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Egypt Signs Preliminary Financing Agreement on $650 Million Solar Project in Upper Egypt
Egypt has signed a preliminary financing agreement with Norway’s Scatec and three multilateral development banks for a $650 million solar power project in the southern province of Qena, the cabinet said on Monday.
Egypt ‌is scaling ‌up renewable energy ‌projects ⁠to reduce its natural ⁠gas import bill, targeting a 42% share of renewable energy in its electricity generation mix by 2030.
The Dandara project in ⁠Nagaa Hammadi city will ‌have generation ‌capacity of 1 gigawatt and ‌battery storage of 200 megawatt ‌hours, the cabinet said.
The European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and African ‌Development Bank are participating in the financing arrangements while ⁠the ⁠National Bank of Egypt will take an equity stake in the project company.
The project will be built in two phases, each adding 500 megawatts of solar capacity and 100 megawatt hours of battery storage.
Egypt Signs Preliminary Financing Agreement on $650 Million Solar Project in Upper Egypt
Egypt has signed a preliminary financing agreement with Norway’s Scatec and three multilateral development banks for a $650 million solar power project in the southern province of Qena, the cabinet said on Monday.
Egypt ‌is scaling ‌up renewable energy ‌projects ⁠to reduce its natural ⁠gas import bill, targeting a 42% share of renewable energy in its electricity generation mix by 2030.
The Dandara project in ⁠Nagaa Hammadi city will ‌have generation ‌capacity of 1 gigawatt and ‌battery storage of 200 megawatt ‌hours, the cabinet said.
The European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and African ‌Development Bank are participating in the financing arrangements while ⁠the ⁠National Bank of Egypt will take an equity stake in the project company.
The project will be built in two phases, each adding 500 megawatts of solar capacity and 100 megawatt hours of battery storage.
RSNF Launches HMS NEOM Under Second Phase of Sarawat Project
The Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) launched His Majesty’s Ship NEOM (HMS NEOM), the second ship in the second phase of the Sarawat Project, at Navantia’s shipyard in San Fernando, Spain, following the completion of hull construction and assembly.
The outfitting, installation and integration of the ship’s systems will be completed in Saudi Arabia, followed by acceptance trials on Saudi lands and in Saudi waters, supporting technology transfer and the localization of military shipbuilding.
The launching ceremony was attended by Chief of Staff of RSNF Vice Adm. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Alghuraiby, Saudi Ambassador to Spain Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf Al Muqrin, Navantia Chairman Ricardo Domínguez, Chief Operating Officer at the company Gonzalo Mateo-Guerrero, San Fernando Shipyard Director Alberto Cervantes Sánchez, and senior naval officers from both countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Adm. Alghuraiby expressed appreciation for the unwavering support extended to the Armed Forces, particularly the RSNF, by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. He said this support has helped develop defense capabilities and enhance operational readiness and effectiveness.
He praised the Saudi-Spanish partnership and its role in developing naval capabilities, as well as the efforts of the project’s engineers and technicians in achieving this milestone. He emphasized that the Sarawat Project strengthens naval readiness and develops national expertise through a comprehensive package of logistics support and crew qualification and training, equipping personnel with the knowledge and experience needed to operate and maintain the ships.
The contract for the second phase of the Sarawat Project includes a comprehensive logistics support package, crew training programs and a plan to qualify more than 100 Saudi engineers, alongside the localization of combat systems integration and maintenance.
HAZEM, the first Saudi naval combat management system of its kind, is among the project’s most significant outcomes. It was developed through a strategic partnership between Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) and Spain’s Navantia.
As the regulator of the military industries sector, the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) supported the project through its industrial participation agreement with Navantia. The agreement includes specific targets for localization and the development of domestic capabilities, supporting Saudi Arabia’s military industries, advancing knowledge and technology transfer, and enhancing military readiness.
The second phase of the Sarawat Project comprises three Avante 2200 multirole corvettes: HMS AlMadinah, HMS NEOM and HMS AlUla. It builds on the first phase, which delivered five warships to the Royal Saudi Naval Forces.
The ships feature advanced systems to counter aerial, surface and subsurface threats, strengthening their ability to protect Saudi Arabia’s strategic interests and secure vital sea lanes.
Oil Drops from Near Six-Month Highs on Hopes Iran War Hostilities to Ease
Oil prices fell on Monday after surging last week to near six-month highs, amid hopes of easing hostilities between the United States and Iran.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $1.76, or 1.7%, at $101.51 per barrel by 0744 GMT. Brent crude futures were down $1.49, or 1.28%, at $115.23.
On Friday, prices settled nearly $3 higher after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked energy supply concerns. Brent finished ‌the week up ‌6% and WTI ended 2.3% higher.
On Sunday, Qatari mediators ‌traveled ⁠to Tehran as ⁠part of an effort to de-escalate regional tensions in coordination with the United States, an official briefed on the situation said.
Also, top officials from Makkah Defense Agreement countries Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan are set to meet Iran’s leaders in Tehran on Monday in their first high-level contact since attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis joined the regional conflict by launching attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“Concerns over renewed military hostilities in the Middle East, which drove much of last ⁠week’s crude rally, have eased this morning, but the reprieve may ‌prove temporary,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market ‌analysis provider Vanda Insights.
Hari said US President Donald Trump has not dispelled market expectations that strikes ‌on Iran could still follow after the November 3 midterm elections.
“We therefore expect volatility ‌to remain elevated, with risks still skewed to the upside,” she added.
The effects of the US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28 continue to reverberate as companies adjust to the disruptions ⁠of commercial shipping ⁠through the key Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb Strait caused by the conflict.
On Monday, the energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and Singapore said state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco will start storing crude oil in Singapore from the second half of 2027.
“While supply risks surrounding the Strait of Hormuz remain firmly entrenched, the current pullback appears more reflective of position adjustments and risk management rather than any meaningful improvement in the underlying supply situation,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insight at Phillip Nova.
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, reinforced the concerns about the supply situation, saying on Monday at an industry event in Singapore that he does not expect energy markets in 2027 to return to where they were before the Iran war.
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The pilot use of solar PV on heritage state buildings is underway.
Singapore’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Swiss research and technology centre CSEM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly research and develop solar energy technologies during the Singapore International Energy Week.
This is part of EMA’s efforts to develop and harness solar energy in partnership with the private and public sectors.
The MOU covers several areas of cooperation, including solar photovoltaic (PV) and grid-integration research and exchange, assessment of solar technologies, and identification of pilot projects to validate, share, scale up and commercialise these technologies.
EMA will also collaborate with CSEM and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to pilot the use of solar PV roof tiles on heritage state buildings in the country.
Resembling traditional clay roof tiles, the solar PV tiles will generate clean electricity whilst retaining the appearance and historical character of these buildings.
“Together, we aim to secure the energy transition by accelerating solar deployment and grid integration in Singapore whilst creating opportunities for Swiss PV and grid-management solutions,” said Tonio Buonassisi, CSEM vice president of sustainable energy.
 
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FILE PHOTO: Jakson Solar plans to expand its manufacturing operations with new solar cell and ingot-wafer facilities, adding to its existing 1.2 GW solar module capacity. | Photo Credit: AMIT DAVE
India's Jakson Solar plans to invest up ​to 50 billion rupees ($525.2 million) to ‌build 3 gigawatts (GW) each of solar cell ​and ingot-wafer manufacturing capacity, a ⁠top company executive said.
* Jakson Solar aims to commission 3 GW of ‌solar cell manufacturing capacity by December 2027, Managing Director Ivan Saha ‌said on the sidelines of ‌the ⁠Renewable Energy India Expo
* The ⁠company plans to set up 3 GW of solar ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity ​by the third ‌quarter of fiscal year 2028
* The facilities will primarily cater to the merchant market, Saha said
* Jakson ‌Solar already has a 1.2 ​GW solar module-making plant
* Equipment procurement tie-ups for manufacturing have already ⁠been secured, Saha said
* Developing a domestic manufacturing ecosystem across the solar ‌chain is necessary to avoid potential supply shocks, Saha said
* India, which is counting on solar energy to help achieve its 2070 net-zero emissions target, has already mandated ‌the use of domestically manufactured solar modules ​and cells
* The government has also laid out a framework ⁠to extend local-content requirements to solar ingots ⁠and wafers from June 1, 2028, in a move aimed ‌at deepening domestic manufacturing and reducing import dependence on China
Published on October 26, 2026
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Midnight – 6:00am
Housewife
Monday, 26 October 2026 at 17:34
By Skye Gregory
They’ll be giving a presentation on their opposition of Rosefield Solar Farm.
The group will be attending a solar action summit in Parliament this evening (26/10), after being invited by organiser MP Caroline Johnson to give a 5 minute talk on the project.
Claydons Solar Action Group formed after Rosefield was first proposed in 2023, opposing the site on the grounds that it would use up acres of "good agricultural farmland" whilst swallowing up most of the villages of East and Botolph Claydon.
They also told Bucks Radio that the farm's construction would also entail "2-1/2 years of more misery" on local roads with traffic and noise. They also claimed "the cumulative impacts of Rosefield Solar farm with East West Rail, HS2, Statera BESS (battery energy storage system), Statkraft BESS, the Mega Prison at Grendon, the new double the size substation at East Claydon and other Solar and BESS planned in our small area will destroy our countryside."
Rosefield's own website says the proposed 675 acre site would provide enough clean energy to power more than 57,000 homes. 
It's expected between 30-50 people will attend the event tonight, comprising of MP’s, fellow opposition groups and the general public. Discussions are expected to cover other nationally significant infrastructure projects like Rosefield, battery energy storage systems and fire safety. 
As an exhibition celebrating their history continues this week, Community lead Simon Lacey explains why football's more than just a game.
It comes after Government accept all recommendations of a review into antisemitism in schools.
It comes after their official unveiling earlier this month (09/10).
They say it gives people the chance to make a real difference to their communities.
They're also inviting local children to name one.
They've written to Buckinghamshire councillors Mike Collins and Steve Bowles about the issues facing the village.
It comes as part of a joint effort between the Thames Valley Police Proactive Team and Metropolitan Police.
The Council told Bucks Radio the programme is not impacted by recent reports of Government axing road schemes.



    

   
      

 
 
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Sunergise has bought Infratec NZ from Hamilton lines company WEL Networks, and the most telling line from the deal is what it is not. “There’s no kind of like cost out. This is giving us capability and capacity that we need,” chief executive Paul Makumbe told RNZ. In a sector where consolidation usually means redundancies, this one is about adding engineering depth to a company that has run out of room to grow on its own.
The price is undisclosed. What is disclosed is the shape of the combined business: about 100 staff offering development, engineering, construction, financing and operations across commercial, industrial and utility-scale customers in New Zealand and the Pacific. Sunergise paid from its own resources and plans to seek private capital for the next leg.
This is not a merger of strangers. The two firms have worked together for 14 years and have jointly delivered five renewable plants across Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau since 2020, according to BusinessDesk. That reporting also puts Sunergise’s installed base at more than 50MW, including a 5.3MW rooftop at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and more than 200 commercial installations overall.
Integration risk kills more acquisitions than bad pricing does. When the teams have already built island grids together, most of that risk has been retired before the paperwork is signed. Makumbe has been clear the driver is Pacific demand, with grid operators across the region wanting more than Sunergise could previously deliver.
Sunergise’s core model is commercial power purchase agreements. It designs, builds and operates systems for clients who then pay Sunergise for electricity instead of a retailer, with no upfront capital outlay, a model RNZ profiled in July through its Snowplanet project. It is a sound, recurring-revenue business, but it is a rooftop and mid-scale business.
Infratec brings the heavy end. WEL’s 2025 annual report credited it with design and development work on more than 250MW of projects over six years, naming the 33MW Kohirā farm in Kaitaia, the 32MW Rangitaiki farm in Edgecumbe and the 42MW Te Herenga o Te Rā project near Waiotahe. Back in 2021, Lodestone Energy picked Infratec as EPC contractor for five solar farms expected to produce 400GWh a year. Infratec also built assets behind WEL’s 64MW generation and storage exemption granted in 2024, including the 22.4MW Taiohi farm in Huntly and a 32.5MW battery.
Put together, the buyer has customers and a financing model, while the seller has utility-scale build experience. That is vertical integration a lender can understand.
Independent analysis keeps landing on the same diagnosis. Legal commentary on renewable M&A points out that smaller developers struggle to secure bankable offtake contracts and to carry land and grid connection costs through early stages, making consolidation the natural market response. EY’s analysis describes a stalemate where new generation waits for demand certainty while large users wait for affordable supply, with PPAs gaining little traction locally. Engineers quoted by Engineering New Zealand point to a shortage of power engineers and favour portfolios of mid-sized sites over single giant farms.
A 2023 RCP industry analysis found solar supplied less than 0.5% of New Zealand’s energy, and identified EPC delivery as the dominant model for utility-scale projects. Infratec is an EPC specialist. Sunergise now owns one.
The business case writes itself. Pipelines are full of projects that never reach financial close because the developer is too small to absorb risk or hire the engineers. A firm that can originate, finance, build and maintain in-house is a firm that can actually convert pipeline into megawatts, and offer commercial customers a single counterparty for the lot.
WEL has not explained why it sold, and it was not under pressure. Its FY25 results showed revenue of $196 million and equity of $814 million. The likeliest reading is that a regulated lines business has little reason to run a contracting arm chasing Pacific island work, and Infratec’s capability is worth more inside a company whose whole strategy is growth. That is capital finding its proper home, which is how markets are meant to work.
The test now is execution. There is no combined order book or pipeline figure yet, and Sunergise will need outside capital to fund larger projects. Watch for who comes in on that raise and whether the first post-deal announcements are utility-scale builds rather than more rooftops. If they are, New Zealand will have one more domestic player with the balance sheet and engineers to turn solar ambition into built capacity, without a subsidy or a government programme in sight.
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The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has approved Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation’s (TNPDCL) proposal to procure 600 MW of solar power with a 300 MW/1,800 MWh energy storage system from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for 25 years.
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August 28, 2026 at 06:17 am EDT
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The city of Ann Arbor has set a goal to have the first neighborhood in the country to be carbon neutral, meaning the neighborhood won’t produce in aggregate greenhouse gas emissions.
Ann Arbor is committing millions of dollars in federal, state and local tax funding to transform its Bryant neighborhood. City officials hope it will become one of the nation’s first carbon-neutral neighborhoods.
The Bryant neighborhood sits in a floodplain bordered by a landfill and I-94.
Public funding includes nearly $10.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for geothermal heating and cooling, a $3.1 million Michigan grant to improve 50 homes, and a separate $5 million state award supporting a solar power pilot and the city’s Sustainable Energy Utility. Local property taxes will fund neighborhood outreach.
Ann Arbor began installing solar panels and battery storage systems on homes in its Bryant neighborhood on May 18 as part of a publicly funded pilot project. The city said about 100 homes were slated to receive systems before the pilot ends in 2026.
The McKnight Foundation is one of the nonprofits that have also pledged financial support.
The city of Ann Arbor did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The geothermal project carried an estimated $22 million price tag in the city’s grant application. That proposal covered an underground well field and pump house sized for the neighborhood’s 262 homes and road work and home conversions for just over 100 households.
One estimate puts the cost of the geothermal project, including home retrofits, at $34.4 million to serve nearly all 262 homes in Bryant, according to the Building Decarbonization Coalition.
City council members approved terms of the federal grant in October 2025. The city subsequently said it would finance approximately $11.1 million in additional funding. The council memorandum, however, said the city still needed financing, with potential financing partners to be evaluated through a competitive process.
The system would become a city-owned asset operated by the Sustainable Energy Utility. Individual buildings would use geothermal heat pumps connected to a shared underground loop. The city’s stated goal is to have the system working in 2028.
Separate state funding is paying for upgrades inside Bryant homes.
In November 2024, the City Council accepted $3,115,600 from the Michigan Public Service Commission to improve up to 50 income-qualified homes. Eligible work includes energy-efficiency improvements, electrical panel upgrades, electric appliances, solar panels and battery storage. The grant excluded heating and cooling upgrades because the city was pursuing the geothermal grant.
The grant’s stated goals included reducing participating households’ energy spending and annual greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from baseline levels by August 2026.
Local taxpayers are financing additional support through Ann Arbor’s Community Climate Action Millage, which voters approved in 2022. In October 2025, the city council authorized a contract of up to $300,000 with Community Action Network for engagement, outreach and general support through June 2028.
City officials say the investments will reduce energy costs and emissions.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
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Solar Power World
By Billy Ludt | October 26, 2026
Community solar management service Neighborhood Sun has acquired Meadow Energy, a community solar aggregator with a substantial project portfolio in New York. The acquisition doubles Neighborhood Sun total project portfolio from approximately 300 MW_DC to more than 600 MW_DC, and quadruples its presence in New York state.
Climate First Bank helped facilitate the transaction.
“Climate First Bank believes we can help save the planet by expanding access to affordable, renewable energy,” said Hana Freymiller, senior VP and director of energy project finance at Climate First Bank. “Neighborhood Sun’s laser focus on increasing access to solar savings in low- and moderate-income communities is literally converting our beliefs into practice. Together, we have the opportunity to accelerate progress toward fighting climate change and creating true American energy independence.”
This portfolio covered 67 of Meadow Energy community solar projects. The more than 30,000 subscribers to these projects will be transferred to Neighborhood Sun’s management platform.
The company manages projects across Maryland and nine other markets, including New York.
News item from Neighborhood Sun
Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.

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Fuse’s new plug-in solar and battery system promises to make home-generated electricity more accessible
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A new integrated plug-in solar panel and battery system is launching in the UK, promising renters and homeowners a cheaper way to generate and store their own electricity.
Energy supplier Fuse has opened reservations for Jules, a system that combines plug-in solar panels with a 2.5kWh home battery.
But those interested in buying one will have to wait. Although plug-in solar panels became legal in Great Britain in August, the new rules do not currently cover systems incorporating batteries.
Fuse says it expects the first Jules systems to be delivered in 2027, subject to the necessary regulations being approved.
The launch comes less than two months after new rules made it legal for households to connect approved small solar systems directly to a standard plug socket without employing an electrician.
The government estimates that compliant plug-in panels could save households up to £110 a year and provide as much as 20 per cent of an average home’s electricity.
Jules goes a step further by adding battery storage, allowing households to keep some of the electricity produced during the day and use it later rather than having to consume the power as it is generated. Fuse says its system can also charge the battery from the grid when electricity is cheaper, with software deciding when to charge and discharge it according to electricity prices, solar forecasts and a household’s expected consumption.
The company claims users could save around £180 a year with one of its advertised configurations, although actual savings will depend on factors including the number and position of panels, electricity consumption, weather and tariff.
Fuse currently advertises Jules with two solar panels for £577 when combined with a Fuse energy tariff discount, and the system can support up to four 500W solar panels.
That doesn’t mean it can send 2,000W into a home’s electricity system, however. Under the UK’s new plug-in solar rules, compliant systems are limited to a maximum inverter output of 800VA, although you can connect up to 2,000W of solar panel capacity.
Adding more panel capacity can help a system get closer to its maximum output for longer periods when conditions are less than ideal. The battery could also potentially make a plug-in system more useful for those who are away during the sunniest part of the day, since electricity generated by the panels could be stored for use in the evening.
Although plug-in solar panels are now legal in Great Britain, the Government’s current rules only cover systems without batteries and explicitly exclude both plug-in batteries and solar devices integrated with battery storage.
Fuse is therefore unable to deliver Jules until the regulations are updated to permit these systems. For now, consumers interested in Jules can join Fuse’s free reservation list, although deliveries cannot begin until regulations permit plug-in systems with integrated battery storage.
Fuse is targeting a 2027 launch, but the government hasn’t yet announced a firm timetable for approving these systems.
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Thailand offered subsidies worth up to $1.5 billion on Monday to help households install solar panels, as it seeks to boost renewable energy and reduce dependence on costly imports.
The government offered almost $1,500 (50,000 baht) towards installation costs for up to one million households, while also promising low-interest loans and tax benefits for those fitting panels to their homes or land.
“Today, we import a lot of our energy; we’re among the top buyers globally,” Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas told reporters.
But he said this “was not a sustainable solution”.
The solar panel subsidy is expected to be approved at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, with applications to open soon after, Ekniti said.
It will be funded out of a 400-billion-baht emergency borrowing package announced earlier this year to cushion the economic impacts of the Middle East war
Around 60 percent of electricity production in Thailand comes from natural gas, with renewables making up almost 11 percent, according to government data from January to July 2026.
Much of the gas has historically come from offshore production or via pipeline from Myanmar, but declining production has forced Bangkok to step up liquid natural gas (LNG) imports.
Imported LNG made up 32 percent of its natural gas in the January-July period.
Qatar was a major supplier, but its gas infrastructure has been hit by the US and Israeli war with Iran, as has energy production across the region.
Thailand aims to have 51 percent of domestic electricity generated from renewable sources by 2037.
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Proa Energy said its Nexo platform brings the company’s renewable energy solutions together in one operating system that connects plant data, forecasting, bidding, dispatch management, performance analytics, reporting and operational workflows.
The Melbourne-based company said the Nexo platform combines its software and on-site hardware solutions to give asset managers, traders, operational teams and external providers a clearer and more consistent view of performance across assets and portfolios while its modular architecture enables them to select the capabilities relevant to their assets and add new modules as their operational requirements and portfolios evolve.
“Nexo is not an additional layer sitting alongside our existing technology. It is the platform that brings our solutions together,” Proa founder and Chief Executive Officer Victor Depoorter said.
“Nexo represents a major step change. It connects plant data, market intelligence and team workflows within one operating environment. It aims at maximising the effectiveness and predictability of renewable assets, which translates into maximised revenue for stakeholders and owners.”
“Our vision is to power the global transition to clean energy by improving performance, cost and reliability across every asset.”
Proa said 12 renewable energy projects across Australia have already adopted or are onboarding Nexo, representing more than 2 GW of contracted capacity. These include two hybrid projects, with the remaining projects spanning stand-alone large-scale solar, wind and battery assets.
Among the projects are four of Vena Energy’s assets in Queensland and South Australia and Potentia Energy’s Quorn Park hybrid project near Parkes in western New South Wales.
The Quorn Park facility, the first large scale solar-battery hybrid power plant to be built on the National Electricity Market, combines an 80 MW solar farm and a 20 MW / 40 MWh battery behind the same connection point.
Potentia Energy Chief Operations Officer Gabriele Mallarini said the Nexo platform is a key part of maximising the performance of the Quorn Park project.
“Nexo is now part of how we operate the project every day, and we’re excited by its potential to help us unlock the full value of hybrid assets,” he said.
Proa, which recently secured $4.1 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to develop a platform to help solar farm operators detect faults, improve performance, and cut operating costs, said the launch of Nexo marks the company’s evolution from a forecasting and monitoring specialist into an integrated renewable energy intelligence partner.
“Nexo is our latest milestone and the foundation for what comes next. It gives us a platform to integrate new hardware, develop new tools and keep improving how renewable energy assets operate,” Depoorter said.
“The energy transition requires more than building new infrastructure. We also need to get more from every asset: better performance, more predictable operations and greater value from the investment already made.”
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Published on 10/26/2026 at 08:37 pm EDT
TOKYO, October 27, 2026 – Ricoh Company, Ltd. today announced that it will establish manufacturing capabilities for inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells as the company moves toward mass production. The company will build a production site at Ricoh Industry Co., Ltd.’s Tohoku Site in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and aims to achieve annual production capacity of several hundred megawatts (MW) by 2030, with future expansion to gigawatt (GW)-scale production.
Ricoh’s perovskite solar cell manufacturing initiative has been selected for support under Japan’s GX (Green Transformation) Supply Chain Development Support Program administered by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Ricoh leverages its inkjet technology, which enables precise deposition of the right amount of material exactly where it is needed, to form all functional layers of perovskite solar cells. This enables efficient material utilization and streamlines manufacturing processes, with the aim of improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs.
As part of its medium- to long-term growth strategy, Ricoh is advancing the commercialization of “Functional Printing,” which applies inkjet technologies developed through its commercial and industrial printing businesses to manufacturing processes such as the coating and deposition of functional materials. Inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells are one of the projects being pursued under this initiative. Following this selection, Ricoh will build on its research, development, and demonstration activities to advance toward mass production and commercialization, with the aim of expanding the real-world deployment of perovskite solar cells and creating new business opportunities.
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Ricoh’s Workflow Push Is Stealing the Show
August 28, 2026 at 06:17 am EDT
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Solar Power World
By Billy Ludt | October 26, 2026
Gov. Wes Moore announced that the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) is launching “Megawatts for Maryland,” a $200 million auction program to build new clean energy generation over the next two years and help lower power costs for ratepayers. MEA will administer the program, which was established through the Utility RELIEF Act, Moore signed into law earlier this year.
A Madison Energy project in Maryland.
“We’re using every tool at our disposal to bring Marylanders relief as energy costs skyrocket in our region and across the country,” Moore said. “This program will tackle rising electricity demand with cleaner, cheaper, in-state energy generation that will drive down costs for the long-term.”
The program reportedly plans to bring “hundreds of megawatts” of clean energy to the Maryland grid, with the goal of powering more than 150,000 homes in the state. The program can draw up to $100 million from the state’s Strategic Energy Investment Fund annually, and will reportedly award grants to renewable energy generation and storage developers. The funding is for curbing development and construction costs of renewable energy generation and energy storage projects. The press release states that it was developed to fill in for the investment tax credits the Trump administration through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Maryland families and businesses need reliable electricity at prices they can afford. That’s why we made increasing our state’s energy supply a central part of the Utility RELIEF Act,” said Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk Maryland House of Delegates speaker. “This $100 million investment puts that commitment into action, using a competitive process to bring new solar generation online while making responsible use of public dollars. Building more energy capacity here at home is an important part of our long-term strategy to ease pressure on utility bills and create a more affordable energy future for Marylanders.”
Megawatts for Maryland is the latest step in the state’s goal to lower energy costs. Moore issued an executive order that would manage energy costs affected by data center development in the state in September, and the state issued $300 million in utility cost relief through its Utility RELIEF Act.
News item from the Maryland Energy Administration
Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.

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Sunergise Acquires Infratec, Creating One Of New Zealand’s Largest Solar Businesses  Pacific Scoop
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A Wagoner County Judge has ordered the County Commission to issue a permit for a solar farm they denied last year.
Nextera Energy sued the Commission over the permit, which was rejected after several contentious meetings with public comment generally criticizing the project.
The plans call for a 5,000-acre solar installation spread over several square miles, near Porter, on leased land now largely used for grazing. Nextera claimed the application for a conditional use permit met every requirement and could not legally be denied, and the judge agreed. The County is allowed to impose reasonable restrictions on the permit.
Commissioner Randy Stamps said Monday, “We’ll have to do some research on where we are with the project,” and said he wanted to ensure the project didn’t leave the County on the hook for road repairs after construction. “I’ve been to those in another county, and the roads just go through a beating.”
Stamps said the County has 30 days to appeal the decision, and no deadline for issuing the permit.
When the project was proposed, Nextera projected the valuation would generate $1 million annually in taxes, largely used for local schools. The power generation would support 50,000 homes and feed into the Southwest Power Pool grid that distributes power throughout Northeast Oklahoma.

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Qatar Targets 25.9% Renewable Energy Share In Power Capacity By 2035  SolarQuarter
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Subsidiary of China National Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. has signed a low-margin photovoltaic EPC contract in Ghana, which tests payment collection capability and comprehensive strength.
According to the announcement of China National Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd., its subsidiary Sedin Engineering has signed a 300MW photovoltaic EPC contract in Ghana.
In the past few months, Guangdong Power Engineering Co., Ltd. of China Energy Engineering Corporation has just started construction of the 50MW Tamale photovoltaic project in the Savannah Region of Ghana; the agreement between JinkoSolar and Nigerian distributors for 100MW Tiger Pro 3 module orders has taken effect; the 35MWh energy storage system provided by Sungrow for the RESPITE solar-storage project in Sierra Leone has been connected to the local power grid.
Four Chinese companies, three West African countries, four completely different market entry approaches. The RMB 2.58 billion contract of China National Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. is the largest one among them and closest to the traditional centralized EPC model. However, it is facing a market where the government has cut the electricity tariff from 18 cents to 6.5 cents, the arrears of independent power producers (IPPs) are still accumulating, and the gross profit margin of photovoltaic EPC has been compressed to the single-digit range.
Can an engineering company rooted in coal chemical industry and new chemical materials find its own position in the low-margin segment of West Africa’s photovoltaic industry?
By the end of 2025, Ghana’s cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity reached 276.7MW, of which the utility-scale segment only accounted for 183.1MW, lower than the previously set target of 347.5MW. The updated 2026-2030 plan sets the new target for ground-mounted photovoltaic installations at 852MW, which will be equipped with nearly 2GWh of battery energy storage, and the private sector will bear 41% of the utility-scale photovoltaic investment.
The 300MW single contract volume of Sedin exceeds 1.6 times of Ghana’s existing utility-scale photovoltaic installed stock. The figures on the demand side are clear, even a little urgent.
But on the payment side opposite the demand, there is a completely different logic.
Ghana Electricity Company collects electricity bills in Ghanaian Cedi and pays independent power producers in US dollars. Every time the Cedi weakens, the arrears return to the receivables of independent power producers in the form of “re-accumulation”.
Ghana’s Minister of Energy disclosed in October 2026 that the monthly payment ratio to IPPs has increased from about 40% to nearly 100%. The Minister of Finance said that the 2026 budget has allocated 345 million US dollars for energy payments, with the goal of “no longer accumulating new arrears for the first time”. These improvements are real, but they are also political commitments. For an EPC contract with a construction period of two to three years, the sustainability of commitments is more worthy of attention than the intensity of commitments.
The reason why China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) previously adopted full letter of credit payment in Ghana’s photovoltaic supporting equipment projects, upgrading government credit and commercial credit to bank credit, precisely shows that in this market, the reliability of cash payment is not sufficient to support the risk pricing of a long-term contract.
As the EPC contractor, Sedin does not hold the power station assets and does not directly bear the erosion of the Cedi depreciation on electricity bill income.
However, the release of its progress payment and quality guarantee deposit depends on the rhythm of the owner receiving money from the power purchaser. When the cash flow of the power purchaser is squeezed by the exchange rate, the payment milestones in the EPC contract will be extended first. Low price is not the biggest problem, but the opaque payment path is.
In the first half of 2026, China National Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. newly signed 72.935 billion yuan of overseas contracts, a year-on-year increase of 76%, and the proportion of overseas revenue rose to 35%; in the first 8 months, it newly signed 79.188 billion yuan of overseas contracts, a year-on-year increase of 57.46%. In emerging tracks such as photovoltaic and energy storage, the company’s statement is to “continue to make efforts”.
The most notable public track record of Sedin in the photovoltaic EPC field is the 150MW DC project in Laos signed in 2025, with a contract value of 528 million yuan, less than half of the scale of the Ghana project.
From 150MW to 300MW, from Southeast Asia to West Africa, from chemical plants to ground-mounted power stations, the span is obvious.
But Sedin is not entering this field from scratch.
Within the China National Chemical Engineering system, Hualu Engineering has long-term accumulation in the engineering of polysilicon materials. The multi-professional interface management, long-cycle equipment procurement rhythm control and overseas on-site construction organization trained by chemical EPC can be reused to a considerable extent in ground-mounted photovoltaic power stations.
The problem is that what is reused is engineering discipline, not profit margin.
The reason why the gross profit margin of chemical EPC is higher than that of ordinary civil engineering is that the process complexity constitutes an entry barrier; the process barrier of photovoltaic EPC is much thinner, and the competitors are much denser.
The average gross profit margin of overseas new energy EPC projects disclosed by Sinoma Energy Conservation is about 8.13%, which is achieved under the background of “fierce competition and price pressure in standardized onshore new energy projects”; the gross profit margin of clean energy engineering business is 9.10%, lower than the industry average of 10.25%.
If the 0.86 yuan/W price of Sedin corresponds to a power station body with compressed boundaries, the price is not as aggressive as it seems on the surface; if it corresponds to a more complete scope of work, the profit margin will be further squeezed.
The RMB 2.58 billion Ghana project accounts for about 2.6% of China National Chemical Engineering’s newly signed overseas contracts in the first three quarters of 2026 in the overall order book, and will not change the profit direction alone.
But it is a verification sample: whether Sedin can turn photovoltaic EPC in Ghana from a one-time “new track breakthrough” into a repeatable business category. If it succeeds, there will be bargaining chips for the second and third projects in West Africa; if it fails, the RMB 2.58 billion will only be a nice-looking announcement.
Looking at the bigger picture, Sedin is not the only Chinese enterprise that has placed bets in West Africa, but its operation mode is clearly different from that of several other peers.
China Energy Engineering Corporation follows the path of “centralized EPC + government framework”, binding sovereign-level or utility-level owners, winning large orders and acting as the general contractor. The payment risk largely depends on the owner’s credit rating and the host country’s fiscal discipline; JinkoSolar takes another path: it does not touch EPC, sells modules through distribution channels, earns profits from the manufacturing end, and bets on whether West Africa’s distributed installed capacity can spread out from the current concentration in South Africa; Sungrow focuses on the equipment and system layer, does not bear the payment risk of the power purchaser, but the financing structure of the project determines whether the equipment payment can be collected smoothly.
Sedin’s position is heavier than Sungrow’s, and lighter than China Energy Engineering’s centralized EPC model.
It does not only earn profits from the manufacturing end like JinkoSolar, nor does it bind the national power company in Senegal to develop a 500MW framework like China Energy Engineering. In a market where electricity tariffs have been renegotiated and payment is being restored but not yet stable, it uses the discipline of chemical engineering to undertake a low-margin photovoltaic general contracting project.
The success or failure of this contract will not define the overall trend of the West African photovoltaic market, but it will give a clear reference: when the unit price of centralized photovoltaic EPC is compressed to 0.86 yuan per watt, can an engineering company that transitions from the chemical industry maintain its gross profit margin around the central level of the engineering business by relying on execution efficiency and contract boundary management.
Sedin’s RMB 2.58 billion contract buys it a ticket to enter the African new energy EPC market.
It has already sat at the table, and the heaviest chip on the table is not the quotation, but the payment calendar of Ghana Electricity Company and who will stand in front of the contractor when the Cedi fluctuates next time.
China National Chemical Engineering’s chemical industry foundation can help Sedin complete the construction of the power station, but whether the payment after completion can be smoothly collected along the path from Cedi to US dollars depends on whether there is a role in the contract structure that can shield the contractor from exchange rate risks.
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by Jenilee Borek, WKRC
DEARBORN COUNTY, Ind. (WKRC) – Dearborn County officials are weighing how big is too big when it comes to solar farms, as the county works to rewrite its zoning rules for solar projects of all sizes.
The Dearborn County Plan Commission reviewed a new zoning draft focused specifically on solar projects during a meeting held on Monday.

The discussion comes as many rural communities revisit their zoning ordinances and as Dearborn County considers how to regulate large-scale developments that can require significant amounts of land.
In February, county commissioners passed a one-year moratorium to halt commercial solar farms and data centers from coming into the county. The moratorium was intended to give the county time to update its zoning code.
A major point of debate at Monday’s meeting was the maximum size the county should allow for solar farms. A group identifying as the Concerned Dearborn County Citizens submitted an alternative ordinance proposal before the meeting, saying it is intended to protect neighboring property owners and the county’s rural character.
The citizens’ proposal suggests solar farms be no larger than 500 acres. The county’s draft ordinance set a maximum of 1,200 acres.
“I just look; that’s two square miles. That’s a, that’s an airport,” said Eric Lang, a Dearborn County Plan Commission member. “We spent the better part of a year or two years ago changing our ag and ag homestead to limit subdivisions on prime farm grounds. And we’re sitting here now talking about putting solar on that same area that we just said. No subdivisions."
Lang also noted that some farmers are struggling because of economic factors, and he said he sees solar as an opportunity to help farmers survive tough times by putting solar panels on part of their land.
If the plan commission does not vote on Monday, another special plan commission meeting is scheduled for Nov. 12, and a vote could happen then.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.

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Philippine renewable energy developer Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) has secured PHP 35.014 billion ($552 million) in syndicated project financing to develop five solar projects with a combined capacity of 900 MW and 120 MWh of battery storage in Batangas province.
The financing is the company’s largest syndicated loan facility to date. Three Philippine banks provided the funding: Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank), and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
The portfolio consists of two 300 MW solar plants and three 100 MW solar facilities. Each of the smaller projects will incorporate a 40 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), bringing the portfolio’s total storage capacity to 120 MWh.
CREC has not disclosed the batteries’ power ratings, technology suppliers or storage durations. It has also not provided details of the loan tenor, interest rates or financing allocated to individual projects.
All five projects secured offtake allocations under the Philippine Department of Energy’s fourth Green Energy Auction Program (GEA-4), held in 2025.
The auction framework provides for 20-year electricity supply contracts starting from commercial operation, giving developers long-term revenue visibility. CREC has not disclosed the tariffs awarded to individual projects, commissioning schedules or the status of their power supply agreements.
The projects will expand CREC’s existing portfolio in Batangas, where it reports 374 MW of operational solar capacity and 560 MWh of battery storage. An additional 198 MW of solar capacity in the province is nearing completion.
CREC said concentrating multiple projects in Batangas is part of its development strategy, enabling it to coordinate construction activities and potentially improve project execution efficiency.
The Philippine government has used successive green energy auctions to accelerate renewable energy investment. The fourth auction round covered ground-mounted, rooftop and floating solar, onshore wind, and integrated solar-plus-storage projects, with electricity deliveries scheduled between 2026 and 2029.
The Philippines aims to increase the share of renewables in its electricity generation mix to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.
CREC, which is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, operates across solar power generation, project development and electricity supply. The company said earlier in October that it had reached 1 GW of installed renewable energy capacity and is targeting 5 GW within the next five years.
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Mass production will begin at Panasonic’s Nagahama facility in Japan
October 26, 2026
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Japan-based technology company Panasonic Holdings Corporation has advanced the start of full-scale mass production of its glass-type perovskite solar cells from fiscal year 2030 to April 2029 at Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture.
Panasonic began selling pre-production units of its glass-type perovskite solar cells manufactured at its Moriguchi facility in September 2026.
The company said it is gathering information on installing and operating solar cells through customer installations. It plans to use this experience to develop a mass-production technology at the Nagahama facility and support the technology’s commercial adoption.
Panasonic attributed its decision to accelerate mass production to growing market expectations and government policy support for perovskite solar technology.
The glass-type perovskite solar cells combine proprietary material technology, inkjet coating, and laser processing to provide flexibility in size, transparency, and design.
The company is also developing materials to improve durability and is using glass sealing technology to meet building material performance requirements.
Panasonic’s pre-production glass-based perovskite solar panels feature a laminated-glass structure, with maximum dimensions of 1.8 m × 1.0 m and glass thickness options of 3+3 mm and 6+6 mm. The panels are available with float glass or high-strength glass and can be customized with decorative designs.
The modules, scheduled for launch in April 2029, will have larger dimensions of up to 1.8 m × 1.2 m, with additional glass thickness options of 4+4 mm and 5+5 mm. They will also be available in laminated insulating glass configurations, with tempered glass as an additional option.
Panasonic said building-integrated solar cells require electricity generation, transparency, design compatibility with buildings, dimensional flexibility, ease of installation, and long-term durability.
The company aims to develop power-generating glass that can be incorporated into windows and exterior surfaces of buildings.
Panasonic said it is pursuing the technology under its Technology Future Vision, which outlines its research and development priorities through 2040. The initiative focuses on using previously underutilized building surfaces for renewable electricity generation.
Perovskite solar cells are emerging as a next-generation technology that could improve module efficiencies and transform solar manufacturing. Advances in perovskite-silicon tandem cells and other cell architectures could help manufacturers achieve higher efficiencies and improve competitiveness.
Recently, researchers from Australia’s UNSW Sydney collaborated with UTMO Light to achieve a world-record-certified stabilized power conversion efficiency of 23.5% for a large-area perovskite solar submodule. The 30 × 30 cm submodule, with an aperture area of 676 cm², surpassed the previous efficiency benchmark by 0.6 percentage points.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) claimed to have developed a formamidinium-based perovskite semiconductor technology for solar cells and memory devices, using a molecular interface-engineering method that helped solar cells achieve 25.73% efficiency, converting one-quarter of incident sunlight into electricity.
Parth Shukla
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The export of Indian photovoltaic (PV) modules has risen exponentially by more than 23 times between Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and FY2024, primarily to the US, which accounted for more than 97% of India’s exports in both FY2023 and FY2024.
With the expiration of the Free Trade Agreement and an ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty investigation, India can potentially replace Southeast Asian countries to become the leading PV exporting country to the US.
During periods of domestic supply shortage, certain distributed renewable energy segments, such as residential rooftop solar, will be affected due to their smaller order sizes.
After accounting for exports, the resultant supply by Indian PV manufacturers available for consumption in India in the next two years will only be 21 gigawatt (GW) and 25GW, which is less than the approximate requirement of 30GW per annum to meet India’s 2030 renewable energy target.
India is making significant progress in transitioning from a net importer to a net exporter of photovoltaic (PV) products. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, Indian PV manufacturers exported approximately US$2 billion worth of PV modules. The export value of PV modules from India increased by more than 23 times in just two years between FY2022 and FY2024.
Several factors have contributed to this rapid increase in PV exports from India FY 2022. These include reduced demand for domestic PV modules following the delayed implementation of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers in April 2024, several countries considering India as a viable option for their “China Plus One” strategy, and an opportunity for domestic PV manufacturers to diversify their revenue base and sell their products at a higher premium abroad. Despite increased logistics expenses, domestic manufacturers can achieve approximately 40-60% higher profit margins on PV module sales in developed nations like the US than in India.
Indian PV manufacturers are increasingly focusing on the export market. Until FY2024, three of the largest domestic PV manufacturers – Waaree Energies, Adani Solar and Vikram Solar – accounted for most of India’s PV exports. Each company exported more than half of its annual actual production in FY2024. Several other Indian PV manufacturers, like Grew Energy, ReNew Power, Navitas, Solex Energy and Saatvik Energy, are pursuing export markets and setting up supply chains abroad. Waaree Energies and Vikram Solar are also planning to set up PV manufacturing capacities in the US, taking advantage of the incentives offered under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Most Indian PV exports are to the US, which accounted for 97% and 99% of India’s PV exports in FY2023 and FY2024, respectively. India also exports PV products to South Africa, Somalia, Kenya, the UAE, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The US has imposed steep tariffs on PV products from China to gradually phase out Chinese imports. The US government might extend these tariffs to imports from Southeast Asia (SEA), subject to the result of an ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigation by the US Department of Commerce. SEA countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, cater to more than three-fourths of the US’ annual PV requirements. If found guilty under the AD/CVD investigation, the import duty on PV products from SEA countries will be the same as that on Chinese imports, enhancing India’s prospects of establishing itself as a leader in PV exports to the US. The outlook for Indian exports further improves considering that PV manufacturing capacities set to come online in the US under IRA are experiencing delays and not all may come to fruition.
India needs to adopt a multi-pronged export-oriented approach. First, it should continue to leverage its advantageous position in the US market, as it is one of the largest solar markets in the world in terms of both installations and technology adoption. This exposure will enable Indian PV manufacturers to attain economies of scale, ultimately enhancing their product quality and competitiveness. Second, to truly establish India as a global manufacturing hub in the long run, Indian PV manufacturers must focus on upstream backward integration. This will help India maintain its foothold in existing markets while unlocking untapped markets like Europe, Africa, Latin America, etc.
As India establishes itself as a viable alternative to China, balancing the demands of the export and domestic markets is important. When there is a supply-demand gap, it is crucial to ensure adequate domestic supply, especially for market segments with smaller order sizes, such as distributed renewable energy, including residential rooftop solar. The supply-demand gap also affects solar module prices, a critical factor for the price-sensitive residential rooftop solar segment.

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RWE and Borussia Dortmund have commissioned a 3.7MW battery storage system at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, completing their joint energy concept for the stadium.
The system was officially commissioned during BVB’s Bundesliga home match against Eintracht Frankfurt on 26 October, RWE said.
The company added that the battery can deliver its full 3.7MW output for just over an hour, allowing electricity generated by the stadium’s photovoltaic system to be used when the sun is not shining.
The solar installation, commissioned in December 2025, comprises 11,132 modules with a capacity of more than 5MWp.
The photovoltaic system can meet up to 45% of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK’s electricity requirements.
The project follows the installation of solar panels on the roof of the BVB FanWelt and the completion of what the partners describe as the world’s most powerful photovoltaic system on a stadium roof.
RWE chief executive Dr Markus Krebber said: “With the commissioning of the battery storage system, the entire system comprising the photovoltaic plant and the battery at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is now fully operational.
“Linking the two systems makes it possible to use the solar power generated on site even more flexibly, even when the sun isn’t shining.”
Borussia Dortmund executive board chairman Carsten Cramer said: “SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is not only our iconic home, but also a central element of our holistic decarbonisation strategy.
“With the battery storage system, we are collaborating with RWE to complete a forward-looking energy concept that makes our solar power even more usable.”
RWE will continue supporting BVB in optimising the stadium’s energy management under the companies’ six-year partnership.
The collaboration, which forms part of the BVB Empowers initiative, aims to further improve security of supply, energy efficiency and decarbonisation at the stadium.
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Senator O’Mara’s weekly column ‘From the Capitol’ — for the week of October 26, 2026 — ‘Still seeking answers and accountability on siting of solar panels’  The New York State Senate (.gov)
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India’s Jakson Solar to invest up to $525 million in solar cells, ingot-wafer plants  Reuters
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This was led by solar farms and hybrid solar-and-battery projects.
Twelve Australian renewable generation projects totalling 2.6 gigawatts (GW) reached a final investment decision in the first half (H1) of 2026, more than the 2.3 GW recorded across all of 2025, according to the Clean Energy Council (CEC).
CEC said the growth was led predominantly by solar farms and hybrid solar-and-battery projects.
Nine utility-scale batteries worth $3b (AU$4.3b) and representing 2.3 GW/7.1 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage capacity, were also switched on, surpassing the 2 GW/5.1 GWh added last year.
CEC chief executive Jackie Trad said the results show the resilience and growth of the country’s clean energy industry in the face of difficult headwinds.
“Australian sun and wind cannot be cut off by conflict overseas,” Trad pointed out.
“Each new solar, wind, and battery investment helps make Australia more energy independent and economically resilient, shielding Australians from global fossil fuel price shocks and supply disruptions,” she added.
Five generation projects totalling 1.4 GW of new capacity and worth more than $1.9b (AU$2.8b) were commissioned in H1, including the 756-megawatt first stage of Victoria’s Golden Plains Wind Farm.
The first stage will produce enough capacity to power 400,000 homes, according to CEC.
Queensland leads the nation in clean energy investment, accounting for $6.7b (AU$9.6b) and 4.5 GW in projects that are currently at financial close or are under construction.
Meanwhile, New South Wales has the largest battery storage pipeline at 4.3 GW/11.2 GWh.
Trad said the story is bigger than any one state or territory.
“Maintaining this momentum will require predictable approvals, timely transmission and long-term revenue certainty to help more projects, including onshore wind, progress into operation,” she said.
“Australian-made clean energy will not only deliver more affordable, reliable electricity for households and businesses, but also tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment and economic activity, particularly in regional Australia,” she added.

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Is it possible to get cheap and clean solar energy without owning your own home? Until quite recently, unless you lived in a house large enough for 8-13 solar panels, it was assumed solar energy would likely be out of reach. Unfortunately, solar panels and rental properties were not seen as compatible.
However, is it the case that in 2026 you need to own your own home to get solar panels? No. Can you get solar panels and batteries and cut your energy bills without owning your home? Unequivocally, yes.
Solar energy has changed for renters in lots of ways, and they all mean not owning your own home is no longer a big barrier.
There are plenty of reasons why not owning your own home is no longer a major hurdle to getting solar panels. The main one is that the UK solar industry is changing at a rapid pace, with a greater emphasis than ever on helping billpayers cut their costs by not relying on gas or the grid. 
More specific reasons include:
Fewer than 2 million households in the UK have solar panels as of 2024. Going a bit deeper, just 7% of owner-occupied properties have solar panels, with 2% of private rented ones and 5% of social rented ones doing so respectively. 
Just over a third of households overall, just under 9 million, are rented, with an almost even split between private (54%) and social (46%). What does this mean? Renters in the UK are a hugely untapped market for solar panels.
Does it need to be so? Not anymore. We’ve gone into a bit more detail below about why even if you rent you can still get all the benefits of solar energy.
This is the one you’ve likely heard the most about because it’s only recently been fully legalised in the UK. On the 27th August it became fully legal to plug in a solar panel of 800MW into your electricity socket after safety laws were changed. 
This is a massive leap forward in domestic energy because it allows billpayers to use their balconies and open space to generate electricity. A plug-in solar panel pushes power into a home’s grid, using a microinverter to convert DC electricity into AC. 
The benefits for billpayers is a cut of energy bills by £110 a year on average, although this figure is considered by some to be a low estimate. With a battery and home that is well insulated, that figure could be a lot higher. When combined with other clean tech, such as rooftop solar or a heat pump, a home could be very well protected from spikes in energy costs.
Before 27th August, plug-in solar panels were not allowed in the UK because of safety concerns. Why did the plug-in solar panels laws change? Firstly because plug-in solar panels are proven to cut energy bills and secondly because of the (still ongoing) ballooning wholesale gas prices, which has caused the energy price cap to increase massively since June.
Essentially, it became imperative for more people to be able to access solar energy. Now that plug-in solar panels are legal, living in a flat is no longer a hurdle to getting cheap and clean energy. The one thing that was previously a requirement – a roof – is now not needed. 
Yes, you do still need to get permission from your landlord, freeholder, or building manager if you want to install plug-in solar panels. 
Yes, despite plug-in solar panels being legal and available, your landlord, freeholder, or building manager can still say no. At the time of writing (September 2026) tenants have no legal right to install plug-in solar panels against a landlord’s wishes BUT the government has strongly encouraged landlords to assess each request on a case-by-case basis and only turn one down if absolutely necessary. 
Thanks to the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, landlords cannot refuse a tenant’s request to make energy efficiency improvements without reasonable grounds. The reasonable grounds are:
All in all, plug-in solar has made it much easier for renters to get solar power and it represents one of the biggest, and most important changes to renters’ ability to cut their energy bills. 
Naturally everyone wants their home to be more energy efficient, but recent changes to the way energy efficiency is measured means it’s easier than ever to get solar panels if you’re a renter. 
The upcoming Warm Homes Plan, the biggest government home energy improvement scheme in UK history, will mean all privately rented properties will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above. 
This is a big win for renters because the best way to make a home more energy efficient is to use clean energy tech, including solar panels. Another huge benefit to renters is the Home Energy Model, the new metric for measuring EPCs. 
The Home Energy Model will specifically measure a home’s ‘smart readiness’ which in other words means its ability to generate its own energy and how it uses smart technology to optimise it. 
That means energy generation is baked into a property’s EPC rating and it means renters can ask their landlords to help them get roof-top solar panels, batteries and/or plug-in solar to improve their homes energy efficiency. 
The best part? Any home with solar panels alongside a smart meter would be guaranteed to meet the stipulations of the Home Energy Model and get that all-important C EPC rating.

As long as renters have all the necessary landlord permissions, there is a lot of help available for solar panels. The Warm Homes Plan will replace the ECO4 scheme, which will expire on 31st December, and offer all households financial support to install solar panels and batteries. 
Everyone in the UK will be entitled to low-interest loans for solar panels regardless of home ownership. 
Renters will still, as already explained, need their landlord’s permission, but the financial support and the need to have a C EPC rating makes the argument for solar almost undeniable. 
This is a concept that is designed to help renters access solar energy by sharing a large, local battery system to store renewable energy and reduce electricity costs without needing solar panels or a battery inside their flats. 
The shared community battery charges up with cheap energy during low-peak hours and releases into the shared grid when it’s expensive. For renters this involves no complex installation because the solar panels are shared and each separately smart metered-flat can get their share of the solar energy. 
This is still quite a new area and governments, technology manufacturers, and energy providers are still creating frameworks to do it at scale, but it’s a very promising area for renters. One particular case study in Cardiff saw occupants of 24 flats cut their energy bills by more than 70%. 
On top of government legislation and help, there are other products on the market that make solar more accessible than ever for renters. One innovation in particular now means every type of household now has solar within their reach: EcoFlow’s newly released STREAM series, the next-generation home battery platform that’s designed specifically to help overcome traditional barriers when it comes to home battery installation. 
The STREAM series, which includes the STREAM 5000 and STREAM AC, is a gamechanger because it fits into what EcoFlow calls ‘the missing middle’. That is households who don’t have enough room for a large residential solar system and whose energy needs are too big for plug-in solar. 
That could be someone who lives in a small two-storey house without a huge amount of roof space for a 13-solar panel system or simply someone who lives in a flat. Crucially, it could also be renters who need to show their landlords that the technology is compact enough to fit nicely into the building.
Essentially, the types of households who might not have been able to get solar power in the past.  
Despite its size, the STREAM series can pack in enough energy to run a huge number of critical household appliances, including washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers and much more. It also lets billpayers store energy at cheap times for use when electricity is most expensive. The result  is a system that can easily be installed in compact household spaces, such as garages, utility rooms and in fact anywhere else that’s out of the way, all without compromising on power. 
This is really important because it helps those households who might not have used solar power before. In fact, it could be their first effort of using anything clean energy technology, and that’s the point. It’s designed for those taking their first solar steps. 
In short, a lot. It’s easier than ever for renters to access solar energy because of:
The biggest thing is that every household now has the ability to make the use of solar energy through residential systems, plug-in, and now battery systems that integrate into a home’s energy consumption patterns. Now a lot more people have the ability to use solar energy. The technology is there, the market is ready, and the legislation is gradually changing. Solar in the UK is evolving, and everyone, including renters, are able to take part.

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Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024 and became deputy editor in 2025. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express.
He has represented The Eco Experts on national television several times, including the BBC’s Sunday Morning Live and ITV Tonight .
In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International.
He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment.
Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa.
As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals.
His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive.
Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.
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Attention-enhanced AI detector spots incipient fires in solar plants
Photovoltaic power plants pack together flammable polymers and electrical components prone to arcing, which makes early fire detection a safety-critical monitoring task. A new study published in Scientific Reports presents PVFire-YOLO, a real-time neural detection framework designed to catch fires while they are still small, weakly contrasted patches of smoke or flame. The work addresses a problem that plagues conventional detectors in solar installations: the glossy surfaces of photovoltaic modules produce specular reflections that fabricate fire-like visual cues, degrading detection accuracy precisely where early warning matters most.
The framework combines three technical components. A patch-aware parallel attention block amplifies weak responses from small targets against reflective backgrounds, helping the network distinguish genuine incipient flames and smoke from mirrored light on module glass. A gather-and-distribute neck performs information fusion across four feature-pyramid levels, closing the semantic gap that limits conventional neck architectures, in which features at different resolutions carry inconsistent information. Finally, a four-scale adaptive spatial feature-fusion head learns per-pixel scale weights and adds a high-resolution branch dedicated to targets smaller than 100 pixels, the size range where incipient fires typically first appear in plant surveillance imagery.
To train and evaluate the detector, the researchers built PV-Fire, described as the first annotated flame-and-smoke corpus with a photovoltaic-specific background distribution. The dataset allows models to learn the visual statistics of solar plants, including the reflective surfaces and equipment layouts that generate false alarms in generic fire-detection systems. Evaluation was conducted both on this new corpus and on the public D-Fire benchmark, allowing comparison with detectors trained outside the photovoltaic domain.
Against fourteen baseline detectors, PVFire-YOLO reached a mean average precision of 87.4 percent at an intersection-over-union threshold of 0.5 on PV-Fire and 84.4 percent on D-Fire. On small targets specifically, the model raised average precision by 5.2 points over its own baseline architecture, indicating that the attention and fusion components contribute most where targets are hardest to see. The reflection-induced false-positive rate fell to 3.1 percent at higher recall, addressing the trade-off in which detectors that catch more real fires also flag more spurious events.
Speed figures support the real-time claim in the framework’s name. PVFire-YOLO ran at 79 frames per second on a desktop graphics card and 21 frames per second on an embedded edge device, the class of hardware typically installed at remote plant sites. The authors report the work as an applied computational-intelligence study, positioning the detector for deployment in operational photovoltaic monitoring. As with any benchmark-based evaluation, field performance across varying lighting, weather and plant geometries would need to be established through deployment experience, and the published version of the paper remains subject to further editorial updates pending the final Version of Record.
Subject of Research: Real-time small-target fire detection in photovoltaic plants using an attention-enhanced multiscale fusion neural detector
Article Title: Real time small target fire detection in photovoltaic plants using attention enhanced multiscale fusion
Article References: Guo, W., Meng, X., Wang, J., Cai, C., & Cui, H. (2026). Real time small target fire detection in photovoltaic plants using attention enhanced multiscale fusion. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-74289-7
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-74289-7
Keywords: photovoltaic, fire detection, PVFire-YOLO, attention mechanism, feature fusion, small target detection, computer vision, deep learning, PV-Fire dataset, real-time detection, solar plant safety, false positives
News Source: Blake Davidson. (October 26, 2026). Attention-enhanced AI detector spots incipient fires in solar plants. Scienmag.
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Las Cruces Public Schools outlines solar parking canopy projects at four campuses, including a 393-panel system expected to offset Conlee Community Elementary School's electricity use.
State-funded projects at three elementary schools and Las Cruces High could reduce utility expenses, but the district will be responsible for ongoing maintenance
Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES – Las Cruces Public Schools has received approval for $3.5 million in state solar grants for projects at four campuses, with three elementary schools awarded $1 million apiece and Las Cruces High School awarded $500,000.
The funding comes through the New Mexico Finance Authority’s Local Solar Access Fund, according to a presentation by LCPS Chief of Operations Steve Rodriguez during the Oct. 20 Board of Education meeting.
Conlee Community Elementary School, Desert Bloom Elementary and Fairacres Elementary each were approved for $1 million, representing full funding for their proposed projects. Las Cruces High was approved for $500,000, representing partial funding.
The district expects the systems to reduce electricity expenses while providing covered parking. At Conlee alone, a proposed 393-panel solar array is projected to generate enough electricity annually to offset the school’s entire electricity consumption.
At Conlee, the district plans a 226-kilowatt solar installation consisting of 393 panels mounted on parking canopies.
Rodriguez told board members the system is projected to generate enough electricity over the course of a year to offset approximately 100% of the school’s annual electricity consumption.
The district is also exploring how excess electricity generated by the system might be credited through El Paso Electric.
Rodriguez said similar elementary school projects could potentially offset their campuses’ annual electricity consumption once completed.
At Las Cruces High School, the partially funded project is expected to offset approximately 60% of the campus’s electricity use.
Those figures are projections, not documented savings from completed installations. The district did not present a comprehensive estimate of annual dollar savings for all four campuses during the discussion.
The district is pursuing solar parking structures rather than mounting panels on school roofs.
Rodriguez explained that many district roofs need replacement, making parking canopies a more practical option than installing solar equipment that might later need to be removed for roofing work.
The approach would allow campuses to generate electricity while adding shaded parking areas.
Rodriguez identified the four schools as part of an initial phase of the district’s broader effort to improve the sustainability and efficiency of its facilities.
He also discussed the possibility of pursuing additional projects if the state funding program continues.
Although the grants are intended to cover project costs, LCPS will remain responsible for ongoing maintenance.
That distinction surfaced during questions from board members about the financial implications of the installations.
Rodriguez said modern solar panels generally have relatively modest maintenance needs but acknowledged that the district must plan for their long-term upkeep.
He also discussed battery storage as a possible future improvement that could help schools retain excess electricity and provide backup power during outages. Battery systems were discussed as a potential future option, not as an established component of the four projects.
Board member Ed Frank encouraged the district to develop estimates of long-term savings, saying the financial benefits could help make the case for continued state support.
Frank also suggested including future funding for the solar program among the district’s legislative priorities, with the goal of redirecting money otherwise spent on utilities toward classroom needs.
District officials described the solar installations as part of a broader sustainability strategy that also includes electric school buses and charging infrastructure.
The Oct. 20 presentation was informational and required no board vote.
The district has not established, in the materials presented, a comprehensive timeline for completion of all four installations or the total amount of electricity cost savings expected once they are operational.
Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.
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Infinity Power and HAU Energy secured up to $566 million in debt for Nefer Minya, a 1.2 GWp solar plant in Egypt paired with a 600 MWh battery. Its power goes to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
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Strip away the superlatives and Nefer Minya is a 25-year contract with a state buyer, wrapped around one of the country's first utility-scale batteries.
The battery is meant to store daytime power for peak demand after sunset. That suggests a plant that reaches into the evening peak, not one that runs through the night.
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Nefer Minya, a solar project in Minya, Egypt, now has up to $566 million in debt in place. The plant pairs 1.2 GWp of solar capacity with battery storage rated at 600 MWh. Infinity Power and HAU Energy secured the financing, which they announced on October 20, 2026, and the sponsors expect the plant to become the biggest solar power plant in both Egypt and Africa.
The size claim gets the headlines. The shape of the deal is more useful to developers, EPC contractors and storage suppliers working in Egypt: who lent, what the battery is sized to do, and what stands behind the buyer. Put together, those pieces suggest what lenders currently accept as a bankable solar project in the country.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development led the financing, according to Dealroom, and arranged up to $265 million of the package itself. That tranche breaks down into three pieces.
Energy Global; Infinity Power; Dealroom
DEG, FMO and Proparco are providing additional financing alongside the EBRD-arranged portion. Dealroom reports that FMO alone committed a $100 million senior loan. Add that to the EBRD tranche and close to two-thirds of the up-to-$566 million ceiling is accounted for by just two institutions.
The concessional money is a small slice. At up to $30 million, the Clean Technology Fund piece comes to about a twentieth of the total, so the rest of the package is carried by development-bank and bank lending.
For operators planning similar projects in Egypt, the lender list suggests where long-term debt for storage-backed solar could come from. Dealroom reads the heavy development-finance presence the same way, pointing to Scatec's $600 million Obelisk project as a comparable. By its own data, a debt round of up to $566 million sits above the 98th percentile all-time among what it classes as deep-tech projects in Egypt.
The sponsors haven't disclosed tenor, pricing, total project cost or equity, so nobody outside the deal can benchmark the terms against other Egyptian facilities yet.
Infinity Power's announcement says the plant will hold daytime solar output in its battery and release it when demand peaks after sunset. Nayer Fouad, Infinity Power's co-founder and CEO, said the project is paired with a battery system that ranks among the first utility-scale storage installations in the country. Dealroom also describes battery-supplied power at peak hours as still relatively new to Egypt's grid.
GWp is the peak rating of a solar array's panels under standard test conditions. MWh measures stored energy, not the rate at which it is released. The battery's power rating in MW hasn't been published, so the actual discharge duration isn't known.
The storage design gives grid planners a sense of what to expect. A battery sized for evening discharge could shift energy past sundown and ease the evening ramp. That points to Nefer Minya being a solar plant that extends into the evening peak, not a source of firm round-the-clock supply, and buyers who model it as round-the-clock supply could overestimate it.
Dalia Wahba, CEO of Hassan Allam Utilities, framed the pairing the same way in comments carried by TradeArabia, saying the partners are combining large-scale solar with storage "to provide clean power that is available when the grid needs it most." The pitch is timing, not volume.
For storage suppliers and integrators, the numbers still add up to a lot of hardware. Set against the array, 600 MWh works out to 0.5 MWh of storage per MWp of panels, a modest ratio on a very large plant. And because so few comparable systems are running on Egypt's grid, how this one performs once it's operating is likely to become the reference that later Egyptian projects get measured against.
Once running, the sponsors expect the plant to supply enough electricity for more than 1.4 million homes a year and to avoid over 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
The state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will buy the plant's electricity, and the power purchase agreement runs for 25 years. Development lenders size long debt against revenue certainty, and a contract of that length with one buyer provides it.
There is a second layer. Dealroom reports that the PPA is fully guaranteed by Egypt's Ministry of Finance, which it describes as giving the plant a secured route to market. That suggests lenders are underwriting Egypt's sovereign commitment as much as the utility's own payment record, which would help explain how a project this size drew this much long-dated development money.
When comparing Nefer Minya's financing with another Egyptian solar deal, check two things first: the length of the offtake contract and whether the Ministry of Finance guarantees it. On Dealroom's account, this one has 25 years and a full guarantee.
Strip away the superlatives and Nefer Minya is a 25-year contract with a state buyer, wrapped around one of the country's first utility-scale batteries.
National policy matters here too. Wahba said Egypt aims to generate 42% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. She said each megawatt-hour the project produces cuts reliance on imported fuel.
Strip away the superlatives and Nefer Minya is a 25-year contract with a state buyer, wrapped around one of the country's first utility-scale batteries.
Dealroom sees the deal as part of a wider change in Egypt, where the country is shifting away from solar-only plants and toward dispatchable power supported by storage. Signed renewable power purchase agreements totalling nearly 6 GW had reached financial close as of March 2026. The government's NWFE programme aims for 10 GW of new renewables.
For scale, Nefer Minya's 1.2 GWp is equivalent to roughly a fifth of that 6 GW financial-close figure. A single plant of that weight, with storage attached, could shape what lenders and the state buyer expect from the storage-backed projects that follow it.
The same partners have more coming. REGlobal reported that in September 2026, Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities Energy signed a power purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for Ras Shokeir, a wind project that will add 1 GW of generation to the grid. For the sponsors, that suggests a growing share of their Egyptian pipeline could depend on the same state buyer.
Taken together, the two projects put about 2.2 GW of nameplate capacity under contract with the transmission company. Concentration like that cuts both ways: the partners know the buyer and its contract terms well, and they also carry more exposure to a single counterparty.
Both sponsors are building at scale. Infinity Power, a joint venture between Infinity and Masdar that describes itself as Africa's largest pure-play renewable energy provider, reports about 1.3 GW of operating capacity across Egypt, South Africa and Senegal, plus 6.3 GW of wind and solar in development, 3.8 GW of it at an advanced stage, and a target of 10 GW operating by 2032. HAU Energy, the renewables platform set up by Hassan Allam Utilities within Hassan Allam Holding and described in a Zawya report as Netherlands-based, has nearly 3.3 GW under development.
Infinity Power says its existing portfolio avoids over 3 million tonnes of CO2 a year. On the sponsors' own figures, Nefer Minya would add about half that again, and its 1.2 GWp peak rating is close to the company's entire 1.3 GW operating base. Once it is running, that makes it the single biggest step Infinity Power can point to toward its 10 GW target.
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From zero electricity bills to solar-powered street vendors, India’s city of Lucknow is embracing rooftop solar. What’s driving its success?
In Lucknow, India, a growing number of homeowners are opening their electricity bills and finding there’s nothing to pay. Driven by a rooftop solar boom, more than 100,000 households are generating their own power, cutting costs and embracing renewable energy. Demand has been fueled by government incentives, rising energy bills and growing climate awareness. Uttar Pradesh is the country’s leading solar rooftop state. But beneath the success story, challenges are emerging. Can this solar surge be sustained in the long run? DW’s Sadhika Tiwari explores the opportunities, risks and big questions behind one of India’s fastest-growing clean energy trends.
 

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Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park showcases scale and ambition of India’s clean energy goals: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi  Press Information Bureau
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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.
The system can use location data to fill them before a storm arrives.
Photo Credit: Anker
After 141 days of use, a TechRadar reviewer found that Anker’s Solix E10 whole-home backup system changed their approach to storms. Instead of bracing for spoiled food or a house without lights, the reviewer said incoming bad weather forecasts started to feel more like a chance to watch the system work.
Cost depends heavily on the configuration.
One inverter and one battery from Anker start at a little more than $4,000. Adding the Basecamp Power Dock Smart Generator can bring the total to about $10,000 before installation. 
Anker positions the Solix E10 as a whole-home backup system built around battery storage, solar support, and a smart generator. It can be sized for a smaller home or scaled up for a larger one.
For many homeowners, battery storage can help during outages while also cutting energy costs and increasing energy independence. The E10 can connect to solar panels, use that power to run a home, and, depending on the utility, may also send electricity back to the grid for a return. 
Homeowners who want to compare their options can explore EnergySage for home battery storage solutions and competitive installation estimates. EnergySage has teamed up with electrification brand Qmerit to help you get the best price on home battery storage solutions. 
Because the home was connected to the grid, this installation required a licensed electrician, and TechRadar’s tester, Collin Probst, said city code and utility requirements also had to be satisfied.
The system’s backup plan includes multiple fuel paths. 
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
Probst said the smart generator performed well on both propane and gasoline. It could be triggered automatically by the E10 power panel and can later be connected to natural gas as well for longer outages.
Instead of keeping batteries topped off at all times, the system can use location data to fill them before a storm arrives. 
Anker users can also check battery levels, monitor power output, and control isolated circuits on a phone app. Households that want to expand the system can reach up to 9,000 watts of solar input with two batteries.
Probst said the hardware is rated for severe weather, cold, and heat, making outdoor installation workable in the Midwest where it was tested. 
During those tests, the generator powered a 3,000-square-foot home with a basement, two refrigerators, microwaves, air fryers, and a two-stage HVAC system without any noticeable flicker indoors.
People interested in this kind of backup setup may want to start by comparing and budgeting for systems as well as checking early for any local permitting or utility-approval requirements.
A whole-home system will not make sense for everyone. Pila is another company offering strong battery backup options, and its plug-and-play batteries cost a fraction of what a whole-home backup system would.
The review also pointed to uses beyond emergency preparation, including adding solar later and using the generator by itself at another property.
The TechRadar reviewer endorsed their experience after about four and a half months of use.
“So at the end of the day … I have not once worried about a power outage or a storm that’s coming, knocking out my power and causing food to spoil or for my kids to panic. In fact, I’ve welcomed several storms and excitement, actually, to test the system,” Probst concluded.
People have tried many different kinds of home backup batteries and generator alternatives to prepare for storms and other outage-causing incidents.
• Anker’s backup tech could rival Tesla’s Powerwall while staying ready for the next outage.
• Across the U.S., home battery units are keeping families calm through blackouts and high bills.
• Homeowners are opting for next-gen models instead of relying on old backup generators.
• Energy experts say safer battery upgrades can replace risky gasoline generators at home.
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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TOKYO, October 27, 2026 – Ricoh Company, Ltd. today announced that it will establish manufacturing capabilities for inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells as the company moves toward mass production. The company will build a production site at Ricoh Industry Co., Ltd.’s Tohoku Site in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and aims to achieve annual production capacity of several hundred megawatts (MW) by 2030, with future expansion to gigawatt (GW)-scale production.
Ricoh’s perovskite solar cell manufacturing initiative has been selected for support under Japan’s GX (Green Transformation) Supply Chain Development Support Program administered by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Ricoh leverages its inkjet technology, which enables precise deposition of the right amount of material exactly where it is needed, to form all functional layers of perovskite solar cells. This enables efficient material utilization and streamlines manufacturing processes, with the aim of improving productivity and reducing manufacturing costs.
As part of its medium- to long-term growth strategy, Ricoh is advancing the commercialization of “Functional Printing,” which applies inkjet technologies developed through its commercial and industrial printing businesses to manufacturing processes such as the coating and deposition of functional materials. Inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells are one of the projects being pursued under this initiative. Following this selection, Ricoh will build on its research, development, and demonstration activities to advance toward mass production and commercialization, with the aim of expanding the real-world deployment of perovskite solar cells and creating new business opportunities.
As the transition toward a decarbonized society accelerates and renewable energy adoption continues to expand, expectations are growing for perovskite solar cells due to their thin, lightweight, and flexible characteristics. These features enable installation on rooftops and walls of buildings with limited load-bearing capacity, where conventional silicon solar cells are difficult to deploy, expanding opportunities for power generation.
To achieve widespread adoption, however, in addition to improving power generation performance and durability, establishing technologies that enable stable-quality mass production and reducing production costs remain key challenges.
Ricoh will establish a production site for the mass production of inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells at Ricoh Industry’s Tohoku Site in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The site will utilize a manufacturing process leveraging Ricoh’s proprietary inkjet technology. With future expansion to GW-scale production in mind, Ricoh aims to establish annual production capacity of several hundred MW by 2030.
Ricoh leverages its long-established inkjet printhead technology, ink supply technology, and printing system technology in the manufacturing of perovskite solar cells.
Inkjet technology enables precise control of microscopic droplets, allowing the right amount of material to be deposited exactly where needed. By leveraging this technology to pattern-print all functional layers of perovskite solar cells, Ricoh aims to improve material utilization and streamline manufacturing processes, enabling high productivity and low-cost production.
Ricoh has pursued research and development of organic solar cells based on organic photoconductor technologies developed through the innovation of its multifunction printers.
Technologies cultivated through these efforts are now being applied to perovskite solar cells.
Ricoh is leveraging its long-established inkjet and organic photoconductor technologies to enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells and establish mass-production technologies.
In September 2025, Ricoh’s technology development and demonstration project for inkjet-printed perovskite solar cells was selected for support under Japan’s Green Innovation Fund administered by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Following its selection for Japan’s GX Supply Chain Development Support Program, Ricoh will build on the results of its research, development, and demonstration activities to advance toward mass production and commercialization, with the aim of expanding the real-world deployment of perovskite solar cells. Ricoh will also contribute to strengthening Japan’s industrial competitiveness in the GX field.
In addition, the company will advance the commercialization of Functional Printing utilizing inkjet technology and cultivate new growth areas.
Ricoh is a global integrator in workplace transformation, operating in approximately 200 countries and regions and headquartered in Tokyo. Supporting customers’ value creation, Ricoh offers workplace services and solutions that empower organizations to work smarter through advanced technologies—including AI— together with long-standing expertise rooted in printing. Ricoh also operates commercial and industrial printing businesses and delivers new solutions leveraging inkjet technology. In the financial year ended March 2026, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,608 billion yen (approx. 16.4 billion USD).
For 90 years since our founding, Ricoh has upheld its mission and vision of empowering individuals to find Fulfillment through Work—and that commitment continues today. By understanding and transforming how people work, we unleash their potential and creativity to realize a sustainable future.
For further information, please visit
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© 2026 RICOH COMPANY, LTD. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.
News release in PDF format

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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – With skyrocketing energy bills, everyone is looking to save, including those with solar.
“It’s still happening and it’s pretty robust,” Ryan Gallentine, California Solar & Storage Association
There have been changes to the cost-saving energy that some new system owners may not be aware of. It’s a change from 2023, called NEM 3 or the net billing tariff.
“The change is really around when you receive credit for the solar energy you produce,” Brian Grems, Founding Partner at Stellar Solar, said. “Whereas in the past, solar was most valuable in the middle of the day and you received that one-for-one credit, and now with electricity being more expensive in the evening.”
ABC 10News spoke with Grems and Gallentine from the California Solar & Storage Association about NEM 3.
“If you went solar before April 2023, nothing changed for you. You keep your original deal for 20 years from when you were connected,” Gallentine said. “The basic way to think about it is that it reduced the credits that solar homeowners get for sending power back to the grid.”
Gallentine tells me that reduction was fairly large.
“It cut those export generation credits by about 80%. So, um, in everyday terms, the power that your panels send to the grid now earns about a quarter of what it used to,” Gallentine said. “So, the smart move and what we’ve seen the industry move to is to use your own solar power instead of exporting it.”
So how do you do that? You get a storage battery for your system.
“In the past, we used to use the grid sort of like a battery, and now customers can take advantage and really take control of the situation by installing a battery, pairing that with the solar system, and deploying that electricity in the evening when electricity is the most expensive,” Grems said.
But the batteries are expensive on top of an already expensive system that costs a lot of money upfront.
While I’m told there are programs to help with the cost, a typical solar battery costs more than $14,000 in California, according to Energy Sage.
“So, what I really encourage people to do is to talk to the salesperson that you’re talking to about, you know, what those prices are,” Gallentine said. “There, there is a payback period. It’s now a little bit longer than it used to be, but it does still make economic sense.”

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Home batteries are ushering in an energy revolution  Planetizen
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RWE and Borussia Dortmund officially commissioned the new battery storage system at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK today during the Bundesliga home match against Eintracht Frankfurt. This marks the completion of the two partners’ joint energy concept for the stadium. Following the installation of the photovoltaic system on the roof of the BVB FanWelt and the completion of the world’s most powerful photovoltaic system on a stadium roof, the battery storage system has also become operational.
The battery storage system has a capacity of 3.7 megawatts and can supply this output for just over an hour. The photovoltaic system, which was commissioned in December 2025, comprises 11,132 solar modules and has a capacity of more than 5 megawatts (MWp). By linking the battery to the new PV system, the electricity generated can be used even when the sun is not shining. With the new photovoltaic system, BVB can meet up to 45 per cent of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK’s electricity requirements.
Dr Markus Krebber, Chief Executive of RWE AG: “With the commissioning of the battery storage system, the entire system comprising the photovoltaic plant and the battery at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is now fully operational. Linking the two systems makes it possible to use the solar power generated on site even more flexibly, even when the sun isn’t shining. The experts from BVB and RWE have breathed life and energy into our partnership through this project. It provides a solid foundation for further joint developments.”
Carsten Cramer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Borussia Dortmund: “SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is not only our iconic home, but also a central element of our holistic decarbonisation strategy. With the battery storage system, we are collaborating with RWE to complete a forward-looking energy concept that makes our solar power even more usable. We are delighted that our stadium will thus continue to stand for resource-efficient and innovative action in the future.”
As a “Premium Partner” and a key part of the “BVB Empowers” initiative, RWE will continue to support BVB in optimising the energy management of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK as part of the six-year partnership. The aim is to further increase the stadium’s contribution to security of supply, energy efficiency, and decarbonisation.
Images for media use (image rights: BVB) are available in the media library.
Further information on the project can be found at: www.rwe.com/bvb

09.10.2026

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The large sunshade of NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission is inspected by a technician at BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in late July. 
Built by Applied Aerospace in Stockton, California, the sunshade structure was outfitted with its solar cells by SolAero Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January. Environmental testing of the sunshade and solar array was completed at a commercial thermal vacuum testing facility in El Segundo, California, in March and it was delivered to BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems ahead of schedule in May.
When in space, NEO Surveyor will seek out some of the hardest-to-find asteroids and comets, some of which may be located in the direction of the Sun — a region of sky where ground-based optical telescopes have a harder time searching.
More information about NEO Surveyor is available at:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
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Specialized deep learning improves UAV-based solar fault detection
A UAV-assisted system combining radiometric thermal imaging with three specialized YOLOv8s detectors identified hotspots, diode faults and affected cells in photovoltaic modules with 85% accuracy on a held-out test set. The study evaluated the approach using 1,251 thermal images collected over one year from three photovoltaic installations, according to the report in Scientific Reports. Researchers mounted a FLIR One Pro thermal camera on a DJI Phantom 4 unmanned aerial vehicle to collect the imagery.
The proposed Photovoltaic Fault Detector, or PVFD, used a fault-specific One-vs-Rest strategy: three independently trained YOLOv8 detectors focused separately on hotspots, diode faults and affected cells, rather than assigning all categories within a single multi-class detector. On the held-out test set, the PVFD achieved an accuracy of 0.85, precision of 0.89, recall of 0.86 and mean average precision at an intersection-over-union threshold of 0.5, known as [email protected], of 0.77. The corresponding 95% Wilson confidence interval for accuracy was 0.764 to 0.908, indicating uncertainty around the point estimate of 0.85.
A controlled comparison showed that the One-vs-Rest formulation increased overall accuracy from 0.82 for the conventional multi-class YOLOv8 model to 0.85. Average recall also rose from 0.83 to 0.86. The specialized approach therefore produced higher measured accuracy and recall on the study’s test data, although it did so with lower inference throughput.
Class-specific [email protected] increased from 0.70 to 0.73 for hotspots and from 0.66 to 0.71 for diode faults. For affected cells, the score rose from 0.62 to 0.66. The comparison supports the study’s conclusion that the One-vs-Rest design improved detection of less represented fault categories in this dataset, with the largest absolute mAP gain occurring for diode faults.
That improvement involved a measurable efficiency trade-off. The conventional multi-class model processed images at 48 frames per second, compared with 43 frames per second for the One-vs-Rest system. The three specialized detectors therefore improved the reported detection metrics while reducing the rate at which the model processed frames.
The results concern three defined fault categories in thermal imagery collected from three installations. The report does not establish that every detected anomaly requires repair, quantify effects on electricity production, or demonstrate the same performance at other photovoltaic sites. Instead, it provides a quantitative comparison between a conventional multi-class YOLOv8 detector and a specialized One-vs-Rest framework for UAV-assisted thermal inspection.
Overall, the study reports a measurable sensitivity–efficiency trade-off for the proposed PVFD. Its strongest observed benefits were higher accuracy, recall and class-specific [email protected], particularly for diode faults and affected cells, while frame-processing throughput fell by 5 frames per second.
Subject of Research: UAV-based thermal imaging and specialized deep learning for detecting faults in photovoltaic modules
Article Title: Deep learning-driven fault detection in photovoltaic modules using UAV assistance
Article References: Thirugnanasambandam, K., Anbalagan, S., Suganeshwari, G., Mahalingam, P., & Rajagopalan, A. (2026). Deep learning-driven fault detection in photovoltaic modules using UAV assistance. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-75496-y
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-75496-y
Keywords: photovoltaic fault detection, unmanned aerial vehicles, radiometric thermal imaging, YOLOv8s, deep learning, one-vs-rest classification, solar modules, hotspots, diode faults, affected cells, Deep, learning-driven
News Source: Blake Davidson. (October 26, 2026). Specialized deep learning improves UAV-based solar fault detection. Scienmag.
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Solar Cells Inspected On NASA’s NEO Surveyor  Mirage News
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Effective power management starts at the power source, and for solar panels that means capturing as many impinging photons as possible, according to EE Times. In open settings with a full or nearly full view of the sky, pointing panels toward maximum sun exposure and using mechanical tracking where feasible is relatively straightforward in principle.
Dense urban settings present a different and harder problem, EE Times reports, because nearby buildings, shadows, reflections from glass and structures, and other local conditions directly affect the light path. The challenge is especially acute for smaller fixed panels used in localized, non-grid-connected applications such as small charging stations, signage and kiosks, where simply aiming at the sun’s maximum is often not the best real-world solution.
Tools exist to assess an intended setting and maximize solar collection there, but illumination, or irradiance, is typically evaluated using 3D models that fail to capture small nearby structures affecting the light path and net irradiance. Alongside efforts to improve panel efficiency, power conversion and management electronics, and the overall power path, improving up-front energy capture is therefore seen as worthwhile.
A research team in the Engineering School at Columbia University in New York has devised a system in which a single spherical photograph taken at a target site can determine the year-round optimal orientation and angling of a panel, according to EE Times. The approach accounts for the sun’s angle, nearby shading, diffuse light from a partially visible sky, reflection off windows and building facades, and other characteristics of the urban canyon.
The researchers claimed the system can boost solar capture by 10% to as high as 30%, a meaningful gain that comes at no cost. The technology uses shadows and lines in the image to determine camera orientation, then segments the image to assess how various elements in the frame will contribute to overall power generation.
Standard methods can produce large errors because they fail to account for variations in the brightness of the sky section visible to a panel throughout the day and year, as well as light reflected off surrounding buildings. The team found that such reflections account for roughly 12% of a panel’s total annual energy on average.
The research showed that a single spherical image can identify the best fixed orientation for a panel. The underlying insight is that a photograph taken from a panel’s location encodes substantial information: shadows reveal the sun’s direction, and straight architectural lines indicate the direction of gravity.
That information is used to establish the image’s orientation relative to the planet. A segmentation algorithm identifies the portion of sky visible to the panel, while the appearance of surrounding buildings provides cues about their spatial layout and construction materials.
The laptop-based system then forecasts how the sun will move through the visible sky across the day and year, estimates how much light will bounce off surrounding buildings onto the panel, and draws on historical weather data to extend the forecast to cloudy and overcast conditions rather than only clear days.
The team used a physically based renderer to simulate scene irradiance as a function of the sun’s position. At one simulated location over the course of a day, scene irradiance varied smoothly with time despite the many objects casting shadows and producing reflections within the canyon.
Based on those observations, the researchers developed a neural network to predict a panel’s scene irradiance from a single image. The network contains a vision transformer backbone and a multilayer perceptron head that outputs scene irradiance for any sun position.
A common rule of thumb holds that the best fixed panel orientation points toward the equator with a zenith angle equal to the panel’s latitude, assuming a clear view of the sky, which is rarely the case in urban settings. The researchers instead showed that a single spherical image taken near an existing panel can identify the best fixed orientation, which may differ substantially from that rule. They also validated the approach using actual irradiance measurements in urban canyons.
The work is detailed in a 23-page paper titled Forecasting solar energy using a single image, published in Solar Energy, according to EE Times. The paper covers the problem, solution concept, alternatives, situation analysis, discussion of 3D geometries, urban canyon realities and optical considerations, among other topics. The formal posting is behind a paywall, while an open version is posted at arXiv, a free, open-access, non-profit repository that hosts scholarly preprints before formal peer review and journal publication.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Solar Panels market in the United States, covering market size, growth trajectory, demand structure, supply capability, trade flows, pricing, competitive landscape, and forecast to 2035.
The study is designed for manufacturers, distributors, importers, exporters, investors, procurement teams, advisors, and strategy teams that need a consistent, data-driven view of market dynamics and a transparent analytical definition of the product scope.
This report covers photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which are devices that convert sunlight directly into electricity. It encompasses the global market for finished modules, including all major product technologies and form factors designed for a wide range of end-use applications.
The report combines the standard market-statistics backbone with strategic chapters that are useful for commercial planning, sourcing decisions, market entry, competitor monitoring, and portfolio prioritization.
The market is segmented into decision-relevant buckets so that demand drivers, pricing logic, supply constraints, and competitive positions can be compared across the same analytical frame.
The market data is classified and analyzed according to international trade codes, primarily under the Harmonized System (HS) headings for photovoltaic cells and electric generating sets. This ensures consistent tracking of trade flows for assembled solar modules and relevant apparatus across global markets.
Coverage focuses on United States and includes demand, supply capability where present, trade flows, pricing, competition, and outlook.
The report combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, product-level evidence, and analyst validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to keep market sizing, trade flows, pricing, and forecasts comparable across countries and time periods.
All indicators are mapped to a consistent product definition and reviewed against the segmentation framework used in the Table of Contents.
Report Scope and Analytical Framing
Concise View of Market Direction
Market Size, Growth and Scenario Framing
Commercial and Technical Scope
How the Market Splits Into Decision-Relevant Buckets
Where Demand Comes From and How It Behaves
Supply Footprint and Value Capture
Trade Flows and External Dependence
Price Formation and Revenue Logic
Who Wins and Why
How the Domestic Market Works
Commercial Entry and Scaling Priorities
Where the Best Expansion Logic Sits
Leading Players and Strategic Archetypes
How the Report Was Built
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TNO, Perovion and Toyo Seikan agree development roadmap for perovskite solar cells  PV Tech
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Election Day · Tuesday, Nov. 3
Who’s on your ballot — and where do they stand on the environment?
Enter your address and see every race from governor to state House, with candidates’ own answers.
Planet Detroit
Hold power accountable. Uncover solutions. Uplift and empower the community.

I have served the same Detroit community since 1990.
When I first arrived, this was a neighborhood filled with working families. Many earned their living through Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, and the businesses that supported them. Block clubs were active, recreation centers were busy, and churches brought neighbors together. There was a shared belief that if people worked hard and looked out for one another, the community would continue moving forward.
Over the years, that foundation began to shift.
Manufacturing jobs disappeared. Major businesses left. Supermarkets closed their doors. Families moved away in search of opportunity. As those supports disappeared, the church found itself responding to growing needs, from food insecurity to health care challenges and the daily struggles of families trying to stay afloat.
Through it all, the church stayed.
Today, I see another burden placing pressure on Detroit families: rising energy costs.
For many people, utility bills have become a source of stress and uncertainty. Seniors on fixed incomes are stretching every dollar, while working parents balance energy costs alongside rent, groceries, transportation, and medical expenses. Families are making difficult decisions about what can wait until next month.
These are not abstract policy debates. They are everyday realities. That is why I believe energy costs are more than a utility issue. It is a community issue. When families spend more of their income simply trying to keep the lights on, every other need becomes harder to meet. The effects ripple outward, impacting household stability, health, and economic opportunity.
As people of faith, we are called to pay attention when our neighbors are struggling. Scripture teaches that humanity was entrusted with stewardship over creation. We are called to care for ourselves, one another, care for our communities, and care for what we leave behind. We are our brother’s keeper.
In Detroit, that stewardship includes confronting realities that many families face every day. Communities already burdened by economic hardship often experience higher rates of asthma, respiratory illness, and other health challenges. We cannot separate the well-being of our neighbors from the environment in which they live, work, and raise their families.
Stewardship also requires action.
At our church, we decided that caring for our community meant finding practical ways to reduce costs, improve resilience, and prepare for the future. Over the years, we installed solar panels, battery backup systems, electric vehicle charging stations, energy-efficient upgrades, air quality monitoring equipment, and other improvements that help us use energy more wisely.
We did not make these investments because they were fashionable. We made them because they helped us advocate for a healthier environment and better serve people. These improvements have strengthened our ability to operate during outages, reduced waste, lowered our energy bills, and created opportunities to educate others about solutions that can benefit their own homes, businesses, and organizations.
Most importantly, they taught us that cleaner and more affordable energy solutions are not ideas for the future. They are already helping communities today and showing what renewal can look like in Detroit’s neighborhoods when people have access to the tools they need to rebuild and move forward. The question is whether more families and communities will have the opportunity to benefit from them as well.
That is why I am encouraged by efforts to expand access to practical energy solutions, whether through community solar, energy-efficiency improvements, or other approaches that help families lower costs. No single policy will solve every challenge facing Detroit, but we should be willing to explore every tool that helps people keep more money in their pockets while strengthening our communities.
This is not about politics. It is about fairness and community transformation. It is about trust. And it is about ensuring that energy decisions reflect the needs of the people who live with the consequences every day.
I believe in hope. But hope is not passive.
Hope requires action. It requires leaders who listen, communities that work together, and a shared commitment to building a future that is healthier, safer, and more affordable than the one we inherited.
Detroit has always been a city of resilience. Time and again, we have shown up for one another when it mattered most. As Hebrews 10:23-24 reminds us, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm … Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”
The decisions we make about energy today will shape the lives of future generations. Let us make those decisions with wisdom, compassion, and a commitment to ensuring that every family has the opportunity not merely to get by, but to thrive.
A longtime Detroit grower argues the city needs dedicated funding and a grace period to help community farms meet regulations without losing the spaces that fed neighborhoods through crisis.
Tribal Nations across Michigan and the Midwest are pooling knowledge and resources to build their own energy systems, even after federal Solar for All funding was cut, says MTERA executive director Daniel Wiggins Jr.
Noojimo’waning, a Detroit Land Back project, returns five city lots to Anishinaabe stewardship for ecological restoration and cultural healing. The site honors the area’s role as a sacred stopping place in Indigenous prophecy.
Rev. Dr. Calvin Glass is the senior pastor of Lord of Lords Ministries in Detroit. Lord of Lords became the first Black church in Detroit to go solar through Michigan Interfaith Power & Light’s Positive Energy program in 2023, and has earned numerous recognitions for energy savings and leadership.
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by Rev. Dr. Calvin Glass, Planet Detroit
October 26, 2026

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Luis Reyes
Oct 26, at 3:00pm ET
Airports are pretty fussy neighbors. You can’t put up anything tall near the end of a runway, and if you want to build something shiny next to one, you’d better explain why it won’t dazzle a pilot on the way in. But hey, the tradeoff is plane spotting.
But a solar farm right behind the runways of New Zealand’s second-busiest airport was always going to be a bit complicated. Christchurch Airport went ahead and hosted one anyway. It’s called Kōwhai Park, and it’s now the biggest solar farm on the country’s South Island.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon officially opened it on October 15, but the farm’s actually been running for a couple of months. It went live in August, and The Press (Christchurch’s daily paper) reports it’s been gradually sending more electricity into the national grid ever since. I haven’t seen a figure for what it’s producing right now, just that the number’s been going up.
Getting the power out took some doing. It meant burying a high-voltage cable, and according to Ventia, the contractor that built the grid connection, the underground cable work had to happen late at night, when no aircraft were operating. Each night, the crew dug a stretch of trench, laid ducting in it, and filled it back in before the airport got going again in the morning.
Ducting’s basically a run of pipe that goes into the ground first. The cable gets pulled through it later. Kalim Guthrie, who’s managing the job for Ventia, said the crew had to stay on schedule because “the disruption to the airport would be huge otherwise.”
Frankly, that sounds like a pretty miserable way to lay cable. It’s the same logic that has highway crews repaving at 2 a.m., just with jets instead of rush-hour traffic.
And it’s a very different approach from the one used in Paris, where a tunnel boring machine spent 19 months grinding under two runways at the city’s main airport while planes kept landing overhead. The contractor’s write-up doesn’t say how many nights all that took, or exactly which parts of the route ran close enough to the airfield to need the night shift.
The farm’s own electrical system works at 33,000 volts. According to Ventia, a substation on Pound Road steps that up to 66,000 volts and sends it through the buried cable to a second substation on Grays Road, which drops it to 33,000 volts again. That second one’s where the airport and Orion, the company that runs the local power lines, will eventually hook in.
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So why double the voltage just to cut it in half again? Pushing the same amount of power at a higher voltage means less current flowing through the wire. Less current means less energy wasted as heat along the way, and long-distance power lines run at very high voltages for exactly that reason.
Keeping the farm right next to the airport also helps reduce losses. The airport’s FAQ argues that generating electricity beside the airfield wastes far less than generating it far away and shipping it in.
The run used about 10.5 miles of cable laid in roughly 2.8 miles of trench, according to Ventia, which also designed and built both substations. I’d guess that’s mostly because high-voltage lines like this usually run as three separate cables, one for each phase, but the company doesn’t break it down.
The solar farm covers 568 acres on the west side of the airfield, and the airport says it has around 300,000 panels. Environment Canterbury, the regional council, owns part of that land and leases it to the airport. Technically, Kōwhai Park is the name of a 988-acre energy park the airport has set aside, and the solar farm is just its first phase.
You’ll see two capacity figures for it, 150 megawatts and 168 megawatts, and they’re both right. Solar panels make direct current, while the grid runs on alternating current, so everything has to pass through inverters first.
The 168 is what the panels are rated for, and the 150 is the most the farm can actually send out at once. Over a full year, the airport expects the farm to make 275 gigawatt-hours, which it says is about what 36,000 homes use in a year.
It’s a fair question. It’s even in the airport’s FAQ, so people are wondering along with us. The airport says solar panels are built to soak up light rather than bounce it back, and before construction started, it said it was running technical studies and talking to aviation groups to confirm the project was safe.
It makes a fair bit of sense if you think about it. A solar panel that bounced a lot of sunlight back at the sky would be a fairly lousy solar panel.
But I couldn’t find those studies published anywhere. The FAQ also lists airports with solar arrays nearby, including three in the US: Denver, San Francisco, and San Diego. We’ve covered a couple of European examples too, like Frankfurt’s upright panels along a runway and the raised panels beside Berlin’s airport, where corn is banned underneath because it attracts birds.
Synlait, a New Zealand dairy company, will buy 25% of Kōwhai Park’s electricity to run its Dunsandel and Dairyworks sites, and the airport is buying power from the farm as well. Both deals are long-term power purchase agreements.
That’s basically a contract to buy a set share of a plant’s output for years at a time, so the owners know someone’s paying for what they generate. So the airport gets power from a farm right next to its runways, and the farm gets a customer that isn’t going anywhere.
Contact Energy, one of New Zealand’s big power companies, owns the farm 50/50 with international solar developer Lightsource bp. The airport values it at NZ$273 million, or around $160 million. At the peak of construction, 235 people were working on it.
The airport itself is publicly owned. Christchurch’s city council holds 75% of it through a holding company, and the national government owns the other 25%, according to New Zealand’s Treasury. Contact chief executive Mike Fuge said in the airport’s October 15 opening announcement that Kōwhai Park is the company’s first finished solar farm, and that it already has approval for two more with Lightsource bp, in Taranaki and Northland.
What do you think?
Olivia Richman · Oct 14, 2026
Olivia Richman · Oct 22, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 12, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 25, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 25, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 12, 2026
Chema Bonilla Díaz · Oct 26, 2026
Olivia Richman · Oct 26, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 26, 2026
Olivia Richman · Oct 26, 2026
Luis Reyes · Oct 26, 2026
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Workers install rooftop photovoltaic solar arrays on the Capitol Hill Campus in Providence in 2017. (Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources)
A pair of solar carports, a battery storage system and an electric vehicle charging station will increase the renewable energy capacity of Rhode Island’s Capitol Hill campus to 1 megawatt in total, the state Office of Energy Resources announced Monday.
The $9.3 million project is funded through a $4.5 million federal earmark and will be matched with state funds through revenue from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, said Robert Beadle, a spokesperson for the energy department.
The state has also secured an immediate federal tax credit deduction equal to 5% of the project costs, with the promise of additional federal tax credits equal to between 30% and 40% of total costs in tax year 2028.
“By leveraging federal funding and tax credits, we’re bringing innovative solar, battery storage and electric vehicle charging technologies to state facilities while making smart investments in Rhode Island’s energy future,” Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement.
Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The parking lot solar panels, battery storage and charging station must be operational by the end of the year to secure the federal tax credits administered through the Internal Revenue Service.  Once complete, the projects, together with existing rooftop solar panels on state buildings, will provide enough solar-powered electricity to power roughly 190 homes per year while helping meet state decarbonization mandates.
“This is a forward-looking project that is both economically and environmentally responsible,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who secured the $4.5 million federal earmark.
The projects also advance the state’s Lead by Example program, which aims to spur private investments in renewable energy infrastructure by starting with solar panels, battery storage, and charging stations on state and municipal-owned buildings and public schools. Since the 2015 executive order establishing the state-led program, the Office of Energy Resources has invested more than $48 million into 185 projects, said Chris Kearns, the state’s acting energy commissioner.
Kearns hailed the upcoming projects for the parking lots of the Rhode Island Department of Administration and Department of Health as among the largest to date.  The work will also help to reduce energy costs, Kearn said in a statement.
There are already 900 rooftop solar panel on Smith Hill buildings, including on the departments of transportation, health and administration buildings, as well as energy-efficient lighting upgrades at the State House and Department of Transportation buildings. 
Rising energy bills remain a top concern among residents, despite seasonal bill credits meant to offset the seasonal spike in electricity prices. Two of the three gubernatorial candidates, independent Ken Block and Republican Aaron Guckian, have called for delaying the deadlines for state climate change mandates to reduce costs for customers, a move which Gov. Dan McKee tried unsuccessfully to incorporate in the state’s fiscal 2027 budget. 
Democrat Helena Buonanno Foulkes, who defeated McKee in the Sept. 9 primary, has insisted the state should “lean in” to renewables as a more stable and cost-effective energy solution, without changing decarbonization deadlines in state law. 
The new Capitol Hill project is expected to save $3.3 million in avoided energy costs, reducing carbon emissions by 12,700 metric tons over the lifetime of the project, according to state analysis. 
Since 2021, state agencies have produced or purchased credits to offset 100% of electricity needs across state facilities.
Retail electricity suppliers must purchase or produce 38% of total electricity needs statewide this year under the state’s Renewable Energy Standard law, which sets a 2033 deadline for zero-net electricity emissions. 
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by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
October 26, 2026
by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
October 26, 2026
A pair of solar carports, a battery storage system and an electric vehicle charging station will increase the renewable energy capacity of Rhode Island’s Capitol Hill campus to 1 megawatt in total, the state Office of Energy Resources announced Monday.
The $9.3 million project is funded through a $4.5 million federal earmark and will be matched with state funds through revenue from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, said Robert Beadle, a spokesperson for the energy department.
The state has also secured an immediate federal tax credit deduction equal to 5% of the project costs, with the promise of additional federal tax credits equal to between 30% and 40% of total costs in tax year 2028.
“By leveraging federal funding and tax credits, we’re bringing innovative solar, battery storage and electric vehicle charging technologies to state facilities while making smart investments in Rhode Island’s energy future,” Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement.
Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027. The parking lot solar panels, battery storage and charging station must be operational by the end of the year to secure the federal tax credits administered through the Internal Revenue Service.  Once complete, the projects, together with existing rooftop solar panels on state buildings, will provide enough solar-powered electricity to power roughly 190 homes per year while helping meet state decarbonization mandates.
“This is a forward-looking project that is both economically and environmentally responsible,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who secured the $4.5 million federal earmark.
The projects also advance the state’s Lead by Example program, which aims to spur private investments in renewable energy infrastructure by starting with solar panels, battery storage, and charging stations on state and municipal-owned buildings and public schools. Since the 2015 executive order establishing the state-led program, the Office of Energy Resources has invested more than $48 million into 185 projects, said Chris Kearns, the state’s acting energy commissioner.
Kearns hailed the upcoming projects for the parking lots of the Rhode Island Department of Administration and Department of Health as among the largest to date.  The work will also help to reduce energy costs, Kearn said in a statement.
There are already 900 rooftop solar panel on Smith Hill buildings, including on the departments of transportation, health and administration buildings, as well as energy-efficient lighting upgrades at the State House and Department of Transportation buildings. 
Rising energy bills remain a top concern among residents, despite seasonal bill credits meant to offset the seasonal spike in electricity prices. Two of the three gubernatorial candidates, independent Ken Block and Republican Aaron Guckian, have called for delaying the deadlines for state climate change mandates to reduce costs for customers, a move which Gov. Dan McKee tried unsuccessfully to incorporate in the state’s fiscal 2027 budget. 
Democrat Helena Buonanno Foulkes, who defeated McKee in the Sept. 9 primary, has insisted the state should “lean in” to renewables as a more stable and cost-effective energy solution, without changing decarbonization deadlines in state law. 
The new Capitol Hill project is expected to save $3.3 million in avoided energy costs, reducing carbon emissions by 12,700 metric tons over the lifetime of the project, according to state analysis. 
Since 2021, state agencies have produced or purchased credits to offset 100% of electricity needs across state facilities.
Retail electricity suppliers must purchase or produce 38% of total electricity needs statewide this year under the state’s Renewable Energy Standard law, which sets a 2033 deadline for zero-net electricity emissions. 
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
Nancy Lavin is senior reporter covering state politics, energy and environmental issues for the Rhode Island Current.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
© Rhode Island Current, 2026
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The Rhode Island Current is an independent, nonprofit news outlet focused on state government and the impact of public policy decisions in the Ocean State. Readers can expect relentless reporting with the context needed to understand key issues affecting the lives of Rhode Islanders.
We’re part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. (See full republishing guidelines.)
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Attention-enhanced YOLOv8s advances photovoltaic defect detection
An attention-enhanced version of the YOLOv8s computer-vision model achieved a precision of 93.2%, an F1-score of 92.7% and a mean average precision at an intersection-over-union threshold of 0.5, or [email protected], of 93.5% in a dataset-based evaluation for detecting defects in photovoltaic modules. The framework, named AMA-YOLOv8s, produced incremental improvements over the YOLOv8s baseline while maintaining comparable real-time inference speed.
Defect detection is an important part of maintaining the reliability and energy efficiency of photovoltaic systems. The study notes that existing deep-learning inspection methods can miss defects, localize small defects imprecisely and lose robustness when defect scales or background conditions vary. To address these challenges, the researchers developed AMA-YOLOv8s specifically for photovoltaic defect detection rather than as a general-purpose modification of the object detector.
The architecture adds three components to YOLOv8s: an Adaptive Bottleneck Attention Mechanism, a Multi-scale Adaptive Fusion Module and an Adaptive Pooling Fusion Module. The first was designed to strengthen representations of defect-related features and suppress irrelevant background information. The two fusion modules were designed to strengthen feature integration across scales, with the aim of improving detection for small and irregular defects. Together, these elements form the attention-and-fusion design that distinguishes AMA-YOLOv8s from the baseline model.
For training and evaluation, the researchers constructed a photovoltaic defect dataset by combining publicly available images, field-collected samples and data augmentation. On the resulting current evaluation dataset, AMA-YOLOv8s improved detection measurements relative to YOLOv8s, although the researchers characterized the gains as incremental rather than transformative. Its overall performance was also competitive with the other evaluated detectors.
That comparison comes with qualifications. Recent lightweight YOLO variants retained advantages in some individual metrics and in computational complexity, meaning AMA-YOLOv8s was not uniformly superior across every measure. The reported evidence comes from evaluation of the constructed dataset; it does not establish performance in a live photovoltaic facility or demonstrate downstream effects on power generation, equipment failures or costs. The supported conclusion is therefore focused: in its reported experimental evaluation, the coordinated attention and multi-scale feature-fusion design improved measured photovoltaic defect detection over the YOLOv8s baseline while retaining comparable real-time inference performance.
Subject of Research: Experimental evaluation of an attention-enhanced YOLOv8s model for detecting defects in photovoltaic modules.
Article Title: Adaptive multi-scale YOLOv8s framework for defect detection in photovoltaic facilities
Article References: Zuo, X., Dai, Y., Zhuang, Y., Chen, J., Almutairi, A. D., & Zhou, Y. (2026). Adaptive multi-scale YOLOv8s framework for defect detection in photovoltaic facilities. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-76816-y
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-76816-y
Keywords: photovoltaic defects, YOLOv8s, computer vision, defect detection, attention mechanisms, multi-scale fusion, solar modules, object detection, Adaptive, multi-scale, framework, defect
News Source: Blake Davidson. (October 26, 2026). Attention-enhanced YOLOv8s advances photovoltaic defect detection. Scienmag.
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Editor-in-Chief
Board Chairman
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed the signing of three agreements related to the financing and implementation of the Dandara Solar Project in Nag Hammadi, Qena Governorate, with a total investment of approximately $650 million.
The project will have a total capacity of 1,000 MW of solar power and 200 MWh of battery storage, and is being developed through co‑operation between Norway’s Scatec and a consortium comprising the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the African Development Bank. The agreements also included the project’s connection to the national electricity grid and the National Bank of Egypt’s participation in the project company.
The project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase includes a 500 MW solar power plant and 100 MWh of battery storage capacity, while the second phase will add another 500 MW of solar generation and 100 MWh of storage capacity.
According to the government, the project is expected to provide around one-third of the electricity needs of Egypt Aluminium Company, helping reduce carbon emissions associated with aluminium production and enhancing the competitiveness of Egyptian products in global markets amid increasing environmental requirements.
The agreements represent a significant step towards completing financing and implementation arrangements for one of Egypt’s largest renewable energy projects dedicated to serving the industrial sector. The project also reflects co‑operation between the Egyptian government, international financial institutions, Scatec, and national banks to support the transition to clean energy, reduce emissions, and strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian industry and exports.
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“This year has been brutal with the amount of high winds and tornados for the Chicago area.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A homeowner in the Chicago suburbs with an Enphase solar setup noticed the area’s extreme weather and raised a question that many grid-tied solar owners eventually face. They wondered what would keep the lights on when the grid goes down.
In a Reddit thread, the homeowner asked whether a sunlight-only backup option or a meter-mounted generator connection such as GenerLink could provide emergency power.
“This year has been brutal with the amount of high winds and tornados for the Chicago area and am starting to worry about potential future outages,” they added as context.
Replies were especially critical of sunlight-only backup. 
One commenter who said they had installed one before warned: “Don’t do sunlight backup. That’s a fairy tale idea.” They said it only works in daytime conditions and that production can fall off sharply when clouds move over the panels.
Much of the discussion turned instead to batteries, especially the FranklinWH aPower 2 and Tesla Powerwall 3. Battery storage was presented as the better way to keep solar useful during a blackout. One battery owner shared that their setup works for “both whole home backup” and lets them “arbitrage my kWh cost.” 
Homeowners comparing prices and installation options can start with EnergySage, which has teamed up with electrification brand Qmerit to help homeowners get the best price on home battery storage solutions.
The overall takeaway from commenters was that dependable backup is available, but it comes at a cost. One FranklinWH owner noted their system uses an automatic transfer switch “to isolate the house,” offers “a lot of options,” and is “not cheap by any means.”
With energy prices through the roof, there’s never been a better time to go solar — and EasyHome can help you find the best prices from the best installers in your area.
EasyHome takes the guesswork and headaches out of energy upgrades by showing you estimated savings from a network of vetted local partners. To get started, just enter your ZIP and share a few details about your home — seeing your estimate is really that easy.
Some commenters said certain Enphase owners would first need an IQ System Controller before adding backup capability. They described it as the equipment that separates the home from the grid so a generator or battery can supply power, and one estimated the hardware alone at “over a grand,” with installation adding more.
The replies also included a range of cost examples. One commenter said FranklinWH’s 15-kilowatt-hour aPower 2 batteries run about $7,400 each in material costs. Others asserted that the Tesla Powerwall 3 can also pair with Enphase solar and keep rooftop panels producing during an outage, while a generator is usually cheaper but “will not allow your panels to produce when the power is out.”
For someone retrofitting backup into an existing Enphase system, commenters suggested asking installers about battery storage, system controllers, and whether an array using IQ7 or IQ8 microinverters can support backup operation. That approach is closer to whole-home coverage than sunlight-only backup.
FranklinWH was also described as one of the more complete setups because its aGate can coordinate the grid, solar, batteries, and a generator. 
Not every option discussed was a whole-home solution. For lighter backup needs, commenters mentioned a generator connected to a critical-loads panel, a small generator paired with portable battery storage for essentials such as a fridge, TV, and internet, or even an EV inverter that could keep refrigerators and a sump pump running for a few days.
For people who don’t need whole-home coverage, Pila offers another battery option, and its plug-and-play batteries are priced at a fraction of what a whole-home backup system would cost.
Questions about blackout protection for grid-tied solar usually come down to the same questions surrounding batteries, generators, and what actually works when the grid goes down.
• Reddit users said they don’t even notice outages after adding whole-home battery backup.
• More homeowners are ditching their aging backup generators for solar paired with batteries.
• Installers said families are opting for these next-gen models instead of old generators.
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