zones, respectively.
For temperature-related variables, the authors used mean difference (MD) to quantify absolute changes between PV and non-PV sites. For wind speed, relative humidity, albedo, and soil water content, they applied the ratio of means (ROM) to assess percentage changes.
Overall, PV systems were associated with small, non-significant increases in daily air temperature (+0.03 C), daytime air temperature (+0.34 C), nighttime air temperature (+0.18 C), and relative humidity (+1.77%).
In contrast, several significant effects were observed, including a reduction in wind speed (−29.96%) and albedo (−17.49%), as well as decreases in daily land surface temperature (−0.44°C), daytime land surface temperature (−0.90 C), and soil temperature (−2.42 C), alongside a substantial increase in soil water content (+38.60%). Nighttime land surface temperature showed a slight, non-significant decline (−0.08 C).
Based on the findings, the team proposed an integrated framework to assess PV-induced land surface process changes. “Its core structure consists of five modules: underlying surface, research method, climate variable, land surface process, and research scale,” they explained.
They added that the framework is intended to support stakeholders including researchers, PV technology developers, environmental impact assessors, site planners, energy agencies, manufacturers, and other industry participants.
Their results have been presented in “Land surface process alterations caused by solar photovoltaic systems: A systematic review and future framework from global evidence,” published in Geography and Sustainability. Researchers from China’s Beijing Normal University and Tianjin University have participated in the research.
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In a bid to rid itself of diesel dependence, the world’s smallest island nation of Nauru has signed a landmark memorandum of understanding with Sydney-based Smart Commercial Energy to develop a clean energy solution.
Image: Government of the Republic of Nauru
In a bid to rid itself of diesel dependence, the Republic of Nauru has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sydney-based renewables company Smart Commercial Energy (SCE) to develop an 18 MW solar and 40 MWh battery solution for the country.
The 21 square kilometre South Pacific Ocean island nation is located approximately 3,300 kilometres northeast of Australia (ex-Brisbane), and 42 kilometres south of the equator.
The deal was signed during the Smart Energy Conference and Exhibition 2026 in Sydney.
Image: Smart Commercial Energy
SCE Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Huon Hoogesteger said signing an MoU with an entire country is not something you do every day.
“The Pacific faces some unique energy challenges, particularly around diesel reliance and energy security,” Hoogesteger said.
“We’re proud to be working alongside Nauru and grateful to the Smart Energy Council for helping bring this opportunity together.”
A SCE statement says Nauru currently operates on an energy load of approximately 40 GWh per year, with a standing load of around 2 MW and peak demand reaching 4.5 MW.
It remains heavily dependent on imported diesel for electricity generation, consuming an estimated 7–8 million litres annually, however SCE’s solution would improve energy security, stabilise electricity supply and reduce power costs for the people of Nauru.
The project is being explored as a commercial power purchase agreement (PPA), to allow the system to be funded, built and operated by SCE, with the option for the government and people of Nauru to eventually buy out and own infrastructure themselves.
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With major federal incentives for clean energy upgrades ending, the solar panel industry has seen a dramatic shift over the past six months.
However, a report from the solar experts at EnergySage has revealed that, despite major market disruptions in late 2025, quoted prices remained relatively consistent until the close of the year.
EnergySage is a marketplace built to empower homeowners to switch to affordable, reliable, and clean energy solutions by offering free tools and connecting people with trusted resources and vetted installers.
Twice a year, EnergySage analyzes millions of transaction-level data points from homeowners shopping on its website. Using this data, EnergySage identifies trends in the wider solar industry and breaks down how and why homeowners are adopting domestic solar energy.
In a report from late February, EnergySage's data suggested that its marketplace model, which allows homeowners to compare installers and receive competitive prices for home solar systems, maintained competitive pricing despite market disruptions.
About 55% of quotes fell between $2.00 and $2.75 per watt, while 80% landed within the broader $1.75 to $3.00 range. Although there was a rush from homeowners to install before the tax credits ended in December 2025, the report noted "the overall price distribution held steady."
While the federal tax credit is gone, for now, home solar can still be a worthwhile investment with the potential to earn you over six figures in bill savings over the lifetime of the system. If you're interested in making the switch to clean solar energy, check out EnergySage's free tools for competitive quotes and quick solar estimates.
The report summarized that, despite overwhelming demand, the EnergySage marketplace helped solar prices remain relatively stable.
"Solar prices increased just 0.4% to $2.49/W in H2 2025," Emily Walker, EnergySage director of insights, explained. "These competitive prices demonstrate how marketplace transparency prevented price gouging even amid the year-end rush and soaring electricity rates."
Walker explained that without federal tax credits, installers who offer competitive pricing and adapt to the emerging trends are best positioned to grow in the new solar landscape. While federal incentives are gone, Walker explained that solar still has room to grow in the U.S.
"Rising electricity rates across much of the country continue to strengthen the case for energy independence even without federal incentives," Walker said.
To see how much solar panels can curb your rising energy costs and transform your home's energy, connect with EnergySage experts to save up to $10,000 on installation costs.
Although federal incentives are no longer available, you could be surprised by how many local solar discounts and rebates are offered by local governments and utilities.
EnergySage has a helpful mapping tool that shows details on all of the local incentives available, as well as the average cost of solar in your area. It can ensure you get the best price possible based on your home and budget.
Plus, if you want to protect your home from outages, save even more on energy bills, or even cut ties with the grid entirely, consider pairing solar with a home battery backup. Check out EnergySage's free battery resources to see what system could work for your home.
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Solar panels are being installed on the roof of the Fredericton YMCA building to power four kilometres of walking trails.
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Through the newly announced Tara and Terry Community Solar Project, a 100-kilowatt rooftop solar array will also help power YMCA’s childcare operations.
In a joint press release, the YMCA of Fredericton and the Fredericton Trails Coalition unveiled the project, expected to be completed by the end of this month.
“The usage on the lit parts actually this past winter, when it gets dark at five o’clock, has just skyrocketed,” trail group vice president André Arseneault.
The total cost of the solar installation is expected to be $168,500, with help from a $64,000 investment from the Regional Development Corporation.
“Under the partnership, the YMCA will own and maintain the solar array, while the Fredericton Trails Coalition will contribute to the project’s capital funding. Both organizations will share in the energy savings and environmental benefits, furthering their shared commitment to environmental stewardship and long-term community improvement,” according to a news release announcing the project.
The YMCA will own 60 kilowatts of the array while the trails coalition owns the remaining 40 kilowatts.
Arseneault said the Y will use its share of funding from the panels to reduce monthly utility bills, and the coalition will receive compensation for the power its panels generate, creating a permanent funding stream for future projects.
“One hundred per cent of the revenue they generate, we’re going to put back into the trails,” he said.
Arseneault said plans are already being considered for a second solar array to support the city’s ultimate goal of seven kilometres of lit trails.
“This is more than just a solar project,” Darcy Delaney, CEO of the YMCA of Fredericton, said in the news release. “It’s a model of how two community organizations can come together to make an immediate, measurable impact on the environment while supporting healthier, more sustainable spaces for families and residents.”
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Bolstered by a sixth consecutive quarter of margin expansion and a stabilizing U.S. footprint, the inverter giant is pivoting toward its Nexis platform and AI data-center power solutions.
Image: SolarEdge
SolarEdge Technologies (Nasdaq: SEDG) reported first-quarter 2026 results that surpassed analyst expectations, signaling a recovery path for the inverter manufacturer despite a broader “tax equity pause” affecting the U.S. residential market.
The company delivered revenue of $310.5 million, representing 46% year-over-year growth, as it approaches operational breakeven.
The company’s stabilizing margins are due in part to its aggressive shift toward domestic production. SolarEdge confirmed that 90% of its products are now manufactured within the United States.
The supply chain strategy positions the company to benefit significantly from Advanced Manufacturing Production Credits (Section 45X), providing a clear runway for continued margin expansion.
Non-GAAP gross margins climbed to 23.5%, a 20-basis-point sequential increase. This marks the sixth quarter of steady improvement, which management attributed to a more favorable product mix and reduced seasonal warranty costs.
Addressing investor concerns regarding exposure to the recent bankruptcy of major installer Freedom Forever, SolarEdge disclosed it has “net-zero financial exposure” to the event. The company has not recognized meaningful revenue from Freedom in 18 months and holds a UCC lien against the installer’s assets valued at approximately $100 million. Any potential recovery from the bankruptcy proceedings will be recognized as a direct P&L benefit in future periods, effectively removing a significant “tempest” from the company’s risk profile.
As the company moves toward the second half of 2026, CEO Shuki Nir highlighted a strategic shift beyond traditional solar inverters. SolarEdge is currently focused on:
The U.S. market accounted for $150 million (51%) of total revenue in Q1. While U.S. residential demand faced seasonal and macro pressures, the 7% sequential decline in total revenue was notably better than the typical 10-15% seasonal drop seen in previous years.
Q2 outlook
Looking ahead, SolarEdge issued a healthy Q2 guidance with revenue expected between $325 million and $355 million.
Notably, the company is structuring its “safe harbor” transactions through physical work tests rather than the 5% expenditure method. This approach aligns revenue recognition with actual product delivery, providing the company with up to four years of predictable revenue visibility and more stable manufacturing schedules.
With positive free cash flow secured in Q1 and a guide toward breakeven operating profitability in Q2, SolarEdge appears to be weathering the industry’s recent volatility through domestic manufacturing and a diversified technological roadmap.
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As fuel prices soar, millions of people could reduce their electricity costs by installing home storage
Consumers across the UK are bracing for the war in the Middle East to deliver a sharp rise in home energy bills from this summer.
The looming energy cost crisis has prompted a record number of households to investigate green home upgrades to try to keep bills down, including heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicles.
However, it is the falling cost of home batteries that is expected to be key to unlocking the greatest possible cost savings from these green investments.
“For the right home, [home batteries] can cut bills, increase flexibility and make everyday energy use smarter and more resilient,” according to Tom Pakenham, a director at Hive, a subsidiary of British Gas owner Centrica.
The promise of greater control over energy costs has piqued the interest of consumers as typical dual fuel bills are forecast to climb to almost £2,000 a year under the next government price cap taking effect from July.
This is the second time in four years that households have braced for the impact of volatile fossil fuel markets on their personal finances.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, the chief product officer at Octopus Energy, says the falling cost of home batteries could prove to be a “gamechanger” in 2026 by allowing customers to “fill up when electricity is cheap, and power your home when it’s expensive”.
“Battery prices have dropped by 90% since 2010 and continue to get cheaper every year. This is only the beginning of what this technology can do for families and businesses across Britain,” she adds.
The more electricity a household uses, the greater the potential savings from using a home battery. This means households with a home car charger or electric heat pump stand to be some of the biggest beneficiaries of Britain’s home battery boom – but all consumers could benefit from home batteries relative to their usual bills, according to innovation charity Nesta.
Batteries are particularly useful to homes which generate their own electricity. Most rooftop solar installations now include a battery to help make the best use of the solar power they generate.
A home with rooftop solar panels could charge its battery through the day, making cheap electricity available in the evenings when power demand typically reaches a peak. Once the household has gone to bed, the battery can recharge using cheap overnight power, ready to provide lower-cost electricity again in the morning.
The catch? Home batteries can help most households use electricity more efficiently, provided they are not on a conventional single-rate energy tariff which prevents them from using the daily fluctuations of electricity costs to their benefit. But if a bill payer has a smart meter, or is willing to install one, they would be able to access a growing number of “smart tariffs” that offer variable electricity rates during the day.
Andrew Sissons, a director at Nesta, says that to benefit, consumers will need to be prepared to manage their home energy usage – for example, by using an app to help them make the most of how and when they use their battery.
The cost of a home battery will depend on its capacity: the larger the battery, the more it normally costs.
On average over the last year, installing one cost about £5,500 for a 4kWh battery, according to the MCS, the standards body for installers.
However, costs are falling, so cheaper deals are likely to be available.
For example, the UK’s biggest energy supplier, Octopus Energy, charges £3,447 to install its smallest battery: a 5kWh model which can power a typical British home for around six to eight hours. Octopus also offers a 13.5kWh battery for £7,499 which stores enough energy to power a typical household for up to two days.
Increasingly, households are installing home batteries as part of a package deal including rooftop solar panels.
British Gas, the UK’s second largest supplier, offers customers an eight-panel rooftop solar system for £5,610 and a 5.32kWh battery for £2,495 through its sister company, Hive Solar. The company offers financing with no upfront cost and monthly repayments starting from £69 a month.
In some scenarios, households could save up to 87% on their electricity bills, according to British Gas.
A typical home in Milton Keynes with a 5kWh battery and a 4 kWh solar system installed on a south-facing roof could earn £300 a year by selling unused electricity back to the grid at a rate of 15.1p per kWh under the dedicated export tariff. Assuming the household has a medium level of electricity demand, it could also save a further £458.45 a year by avoiding higher costs at peak times. The almost £760 saving, on a medium electricity bill of £875.15, was calculated before the surge in market prices this year.
The payback period of investing in a battery system varies widely depending on how much electricity you use, and whether or not you generate solar power, too. A solar and battery system can pay back its cost in nine to 13 years, according to the Energy Saving Trust, depending on where you live and how much time you spend at home.

Probably. Home batteries can vary in size depending on their capacity. Smaller models, which might be around the size of a slim carry‑on suitcase, can be mounted flat against the wall.
A reasonably large battery of between 6kWh and 8kWh will typically be about 1 metre tall, about 60cm to 70cm wide and 20 to 25cm deep – like a taller, less deep washing machine.
Home batteries are generally very safe. Unlike the batteries in phones and laptops, which can overheat easily, home batteries are made using lithium iron phosphate, which is specifically designed to be stable – even if damaged. Proper installation is crucial, though.
“When installed correctly, home battery systems are considered safe, and thousands are already in use across the UK,” according to Brian Horne from the Energy Saving Trust.
He adds: “Always get professional advice before installing a home battery, and use a trusted installer.”
In the future, even more households will be able to take advantage of power storage. New innovations on the horizon include “plug-in” batteries that connect directly into the power mains. This eliminates the need for installation and makes battery storage accessible to those in rented homes.
These 1kWh to 2kWh batteries are smaller than their full-scale alternatives and in the future could be paired with plug-in solar panels, which have recently won the backing of the government and could be on the market later this year. 
Electric vehicles could soon power homes, too. Already, ‘vehicle to grid’ tariffs allow electric car owners to charge up when electricity is cheap and sell power back to the grid when prices are high. But ‘vehicle to home’ charging, which is now being trialled in the UK, could mean that electric vehicles are able to use “bidirectional” charging to supply homes when needed.
“We’ll have had a couple of days this week when we’ve used no energy from the grid at all,” says Amy Isted, who lives on a smallholding in Horsham, West Sussex, with her husband Andy and two children.
The family is reaping the benefits after swapping their old heating oil tank for an eco-friendly energy set-up that encompasses a heat pump, solar panels, a home battery and an electric car charger.
When they moved into the near-derelict farmworker’s house a decade ago, they inherited a “knackered old heating oil system”, says Isted. “We knew it was going to die on us, but more than anything I really wanted to get us off oil.”
But before you spend any money, it is essential to have a clear plan, she advises. Among the resources she used was Expertible – a site that connects owners of older properties with vetted specialists.
Coming up with a retrofit plan for the 16th century cottage was not straightforward, and the first step was to insulate the property, as stopping the heat loss enabled the family to track their energy use.
Armed with this information, they opted for a Vaillant Arotherm 5kW heat pump and hot water cylinder, a 1.76kWp photovoltaic solar system and a Tesla Powerwall 3 home battery.
“We used a local, family-owned company called Sussex Solar,” Isted says.
The new set-up obviously came at a price. “We were eligible for the boiler upgrade scheme, which gave us a £7,500 grant towards the £12,500 cost of the heat pump,” she adds. “We used our savings to pay for the rest, which came to about £14,000, including roughly £6,000 for the Tesla battery. Doing all of them at once unlocks an unbelievable amount of synergy.”
After the kit was installed last summer, the couple swapped their 30p/kWh energy tariff for a cheaper electric vehicle deal. The Octopus EV tariff offers a discounted rate of about 5p/kWh in the early hours, and the family capitalise on this to charge their battery and car.
“We used to spend about £2,000 a year on oil alone,” says Isted. “Now our electricity bill covers everything. This January it was £207 all-in for our power, heating, hot water and car charging. The previous January it was £163 just for power.
“I like that we don’t consume any electricity from the grid at peak times any more. Last week, when I could see how the solar panels were working and how charged up the batteries were… That was a good feeling.”
The house “feels different”, too, says Isted, who has been inspired to become a retrofit consultant. “It is comfortable all the time.” During a recent power cut, they were able to carry on as normal by switching to their battery.
Even her seven- and nine-year-old daughters are on board. “They know that the way to our heart and more pocket money is to understand the right time to use appliances like the washing machine and dishwasher.”
Zoe Wood

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Agrivoltaics in Italy and efficient land use  Enel Group
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pv magazine USA is hosting the third edition of its multi-day virtual event, focused on advancing the U.S. solar and energy storage sectors. This year’s edition explores how solar and storage are becoming the backbone of an affordable, flexible, and scalable energy system.
Across three days, the program will examine the evolution of U.S. solar manufacturing, the rapid growth of distributed energy and storage solutions, and the increasing role of solar-plus-storage in supporting the AI-driven expansion of data centers and energy demand.
 
The participation in this virtual event is free.
The registration will be open at the end of summer.
 
Moderated by pv magazine, this live broadcast-virtual conference brings together the U.S. industry’s leading experts and innovators to discuss the latest and most pressing issues in the solar and storage sector in the U.S.
As the domestic supply chain matures, the focus shifts from investment announcements and groundbreaking ceremonies to the rigorous work of scaling production. This session tracks the progress of the U.S. manufacturing base, the impact of OBBBA domestic content thresholds, and the logistical hurdles of turning policy-driven announcements into physical solar products.
As large DG players move to maximize solar deployment ahead of tax credit deadlines and the residential sector reels from the after effects of the Section 25D sunset, energy storage has opened new opportunities for all stakeholders to realize benefits, and utilities across the country are interested. Meanwhile, a grassroots movement for plug-in PV is bringing micro-scale solar to the consumers.
The massive power demands of the AI revolution are colliding with a congested grid. We explore why hyperscale data center operators are looking toward solar-plus-storage energy parks and private wire configurations. This discussion highlights how solar and storage are uniquely positioned to provide the rapid, reliable energy delivery that traditional infrastructure currently cannot.
 
In the next weeks the program will be updated. Stay tuned!
Check the 2025 edition.

 
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Published May 8, 2026
By Nicole Pope
Winner of the Junior Academy Challenge – Fall 2025
“Energy Infrastructure: Solar Power”
Sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences
Team members: Hosila K. (Team Lead) (Uzbekistan), Yifan (Trevor) X. (China), Mohammed A. (Egypt), Nazli M. (Azerbaijan), Ruiheng (Ryan) W. (China), Lowri P. (United Kingdom)
Mentor: Ranjit Sahu (Virginia, United States)
Demand for energy keeps growing around the world, boosted in part by power-intensive new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Increasing energy production from renewable sources – solar power, in particular – is an obvious choice to curb greenhouse emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. But issues like aging power grids designed for fossil fuels or fluctuations in solar energy output still hinder the adoption of renewable energy in some countries.
The teams participating in the Fall 2025 Junior Academy Innovation Challenge were asked to design an innovative and scalable solution to address infrastructure and storage issues, andmake solar energy use more reliable, efficient, and economical. The six international members of the winning team, from China, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, and the United Kingdom, focused on developing automatic systems to keep solar panels clean, thus ensuring they can function at maximum capacity.
The team’s initial research revealed that solar panels can lose 10-15% of their efficiency, and up to 25% in arid regions, in just a few weeks. This translates into up to $10 billion losses annually for the industry. To promote wider adoption of solar power, the participants decided to tackle the maintenance of solar panels, an often overlooked but crucial aspect of solar energy. “I was shocked to learn that ‘soiling’ dust building up on panels is actually a multi-billion-dollar problem that can slash efficiency by more than 25%,” explains Team Lead Hosila H. “That showed me maintenance and technical issues are just as important as affordability in the clean energy transition.”
Collaborating online through the Launchpad platform, the participants designed the Distributed Predicted Reflex System (DPR), a sophisticated, self-operating device that keeps solar panels clean without human intervention and thus optimizes power generation. “Through mutual collaboration, we transitioned from initially working independently to making progress as a group, supporting each other with a clear division of labor,” says Ruiheng (Ryan) W., who offers a reminder that ensuring access to  “affordable and clean energy like solar power, and ensuring people benefit from technological convenience and harmonious communities” is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Internally, their 3D model includes a processor, the system’s brain, which monitors dust buildup, as well as DC motors and relays to activate the cleaning mechanisms. The exterior design features two antennas (a short-range Zigbee for local mesh networking and a long-range LoRaWN for cloud communication). A waterproof casing integrates power inputs from the solar panels, environmental sensor ports, and nozzle outlets for targeted air-jet cleaning. The system can be mounted securely to solar panel frames and draws power directly from the host panel. When sensors detect levels of soiling that disrupt power generation, compressed air travelling through the tubes is released to remove accumulated dust.
To make their solution fully autonomous, the team members gave their system three core attributes or functions. They made it “distributed”, which means that devices form a local network that works even if central communication fails. The DPR is also “predictive” and can forecast coming dust storms using weather data and act in advance. The DPR was given a “reflex” function, using sensors and smart algorithms to detect dust and activate air-based cleaning automatically. “The most important lesson I learned is that innovation is not only about having a big idea, but also about smart execution, strong team spirit, solid research, and the dedication of all team members,” says team member Mohammed A.
With this ambitious project, the team aimed to turn solar panels into fully responsive assets that can maintain peak efficiency while supporting grid stability. Team member Yifan (Trevor) X. was already interested in solar power before working on this project with his international teammates. “Previously, I independently completed a prototype design for a solar cleaning vessel,” he explains. “This team collaboration made me realize that regular discussions and phased progress can achieve research goals more effectively. This further strengthened my belief in international scientific cooperation.”
While designing their project, the high school students also focused closely on sustainability and environmental impact. They estimated that the DPR, deployed in a 1 MW solar farm, could save 1 million liters of water annually, or the equivalent of drinking water for 2,500 people, while the energy recovered through cleaning would be sufficient to power an additional 200 homes.
“Academically, I realized that for a project to be successful, you have to consider an array of factors and consequences, even if they go against what you are trying to propose,” says team member Lowri P. The device they conceived has a modular design, which makes it easy to repair, and is built to last at least seven years. More than 90% of the components can be recycled at the end of its life.
“Working together with others helps you see the world through different perspectives and appreciate the power of teamwork in achieving meaningful outcomes,” says team member Nazli M. “This experience taught me that innovation is not about having access to the best resources — it’s about creativity, collaboration, and determination. Even with limited resources, it’s possible to create something truly significant.”
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The company says it remains “the nation’s largest distributed power plant operator,” with about 4.3 GWh of networked storage capacity as of March 31 — a 50% increase year over year.
Sunrun, the United States’ biggest installer of residential solar and energy storage systems, added 25% fewer subscribers in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter of 2025. Solar and battery capacity additions fell 19% and 15%, respectively, over the same period, the company said Wednesday.
The first-quarter drop in sales was caused by a slump in lead generation and sales activity in mid-2025 driven by uncertainty around the final shape of Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, along with Sunrun’s decision to reduce its exposure to third-party installers, Sunrun Chief Financial Officer Danny Abajian said Wednesday during an earnings call with investors and stock analysts.
But Sunrun’s sales activity in early 2026 suggested “an inflection point toward growth,” Abajian said.
President Donald Trump signed the OBBBA in July. The final version terminated a key federal tax credit for customer-owned home energy systems at the end of 2025, prompting a short-lived rush to install qualifying systems before then. 
Although the 25D expiration caused “significant volume declines” for smaller solar dealers and some Sunrun affiliate partners, Sunrun was better positioned for the change because almost all of its sales volume comes from subscriptions, where Sunrun retains ownership of the distributed resources it installs and sells the energy to customers, Sunrun CEO Mary Powell said. 
Installations of such “third-party owned” systems continue to qualify for federal tax credits under the OBBBA.
“We are not seeing similar impacts from changes to the 25D tax credit,” Powell said.
Despite the headline declines in subscriber and capacity additions, investors took Sunrun’s latest earnings report well. As of Friday morning, the stock was up more than 10% since Wednesday’s earnings announcement.
In regulatory filings and materials released to investors Wednesday, Sunrun noted ongoing headwinds for its business and distributed solar-and-storage generally.
The company’s latest quarterly filing warned that solar panel prices could increase and product availability could decline in the future “due to a variety of factors, including supply chain disruptions, inflation, tariffs and trade barriers, export regulations, geopolitical conflicts, regulatory or contractual limitations, industry market requirements, and changes in technology and industry standards.”
Sunrun said tariffs targeting certain producers of solar cells and modules in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia “generally has [had] an inflationary effect on module prices.” So have 50% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and Section 232 duties on a range of clean energy products and inputs, Sunrun said. 
And though the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated President Trump’s broadest import duties in late February, Sunrun said “significant uncertainty remains regarding the legality and effect” of the tariffs Trump has said he would impose in response.
Powell said Sunrun was well-positioned to tackle at least one broad headwind for the industry: the “regulatory complexity” of complying the domestic content and “foreign entity of concern” rules authorized by the OBBBA.
“We believe that our experience and scale give us tremendous advantages to navigate these items, from equipment procurement, logistics and compliance,” she said.
Sunrun says it remains “the nation’s largest distributed power plant operator,” with more than 251,000 solar and storage systems installed and about 4.3 GWh of networked storage capacity as of March 31 — a 50% increase year over year. It expects to have 10 GWh of dispatchable capacity online by the end of 2028, it said.
“That is not just a metric — it is infrastructure … and it is something no one else in this industry has at our scale,” Powell said.
Powell said Sunrun’s growing distributed storage network would provide customers with “price certainty and backup power” as rising power demand strains the grid and utility rates march upward. Its recent shift away from third-party installers and toward “our direct business” — which has seen its salesforce grow 20% year-to-date — would help it design and manage energy storage systems more effectively, she added. 
Average U.S. electricity prices have recently risen faster than the broader inflation rate. They rose 9% year over year in February, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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CEO Robert Blue said the 2.6-GW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind farm, which began producing some electricity in March, should be fully operational by 2027 and generate approximately $5 billion in fuel savings over 10 years. The utility’s fuel and other energy-related costs jumped 67% in Q1.
The utility will supply a 1.4-GW Oracle data center under construction now, and it has submitted contracts to regulators for a 1-GW Google project also in the works.
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The utility will supply a 1.4-GW Oracle data center under construction now, and it has submitted contracts to regulators for a 1-GW Google project also in the works.
The PJM Interconnection’s planned backstop auction is flawed, said CEO Brian Tierney. Separately, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration will oppose rate hike requests that fail to meet affordability criteria.
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The town is planning to spend $3.2 million in fiscal year 2027 to fund four new “shovel ready” solar energy installations at Brookline High School, the Brookline Village Library, Fire Station One and the Hayes School. Leftover funds will be used for additional future sites. 
The installations are part of a strategic solar initiative that a town committee says will save $12 to $15.7 million over 25 years, depending on utility rate inflation.
A working group tasked with identifying opportunities for town-owned solar energy projects identified 22 sites as strong candidates, including potential building rooftops, carport canopies and ground-mounted solar arrays. Four locations were chosen as “Phase 1” sites, while the rest remain contenders for future solar projects.
Funding for the projects is coming from the Capital Improvements Plan, a part of Brookline’s budget geared at long-term investments in physical infrastructure in the town.
The Solar Financial Working Group aims to reduce energy costs while advancing Brookline’s climate goal of achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050. In November 2025, the Division of Sustainability and Natural Resources established the working group with representatives from the Select Board, Zero Emissions Advisory Board, the Expenditures and Revenues Committee, and town staff.
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Part of the timing is that the town is aiming to take advantage of an expiring federal Investment Tax Credit to invest in solar energy infrastructure. If the town owns the renewable energy project, a tax credit can cover about 30% of the overall cost, said Alexandra Vecchio, director of Sustainability & Natural Resources.
“However, the program is being phased out by the Trump administration, and so we have some hard deadlines,” Vecchio said during a March 18 presentation to the Advisory Committee. 
The plan also comes as the town is facing extreme budget pressure and asking voters to raise their property taxes this spring to help fund town and school services. Town Administrator Charles Carey said at a March meeting that the initiative will help both to promote energy independence and bring energy costs down for Brookline in the long term. 
There are two major deadlines for these tax credits. The first requires that projects commence construction on or before July 4, 2026, and then be placed in service through the electrical utility within four years. One project, previously funded solar panels to be placed atop the Driscoll School, will meet this deadline, according to Vecchio. 
The second will cover solar panels placed in service on or before Dec. 31, 2027. “We are going to do our best to meet that December 31st deadline,” Vecchio added.
Town hall was removed from consideration due to concerns that make the solar installation financially irresponsible, Vecchio said. The town’s solar developer concluded that the roof is too small and the building’s height and high-density location would require bringing in a heavy-duty crane. 
A fifth installation at Pierce School will be funded separately from the capital improvement plan as part of the $209.9 million Pierce School Building Project. The town has acquired preliminary quotes from Solect Energy, a solar power developer, for the other projects.
Seventeen additional sites have been identified as future installations outside of the federal deadlines. The $3.2 million will fund the initial four projects as well as technical assistance and engineering designs for the next wave of municipal solar arrays. 
The town owns two small legacy solar systems, each roughly 15 years old: one on the roof of Putterham Library and the other on top of the Public Health Building. 
Brookline also has several 20-year power purchase agreements with Solect Energy, allowing the company to use several municipal rooftops in exchange for a cheaper electricity supply price. These privately-owned arrays include Brookline High School, Runkle School, Ridley K-8, Kirrane Swimming Pool and the Municipal Service Center. 
Altogether, Brookline estimates the town-owned and power-purchase agreement arrays have saved $355,645 in electricity costs through fiscal year 2025, since the town’s first small solar panel went online from Putterham Library in 2011. 
A larger solar array is under construction atop Driscoll School. It is expected to be completed this year and to produce about 25% of the school’s electricity. The town projects that the panels will save $57,530 in electricity generation that would otherwise be paid to Eversource. 
On March 25, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that the Department of Energy Resources certified seven new Climate Leader Communities, including the town of Brookline. This makes the town eligible to apply for grants up to $1,150,000 each for projects that reduce municipal emissions, or for technical support ahead of projects.
“As a leader in ecological protection and net-zero emissions goals, Brookline continues to do Massachusetts proud in putting our climate ambitions into action,” said State Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem (D-Newton).
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China Silver Demand for Solar Panels: What’s Changing in 2026  Discovery Alert
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Solar Landscape to back community PV rollout with USD-600m debt deal  Renewables Now
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Texas is projected to surpass 15 GW of solar PV module production in 2026, according to a report from pv magazine USA. The state is poised to represent roughly half of all silicon-based photovoltaic modules manufactured in the United States this year.
A small group of large-scale manufacturers, including T1 Energy and Canadian Solar, have efficiently expanded production lines to multi-gigawatt capacity in Texas. Other companies that have ramped up production in the state include SEG Solar, Waaree Energies, Imperial Star, and TOYO Solar. This concentration of module assembly has made Texas the premier location for the inaugural Solar Manufacturing USA conference, scheduled for 22-23 September 2026 in Austin. Attendees will have the opportunity to tour local factories on 24 September.
The growth in Texas module production has been dramatic since 2024, first driven by Canadian Solar and T1 Energy, with SEG Solar, Waaree Energies, and Imperial Star adding gigawatt-scale capacity through 2025. This concentration positions Texas as a key test case for how the United States can source raw materials domestically for module production, including cells, solar glass, backsheets, films, frames, and other bill-of-materials components.
A major question for the industry is whether these large module producers will backward integrate into cell production in 2027, and which company will be the first to announce ingot and wafer operations. The decisions made by these manufacturers will shape the broader U.S. solar manufacturing landscape in future years.
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Zambia And SunShare Energy Sign US$246 Million Deal To Expand Nambala Solar PV Plant  SolarQuarter
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CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – On Friday, several organizations as well as U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, gathered as the state’s first floating solar project went online. The project aims to deliver affordable, renewable energy while also conserving water. 1,700 solar panels have been mounted on water-safe floating platforms on Medford Irrigation…
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Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High near 65F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph..
Showers in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low around 45F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Updated: May 8, 2026 @ 11:34 pm
This vacant building at 6115 Lendell Drive in Wheatfield is being eyed for a cannabis-growing operation.

This vacant building at 6115 Lendell Drive in Wheatfield is being eyed for a cannabis-growing operation.
WHEATFIELD — The Wheatfield Planning Board took a look at proposals for a new solar farm and cannabis-growing facility this week.
Rochester-based Entose LLC is proposing a solar facility for 49.3 acres of vacant farmland on the north side of Lockport Road, currently owned by Calvin Pfhol. This could be the third such Wheatfield solar facility set up on that road, with the 6.3 MW LR Wheatfield Solar 1 starting operations in November 2020 at 2469 Lockport Road and the 4 MW CVE US Ei3 facility starting in December 2023 at 3635 Lockport Road.
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Global energy giant backs massive solar project in Goodyear  The Business Journals
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Energy development firm Avangrid has welcomed thousands of sheep back to graze the fields at four solar projects across Washington and Oregon.
The company has released about 5,000 sheep into Daybreak Solar, Bakeoven Solar and Pachwáywit Fields Solar in Oregon, and Lund Hill Solar in Washington, officials say. Not only does the practice of “solar grazing” keep the animals fed, but it allows for the sites to passively manage vegetation levels, and lower the risk of fires in the summer.
“This is a partnership and a management strategy indicative of Avangrid’s long-term commitment to these communities,” says Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “Not only are we effectively managing our facilities in ways that incorporate the region’s historical ties to ranching, but cultivating strong local partnerships to collaboratively maintain our solar projects.”
The company has partnered with Cameron Krebs, owner of Krebs Solar Grazing, for the Pacific Northwestern projects since 2024. A fifth-generation rancher from Oregon, Krebs comes from a family with a history of lamb and wool production throughout the region.
“When new industries move into our communities, it’s nice to see a partner like Avangrid engaging those of us who are born and raised here and looking at sustainable ways to take care of this landscape together,” Krebs says. “Our primary objective is to reduce the vegetation in the facility, maintain its high functionality, and create resilience through summer.”

Grazing the country

Avangrid began its solar grazing efforts in 2023, according to Lora Chante, the company’s VP of operations and maintenance. What started as a pilot project then, she said, has become a “full-fledged vegetation management operation,” just three years later.
As part of the partnership deal between Avangrid and Krebs, the two work together to build a grazing plan over each winter. The plan goes into action for each spring growing season, where sheep can effectively maneuver throughout each solar site, even moving underneath solar panels to consume grass and weeds around the project.
Thanks to the success of the solar grazing pilot program in Oregon and Washington, the Avangrid is now considering allowing solar grazing at other sites around the region. Additionally, the company has considered bringing the practice to other spots around the country, according to representatives.
“We build our projects with the intent to operate them for 30 years or more, meaning it is important that we remain a great neighbor and exceptional community partner,” Chante says. “Utilizing sheep grazing at our solar projects is helping us accomplish these goals by keeping our facilities clean and safe.”

Tags: agrivoltaics, AVANGRID Inc., O&M, project, solar grazing


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The Michigan Court of Appeals has largely upheld the state utility-regulating board’s handling of a law that lays out a path for the state to approve large wind, solar and energy storage projects even over the objections of local officials.
A group of 75 townships filed the lawsuit in 2024. They argue the Michigan Public Service Commission was violating the terms of a law that already took away their ability to say yes or no to projects with a huge impact on the quality of life in their communities.
Backers of the law say it’s necessary to meet the rising demand for clean energy and to respect the rights of landowners who want to lease or sell property to energy companies.
The unanimous decision wasn’t , but it clears the way for the MPSC to approve wind, solar and energy storage projects.
“So, while the commission continues to review the impact of specific findings, the decision largely affirms the commission’s approach and allows for continued and timely implementation of the law,” said Public Service Commission spokesperson Matt Helms.
The court rejected arguments by the townships that the MPSC violated the state’s Administrative Procedures Act for promulgating rules. The court said the agency misinterpreted rules regarding timelines and local units of government affected by the law, but otherwise followed the law approved by the Legislature.
Michael Homier, an attorney representing the local governments, said the townships are considering their next steps.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” he told Michigan Public Radio, “and, while I respect the court’s opinion, that doesn’t necessarily mean I agree with it and so we’re still digesting everything in it and we’ll have a discussion with our clients moving forward.”
One possibility would be taking the case to the Michigan Supreme Court.

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