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New York State's Office of Renewable Energy Siting denied an application from Chicago-based Hecate Energy LLC that would have resulted in a 42-megawatt solar farm across 700 acres in Craryville, a hamlet in the Town of Copake.
COPAKE — New York State denied Hecate Energy LLC’s application for a more than 700-acre solar project, pointing to two factors: floodplain and community protection issues, and identification of and protection of wetland resources in this rural hamlet.
Jason Zehr, interim executive director of the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission, issued the decision on Wednesday, Oct. 14, five days before the clock was to run out for the state to approve or deny the Chicago-based company’s application.
“My analysis on each of these separate issues leads me to conclude that I am not able to affirmatively certify and determine that the project application satisfies the criteria for a permit,” Zehr wrote in his 31-page decision.
The denial caps years of protest from local residents and steadfast efforts on Hecate’s part to advance the 42-megawatt project, which initially was proposed as a 60-megawatt project before it had to be downscaled after the company lost control of some of the targeted project land.

Shepherd’s Run was slated to be built near the intersection of Routes 7 and 23 in Craryville. The company first envisioned Shepherd’s Run in 2017, and it has been buffeted since not only by local opposition but by pushback from state legislators and local politicians. In February 2024, the company’s first application for what has been dubbed “Shepherd’s Run I” was dismissed by the state. The company then followed up with the current application in late December 2024.
The Town of Copake has been a consistent opponent. Since the project was proposed there have been 1,173 public comments received by the state, nearly all negative.
Last month, two administrative law judges held an adjudicatory hearing in Copake’s town hall that was attended by more than 100 residents, with few expressing favor for Shepherd’s Run. The hearing ran from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and was geared to obtaining testimony aimed at establishing a fact-based record. On Oct. 5, those judges, Maureen F. Leary and Dawn MacKillop-Soller, administrative law judges at the New York State Department of Public Service’s ORES office, recommended denying Hecate a permit “based upon Hecate’s failure to demonstrate compliance with applicable wetlands laws and regulations.”

That left the final say up to Zehr, who wrote: “In summary, the evidence required to demonstrate compliance is absent in the topic areas of identifying base flood elevations, establishing the reliability of inputs for [Hecate’s] hydrology modeling, the ability of facility components to avoid being inundated by flooding, the reliability of the design and operation of measures intended to control panel operation during a flood event, and the avoidance of siting of facility components near or within a floodway.”
Millerton News
DOVER PLAINS — Lelah M. Somers, 97, a longtime Dover Plains, New York, resident, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck, New York. Lelah was born on July 3, 1929, in Pawling, New York, to the late Byron and Lelah (Watts) Brill. Lelah grew up in Pawling and on Nov. 22, 1946, in Pleasant Valley, New York, she married James F. Somers, Sr. Mr. Somers passed away on Sept. 3, 1970. Lelah worked for New York State as a therapy aide for thirty-years and as a senior companion for New York State for thirty-two-years, with specific care provided to the mentally disabled.
She enjoyed taking care of the mentally disabled, was a wonderful mother to her four children, always putting her family first. She is survived by her son, James F. Somers, Jr. and his wife Donna of Dover Plains; two daughters, Doreen Monica of Wingdale, and Frances “Fran” Horton of Dover Plains, who was also her caregiver for many years; seven grandchildren, Debbie, Margie, Leah, Stephanie, Deirdra, Benji and Jimmy and several great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews, and her step-son, Kenny Elliott. In addition to her parents and husband, Lelah was predeceased by her daughter and son-in-law, Carol “DeeDee” Maile and Gil Maile, her son-in-law, Stephen Monica, and her son-in-law, Benny Horton as well as her companion of over forty-years, Andrew “Mac” McAlravey and her siblings, Ferris Brill, Eleanor Barryann, Richard Brill, William Brill and Barney Brill.

Lelah was a loving mother and a strong willed and hard-working woman. She was an avid NASCAR fan for many years and traveled with her companion “Mac” up and down the east coast following the sport. Her favorite track was the Daytona International Speedway in Florida that they went to every February to attend the Daytona 500 race. She loved her family so much and she will be dearly missed; she lived a long life and for that her family is deeply grateful.
Graveside services and burial will take place on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. at Valley View Cemetery in Dover Plains, NY. Pastor Rick Totten will officiate. A reception in Lelah’s honor will follow at the VFW Post # 5444, 3422 Route 22, Dover Plains, NY. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society or the Alzheimer’s Association Hudson Valley Chapter. To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Lelah’s honor, please visit http://www.conklinfuneralhome.com Arrangements have been entrusted to Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546.

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Natalia Zukerman
Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day returns to Poughkeepsie.
For a young artist considering college, the question isn’t simply whether the work is good enough. It’s which work to show, which school might be the right fit and even whether a creative life can lead to a sustainable career.
On Friday, Oct. 16, hundreds of aspiring artists will have the opportunity to explore those questions at Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day, presented by The Art Effect at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie.
Now in its 26th year, the free event brings representatives from more than 30 art colleges and universities together with students seeking feedback on their portfolios, guidance through the admissions process and, occasionally, an acceptance on the spot.
Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, executive director of The Art Effect, said the event typically draws between 300 and 400 students, with organizers hoping for about 400 this year. Some travel several hours to attend.
“We’re the only portfolio day between New York City and Boston where you can get all of these really major art universities in one shot,” she said.

For students, that means a rare opportunity to sit across from admissions representatives, show them their work and learn what individual schools are looking for.
“Every school is different,” Fenichel-Hewitt explained. “This school wants sketches, this school wants three different types of work. Sometimes they want to see a whole body of work.”
The feedback can be exhilarating, illuminating and sometimes difficult.
“It’s really amazing to see the students respond to the feedback,” she said. “At times, colleges will make acceptances on the spot.”
She’s witnessed students celebrating unexpected admissions offers, as well as others struggling with the realization that their portfolios need more development.
“Sometimes you’re even just told, ‘Yeah, you need to develop five more pieces,’ and that’s overwhelming for some students.”
For young artists enrolled in The Art Effect’s programs, critique is already a familiar part of the creative process. But Fenichel-Hewitt emphasized that admissions representatives are generally interested in encouraging students rather than discouraging them.
“They’re there because they’re marketing their schools. They want students to be applying,” she said.
The relationships students establish at Portfolio Day can also make a difference later. Fenichel-Hewitt has seen students return year after year, developing their portfolios and getting to know admissions representatives before applying.

“I’ve seen kids go to portfolio day year after year, and then apply to seven schools and get into all of them,” she said.
Even something as simple as introducing yourself to an admissions representative and getting your name on the school’s contact list can demonstrate a level of interest that may help during the application process.
And unlike the enormous portfolio events in New York City and Boston, where students can reportedly spend hours waiting to speak with representatives from popular art schools, the Hudson Valley event offers a more manageable experience.
“We usually have such a nice flow,” Fenichel-Hewitt said, “so you will get in front of the reps you want to see.”
Of course, getting into art school is only part of the equation. Paying for it — and figuring out what comes afterward — can be equally daunting.
The event includes tables dedicated to helping students navigate college applications, scholarships and financial aid. The Art Effect also works with students who receive awards to help them understand their options.

Then there’s the question that has followed aspiring artists for generations: How are you going to make a living?
“I think that’s always been a question for artists, right?” Fenichel-Hewitt said.
To help answer it, The Art Effect has offered students — and perhaps more importantly, their anxious parents — a handout called “Careers in the Arts,” listing an extensive range of creative professions.
“It’s double-sided, four columns on each side, teeny font,” said Fenichel-Hewitt, describing the sheer number of possibilities.
“Going to art school doesn’t just mean that you’re going to try to be a famous painter,” she added. “There are so many types of careers.”
And those careers aren’t necessarily confined to galleries, museums or studios.
“Anything, any object that you’ve purchased or looked at, it had to get designed first. It involved an artist.”
Fenichel-Hewitt also pointed out that a strong arts portfolio can benefit students who have no intention of majoring in art.
She recalled one student who went on to study astrophysics at Harvard University with substantial scholarship support connected to her art portfolio. Others have pursued business degrees, using their creative work as a supplemental component of their applications.
“It really sets them apart because it shows such a well-rounded approach to being a healthy, young, confident person,” she said.

Ultimately, she sees the event as something more than an audition for admission.
“It’s an opportunity to not just receive feedback, but to really explore the kind of setting and atmosphere and culture that you thrive in.”
Hudson Valley Regional Portfolio Day takes place Friday, Oct. 16, at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie. The event is free. For more information, visit thearteffect.org.
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Robin Roraback
Textile designer Justine Valla sits in her father’s chair, which she painted, alongside her husband, illustrator and muralist Victor Valla, in their Atelier Valla studio.
Husband and wife Victor and Justine Valla share a lavender and pink studio, Atelier Valla, across the driveway from their pink house, nestled into a hillside in Salisbury. The colors, said Justine, “were inspired by Monet’s house at Giverny.”
Creating art has been a lifelong pursuit for both.
“I was always drawing as a child,” Justine recalled. Victor dreamed of illustrating magazine covers like those of the “Saturday Evening Post.”
Victor studied design and illustration at Rochester Institute of Technology, then received a fellowship to study painting and printmaking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne. He graduated in 1967. The following year, he received a grant from the Tiffany Foundation to study printmaking in Paris at Atelier 17, an experimental graphic arts workshop founded in 1927.
“What a great experience that was!” he recalled.
Returning home after the Paris uprisings of 1968, he discovered that the magazine covers he’d hoped to paint had largely given way to photography. His agent suggested trying record covers, which he pursued along with illustration and graphic design.

He also began teaching at Kean University in New Jersey.
“Kean had a wonderful graphic design and illustration department. I loved teaching Graphic Design, even though I never thought I would.”
He later taught at Syracuse University and Pennsylvania College of Art and Design.
In the late 1980s, he decided to stop teaching and concentrate on his own art. He moved to Falls Village, to a house on the corner of Minor and Prospect Streets.
“I used to call the studio ‘Minor Prospects Atelier,’” he said.
He continued working in illustration and graphic design, creating book covers for stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other authors, along with magazine covers, logos, advertising and murals.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback
His local commissions include the green and gold Noble Horizons signage and wall murals for the Stockbridge Inn, the Spa at Norwich Inn, Orchards Hotel in Williamstown and the David M. Hunt Library’s children’s section.
Justine grew up in the Bronx and studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After graduating, she took on whatever work she could find, including designing toys and novelty items for Russ Berrie. But her true calling was textile design.

She moved to Los Angeles to pursue that calling, where she learned silkscreen printing from 1960s design icon Corita Kent.
“I was in her program at Immaculate Heart College. All fabric design at that time was silk screen. My first job in textile design was in L.A., creating wallpaper for Bob Mitchell Design.”
Justine returned to New York City, where the advent of computers required her to learn new design techniques. She enrolled at Parsons School of Design, studying Photoshop, Illustrator, Lectra U4ia and Kaledo.
Around this time, she met Victor online and moved to Falls Village.
A recruiter found her a job in Arkansas at Dillard’s, a department store chain operating in 30 states and known for its exclusive designer collections.
“They had the best equipment I’d ever seen,” she said.
She became a senior computer-aided design designer there, designing fabric and preparing purchased designs for production.
The Vallas left Falls Village for Little Rock.
“It was a big move,” she said. “It was a different culture, but Little Rock was very progressive.”

The originally planned to stay in Arkansas for five years but ended up remaining for nearly 10.
Then Justine was hit by a car. She suffered injuries to her leg and head and required four years of rehabilitation.
“I lost the ability to paint after the accident. I struggled to paint again.”
The Vallas returned to Connecticut, this time settling in Salisbury, where they’ve lived since 2013.
After leaving Dillard’s, Justine had planned to sell her work through Printsource in New York City, an international showcase for surface and textile design. But after the accident, she no longer had the mobility or energy to travel back and forth to the city.
Instead, she began selling her work locally at craft shows, including clothing, hand-printed tea towels and floorcloths.
She is currently working on selling her collection of textile designs.
In December, Justine will have a show of her tea-themed watercolors at the NorthEast-Millerton Library.
Victor recently exhibited “The American West: A Pictural History” at the NorthEast-Millerton Library. The series, created in the early 1990s, was part of a commission from the Postal Commemorative Society for which he completed 100 paintings in two years.
He hopes to place the series in a museum and has created books from its images, complete with text. Over the years, he has designed many other books that are ready for publication, including “Looking In, Looking Out,” a cosmic view of the universe.

Reflecting on his career, Victor said, “It’s about doing what you love”.
Justine agreed.
To see, purchase or commission work, contact Justine at justinevalla@gmail.com or Victor at victorvalla@comcast.net, or call 860-596-4282.
D.H. Callahan
Filmmaker David Ruchman
In a region known for its vibrant but geographically scattered arts community, discovering something new can require a little effort. The same might be said for finding a new place for an extraordinary meal. While the Northwest Corner, Berkshires and Hudson Valley have no shortage of creative talent, opportunities to experience it — whether on a stage, in a gallery or on a plate — aren’t always just around the corner.
In David Ruchman’s short film “Acquired Taste,” that challenge becomes the premise for an unlikely friendship between Nick, an aspiring young food critic living in an area with limited dining options, and a gruff New York City master chef.
On Sunday, Oct. 18, the film will act as the dessert course in an afternoon of culinary programming, when it will be paired with award-winning documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” at the Moviehouse in Millerton.
Alongside the two food films will be Ruchman, who wrote, directed and produced “Acquired Taste,” and actor Richard Mover. Mover stars as chef Jamison Gellar, who takes a liking to young Nick and decides to help him see the forest for the trees.

Ruchman, who acts as quizmaster at the Moviehouse’s monthly trivia night, grew up in Washington, Conn., close enough to the Mayflower Inn to have experienced some incredible meals right in his own hometown. The next wrung down on the culinary ladder, however, wasn’t exactly what many consider gourmet. In addition to those rare meals at the Mayflower, Ruchman had the opportunity to travel and get a sense of what was out there in the wide world of dining delights. It gave him a stark understanding of what it could be like to execute a creative vision in an otherwise utilitarian environment.
The screening is part of a Repertory Spotlight at the Moviehouse, ahead of Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, which runs from Nov. 4-16. But there’s more food programming coming after the “Acquired Taste” and “Jiro” event.
On Oct. 24, the Moviehouse will screen “Julie & Julia,” starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, about the life and food of Julia Child. After the film, audience members will be treated to a discussion with former Food & Wine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin, celebrated Brooklyn-based cookbook author Jessie Sheehan and Chefs Table founding member Kristen Essig. While at Food & Wine, Cowin would assign work to Julie Powell, who wrote the story the movie is based on.

Two days later, on Oct. 26, a showing of “Babbette’s Feast” will precede a Q&A with film and television executive and local teacher and mentor Paul Wagner, who worked at the film’s studio, Orion Pictures while it was being produced.
For tickets, visit themoviehouse.net
D.H. Callahan
Jane Herold’s beautifully simple dinnerware.
As the leaves across Litchfield and Dutchess counties rush to make it to the ground, your last chance to peep autumn is fast approaching. On Oct.17 and 18, the 10th annual Clay Way offers peepers a route to follow lined with unique art that rivals the area’s natural beauty.
The two-day event is a ceramics-focused open studio tour through northwestern Connecticut, with a few studios peppered in just over the border in Dutchess County. Featuring nine open studios and 25 participating artists, the tour promises a wide variety of work, from decorative objects to grand vessels and a whole world in between.
Cornwall ceramicist Jane Herold explained that there’s quite a lot of enthusiasm for Clay Way among the region’s ceramic artists.
“We all need work space, which is hard to find or afford in urban areas. The wood-fire crowd needs lots of wood and outdoor space. This area is great because it’s rural enough for us, but has a wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive population of pottery [patrons].”

While many of the artists are returning from previous years, the loose collection of unofficial organizers likes to keep the event manageable for the public, limiting the number of artists and studios each year. A direct drive from the southernmost point at Ann Heywood’s studio in Wingdale to Herold’s big barn in Cornwall is under 40 minutes. But if you want to catch it all, plan for a full day’s worth of art exploration along some of the most beautiful roads in New England.
Starting at its northernmost point, Herold’s studio will host Matin Malikzada of Afghanistan, whose polished, modern interpretations of traditional forms are instantly recognizable. They’ll be joined by wood-fired ceramicists Steve Johnson, with his raw, organic forms, and Harry Levenstein, whose works relate closely to Johnson’s while making even more direct references to nature.
Herold herself creates work that is both beautiful and utilitarian. Her prolific output of objects is intended to be used by everyday people as part of their daily lives.
Moving south is Todd Piker of Cornwall Bridge Pottery. Piker has been making pots in his giant wood-fired kiln since 1971. The kiln looks more like an ancient blast furnace than something designed to transform clay into ceramics, but over the years, he’s mastered its intricacies and produces an impressive amount of fine work.

A ceramic vase by Kathleen Heidemann.Provided
Piker will host Sanah Peterson, who works at Cornwall Bridge Pottery and draws inspiration from both her time with Piker and her time traveling the globe as a child. They’ll be joined by Stephanie Haines, whose vibrant, eye-catching work features underglaze illustrations of birds, fruit and the bounty of nature.
Further along in Warren, Jessica Dubin’s pieces will be on display at the studio of Christine Owen. Both artists seem to appreciate the chaos and unpredictable nature of clay but find ways to refine it all using their own unique methods.
Heading east to Washington, Conn., Will Talbot’s creates intricate work while allowing for the unpredictable nature of clay to play a role. His studio will house Tom Knox and his wide variety of textures and forms, as well as New York City-based Alex Lebedev, who lets music and the nature of improvisation guide his work.
There will be two studios participating in South Kent. Alison Palmner, whose page on the Clay Way website states she “strives to achieve a lighthearted meld of human forms, animals and the vessel.” Her studio will host Ben Eberle, who trained under the guidance of legendary potter Toshiko Takaezu; James Guggina, whose intricate work can appear both deliberate and whimsical; and Paula Shalan, who blends rough, unrefined surfaces with polished precision in individual pieces.

Joy Brown’s delightful ceramic sculptures.Provided
Nearby is Joy Brown, whose work have become a staple of the area, with her figurative sculptures dotting the Northwest Corner. Brown’s studio will also feature Bonnie Levine, who taps into the beauty of chaos and destruction in her work, and Brendan Moore, whose more utilitarian forms are perfect for everyday use.
Finally, the tour crosses the border into Wingdale, New York, where the studios of Drew Montgomery, Ann Heywood and Amy Brenner will host Jackie Sedlock, Lynn Behrendt,and Kathleen Heidemann.
Brenner creates some of the most colorful and vibrant pieces on the tour, while Behrendt’s work is among the most studied and precise. Heywood creates carefully considered, intuitive forms, while Heidemann moves from simple minimalism to intricate textures. Montgomery and Sedlock both find new ways of playing with traditional forms, producing delightfully distinctive pieces.

To learn more about the artists and download a map of participating studios, visit clayway.net
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247Solar has dramatically improved on the first generation of solar thermal technologies for generating round-the-clock clean electricity. The deployment of the company’s solar thermal technology will be 247Solar’s initial commercial project, a critical milestone for overcoming the intermittency of conventional clean energy technologies. 
India is racing to meet surging electricity demand, and its utilities have recently built coal capacity alongside solar and wind power to cover the gap left by photovoltaic panels when the sun sets and during bad weather. NTPC will test whether 247Solar’s system can close that gap and reduce the utility’s reliance on coal. With the success of this project, its backers expect the utility to look at expanding the technology more broadly across India.
“This new version of solar thermal solves the problem of intermittent solar and wind power, and avoids spending more on outdated, costly, and dirty coal plants” said Bruce Anderson, founder and CEO of 247Solar. “India’s rapid growth plainly requires more clean, reliable and affordable energy,” Anderson added. “Our system can help meet that demand. I’m thrilled that after several years of deep due diligence, NTPC is working with us to bring this promising technology into wider use.”
247Solar’s technology removes the drawbacks of previous Concentrated Solar Power technology and brings it into the modern era. It still captures the sun’s heat with mirrors focused on towers, but the system is simplified, modular, and scalable, and it simultaneously provides heat up to 1000oC (over 1800oF) for industrial processes.
The system stores heat for up to 20 hours in inexpensive ceramic pellets, using hot air to generate electricity around the clock with unique turbines that operate without combustion under normal conditions. If the stored heat runs low overnight or during extended cloudy weather, the same turbines can also run on liquid or gaseous fuels, including natural gas, green hydrogen, or diesel, so the plant can keep producing power without interruption.
Among 247Solar’s benefits compared with traditional CSP technology:
Lower cost
Speed to power
Simplicity of design and operation
High reliability
Grid independence
Cost-effective baseload power   
The NTPC project is a ~1MW hybrid, integrating one 400 kW modular 247Solar Plant with several hundred kilowatts of PV. It is being installed at Rajasthan’s Bhadla Solar Park, already one of the world’s largest solar energy hubs, in an arid region in northwestern India. The project is backed by the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited, which has approved preliminary studies, site surveys, and structural tests.
NTPC and 247Solar selected the location for its abundant sunshine, and for its easy interconnection for offtake.
The demonstration marks an early step toward round-the-clock clean power for industry and residents in India. Success will position Rajasthan as a proving ground for the technology and give NTPC a new tool as it works to meet the country’s growing power demand while reducing reliance on coal, cutting costs and carbon emissions simultaneously.
Other countries facing similar problems with their electric grid will be watching India’s roadmap for addressing off-grid and weak-grid industrial load demands and the intermittency gap of conventional PV solar, without coal.
For additional information:
247Solar

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Jasper, a 1-year-old terrier mix from Underdog Pet Rescue in Madison, learns to retrieve the Wisconsin State Journal from the end of the driveway
Frank Lasee
Solar panels aren’t enough to power data centers in Wisconsin.

Lasee is a senior policy analyst for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit.
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Jasper, a 1-year-old terrier mix from Underdog Pet Rescue in Madison, learns to retrieve the Wisconsin State Journal from the end of the driveway
Solar panels aren’t enough to power data centers in Wisconsin.
Frank Lasee
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A sharp pullback in Chinese solar cell manufacturing is casting a shadow over the silver market, offsetting a wave of upbeat production reports from major mine operators. Output of photovoltaic cells in China fell 15.2% year-on-year in September, according to data from industry tracker Shanghai Metals Market, while average plant utilization slid to 53.5% — a drop of just over 23 percentage points compared with a year earlier. With solar manufacturers among the metal’s biggest consumers, the weaker activity feeds straight through to pricing.
The demand setback lands in an already difficult stretch for the precious metal. Silver has lost 18% since the start of the year, closing Thursday’s futures trading at $57.60 an ounce — a 53% gap from its 52-week high of $121.78. Yet the session itself offered a rare bright spot: COMEX prices advanced 3.2% on the day.
Operational updates from primary producers have provided some ballast. Guanajuato Silver reported third-quarter 2026 production of 392,138 ounces of silver, with total output reaching 683,675 silver-equivalent ounces — a 13.7% gain on the prior quarter. Production was buoyant at the Mexican operations in Bolanitos, El Cubo and San Ignacio, even as mining at the Valenciana complex was suspended.
Endeavour Silver, which flagged its production increase on October 8, posted third-quarter silver output of 2,096,545 ounces, up 19% year-on-year. Management intends to recalculate its full-year guidance following operational interruptions at the Terronera and Guanaceví sites, with updated figures due on November 9. Aya Gold & Silver, meanwhile, logged a record 1,497,749 ounces at its Zgounder mine — an 11% improvement on the same quarter a year earlier.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Silber Preis?
Stockpiles have been climbing in parallel with the supply reports. According to the London Bullion Market Association, holdings in London vaults rose 3.22% to 28,985 tonnes by the end of the third quarter. At the COMEX, a CME Group warehouse report showed a total of 333.80 million ounces midweek, split between 103.15 million ounces in the immediately deliverable “registered” category and 230.66 million ounces in “eligible” holdings. The build in registered stocks helps cushion short-term delivery bottlenecks — a data point dealers watch closely for clues on how supply is squaring with industrial offtake.
Global mine production rose 3% to 846.6 million ounces in 2025, though the LBMA expects a modest 0.3% decline to 844.1 million ounces for full-year 2026.
Any rebound in output remains structurally capped. Much of the world’s silver emerges as a by-product of base-metal mining, meaning supply cannot respond quickly to price signals. Kenny Zhu, a strategist at precious metals specialist Sprott, estimates that industrial applications account for 50% to 60% of global demand — so any softness in manufacturing offtake hits the market almost immediately. DiRienzo echoed that view, noting that major supply jumps are unlikely given silver’s by-product status, leaving investors to judge whether recent gains in mine output can meet sustained industrial demand over the longer term.
Macroeconomic forces are adding to the pressure. Following the latest US inflation data, rate expectations for the Federal Reserve’s late-October meeting firmed, lending support to the dollar and weighing on non-yielding assets. Fresh catalysts are close at hand: Mexico’s statistics agency publishes national mining production figures on October 21, the US central bank decides its next rate move at the end of the month, and the next round of US consumer price data lands on November 10.
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China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued Announcement No. 48 of 2026 on October 16, soliciting public comments on revisions to China’s Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited and Restricted from Export. The proposal would place 40 technologies across three sectors—artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and photovoltaics—under export control, with interim pre-export registration taking effect from the date of the announcement. This represents China’s latest regulatory measure on cross-border flows of critical and core technologies amid intensifying U.S.-China technology competition.
According to the announcement, among the technologies proposed for listing, the artificial intelligence sector involves 23 technologies—the largest share—covering large language models, AI agents, computing clusters, and information processing. The photovoltaic sector encompasses 12 technologies related to polysilicon manufacturing, silicon wafer manufacturing, and cell manufacturing. The biomedicine sector includes 5 technologies related to cell and gene therapy, small nucleic acid drugs, and pathogenic microorganisms. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce stated in response to press inquiries that the scope of the listing is precise and limited, with most technologies having clearly defined technical specifications, and that products manufactured using the relevant technologies are not within the scope of the controls.
The announcement clarifies that AI technologies that have entered the public domain through open-sourcing or publication in academic papers are not included in the control scope. For the biomedicine sector, outbound licensing models that do not involve ownership transfer are eligible for facilitation measures such as automatic licensing. The photovoltaic sector’s technology control scope also includes key and core equipment that embodies the relevant technologies.
The Ministry of Commerce spokesperson emphasized that the Chinese government supports mutually beneficial international technology cooperation and that its policy stance remains unchanged. The revision was preceded by extensive assessments organized with research institutions and industry organizations, and fully incorporated opinions and suggestions from major enterprises. The spokesperson also stated that the catalogue’s control scope will be dynamically adjusted in accordance with the law, with outdated or non-advanced technologies promptly removed based on technological developments.
Regarding the specific control design in the biomedicine sector, Hu Haitao, a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, noted that the control boundaries for cutting-edge platform technologies such as cell and gene therapy and small nucleic acid drugs are very clear. The core focus is on outbound transfer of ownership of underlying platform technologies with independent intellectual property rights, aimed at preventing “uprooting-style” transfers. He believes that overseas licensing, collaborative development, and licensing transactions for specific innovative drug products and projects are not prohibited by the policy, and will be encouraged and supported through facilitation measures. “This precise control is designed to guide enterprises to transform innovation achievements into long-term international competitiveness, propel China’s biomedicine industry toward the higher end of the value chain, while protecting its own intellectual property rights,” he said.
According to the announcement, interim pre-export registration takes effect from October 16 and remains in force until the catalogue is formally revised and implemented. Circumstances requiring registration include: transferring technology ownership overseas, authorizing overseas use of domestic technology, changes in the owner or actual controller of domestic technology to a foreign entity, and other circumstances explicitly requiring registration as notified by the Ministry of Commerce. Registration information covers basic details of the technology exporter and recipient, destination country or region, the technology to be exported and its intended use, and the estimated export value of the technology.
The public may submit comments from October 16 to November 15, 2026, via email, fax, or mail regarding the scope of newly added technologies, specifications, control policies, and facilitation measures. Comments submitted in the name of an organization must bear the organization’s official seal.
The distribution of technology sectors involved in this revision is as follows:
Note: Compiled from Announcement No. 48 of 2026 issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
From an international perspective, this expansion of controls comes as the U.S.-China contest for dominance in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence continues to intensify. China’s Ministry of Commerce explicitly stated in the announcement that the measures “do not target any specific country, region, or entity,” and reiterated that its position of supporting mutually beneficial international technology cooperation remains unchanged.
For industry participants, the listing of 12 photovoltaic technologies is particularly noteworthy. China occupies a dominant position in the global photovoltaic supply chain, with production capacity and technology in polysilicon, silicon wafers, and cells ranking among the world’s leaders. Placing the relevant manufacturing technologies under export controls means that cross-border transfer of core photovoltaic processes will face stricter review procedures. At the same time, the announcement explicitly states that the control scope includes key and core equipment embodying the relevant technologies, extending the control boundary from the purely technical level to hardware carriers.
The 23 AI technologies represent the largest share of this revision. Large language models and AI agents, as core competitive arenas in the current AI industry, will have a direct impact on enterprises involved in cross-border technology cooperation if their technology exports require prior registration. However, open-source models and technologies already disclosed through academic papers are explicitly excluded, which to some extent alleviates concerns in the open-source community and preserves channels for academic exchange.
The control of 5 biomedicine technologies exhibits a “precision defense” characteristic. Pathogenic microorganism technologies are placed in the prohibited export category, directly relating to national biosecurity. Cutting-edge platform technologies such as cell and gene therapy and small nucleic acid drugs focus on preventing the outbound transfer of underlying technology ownership, rather than restricting normal international cooperation and product licensing. Hu Haitao noted that in recent years China has made significant progress in niche areas such as new platform construction and new target discovery, and these new technologies also face certain risks of outflow. This listing “is a protection of innovation achievements and a consideration for the long-term development of the entire industry,” he said.
In responding to industry development concerns, the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that this listing reflects a tiered and categorized management philosophy: for technology and process platforms with independent intellectual property rights, outbound licensing and the provision of outsourced R&D and manufacturing services using the relevant technologies and processes are not included in the control scope. Exports required for public health emergencies, humanitarian relief, or joint R&D utilizing overseas resources are eligible for facilitation measures such as automatic licensing. This institutional design aims to strike a balance between security controls and international cooperation.
The implementation of the interim registration system means that, effective October 16, any export activity involving the technologies listed in the announcement—including transactions already underway but not yet completed—must be registered on the Ministry of Commerce’s unified business system platform. This “effective immediately” arrangement establishes clear compliance obligations for enterprises during the transition period before the catalogue is formally revised, while also narrowing potential room for circumvention.
The news and data on this website are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice or an offer to buy or sell. Information is sourced from exchanges and public sources, and may be delayed, interrupted, or updated. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee timeliness, correctness, or completeness. Content may include external links for which we are not responsible. By using this site, you agree that we and our partners are not liable for any losses. Investment carries full responsibility; please carefully assess risks and consult professionals. If there are errors in the content, please contact us for correction.

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Doral Renewables opened the 1.3 GW Mammoth Solar Farm in Winamac.
Doral Renewables just brought one of the largest solar farms in the country online in Northwest Indiana.

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Doral Renewables opened the 1.3 GW Mammoth Solar Farm in Winamac.
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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.
“I’d buy this in a heartbeat if it exists and is readily available / UL approved!”
Photo Credit: iStock
A Southern California solar owner says SDG&E’s rate period between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. has changed the outlook for a system that used to finish the year with bill credits.
In a Reddit thread on r/SolarDIY, the homeowner said they’re now considering a battery backup purchase because their solar credit may go toward a balance they owe if they don’t take any other action.
Because the homeowner may add a pool and accessory dwelling unit later, they are comparing a single Powerwall with a SolArk 15/18 and 16 kWh of batteries. Their current setup also appears to generate 10 to25 kWh of excess power between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., which they believe could recharge a battery from solar each day for use during the expensive 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. period.
Not everyone in the thread thought storage was the best answer. 
One commenter wrote, “Battery is not worth in nem 2.0, throw cheap panels at the problem, get back to your original export level.” 
The homeowner replied that they did not think another 1,200 watts of solar would offset that evening peak usage.
When weighing options, it can help to compare options through EnergySage, which offers competitive installation estimates. EnergySage has teamed up with electrification brand Qmerit to help homeowners get the best price on home battery storage solutions.
Total annual production is only part of the equation. In this case, the home seems to have plenty of midday generation, but the bill pressure shows up during the 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. period, when the homeowner estimates needing about 11 kWh.
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For this setup, storing midday solar instead of exporting it would shift that electricity to the hours when utility rates are highest.
Any future expansion also needs to stay non-export so the home’s NEM 2.0 arrangement is preserved, as commenters noted.
Several commenters framed the decision around measured evening demand rather than rough assumptions. 
With about 11 kWh as the target, the homeowner viewed one PowerWall as the “sweet spot,” while still weighing a SolArk option because expansion “down the road is so much more cost effective.”
One commenter estimated that 20 kWh of storage with an enclosure could cost about $4,000, with battery micros adding another roughly $200-$400. 
A separate reply noted that plug-in systems typically supply only one leg of a split-phase home.
Pila is another company offering strong battery backup options, and its plug-and-play batteries cost a fraction of a whole-home backup system.
When another person brought up the idea of plug-in batteries, the original poster replied, “I’d buy this in a heartbeat if it exists and is readily available / UL approved!”
For solar households navigating shifting net metering rules and battery payback questions, the financial picture can change fast.
• Only 20 states in the U.S. still offer net metering that makes batteries harder to justify.
• Home batteries are a major advantage as rooftop solar incentives run into caps in Connecticut.
• In Massachusetts, solar, mini-splits, and net metering left one homeowner 4,100 kWh ahead.
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China mulls new tech export bans covering AI, biotechnology and solar power  South China Morning Post
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Emmvee Photovoltaic Power Limited Just Missed Earnings – But Analysts Have Updated Their Models  Simply Wall Street
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PEORIA (25News Now) -As electricity demand continues to rise, Ameren Illinois and ELM MicroGrid said they have completed a $20 million solar energy project in Peoria featuring nearly 5,000 solar panels and battery storage technology.
The newly energized Peoria Solar Energy Center, located on the city’s northwest side, spans 37-acres along Prichard Road. It is the third renewable energy generation facility developed by Ameren Illinois under provisions of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), which Illinois enacted in 2021.
Kristol Simms, Ameren Illinois’ vice president of clean energy transition, economic, community and business development, said the company is committed to supporting the state’s clean energy transition.
CEJA established goals for Illinois to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050, including a goal of generating 50% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2040.
“We do have sustainability goals. We know that overtime as a society we will start moving toward decarbonized way that we operate, right? So, clean energy is going to be the foundation to how we get there. Cleaner power that is produced to power things like our homes, run the businesses in Illinois,” said Simms.
Illinois has a deregulated electricity market, meaning utility companies such as Ameren Illinois primarily deliver electricity rather than generate it or determine the cost of the electricity supply. However, the company remains responsible for maintaining its distribution infrastructure and delivering reliable electricity to customers.
The Peoria facility has a solar generation capacity of 2.5 MW, which project officials estimate is enough to power approximately 300 to 400 homes.
Electricity generated at the facility will feed into Ameren Illinois’ distribution system, which is connected to the broader regional power grid operated by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).
One of the facility’s distinguishing features is its battery storage system, which allows electricity generated by the solar panels to be stored and delivered to the grid when needed.
Aron Bowman, president of Peoria-based ELM MicroGrid, said the company’s local roots played a role in its partnership with Ameren Illinois.
“What the batteries do, is through intelligent controls that we have integrated in through our ELM field site system, those work with the Ameren engineers to identify how much power is being generated by the solar panels, and whether Ameren needs that power right at that moment back on the grid or if they want to store the energy in the batteries and use it at a later time,” Bowman said.
The battery storage system has a power capacity of 1.5 MW and approximately 4 MW-hours of energy storage, according to Bowman, depending on the rate at which the stored energy is discharged.
That flexibility allows Ameren Illinois to store electricity during periods of high solar production and release it when demand increases, including during evening hours when customers return home.
“The sun might be shining in the middle of the day when people are at work, and this area has a lot of homes in it. So, the energy is really needed at night when people are home from work and turn on their lights, turn on their electric dryer, their oven, that sort of thing. So, Ameren has the ability through the battery to bring the power to the grid when their customers need it the most,” Bowman said.
The $20 million project also created more than 50 construction jobs, according to Ameren Illinois.
Project officials said the solar panels have an expected lifespan of 30 years, while the battery storage units are expected to last approximately 20 years.
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Four Years of Real Data Reveal How a Ugandan Island Solar-Diesel Mini-Grid Really Performs
On Bugala Island in Uganda’s Kalangala district, a hybrid power plant has been quietly keeping the lights on for thousands of households since 2014, and a new four-year analysis of its actual operating data now offers one of the most detailed real-world portraits yet of how a solar-diesel-battery mini-grid performs in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The study, published in Frontiers in Energy Research, examined monthly energy records from the 1.6-megawatt Kalangala plant between July 2019 and June 2023, providing rare empirical evidence at a time when most performance assessments of off-grid systems rely on simulations or short monitoring windows.
The plant, located in Bukuzindu village about 17 kilometers from Kalangala town, combines a 0.6-megawatt solar photovoltaic array with 1.0 megawatt of diesel generation, battery storage, and a distribution network stretching across the island. It was built at an estimated cost of 17 million US dollars and currently supplies more than 5,523 domestic customers and 67 commercial connections, including hotels and small enterprises. Its solar array consists of 2,832 modules rated at 235 watts peak each, split into units feeding grid-connected inverters and MPPT charge controllers, while a battery bank of two strings of 240 lead-acid cells, each rated at 686 ampere-hours at 2 volts, provides roughly 658.56 kilowatt-hours of storage.
The analysis revealed that the plant generated an average of 203.1 megawatt-hours of electricity per month, equivalent to roughly 2,436 megawatt-hours annually. Of that total, 174.1 megawatt-hours on average reached consumers, 22.4 megawatt-hours were lost in generation and transmission, 0.96 megawatt-hours were consumed by the plant’s own auxiliary equipment, and 5.4 megawatt-hours went into charging the battery bank. In other words, about 86 percent of everything the plant produced was actually delivered to the island’s homes and businesses, a figure the researchers consider acceptable for a system of this scale and configuration.
Beneath those headline numbers lies a more granular picture of how the two generation sources shared the burden. The solar array produced between 49.2 and 83.3 megawatt-hours per month, averaging 65.5 megawatt-hours, while the diesel generators ranged from 85.02 to 240.18 megawatt-hours, averaging 137.15 megawatt-hours. Solar’s monthly share of total generation swung from 23.67 percent in November 2020 to 86.12 percent in June 2020, with an average contribution of 49.69 percent. The researchers observed that solar’s contribution was inversely proportional to diesel output, exactly the complementary behavior a hybrid design is meant to achieve: when the sun does not deliver, the generators step in.
The demand pattern on the island explains much of this balance. Most consumers are residential households, so electricity demand peaks in the evening after sunset, precisely when solar output falls to zero. The diesel generators therefore carry the evening load, while the solar array covers daytime demand. Notably, the variability coefficient, the ratio of standard deviation to average output, was 10.29 percent for solar, 18.48 percent for diesel, and just 11.57 percent for the combined hybrid system, indicating that the plant as a whole delivered remarkably stable output across the study period. That stability matters for forecasting and for planning future expansion on an island whose electricity demand continues to grow.
The study also documented a striking demand spike in November 2020, when transformer-metered energy peaked. The authors attribute this partly to Uganda easing COVID-19 restrictions on 9 November 2020, which allowed businesses, particularly in the tourism sector that anchors the island’s economy, to resume operations. The plant manager also reported that a palm oil processing factory requested continuous supply after its own steam turbine broke down, though the researchers note there is no publicly available evidence confirming that event drove the increase.
On the technical performance side, the solar array achieved an annual average performance ratio of 65.6 percent, meaning roughly two-thirds of the theoretical energy available from incident sunlight was converted into useful electricity after all system losses. Its capacity factor stood at 13.4 percent, constrained by the fundamental intermittency of solar resources: generation is limited to daylight hours and further shaped by cloud cover, seasonal variation, module temperature, and system losses. The diesel generators posted a capacity factor of 18.88 percent, reflecting their role as a dispatchable backup rather than the primary energy source, an operating strategy that reduces fuel consumption, cuts emissions, and extends generator lifetime. The mini-grid as a whole achieved a capacity factor of 17.39 percent.
Losses emerged as a key finding with direct policy implications. The combined generation and transmission loss averaged 11.03 percent, ranging from 8.66 percent in November to 13.21 percent in February. Breaking this down, generation losses averaged 3.13 percent while distribution losses averaged 7.90 percent. The distribution figure is notably efficient compared with Uganda’s national grid, which recorded average distribution losses of 17.74 percent between 2021 and 2025. However, the mini-grid’s transmission line loss of 7.9 percent was nearly double the national grid’s average transmission loss of 4.42 percent over the same period, and the researchers trace this to a structural mismatch: the island’s 33-kilovolt network stretches approximately 144 kilometers, while published studies suggest 33 kV lines are typically suitable for distances of roughly 30 to 60 kilometers. As demand grows, higher loading on the low-voltage transmission line drives up current flow and, with it, resistive losses.
The authors recommend that the Ugandan government and electricity-sector stakeholders conduct a detailed feasibility study to upgrade the island’s principal transmission network from 33 kV to 66 kV, supported by load-flow, voltage-drop, fault-level, and economic analyses. Raising the transmission voltage would reduce the current needed for a given power transfer, cutting resistive losses, improving voltage regulation, and providing headroom for the island’s projected demand growth. They frame this not as a quick fix for current loss levels but as part of a long-term transmission reinforcement strategy to keep the island’s infrastructure reliable as its economy expands.
Compared with other systems, the Kalangala plant holds its own. Its performance ratio and capacity factor exceed those of an off-grid mini-grid studied in southern Ethiopia, which achieved 42 percent and 13.0 percent respectively, though they fall short of Uganda’s own Soroti solar plant, which recorded a performance ratio of 75.84 percent and a capacity factor of 19.07 percent. The researchers attribute the gap partly to lower average daily solar radiation at Kalangala, 4.94 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day versus 5.85 at Soroti, and partly to dust accumulation from the plant’s proximity to a busy road, inverter conversion losses, battery storage losses, and additional power electronics losses inherent in the hybrid configuration. The study’s limitations include the inability to assess the levelized cost of electricity or payback period, since the plant’s distribution tariff has only been declared through the first quarter of 2022. The authors call for updated tariff data and further techno-economic analyses of hybrid renewable energy systems across Uganda, arguing that such evidence is essential for planning, designing, and scaling the decentralized systems that will carry the country toward its Vision 2040 target of 52.4 gigawatts of installed capacity, with solar photovoltaics expected to supply roughly 12 gigawatts of that total.
Subject of Research: Technical performance evaluation of a solar PV-diesel-battery hybrid mini-grid in Kalangala, Uganda
Article Title: Performance of a solar PV-diesel generator-battery mini-grid using actual data: a case of Kalangala power plant in Uganda
Article References: Oloya, I. T., & Adaramola, M. S. (2026). Performance of a solar PV-diesel generator-battery mini-grid using actual data: a case of Kalangala power plant in Uganda. Frontiers in Energy Research, 14, Article 1785084. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2026.1785084
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.3389/fenrg.2026.1785084
Keywords: solar PV, mini-grid, hybrid energy system, Uganda, rural electrification, performance ratio, capacity factor, transmission losses, battery storage, diesel generator, Kalangala, renewable energy
News Source: Faith Mcneil. (October 15, 2026). Four Years of Real Data Reveal How a Ugandan Island Solar-Diesel Mini-Grid Really Performs. Scienmag.
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Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2026-10-16 18:32:15
BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities on Friday began soliciting public opinion on a revision to the catalog of technologies that are subject to export bans or restrictions, with plans to add some technologies in artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine and photovoltaics to the list.
The adjustment, initiated by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology, covers 40 technologies across the three sectors, according to a notice released by the commerce ministry.
Pre-export registration management will be implemented for these technologies in parallel, the commerce ministry said.
The soliciting of public opinion lasts from Oct. 16 to Nov. 15, 2026, and the specific content of the adjustment can be found on the commerce ministry’s official website.  ■

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Source: Xinhua
Editor: huaxia
2026-10-16 23:12:17
BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities on Friday began soliciting public opinion on a revision to the catalog of technologies that are subject to export bans or restrictions, with plans to add some technologies in artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine and photovoltaics to the list.
The adjustment, initiated by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology, covers 40 technologies across the three sectors, according to a notice released by the commerce ministry.
Pre-export registration management will be implemented for these technologies in parallel, the commerce ministry said.
The proposed adjustment includes 23 technologies related to large models, intelligent agents, computing power clusters, and information processing in the AI sector, five technologies related to cell and gene therapy, small nucleic acid drugs, and pathogenic microorganisms in the biomedical sector, and 12 technologies related to polysilicon, wafer and cell manufacturing in the photovoltaic sector.
In a separate statement, the commerce ministry said adjustments to the catalog have been routine since 2001, and the latest proposed revision does not target any specific country, region or entity.
The ministry noted that major economies have implemented varied export controls amid the expanding application of AI, biomedicine and photovoltaic-related technologies in sensitive fields in recent years.
China exercises necessary management in accordance with the law to prevent the risk of losing control over technologies and their improper proliferation, while safeguarding normal international technological exchanges and cooperation, it said.
Regarding the AI sector, the ministry said the move aims to ensure AI technologies are safe and controllable, noting the risk of misuse, including the employment of AI-driven malicious code generation and mutation technologies to attack sensitive systems such as information infrastructure and bypass national security defense systems.
However, the authorities have also specified multiple export scenarios to which facilitation measures can apply, reflecting a tiered and categorized management approach that enhances policy transparency and predictability.
For instance, AI technologies that have already entered the public domain through open source and published academic papers will be exempt from the export control measures. In the biomedical sector, automatic licensing will apply to outbound licensing models that do not involve a transfer of ownership.
The soliciting of public opinion lasts from Oct. 16 to Nov. 15, 2026, and the specific content of the adjustment can be found on the commerce ministry’s official website.  ■

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Authored By PTI | Published at: Oct 16, 2026 04:42 PM IST
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New Delhi: Emmvee Photovoltaic Power has reported 61 per cent growth in consolidated net profit to Rs 382.04 crore for the September quarter, helped by higher income from key business verticals.
The company, which is in the manufacturing of solar modules and cells, had clocked a net profit of Rs 237.86 crore in the second quarter of the preceding 2025-26 financial year.
Emmvee Photovoltaic Power said its total income increased to Rs 1,578.89 crore in July-September FY27 from Rs 1,149.38 crore a year ago, it said in an exchange filing.
The company garnered revenue of Rs 1,779.64 crore from the module and Rs 15.1 crore from the EPC projects business segments.
In a statement on Thursday, DV Manjunatha, Chairman & Managing Director, Emmvee Photovoltaic Power said, “Our 6 GW integrated TOPCon solar cell and module manufacturing facility expansion project is progressing in line with our schedule, with most orders for hard costs already placed. We expect to commission the 6 GW module line by December 2026, followed by the 6 GW cell line by March 2027”.
Commercial sales will be aligned with commissioning, with utilisation increasing progressively thereafter, he said.
Once fully commissioned, the expansion will increase our annual manufacturing capacity to approximately 16.3 GW of modules and 8.9 GW of cells.
The order book stood at 10.4 GW at the end of Q2 FY27, supported by new order inflows of approximately 1.5 GW during the quarter.
As at 30 September 2026, the company had installed annual capacity of approximately 10.3 GW in modules and 2.94 GW in TOPCon solar cells.
(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by HDFC Sky editorial team and is auto-generated from PTI feed.)
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Britain Finds an Energy Edge as Europe Braces for Winter  Bloomberg.com
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Construction plans for a prospective solar farm have been postponed again.
The county would receive additional funding as a result of the extension.
Jay County Council agreed to move forward with amendments to its tax abatement and economic development agreement with Leeward Renewable Energy for its prospective Rose Gold Solar Farm during a nearly two-hour meeting Wednesday.
Leeward Renewable Energy had been required per its approved timeline with the county to start construction by June 30, 2027, with work to be completed by the end of 2028. The proposed changes would require construction to start by June 30, 2029, with completion by Dec. 31, 2030.
As a result of the two-year extension, the county would receive $3.975 million in economic development payments over a four-year period following the start of construction. That amount is an increase of more than $2 million from the previous agreement.
Likewise, the company would shift to a tax abatement that reduces property taxes by 75% for 10 years. Previously, the company had a 10-year graduated abatement, with taxes abated by 10% less each year.
Leeward Renewable Energy’s plans for Rose Gold Solar involve a $160 million, 150-megawatt solar facility on about 1,430 acres north of Dunkirk.
Sam Brooks, senior development associate with Leeward Renewable Energy, explained development began on Rose Gold Solar in late 2019. County officials approved agreements with the company in 2021.
Plans originally called for construction to begin in late 2022.
Delays with securing an agreement with regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection pushed Leeward Renewable Energy to adjust its timeline. (The organization — it coordinates wholesale electricity movement across 13 states and the District of Columbia — had been revamping its analysis process for new services joining the power grid.)
Despite submitting its application in early 2020, Leeward Renewable Energy didn’t receive its agreement with the organization until late last year. That agreement stipulates the facility can’t begin generating electricity until 2030.
Brooks noted the company is coordinating with PJM Interconnection on ways to accelerate the timeline, but realistically Leeward Renewable Energy is now planning for the solar farm to go online in 2030.
Andy Buroker, an attorney representing Leeward Renewable Energy, presented two options for council members to consider as amendments.
Buroker shared the aforementioned increased economic development payments and adjusted tax abatement as one option. If there are additional millions invested into the project beyond Leeward Renewable Energy’s $160 million commitment, he added, the economic development payment would increase.
He also shared another option, which would involve increasing the economic development payment from $1.95 million to $2.475 million. (That raises the payment to about $16,500 per megawatt, or a half-million-dollar increase overall.) It would also keep the original 10-year abatement, which saves the company about $7 million in property taxes.
Buroker noted discussions with Jay County Council president Matt Minnich, Jay County Commissioners president Duane Monroe, county attorney Wes Schemenaur and financial advisor Baker Tilly.
Minnich suggested council members move forward with the option that results in larger economic development payments.
“I just think there’s a lot of opportunity with some of the projects that we have in the works,” he said. “If they’ll have a larger EDA, maybe they’ll facilitate some of those projects, and hopefully they can do something like we did before, where we gave some money back to the smaller communities to help out with their projects.”
The amendments also call for starting economic development payments at the beginning of construction instead of when the facility starts generating electricity.
Buroker reassured council members that Leeward Renewable Energy still plans to construct a solar farm in Jay County.
“Rose Gold Solar is committed to this project, wants to do it, if we could start tomorrow, we would,” he said.
Council members agreed to the terms of the option recommended by Minnich. County attorney Wes Schemenaur noted he would draft the legislation for their next meeting. Commissioners will need to approve the updated economic development agreement as well.
Also Wednesday, council approved a recommendation from Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee to grant a one-year tax abatement to Jay County REMC. As a result, the company will contribute a $40,000 economic development payment.
Council originally looked at a 10-year abatement in August with the electric cooperative for its proposed warehouse and office project. It agreed to a real property tax abatement at that point in time. Last month, council referred the abatement along with a request for a personal property tax abatement to Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee.
Committee members last month expressed concerns about transparency, saying a few items in the cooperative’s application were misrepresented. They ultimately recommended a shorter abatement with an economic development payment included.
Jay County REMC board member Ken Denton read a prepared statement Wednesday from CEO Neil Draper asking for the council’s support for the abatement as originally approved. Addressing one of the concerns raised at past meetings, Denton read that construction site work prior to the project’s start date in September had been preliminary preparations.
Council members again questioned some of the details in the application, with council member Matt Minnich also saying it seemed like the abatement request came in at the last minute.
Council members Bryan Alexander, Faron Parr, Cindy Bracy, Michael Brewster, Randy May and Minnich agreed to the committee’s recommendation. Council member Harold Towell dissented.
Council also received a primer on changes coming to income and property taxes starting in 2029.
Sam Vanderveen, senior project manager with Policy Analytics and a former employee at the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, shared an analysis of the fiscal impact of changes made by Senate Enrolled Act 1 and subsequent legislation.
Vanderveen pointed to decisions the Municipal Unit Strategic Taskforce will need to make before the end of the year. He shared graphs demonstrating property taxes for different entities — they included tax scenarios for individuals and businesses as well as school corporations and government agencies — over the next decade.
The overall effect, Vanderveen noted, contributes to significant increases in residential tax bills, specifically for properties with lower assessed values. Vanderveen suggested the county address how to make those effects less disproportionate.
To hear Vanderveen’s full presentation, check out council’s recording of the meeting at bit.ly/jaycouncilOct142026.
Also, council approved the county’s 2027 budget.
Next year’s budget came in at $27.04 million, roughly $1.1 million (4.4%) more than the current year. It includes just under $12.35 million in the general fund, an approximately $600,000 increase from this year’s general fund.
The 2027 budget includes at least 2.5% raises across the board for county employees along with the county’s $515,000 payment toward emergency responder radios.
In other business, council:
•Made the following additional appropriations: $25,000 for the reimbursed health bioterrorism grant, which helps fund Jay County Health Department; $17,650 for Jay County Courthouse utilities; $5,910 for Jay Circuit Court; and $1,500 for professional services from Ritter Strategic Services.
•Approved a salary ordinance amendment to give Jay County public defender Brandon Murphy a $1,250 one-time bonus — it’s a stipend given by the state — and made $1,485.63 in additional appropriations to account for the increase.
•Formally changed the November meeting date to 6 p.m. Nov. 18, a week later than the normally scheduled meeting. The change was made to avoid conflicts with Veterans Day.
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For decades, the Arctic has been dismissed as a solar dead zone. Long winters, heavy snow loads, and extreme cold seemed to rule out photovoltaics as a serious energy option for communities above the 60th parallel. A new report from the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (Task 13) challenges that assumption, arguing that solar PV is not just viable in the Arctic, but increasingly essential to the region’s energy security.
The 77-page report, titled “Photovoltaics and Energy Security in the Greater Arctic Region“ and authored by researchers across the US, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, arrives at a moment when Arctic PV capacity is growing at rates of 46 to 145% per year in some regions. Total installed capacity above 60°N now stands at roughly 1,400 MWp as of 2023 — still a tiny fraction of global capacity, but the trajectory is unmistakable.
First and foremost, when planning a PV project at higher latitudes, the starting point must be considering seasonality: near the summer solstice in June, high-latitude regions receive large amounts of solar radiation. In contrast, near the winter solstice in December high-latitude regions receive little solar radiation (or not at all above the Arctic Circle at 66.56°N).
Bridging the gap between the intensity of summer and the scarcity of winter is the defining integration challenge for Arctic PV systems, and one that is addressed at length throughout the report.
The report’s central argument rests on a counterintuitive insight: cold is not the enemy of solar panels. It’s often an advantage.
Silicon PV cells produce more power at lower temperatures because the semiconductor bandgap widens, boosting voltage. The report cites data from a south-facing system in Alaska, where the median module temperature during daylight hours was just 15°C, which is far below the 25°C standard test condition at which panels are rated. In cold climates, modules may also degrade more slowly, with a median performance loss rate of just -0.37%/year measured across 16 systems above 59°N, compared to -0.75%/year for systems across the continental United States.
Snow, meanwhile, is a double-edged factor. It can block panels and stress racking systems, but it also dramatically raises ground albedo, potentially boosting the rear-side gain of bifacial modules to levels unseen in lower latitudes. The report notes that bifacial gain increases with latitude precisely because of long-lasting snow cover, increased diffuse light, and low solar elevation angles. The recommendation is clear: bifacial modules should be the default technology choice for Arctic deployments.
One of the report’s more striking practical findings concerns system orientation. East-west facing vertical bifacial arrays show particular promise above 60°N. Their near-90° tilt sheds snow naturally, avoiding the extended zero-production periods that plague tilted fixed-tilt systems in winter. They also produce power earlier and later in the day, better matching electricity demand curves and reducing the “cannibalization effect” that depresses midday wholesale prices.
Field data from a vertically-mounted agrivoltaic system in Sweden (59.55°N) illustrates the point. In December 2023, the vertical system outperformed its south-facing fixed-tilt neighbor on 28 out of 31 days, averaging 6.1 kWh/kW/month versus just 1.32 kWh/kW for the tilted array. On 14 of those days, the tilted system produced nothing at all due to snow coverage.
However, there is one section of the report that deserves special attention from developers: the discussion of frost heave and permafrost. Two detailed case studies — a 699 kW system in Luleå, Sweden, and a 563 kW array in Fairbanks, Alaska — document costly structural failures caused by ground freezing that installers failed to adequately anticipate.
In Luleå, perforated C-profile piles allowed the clay substrate to grip the racking, causing visible deformation within the first winter. The entire racking system had to be replaced with deeper, non-perforated piles. In Fairbanks, helical piles in a historically filled slough zone were jacked out of the ground and sank, breaking modules and requiring partial disassembly and reinstallation at 5.5 m depth.
The lesson from both cases: standard geotechnical surveys designed for construction and road work are not adequate for PV racking in frost-prone soils. Developers must commission surveys with PV-specific methodology, and should factor in the less obvious effect of the array itself.
In permafrost regions, the problem compounds further. Monitoring data from an array in Kotzebue, Alaska, shows that snow drifts accumulating behind solar rows are warming the permafrost, potentially destabilizing foundations over time. According to the report, solar arrays in these environments can act as snow fences, and the long-term structural consequences remain poorly understood.
For developers seeking to bankroll Arctic projects, the report identifies a persistent obstacle: the almost total absence of high-quality irradiance data above 60°N. Geostationary satellites degrade in accuracy beyond 65° latitude. Polar-orbiting satellites struggle to distinguish snow from cloud cover. Ground-based measurement networks are sparse, and those that exist face unique maintenance challenges, such as rime ice forming on radiometer domes, malfunctioning tracker mechanisms, and limited site access in winter.
As a result, energy yield assessments for Arctic projects carry substantially higher uncertainty than those at lower latitudes, which leads to complicated financing. The authors call for investment in heated, ventilated measurement instruments, rigorous maintenance protocols, and expanded ground-station networks across high-latitude regions.
The country-level data in the report paints a picture of a region moving fast despite the obstacles. Norway’s PV capacity above 60°N reached 173 MW in 2023, growing at 145% annually, with the country targeting 8 TWh of solar generation by 2030. Finland crossed 1 GW nationally and projects up to 9.1 GW by 2030. Arctic Sweden’s installed base hit 350 MW with a five-year mean growth rate of 58%/year, and utility-scale ground-mounted parks are now entering the permitting pipeline at gigawatt scale.
In North America, the story is different but equally dynamic. Alaska’s total PV capacity reached roughly 30 MW at end-2023, with the largest single facility at 8.5 MW and a 45 MW project announced for the Railbelt grid. More than 150 isolated diesel-dependent rural microgrids are receiving funding for solar-plus-storage systems, with some already capable of 100% renewable operation during favorable conditions.
The overarching message of this report is that the Arctic solar market is real, it is growing, and it has specific technical requirements that the global PV industry has not yet fully addressed. Bifacial vertical arrays, PV-specific geotechnical standards, Arctic-grade snow loss modeling, and expanded irradiance datasets are not nice-to-haves, but rather the foundations on which a credible high-latitude solar industry must be built.
Author: Ignacio Landivar
To access the full “Photovoltaics and Energy Security in the Greater Arctic Region,” you can download it here.
IEA PVPS Task 13 focuses on international collaboration to improve the reliability of photovoltaic systems and subsystems. This is achieved by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information about their technical performance and durability. This creates a basis for their technical evaluation and develops practical recommendations to increase their electrical and economic efficiency in various climate regions.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
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Vegetable farms and solar farms both need lots of sunlight and open space. But how do we divide our limited lands between these two priorities? One elegant solution is to put crops and solar panels on the same land—and share the broad spectrum of incoming sunlight between them.
A new study in Cell Reports Physical Science does this with photovoltaic cells that are semi-transparent: They capture some wavelengths of sunlight to make electricity, while letting the wavelengths most critical to photosynthesis pass through and reach the plants below. The new study suggests that broccoli can be grown in the magenta shade of these solar panels—without sacrificing the harvest.
Agrivoltaic schemes—putting plants and solar on the same land – could help us avoid clearing more land for human use. Climate studies suggest that this might work especially well across a wide sunbathed swath of the United States, from Texas up to Nebraska and west to California. Devoting just one percent of U.S. farmland to agrivoltaics could cover up to 20 percent of the nation’s electricity needs.
But traditional photovoltaic panels are opaque—and by shading plants, they can reduce crop yields. So engineers are trying to create new photovoltaic cells that divide the spectrum of sunlight between plants and electricity generation—similar to how governments segment different frequency bands for television, radio, cell phones, and other uses.
A 2020 study looked at panels that allow red wavelengths, critical for photosynthesis, to pass through—while harvesting green and blue wavelengths to make electricity. Basil grown under these panels produced similar yields, while spinach yields decreased. But the researchers estimated that by selling both electricity and crops, farmers growing spinach could generate 35 percent more income from the same land.
 
 
In the newest study, scientists evaluated a different kind of semi-transparent panel that lets most red and some blue wavelengths pass through—casting a magenta light on the plants—while converting much of the rest to electricity.
Broccoli cultivated under them grew more slowly, requiring an additional 25 days for harvest, but produced roughly the same yield. Meanwhile, these magenta sunscreens improved the microclimate below, reducing the “vapor pressure deficit”—a measure of when plants need to halt photosynthesis to avoid excessive water loss. This may have improved the plants’ efficiency in converting sunlight into plant biomass, which increased by 2.8- to 4.5-fold compared to unshaded plants.
The shaded plants’ levels of macronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus were either higher than or similar to unshaded plants, while levels of some micronutrients such as iron, copper, and zinc were slightly lower.
This was only a preliminary study. Future studies should look at larger plots, farmed across multiple seasons, and in different locations with varying climate and sunlight. It suggests that for now, the future of agrivoltaics might be best seen through rose-colored glasses.
Lu et al. “Evaluating land productivity with semi-transparent colored CdTe thin-film PV and broccoli cultivation in agrivoltaic systems.” Cell Reports Physical Science, 2026.
Image: Broccoli growing beneath semi-transparent, colored solar panels at the experimental site at Kärrbo Prästgård farm in Sweden. ©Silvia Ma Lu
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Nine cylinders of nitrogen went into the transformer over 90 minutes
A transformer subcontractor has been convicted and fined $120,000 over nitrogen risks at a NSW solar farm.
The Industrial Court of New South Wales handed down its sentence on October 2, 2026, in SafeWork NSW v Megavolt Australia Pty Ltd, after the company pleaded guilty to a workplace safety offence carrying a maximum penalty of more than $665,000.
Megavolt Australia Pty Ltd specialised in transformer installation and maintenance for medium and high voltage industries. In February 2023, Siemens Energy engaged it to install two large transformers at a solar farm near Wuuluman in central-western NSW.
The job went to plan until July 11, 2023, when one of the transformers failed to hold a vacuum. Megavolt started investigating a possible leak – but did not tell Siemens Energy.
The next morning, two pairs of workers split across the two transformers. The company's sole director and a trade assistant tackled the leak problem on Transformer No 1. Their fix was to switch off the vacuum pump and pump nitrogen into the system to manage tank pressure and stop moisture getting in while they searched for the leak.
Nine cylinders of compressed nitrogen went in over an hour and a half.
That detail sat at the heart of the case. Megavolt had not done a risk assessment for using nitrogen at the site. It had no safe work method statement covering leak detection. It had not given the safety data sheet for nitrogen to its workers or to Siemens Energy. And the trade assistant – who ended up working directly on the transformer – had received no training on confined spaces, hazardous atmospheres, or the properties of nitrogen.
The safety data sheet for nitrogen – which the workers never saw – describes it as a colourless, odourless gas that can cause asphyxiation in high concentrations. Symptoms include dizziness, drowsiness, weakness and loss of consciousness. A person may not even realise it is happening.
After the pair located the leak, the director told the trade assistant to photograph it and then help colleagues at the second transformer, about 30 metres away. The director left for the site office. Fixing the leak was put on hold.
Then the trade assistant went back to Transformer No 1.
A colleague working on the second transformer saw him walk toward it. Shortly after, the colleague heard gas escaping from an inspection hatch. When he next looked up, the trade assistant was on the turret, on his knees, leaning into the manhole.
The director phoned the trade assistant at 8:53am about crane work. At around 9:35am, he came back to the second transformer and asked where the trade assistant was. Told he was at the top of Transformer No 1, the director put on a harness and climbed up. Other workers followed.
NSW Fire and Rescue HAZMAT crews arrived at approximately 2:45pm and tested the oxygen levels inside the hatch. At 3:10pm, the reading was 20.1% – sitting at the very bottom of the normal range of 20.0% to 20.8%. The hatch had been open the entire time since the trade assistant removed it.
An occupational hygienist later found that both the transformer and its B-Phase turret were confined spaces with oxygen-deficient atmospheres. When the hatch was removed, nitrogen would have been released into the area immediately outside, also creating a danger zone until the gas mixed properly with air.
What made the case worse, from a compliance standpoint, was the sheer number of basic steps Megavolt skipped. The court found the company could have done a risk assessment for nitrogen use, written a safe work method statement for leak detection, handed out the safety data sheet, trained the trade assistant on confined spaces and hazardous chemicals, and talked to Siemens Energy before pumping nitrogen into the transformer.
The court called those steps "rudimentary."
Megavolt's existing safe work method statement for transformer work mentioned "compressed gases" in a hazards list but did not cover leak detection. And despite leak detection being part of what the court described as "the vast majority" of the company's installation jobs, it had never been folded into the company's safety documentation.
In Megavolt's favour, the court accepted that the company was generally safety-conscious. A Siemens Energy project manager gave positive evidence about the tidy way workers operated on site – they used personal protective equipment and fall arrest gear as required, tied ladders top and bottom, and had properly registered methylated spirits on the site's safety database when bringing them in.
That track record, the court found, reduced Megavolt's moral blame – but did not change how serious the offence itself was. The court placed it "well above the mid-range" of seriousness for this type of charge.
The court set a starting fine of $160,000 and applied a 25% discount for the guilty plea, arriving at $120,000. Megavolt was also ordered to pay the prosecutor's costs, with half the fine going to the prosecutor under the Fines Act 1996 (NSW).
The aftermath told its own story. The company's sole director gave evidence that he could no longer run the business after the incident. Megavolt ceased trading, walked away from contracts worth around $800,000, and sold off its operating assets. Its only remaining significant asset was a series of outstanding director's loans totalling $325,152, set against an outstanding debt of $62,000 to the tax office. Civil proceedings were commenced against the company in August 2026.
For WHS and HR teams, the case is a pointed reminder that routine familiarity with a hazardous substance does not replace a site-specific risk assessment – and that the steps a court looks for after an incident are the same routine ones most safety professionals already know how to do.

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Oct 16, 2026 —

A huge solar power project in Jefferson County is receiving public pushback. 
New York State’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) has already approved a permit for the Greens Corners Solar Project. The proposed 140-megawatt solar field would span 800 acres surrounding Old Rome State Road in Watertown and Hounsfield, which is owned by a local dairy farmer. 
New York State has a lofty goal of powering 70% of the electric grid with renewable energy by 2030, but it’s way behind on that target. To accelerate the creation of renewable energy, ORES has broad authority to review, permit, and site major facilities like Greens Corners. That also means local governments like the Town of Hounsfield are left out of decision-making. 
According to WWNY-TV, dozens of nearby property owners packed a public meeting in Hounsfield last week with concerns over the solar farm. Those include impacts on agriculture, safety, and property costs. Randy Johnston, a resident, spoke at the meeting.
“These solar panels coming in, that don’t benefit any of us. That’s going to New York City.” 
The Town Board had its concerns too. “Not that we don’t want a farmer to make a second income from solar, but we don’t want prime agricultural land to be the center of that project,” Dawn Nier, Town of Hounsfield board member, told WWNY-TV. 
Hounsfield is updating several local laws and restrictions for solar farms under 25 megawatts, including regulations on battery storage sites. But it doesn’t have control over Greens Corners.
AES, a renewable energy company based in Virginia, is building Greens Corners. A company spokesperson said the project is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs, several full-time positions, and generate tax revenue for the local towns and schools. 
Solar farms require a host community agreement so municipalities receive a kickback for energy generated. The exact terms of this agreement remain to be seen. 
Trisha Lapell, a nearby property owner, told WWNY-TV that she feels like there’s a lack of transparency behind this solar project. 
“Had I been aware, I certainly would not have purchased a home that was smack dab in the middle of a solar farm. It’s going to affect property values, it’s going to affect quality of life, it’s going to affect the natural habitat.” 
At the public meeting, some residents said they want to pursue legal action against the state to revoke the project and hope pushback could stop it from moving forward. 
The company’s website says initial construction is anticipated for next year, with commercial operation expected in 2028.

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A federal patent lawsuit filed in East Texas indicates that massive quantities of Chinese crystal-pulling equipment are bound for Texas to build out a 10 GW solar production line.
Court filings and public records tie the multi-hundred-million-dollar machinery deal to Tesla’s planned $10.1 billion vertically integrated solar gigafactory in Fort Bend County, highlighting the U.S. solar industry’s continued reliance on imported heavy machinery to establish domestic ingot and wafer manufacturing.
Linton Crystal Technologies, an equipment maker based in Rochester, New York, filed a patent infringement complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Chinese machinery manufacturer Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical, known as JSG.
The legal dispute centers on high-precision industrial furnaces called Czochralski crystal pullers. The machines melt raw silicon and grow monocrystalline silicon ingots, which are subsequently sliced into thin wafers to make solar cells. Ingot pulling represents the foundational first step in the entire solar manufacturing chain.
What the lawsuit claims
Linton alleges that JSG infringed on its patented designs for specialized seed-lifting and rotating systems used inside high-temperature crystal pullers. The systems carefully regulate the growing silicon crystal as it is drawn out of the molten material to ensure uniform structure and diameter.
According to the court complaint, Linton and JSG competed directly to supply crystal-growth furnaces for a major photovoltaic project in the United States.
Linton claims JSG secured the supply contract by utilizing contested designs and subsequently began importing the hardware into the country.
To establish personal jurisdiction in Texas, Linton cites public market reports showing that JSG secured a massive contract to supply crystal pullers and associated equipment for a 10 GW photovoltaic production line in Texas, with deliveries scheduled in 2026.
Potential connection to Tesla 
Although Tesla is not named as a defendant in the litigation, the location, equipment scale, and delivery timelines match public regulatory filings for Project Crystal Sun, Tesla’s proposed $10.1 billion vertically integrated solar cell and module factory in Fort Bend County, Texas.
Recent local regulatory proceedings show that the local school board approved property tax incentives for the massive project footprint. The filings outline an $8.6 billion capital commitment specifically earmarked for manufacturing equipment and personal property. Unlike standard assembly facilities that simply wire imported cells into finished panels, equipment lists for the Texas project detail comprehensive machinery for upstream ingot pulling, wafer slicing, chemical coating, and automated cell fabrication.
Industry context
The litigation highlights the intense competitive pressures surrounding upstream machinery as developers race to build domestic solar wafer and cell production lines. While U.S. manufacturing incentives and domestic content rules encourage fully localized supply chains, the specialized heavy hardware required for ingot and wafer manufacturing remains heavily reliant on global equipment suppliers.
Neither Linton, JSG, nor Tesla immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the litigation. The case, Linton Crystal Technologies Corp. v. Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical and Electrical Co., Ltd., is pending before U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas.
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NY rejects Hudson Valley solar farm opposed by Trump administration  The Journal News | lohud.com
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China’s Ministry of Commerce and its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed new export controls on October 16, 2026, that target the manufacturing technology behind perovskite and tandem solar cells, according to pv magazine and other outlets tracking the filing. The draft does not block shipments of finished solar panels. It targets the production know-how, equipment designs, and technical support that let factories outside China build the next generation of high-efficiency solar cells.
The timing lands the proposal squarely inside a broader pattern. Beijing has spent 2026 tightening its grip on technologies it considers strategically important, and this latest move follows a separate, wider catalogue revision covering artificial intelligence and biomedicine that Tech Insider reported on the same day. Solar manufacturing technology is the third leg of that stool, and it may be the one with the most direct bearing on how fast the rest of the world can build competing supply chains for advanced photovoltaics.
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The proposal would add perovskite and tandem solar manufacturing technologies to China’s catalogue of technologies prohibited or restricted from export. Four specific categories of manufacturing know-how appear in the draft, each defined by a size or efficiency threshold rather than a blanket product ban. The first covers perovskite-crystalline silicon tandem cell technology built on mass-produced silicon wafers measuring at least 182 millimeters and reaching at least 30% conversion efficiency. The second covers perovskite-specific slot-die coating technology with a processing width of at least 1.1 meters, the machinery used to lay down the thin perovskite layer at commercial scale.
The third and fourth categories apply to finished module production rather than cell manufacturing. Large-area single-junction perovskite cell module technology is covered when modules measure at least 1 square meter and achieve at least 18% efficiency. Large-area tandem perovskite cell module technology is covered at the same 1-square-meter size threshold but a higher 28% efficiency bar. The draft also names related equipment-manufacturing technologies, though the public version of the filing does not spell out separate thresholds for that category.
One detail separates this announcement from a routine policy draft: part of it is already live. A temporary requirement to register planned exports of the listed technologies through the Ministry of Commerce’s Technology Trade Management Information System took effect on October 16, 2026, the same day the broader proposal was published. Companies that want to export any of the covered manufacturing processes or equipment now have to log that intent with Beijing before the final rules are even settled.
The prohibition and licensing requirements themselves had not taken effect as of the announcement. That distinction matters for any company currently negotiating a technology-transfer deal or an overseas production line. The registration system creates a paper trail starting immediately, while the actual bans and license requirements wait on the outcome of a public comment process.
Public consultation on the proposed catalogue changes runs from October 16 to November 15, 2026, a month-long window in which companies, trade associations, and foreign governments can submit feedback before Beijing finalizes the list. That is a tight runway for an industry that spans continents and multiple regulatory jurisdictions. Equipment makers and cell manufacturers with existing licensing deals now have roughly four weeks to argue for carve-outs or threshold adjustments before the rules harden.
Thirty days is also short relative to how long it typically takes multinational solar manufacturers to assess technology-transfer exposure across a global supply chain. Legal and trade-compliance teams at firms with Chinese manufacturing partnerships or licensing agreements are likely to spend much of that window simply mapping which of their contracts touch the specific efficiency and size thresholds named in the draft.
China’s export-control catalogue system splits technologies into two tiers. Prohibited technologies cannot leave the country under any licensing arrangement. Restricted technologies can be exported, but only after the exporter obtains government approval. Reporting on the broader catalogue revision that includes the solar provisions puts the number of technologies proposed for full prohibition at 14 overall, spanning multiple sectors, with 12 photovoltaic technologies identified as covered by the proposed measures. Where the specific perovskite and tandem items fall within that prohibited-versus-restricted split has not been confirmed in the available reporting, and companies should not assume either tier until Beijing publishes the finalized catalogue.
The structure echoes an approach Beijing has already used for other strategically sensitive sectors. A technology-transfer license requirement lets the state control who gets access to a manufacturing process without stopping the sale of the physical product that process produces. For solar, that means a Chinese-made panel can still ship overseas even if the recipe for building the factory that made it cannot.
The distinction between a product ban and a technology-transfer ban is the single most important detail in this story, and it is easy to miss on a quick read of the headline. The proposal concerns technology transfers and specified manufacturing equipment, not a blanket prohibition on exporting finished polysilicon, wafers, cells, or modules made using those technologies. A factory in Europe or India that already runs the covered tandem process today is not retroactively shut down. A factory that wants to license that same process from a Chinese technology provider tomorrow faces a much higher bar.
That framing puts the policy in the same conceptual bucket as chip-equipment export controls rather than tariffs or trade sanctions on finished goods. It is a lever aimed at slowing the diffusion of production capability, not at shrinking current trade flows of physical panels.
This is not China’s first move to restrict outbound flows of technology it views as strategically valuable. The country has already applied export licensing requirements to gallium and germanium, two materials critical to semiconductor and defense manufacturing, and separately imposed permit requirements on certain graphite products, both steps that reshaped global sourcing for electronics and battery supply chains. Tech Insider has covered how those rare-earth curbs rippled through hardware markets, and the pattern holds a lesson for solar: material-level controls restrict what leaves the country physically, while technology-level controls like this one restrict who can replicate the manufacturing capability abroad.
China built its dominant position in conventional solar manufacturing over roughly two decades, accumulating the overwhelming majority of global polysilicon, wafer, cell, and module capacity along the way. The perovskite and tandem proposal suggests Beijing wants to protect its lead in the next generation of the technology the same way it protected its lead in the current one, by controlling not just output but the ability of rivals to build equivalent factories elsewhere.
The solar provisions arrived as part of a larger draft catalogue revision that also covers artificial intelligence and biomedical technologies, according to coverage from Global Times, which put the total count of newly added technologies across all three sectors in the dozens. The AI-specific portion of that filing, which separately proposes export curbs on large language models, autonomous agents, and chip-design methodologies, was significant enough to warrant its own coverage, detailed in Tech Insider’s report on the AI export curbs published the same day.
Seeing AI, biomedicine, and solar technology bundled into one regulatory action signals that Beijing is not treating this as a sector-specific response to a single trade dispute. It reads more like a general policy upgrade, one that extends the same technology-transfer control logic China has applied to hardware and rare earths into software, biotech, and clean-energy manufacturing simultaneously. The pattern is visible elsewhere too, including in how the European Union has been lining up alternative mineral suppliers to cut its dependence on Chinese-controlled inputs.
The near-term market effect should be limited for companies that only buy finished panels, since the proposal does not touch module shipments directly. The bigger exposure sits with overseas manufacturers and project developers that depend on Chinese-origin process recipes, equipment lines, installation support, or commissioning services to build or expand tandem production outside China. Those relationships are exactly what the registration requirement now puts on the record starting this week.
Coverage from Bloomberg Law frames the move as part of a broader effort by Beijing to preserve its renewable-energy technology advantage as the United States, India, and parts of Europe expand their own domestic manufacturing ambitions. If the rules finalize close to their current draft form, the practical effect is likely to raise the cost and stretch the timeline for any non-Chinese company trying to stand up advanced tandem production from scratch, even as existing Chinese panel exports continue largely unaffected.
Perovskite-silicon tandem cells sit at the frontier of commercial solar efficiency, and the race to scale that technology outside China has drawn growing interest from manufacturers and research groups across Europe, the United States, and South and Southeast Asia. Coverage from The Hindu BusinessLine notes that the proposed curbs land at a moment when several governments outside China are actively courting investment in domestic solar-cell manufacturing, viewing tandem technology specifically as a chance to leapfrog rather than simply replicate China’s existing crystalline-silicon capacity.
Whether that leapfrogging happens on schedule now depends heavily on how the finalized export rules treat equipment sales, licensing, and technical-support arrangements. A government or company that has already secured a technology-transfer agreement before the rules take final effect is in a very different position than one still negotiating. The next 30 days are likely to see a wave of accelerated dealmaking from parties trying to lock in access before any license requirement applies.
The structure of China’s proposal, controlling technology transfer and equipment rather than finished-good trade, mirrors the logic Washington has used for years to restrict Chinese access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools. The United States has spent several years tightening controls on EDA software, lithography equipment, and other chipmaking technology headed to China. Beijing’s solar proposal applies a similar playbook in the opposite direction, protecting the manufacturing capability behind a product category where China currently holds the global lead.
That symmetry is worth sitting with. Both regimes now rely on technical thresholds, wafer size, efficiency percentage, processing width, node dimension, rather than country-of-origin bans, to decide what can move across borders. It is a sign that technology-transfer control via specification threshold, not blanket embargo, has become the preferred regulatory tool on both sides of the US-China technology relationship. A similar calculus is already playing out in heavy manufacturing, where Toyota’s decision to bring gigacasting technology into a Chinese plant shows how manufacturers weigh the benefits of China’s production scale against the risk that the underlying process technology becomes harder to move in or out of the country later.
Industry attention over the next month is likely to center on three questions: which companies currently hold technology-transfer or licensing agreements that would fall inside the new thresholds, whether the final rules include any grandfather clause for contracts signed before October 16, and how strictly Beijing enforces the registration requirement that is already in effect. Detailed annex language describing the full scope of the draft catalogue, including the specific wording used for the artificial-intelligence and biomedicine provisions bundled alongside the solar rules, is laid out in the filing documented by Geopolitechs.
Equipment manufacturers that sell slot-die coating systems and tandem-cell production lines are in a particularly sensitive spot, since their core business is exactly the kind of technology transfer the proposal targets. Expect lobbying groups representing both Chinese exporters and foreign importers to submit detailed comments before the November 15 deadline, each pushing for threshold adjustments that favor their existing contracts.
Several outcomes look more likely than others based on how the proposal is structured and how similar Chinese export-control actions have played out in the past.
The next concrete milestone is November 15, 2026, when the public comment window closes and China’s regulators begin incorporating feedback into a final catalogue. Until then, the registration requirement already in effect gives Beijing real-time visibility into who is planning to export the covered technologies, even before any license requirement applies. Companies with exposure to the named thresholds, whether through existing licensing deals, planned overseas production lines, or equipment sales, have roughly four weeks to make their case.
For an industry already navigating chip-tool restrictions, tariff disputes, and critical-minerals curbs, as seen in how chipmakers have had to adjust to China tool restrictions this year, the solar proposal is one more signal that technology-transfer control, rather than trade volume control, is becoming the default regulatory instrument on both sides of the Pacific.
No. The proposal concerns technology transfers and specified manufacturing equipment, not a blanket prohibition on exporting finished polysilicon, wafers, cells, or modules made using those technologies, according to reporting on the draft catalogue.
No. The proposed bans and licensing requirements had not yet taken effect as of the October 16, 2026 announcement. Only a temporary requirement to register planned exports of the listed technologies took effect that day.
The draft covers large-area tandem perovskite cell module technology for modules measuring at least 1 square meter and achieving at least 28% efficiency.
Public consultation on the proposed catalogue changes runs from October 16 to November 15, 2026, a 30-day window.
Reporting on the draft catalogue identifies 12 photovoltaic technologies as covered by the proposed measures, part of a wider total of 14 technologies proposed for complete export prohibition across all sectors named in the filing.
Yes. The solar provisions are part of the same broader draft catalogue revision that also proposes export curbs on artificial intelligence and biomedical technologies, which Tech Insider covered separately the same day.
China’s Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed the export controls covering the perovskite and tandem solar manufacturing technologies.
Through the Ministry of Commerce’s Technology Trade Management Information System, where the temporary registration requirement took effect on October 16, 2026.
Elias Virtanen is the Cybersecurity Analyst at Tech Insider, bringing hands-on expertise from his background in penetration testing and security consulting. He previously worked as a security researcher at F-Secure in Helsinki, where he focused on threat intelligence and vulnerability disclosure. Elias covers ransomware trends, zero-trust architecture, and the evolving regulatory landscape including NIS2 and the EU Cyber Resilience Act. He holds a CISSP certification and an MSc in Information Security from Aalto University.
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According to the OPIS Global Solar Markets Report released on Oct. 13, Free-On-Board (FOB) China TOPCon M10 cell prices fell 0.86% week on week to $0.0463/W, while FOB China TOPCon 210R cell prices fell 0.66% to $0.0454/W.
The declines ended two consecutive weeks of stability and left both formats around 13% below their late-August peaks, as overseas demand continued to signs of weakening after the Golden Week holiday.
A trader source, echoing a recent assessment by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA), said U.S. restrictions on stockpiling were expected to further weaken overseas demand and weigh on cell prices. The temporary U.S. rule covers polysilicon and its derivatives ahead of Section 232 measures taking effect on Dec. 4.
In India, a manufacturer said an earlier buying rush from the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment was tapering. An extended exemption allows eligible C&I projects commissioned by Dec. 31, 2026, to forgo the use of approved India-made solar cells. The manufacturer said, however, elevated FOB China cell prices and the approaching deadline made further stockpiling commercially unattractive.
In China, CNMIA forecast a gradual strengthening in utility-scale demand toward year-end. Procurement to meet project deadlines could support buying, although market participants questioned whether any pickup would translate into a sustained recovery in installations.
China added 97.19 GW of solar capacity in January-August, down more than 57% year on year, according to National Energy Administration (NEA) data.
The China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) forecast in February that installations would reach 180-240 GW in 2026, down around 24%-43% from the record 315.07 GW added in 2025. Reaching that range would require average monthly additions of 20.7-35.7 GW from September through December, compared with about 12.1 GW a month in January-August.
On the supply side, market participants continued to expect lower cell output in October, citing production-line upgrades ahead of China’s new minimum efficiency requirements. The mandatory standard, which covers modules and inverters, takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027, and will prohibit domestic sales of products that fail to meet the required thresholds.
Meanwhile, market sources said senior executives from several major solar manufacturers met in Hangzhou on Oct. 11 to discuss cost calculations, sales pricing and production cuts.
Although neither the meeting nor its reported outcomes have been officially confirmed, market participants said the discussions yielded more detailed implementation plans for capacity restrictions and a proposal to set a minimum polysilicon price of CNY 43 ($6.38)/kg, including tax. Sales below that threshold would reportedly be classified as low-price dumping.
Discussions also reportedly covered price floors of CNY 0.79/W for TOPCon modules and CNY 0.86/W for back-contact modules, with reported FOB equivalents of $0.117/W and $0.128/W, respectively.
The proposed TOPCon floor, at its FOB equivalent, would be approximately 9% above the Chinese Module Marker (CMM), OPIS’s benchmark for TOPCon modules below 645W from China, which was assessed at $0.107/W in the same report.
According to market participants, the proposed floors would apply to both export sales and domestic procurement, including tenders.
The meeting also reportedly called on relevant authorities to investigate and penalize state-owned enterprises that award procurement contracts through tenders based solely on the lowest available bids, citing concerns that such practices could disrupt market order.
However, market participants noted that industry self-regulatory agreements do not constitute legally enforceable price controls, with actual transaction prices continuing to be determined by supply-demand fundamentals. As such, the effectiveness of these measures would depend on manufacturers’ willingness to adhere to the proposed guidelines.
OPIS is a specialist business within Dow Jones Energy, a global energy intelligence business that brings together trusted price reporting, research and market intelligence across the energy value chain. OPIS publishes the OPIS Global Solar Markets Service, which includes pricing data for solar panels and components across Asia, Europe and the U.S., manufacturing capacity data, module forward curves, and a global solar policy tracker. 
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
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Earlier this month, after a series of stops and starts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced changes to a long-running program that is supposed to help farmers and rural small businesses stand up renewable energy projects. 
The new rules, set to go into effect today, October 16, effectively make any solar power development ineligible for funding through the Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP. It’s the latest of multiple rollbacks by the second Trump administration that advocates say are essentially making the program unusable.

Installing solar systems on farmland can cost tens of thousands of dollars upfront, which many agricultural producers may not have or may be reluctant to spend, given their low profit margins. REAP has long provided financial support to farmers to build out renewable energy systems on their land. 
These projects often provide multiple benefits to participants. First, they can help lower utility bills for agricultural producers and rural businesses by providing their operations with additional power. But farmers and business owners are also able to sell excess energy back to the grid. By cutting costs or padding revenue, these systems can be a lifeline at a time when farmers are facing escalating costs for things like fertilizer, fuel, labor, and seeds, making it difficult to make ends meet. 
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Research shows investing in renewable energy can also be an economic driver in rural parts of the country. “All of these things lined up,” said Matt Russell, the executive director of the Iowa Farmers Union, an independent organization representing family farmers. So for the Trump administration to “shift away from those kinds of win-win-win investments is very disappointing,” he added.
The Iowa Farmers Union is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last month against the USDA, alleging that previous changes to REAP were already harming rural communities by severely restricting solar development under the program. (The lawsuit was filed on September 28, just days before the agriculture department published its new rules.) 
The lawsuit takes aim at changes made to REAP in August 2025, following an executive order by President Donald Trump the previous month stating that taxpayers would no longer “subsidize expensive and unreliable energy sources like wind and solar.” Although the executive order did not instruct the USDA to do anything in particular, the office within the agriculture department that administers REAP changed the criteria for applicants such that most solar projects would become ineligible for grants or loan guarantees. 
Part of the plaintiffs’ argument is that such a move violates the REAP statute. Lawmakers created REAP in 2008 as part of that year’s farm bill by combining two existing programs that sought to develop renewable energy and increase energy efficiency. “Rather than complying” with this mandate, “the agency has decided to completely ignore what Congress told them to do,” said Michael Youhana, an attorney at Earthjustice, the nonprofit environmental law group representing the plaintiffs. “In fact,” he added, the USDA is doing “the opposite of what Congress told them to do” by promoting the use of fossil fuels over renewables. 
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The lawsuit also alleges that these anti-solar moves from the USDA violate the Administrative Procedure Act, which essentially requires agencies to show that regulatory decisions were made through careful consideration. The USDA says “that they’re taking this action to protect farmland from being gobbled up by solar systems,” said Youhana. “But farmers are voluntarily applying for REAP, and they’re doing it because solar gives them all kinds of really great financial benefits that the agency has completely ignored.”
The USDA told Grist it “will not comment on pending litigation.” In an email to energy news site Utility Dive, a representative for the USDA said that under the Biden administration, “fertile farmland that should be feeding America” was used instead to produce solar power. “Those days are over. USDA will not actively participate in repurposing farmland historically used to sustain this country’s abundant food supply.”
Grist has previously reported on how the USDA’s abrupt freeze of REAP grants in the early days of Trump’s second term created confusion and chaos for small farmers who had already spent tens of thousands of dollars on energy upgrades. In March 2025, the agency released that grant money but asked participants to voluntarily revise and resubmit their applications without any mention of climate change. That summer, the USDA announced the anti-solar policy over which Earthjustice, along with the Environmental Law and Policy Center, are suing.
But the switch-ups didn’t stop there. A year later, in March 2026, the USDA effectively paused REAP as a whole, announcing it would suspend further grant awards until the program rules were rewritten to comply with Trump’s executive order from the year before. 
This month, on October 1, the department published its final rule changes. They state that solar or wind projects on cropland involving “any component made in a country named as a foreign adversary” are no longer eligible for funding through REAP. Because so many parts of solar power systems are manufactured in China, this effectively means an end to any new solar development on farms through the once-popular USDA program. 
Another change drags out the timeline for receiving funding; applicants must now have energy systems up and running for one year in order to be considered eligible for reimbursement. 
These changes “more deeply entrench the anti-solar policy we’ve challenged in our lawsuit,” said Youhana. While “federal investments in renewable energy projects could help to offset rising energy costs, making life more affordable for farmers and the broader American public alike,” he added, the USDA seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
Russell argued that further restricting funding sources like REAP will only lead to the further consolidation of the agricultural industry, where only the biggest, wealthiest operations can survive, and the little guys suffer without adequate public support. 
“It’s like stacking the deck against family farms, and entrepreneurial businesses in small towns that are trying to bootstrap themselves,” he said. “It’s picking winners and losers, and the losers are the very kinds of farms and businesses and communities that I think the vast majority of American taxpayers think that they’re investing in.”
This story has been updated with the USDA’s response to Grist’s request for comment.
Editor’s note: Earthjustice is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers have no role in Grist’s editorial decisions.

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New $20 million Peoria solar center begins powering homes  CIProud.com
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Idaho 55 through downtown Cascade is getting a new look. 
A $260,000 project to install new solar streetlamps along Main Street (Idaho 55) is currently underway and expected to be complete this fall, according to Cascade Mayor Judith Nissula.
The project is intended to improve safety by better illuminating the street and reducing the number of poles and trees that can obscure pedestrians as they enter crosswalks. 
“As a driver, you can’t see people coming out,” Nissula said. “It’s just kind of scary.” 
So far, the new streetlamps have been installed in front of the Valley County Courthouse. Crews will continue replacing the lights on the west side of the road before moving to the east side. Once complete, the solar lights will span Main Street between Payette Street and Spring Street. 
The solar lights are about twice as tall as the existing streetlamps and include a solar panel mounted atop each light pole. The lights comply with the city’s dark skies ordinance, which requires outdoor lighting to meet certain standards to avoid shining onto other properties or into the sky. 
Once the replacement project is complete, Main Street will have fewer lights overall, or three per block on each side of the road. 
About five trees planted in sidewalk beds are also likely to be removed to make room for the new streetlamps. Replacement trees could be planted elsewhere in sidewalk planters in the future. 
Nissula said some have been critical of the city’s decision to remove trees, but the city council believes the changes will help balance the number of trees on each side of the street. Currently, significantly more trees line the west side.
“I was born and raised here,” she said. “The last thing that I would want to do is make this place look ugly. In my heart, I know it will look better once it’s done.”

Energy savings expected

The solar panels are expected to produce enough energy to power the lights, with no electrical connections in place to provide supplemental energy. 
The city is confident the lights will receive enough solar energy to turn on nightly, based on similar lights installed near Family Dollar about two years ago using a Safe Routes to Schools grant. Nissula said she is not aware of a time when the lights were unable to turn on due to snow or lack of sunlight. 
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“The whole point was to test to see what we wanted to do in the future,” she said. 
This past summer, the city spent about $1,500 per month on electricity to power the existing streetlamps. The cost is even higher during the winter when there are more hours of darkness, Nissula said. 

Aging streetlamps difficult to maintain

The streetlamps currently lining Main Street were installed in the 1980s. Their age has made it impossible to find matching replacements and difficult to find parts for repairs.
That has become increasingly problematic as the decades-old lights begin to break down or get damaged, like in 2022 when one of the lights melted in the Watkins Pharmacy fire. 
“We couldn’t replace these anyway,” she said. “When we took the old lights down (by the courthouse), they basically just crumbled.”
The $260,000 streetlamp project is funded by grant money, the city’s Street Department, and local-option tax funding. 

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For years, French homeowners with solar panels could bank on selling their excess electricity back to the grid, adding a tidy sum to the family budget. But that’s a thing of the past. The collapse of feed-in tariffs for surplus solar power—plus the axing of self-consumption bonuses—has fundamentally changed the economics for photovoltaics in France. Put simply: it’s now smarter to use your own solar energy or store it for later, rather than counting on selling it off.
According to data from Enedis (France’s electricity distribution operator), solar installations equipped with storage systems shot up by nearly 167% between Q4 2024 and the end of 2025. In fact, their numbers have more than tripled in just three years. While battery-equipped systems still make up just around 8% of the total self-consumption market by volume, they’re by far the fastest-growing slice of France’s solar scene.
This acceleration is partly thanks to a new generation of battery storage solutions, like those developed by Zendure. Gone are the days of complex hybrid inverters and heavy-duty electrical work. These new low-voltage modular batteries plug directly into a standard power outlet, meaning no mandatory electrician is needed for installation. This opens the battery game to renters and small-installation owners who, until now, were locked out by the cost and complexity of traditional solutions.
What’s more, Zendure is betting big on artificial intelligence to squeeze every last cent of value from storage. Its ZEN+ HOME ecosystem—built around the ZENKI AI assistant and their proprietary ZenPulse model—constantly tracks solar production, household consumption, and electricity prices. The result? It can anticipate your energy needs 24 hours ahead, then automatically trigger the smartest charge-discharge cycles.
The PowerHub, described as the heart of this ecosystem, manages everything: from solar panels and batteries to grid connection, backup supply, and even smart home devices like heat pumps or electric vehicle charging stations.
Come August 2026, Zendure raised the bar again with a new partnership with French energy supplier Sobry. Now, users of certain SolarFlow models can activate a variable-rate electricity subscription—straight from the app. The benefit? You charge your battery when power is cheapest, and use it when rates soar. According to Zendure, a household equipped with solar panels and an 8 kWh battery could save up to €625 (roughly $675) per year, without needing to touch a thing.
The lesson? If you thought solar’s game-changing days were behind us, think again: smart storage (and a dash of clever software) is rewriting the rules once more.

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Silfab Solar files lawsuit against York County to end zoning battle, resume solar panel manufacturing  Queen City News
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FORT MILL, N.C. (WBTV) – A controversial solar panel plant in York County filed a complaint on Friday against the county to resume solar cell production at its site.
On Friday, Oct. 16, Silfab Solar, whose facility in Fort Mill, filed a complaint against York County to resume its “fully permitted” solar cell and solar module manufacturing.
The complaint was seeking clarification from a judge’s ruling from earlier this year that Silfab Solar can not operate under the light-industrial zoning classification. The complaint said the judge’s ruling applies retroactively to Silfab despite them receiving approval from York County Council prior to the judge’s ruling.
Companies under the light-industrial zoning manufacture computers, computer parts, communication equipment and similar electronic products. Solar manufacturing was not permitted under the light-industrial district, where Silfab Solar is currently operating.
Silfab Solar said in the complaint that the ruling cannot be applied retroactively to Silfab. The county would seek for Silfab to stop operations or revoke its permits, the complaint said.
In July a South Carolina judge upheld a March 2024 ruling that Silfab Solar was not qualified to work within the light-industrial zoning classification. In February 2024, the York County Zoning Administrator concluded that Silfab Solar’s Fort Mill plant was able to produce solar panels under the light-industrial zoning classification.
However, in March 2024, the York County Board Zone of Appeals reversed that decision. The Board Zone of Appeals ruled 5-0 that the area where Fort Mill plant is located is only permitted to do light industrial work.
The complaint said in August 2021, York County confirmed solar panel manufacturing was allowed under light-industrial zoning.
According to the complaint, in May 2024, the York County Zoning Administrator said solar panel manufacturing is not listed under the use for light-industrial zoning.
In June 2024, the county issued a statement saying the decision by the York County Zoning Administrator did not apply to Silfab, according to the complaint. The complaint said, “the zoning verification gave Silfab the legal right to develop the property for its intended purpose.”
The ruling from the zoning administrator would only apply to future projects in the light industrial zoning, according to the complaint.
The complaint said the court did not address whether the zoning decision made by York County applied to Silfab. The complaint also said in August the court denied a reconsideration of the decision made by zoning administrator.
“Silfab Solar, consistent with the views of local authorities, today took affirmative action to further protect the company’s legal right to operate at its Fort Mill, SC, facility. While we believe the filing of the declaratory judgment action is unnecessary given Silfab’s receipt of all permits and approvals needed to operate, Silfab is hopeful that this action will bring finality to the uncertainty caused by a small but vocal minority.
“Silfab understands and sympathizes with York County’s desire to seek clarity, which is why the company took this step to secure a declaratory judgment.
“Our complaint accurately and convincingly details how Silfab’s opponents have abused the zoning processes to improperly challenge County Council’s legitimate actions to recruit Silfab to our specific site and to induce Silfab to invest hundreds of millions of dollars and create hundreds of jobs in York County. We are confident that the courts will ultimately validate the legitimacy of our operations. That result will not only protect Silfab’s workers and our investment in the community; it will also ensure that future employers will have the stability, predictability, and trust necessary to create jobs and grow the state’s economy without fear that zoning processes will be weaponized against them.
“Furthermore, this action seeks to protect Silfab’s rights and ability to bring more jobs to the region and maximize the full capacity of its space at Fort Mill.
“Silfab’s filing is in alignment with York County’s efforts to achieve what we believe is a mutually agreeable outcome.”
Copyright 2026 WBTV. All rights reserved.

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A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employee has been charged with 12 felony counts of vandalism in a yearlong graffiti vandalism spree across Los Angeles that cost businesses over $170,000 in repairs to their buildings. Many of the buildings ar  Instagram
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Published on Oct 16, 2026
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Washington state utility Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has stated that it has launched the construction of a 130-MW solar park in Montana. The solar project is in proximity to its 248MW Beaver Creek wind farm in the northwestern US state.
Also, the launched Battle Butte Solar project will support PSE’s clean energy goals in compliance with Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA).
The solar project commissioning is targeted for mid-2028. It is located in the high plains near the Rapelje community in Stillwater County. Furthermore, the photovoltaic (PV) farm is expected to have an annual output that will be equal to the electricity consumption of around 20,000 homes.
Moreover, the plant will cover 1,400 acres of flat, open ranch land. Additionally, it will utilise existing transmission infrastructure near the Beaver Creek wind farm, which was brought online in the summer of 2025.

PSE foresees the construction phase of the Battle Butte project to open around 250 jobs. “Battle Butte solar represents a critical component of our clean energy strategy,” said Craig Pospisil, senior vice president at PSE, adding that the utility will build upon its positive relationships with the Stillwater County community.
Lastly, as of end-2025, PSE has already eliminated coal from its energy portfolio. The utility delivers electric and natural gas service to the Puget Sound region of Western Washington.
Project Name: Battle Butte Solar Project
Developer / Owner: Puget Sound Energy (PSE)
Location: Stillwater County, Montana (High plains near Rapelje; 15 miles north of Columbus)
Capacity: 130 MW
Estimated Generation: Equivalent to the annual power consumption of 20,000 homes
Land Footprint: 1,400 acres of flat, open private ranch land
Target Completion: Mid-2028
Grid Infrastructure: Co-located near PSE’s 248-MW Beaver Creek Wind Farm; utilizes existing Colstrip Transmission Line capacity
Economic Impact: 250 construction jobs; local tax revenue generation for Stillwater County
Regulatory Drivers: Supports Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) goals
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This article is translated automatically.
Six months after its commissioning, the world’s largest photovoltaic system on a stadium roof is becoming one of the most visible symbols of renewable energy in international sport. On the roof of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, the home ground of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, the project sets new standards for sustainable energy supply in professional football.
The record-breaking plant on the roof of one of Europe’s best-known football stadiums will generate more than 4 GWh of renewable electricity per year in the future. This corresponds to the amount of energy required to operate the stadium’s floodlight system for around 1,000 match days. At the same time, around 1,700 tons of CO₂ emissions are avoided annually.
The plant, which has been fully operational since December 2025, replaces an earlier system that could no longer meet the association’s increasing energy requirements. The modernisation is part of Borussia Dortmund’s comprehensive sustainability strategy and supports the goal of future-proofing stadium operations in the long term through large-scale clean energy generation.
“For us, this project was the next logical step on our way to greater sustainability,” says Florian Demnitz, Energy Manager at Borussia Dortmund. “We already had a solar system on the roof, but it was clear that we could achieve even more. We needed even more performance to ensure that the stadium’s energy needs could continue to be met for decades to come.”
The system was developed by Borussia Dortmund’s energy partner RWE. The focus was not only on maximising electricity generation from renewable energies, but also on maintaining the unmistakable appearance of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. To ensure this important balance between performance and design, Borussia Dortmund and RWE chose JA (formerly JA Solar) as their technology partner.
The system consists of a total of 11,132 bifacial n-type modules of the type JA JAM54D41/LB with an output of up to 450 watts per module. Compared to conventional modules, they offer higher efficiency and lower power degradation over the entire service life. The double-glazed construction further increases durability and helps to ensure reliable operation over the planned service life of 30 years. The bifacial design makes use of sunlight on both the front and back of the modules, which further increases the energy yield.
A full black design was chosen for the facility, which blends harmoniously into the roof landscape of the stadium, retains the visual identity of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK and at the same time picks up on the black and yellow club colours of Borussia Dortmund. The modules are manufactured according to JA’s ITS Supply Chain Standard and thus meet defined requirements in terms of sustainability and complete traceability.
“We are proud to have been selected as a module supplier for such a groundbreaking project. For us, this is a testament to the quality and reliability of our technology,” says Alastair Mounsey, Vice President Europe at JA.
“The solar plant is already making an important contribution to Borussia Dortmund’s sustainability goals by providing clean, renewable electricity for match days and other events. In addition, the project impressively demonstrates how solar technology can be integrated into existing infrastructure on a large scale – from stadiums to entire cities. With millions of fans on site and in front of their screens worldwide, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is now much more than a football stadium. It is also a strong example of how sport and renewable energy can work together on a global scale.”
“We are very satisfied with the performance of the solar system in the first months of its operation. The results are completely in line with our expectations,” adds Florian Demnitz. “The project is already having a noticeable impact on the energy supply and operational efficiency of SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. At the same time, we hope that it inspires other sports organizations to resolutely advance their own sustainability goals.”
On the occasion of the cooperation between Borussia Dortmund and JA, Karl-Heinz Riedle, former German national player and BVB legend, will visit the JA stand at Intersolar (Hall A2, Stand 380) at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 23 June. Visitors will have the opportunity to take a souvenir photo and get an autograph from one of the most famous personalities in the club’s history.
The installation at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, which is officially recognised as the world’s largest solar system on a stadium roof, is one of the most visible symbols of renewable energies in international sport

In the future, the plant will generate more than 4 GWh of renewable electricity per year – enough energy to operate the stadium’s floodlight system for around 1,000 match days

JA’s modules have been selected to meet Borussia Dortmund’s high energy requirements and ensure reliable performance over the entire 30-year lifespan

The full black design ensures that the solar system blends harmoniously into the stadium’s roofscape and at the same time reflects Borussia Dortmund’s black and yellow brand identity

With millions of fans in the stadium and in front of their screens worldwide, SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is an impressive example of how sport and renewable energies can come together on a global scale
The AVENTOS Group has leased 16,500 square meters of logistics space in Leverkusen to Westmax Consulting KG. This marks the full occupancy of the BENTO Leverkusen site.
Quantum has successfully leased around 900 m² of office space in P1 in Berlin. The tenants are the management consultancy RITTERWALD and HYSTAKE Investment Partners, which are expected to move in in December 2026.
The AVENTOS Group has sold a data center in Nuremberg to AEW. Built in 2010 and covering approx. 2,592 square metres with a connected load of 6.4 MVA, the property is fully leased on a long-term basis to an international technology company.
TotalEnergies is bundling its integrated power business in Germany under "Integrated Power Germany". QUADRA energy Sales & Origination, Kyon Energy, VSB and the offshore wind business will be combined. Alexandre Duret-Proux will head the new unit.
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Pasco County Commissioners heard presentations for two forms of solar panel construction at the October 6th meeting. The board directed the leadership of the Facilities and Utilities departments to return at a later meeting to provide answers to questions that were not available and gather information on funding mechanisms.
Pasco County is considering installing Floating Photovoltaic (FPV) solar panels installed on floating structures in the Boyette Reservoir and the Land O’ Lakes reservoir, both located in East Pasco.
Utilities Director Joseph Amoah listed the benefits of the pontoon-supported structures, including a possible 70 percent reduction in evaporation of the reservoirs, reducing algae growth, and leading to better water quality. The downside is a high initial cost and regular maintenance expenditures. It would require a long-term investment to realize a return on investment.
The Land O’ Lakes system would cost approximately $1 million, and the Boyette system an estimated $3.3 million. Cisco Pavez, Utilities Senior Program Manager, explained that funding by Investment Tax Credit (ITC) would lower the costs to $700,000 and $2.3 million, respectively, after a 30 percent investment credit called DirectPay.
Cisco Pavez, Utilities Senior Program Manager, explained that DirectPay “allows tax-exempt and governmental entities to receive a direct cash refund from the IRS for clean energy investments. Under section 48E, the technology-neutral Clean Electricity Investment Credit offers a baseline refund of 30 percent of eligible project costs.”
Pavez added that a grant application has been submitted to the FDEP Alternative Water Supply Grant program.
Both locations planned for the FPVs are near power plants and would be used to generate power for these facilities. Chairman Jack Mariano requested an agreement with the power facilities outlining how savings would be passed on to their customers.
Commissioners instructed Amoah to gather information on replacement costs if damaged and insurance coverage.
At the West Pasco Government Center, the proposal is to construct solar-canopy parking on the East lot, topped with solar panels. These bays could additionally be fitted with EV (electric vehicle) charging equipment.
Beginning with 52 spaces to assess the benefits, two additional canopies will provide a total of 196 covered spaces. The first 52 stations would range from $218,400 to $301,600 without future EV capability and $282,000 to $458,000 if included.
Yearly operating expenses range from $5,500 to $9,100 and $6,500 to $12,700 with EV charging. Interim Facilities Management Director Nikki Allen cautioned that the figures are conceptual until a feasibility study is completed. If successful, the solar canopies could save the County $28-49K annually and would take 10-17 years to realize payback. Allen will also return to the board with an engineering report and additional funding sources.
The Hernando Sun is a locally owned weekly newspaper. The founders of the newspaper are Rocco and Julie Maglio. They saw the need for a newspaper when the Hernando Today newspaper closed their doors in 2014. Rocco is from Hernando, he went to school from Moton Elementary through Hernando High. Growing up in Hernando enhances his ability to provide background to ongoing issues. The Hernando Sun Printed their first issue in March 2015. They published monthly for a year before increasing to a weekly printing. The newspaper is delivered through the US mail, so it arrives with your mail.
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Organization representatives, Youthnet staff and community members celebrate Thursday the recently completed installation of an 83.3-kilowatt solar array at Youthnet’s Mount Vernon campus, which is seen in the background.

Organization representatives, Youthnet staff and community members celebrate Thursday the recently completed installation of an 83.3-kilowatt solar array at Youthnet’s Mount Vernon campus, which is seen in the background.
MOUNT VERNON — The nonprofit Youthnet celebrated Thursday a new 83.3-kilowatt solar array at its main campus in Mount Vernon.
A $172,088 Solar Enhanced Incentive award from Puget Sound Energy covered the full cost of the panels.
Youthnet provides support, particularly foster care resources, to youth and families throughout Western Washington.

Bellingham-based Western Solar installed the panels, a process completed at the end of September. Western Solar and Puget Sound Energy have partnered on several community solar array installations in Whatcom and Skagit counties.
“Today we are celebrating clean energy,” Rocio Castillo-Foel, community affairs manager at PSE said at the Thursday event.
Castillo-Foel said the project will help Youthnet run more efficiently and better support families throughout the region.
Puget Sound Energy launched the Solar Enhanced Incentive program in 2017, and in 2025 the program provided $3.3 million for 20 solar installations throughout the state.
“Not only are they providing customers with funding, but they’re actually reducing the revenue that they earn,” said Evan Bush, Western Solar’s vice president of commercial sales and operations.
Jon Rylaarsdam, Youthnet’s executive director, said the solar panels will likely save the organization about $1,800 a month, or $200,000 a year, in energy costs.
Youthnet was founded in 1969 with the mission to supply temporary housing for teenagers “that would bridge the gap between living at home and foster care or institutions,” according to its website.
It’s nearly 60-year legacy has included establishing group homes, alternative educational settings and individualized care programs.
The nonprofit supports youth and families in 15 Washington counties.
“This is just a small fraction of the people representing so many partnerships,” Rylaarsdam said of the organizational leaders present at Thursday’s celebration and ribbon cutting. “We don’t do it alone.”
According to a 2023 Puget Sound Energy Community Profile, Puget Sound Energy provides electricity to about 50,000 residences in Skagit County.
Puget Sound Energy encourages government agencies, community-based organizations, government agencies and tribal entities to apply for Solar Enhanced Incentive funding.
Applications are reviewed monthly. To learn more, visit https://www.pse.com/en/green-options/solar-energy-credit.
Josh Hernandez can be reached at jhernandez@skagitpublishing.com
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The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors continue to craft revisions to an ordinance that deals with data centers, solar farms, and battery storage. The intention of the supervisors is to protect Winnebago County residents, business, and industry while still creating opportunities for those new industries.
Supervisor Terry Durby has taken examples of ordinances from other Iowa counties and is asking the other supervisors, the County Attorney, and the County Engineer for input on a draft to send to the Winnebago County Zoning Board. That board would create a final draft for approval.
Durby used the data center ordinance from Greene County as a model for Winnebago County.
Durby also pointed to the solar farm issue need to be addressed. He admitted that this portion was modeled after a county in southern Iowa.
The ordinance which Durby reviewed gives a height restriction of 15 feet and must be anti-glare glass. Durby highlighted the other requirements which must be met.
Durby believes that the board will review the model ordinance and revise it to more accurately reflect the needs of Winnebago County.
Battery storage regulations were also discussed by Durby who said that the county is getting some guidance in this area.
The board will continue to gather information in the composition of the new ordinance.
 
 
 
 

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“The VPP earns me back a couple of hundred each year.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A Los Angeles homeowner shopping for rooftop solar got a Tesla quote that topped $60,000 once roof work and an electrical-panel upgrade were added.
They took to Reddit’s r/TeslaSolar community to ask, “Is this a reasonable quote for Los Angeles?”
The homeowner laid out the details in the Reddit post, explaining that the updated estimate covered a 13.44-kilowatt system, $17,470 in roof work, and a $4,130 upgrade to the main electrical panel. 
The original poster, a customer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, asked whether the total was typical for Los Angeles and whether splitting the work among different contractors might lower the cost.
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers in your area.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
OP also questioned whether the potential $530.64 monthly payment would be worth it over the next 15 years. Some commenters clearly agreed, with one writing, “Seems high for a system with no battery backup.”
Replies largely debated whether tacking on battery storage to a proposed solar array makes sense under LADWP. One commenter said “you don’t need batteries with LADWP” because exported solar earns better credit there than with SCE, but another Angeleno called their Powerwall “Definitely worth having” after living through a 24-hour outage during fires. This same commenter added, “Plus the VPP earns me back a couple of hundred each year.”
Taken together, the comments highlighted a familiar decision for city homeowners: whether to prioritize lower utility bills or spend more for outage protection. Some people pointed to LADWP’s billing setup as a reason batteries may be unnecessary, while others argued backup storage still has value in Los Angeles because outages are part of life there.
One sensible way to evaluate a package like this is to price out the roofing, electrical, and solar portions separately instead of treating them as a single all-in proposal. 
FROM OUR PARTNER
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers that can help you save as much as $10k on installation.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best local options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
Still, going solar is one of the best ways to save money on home energy, but this post shows why comparing bids matters. Homeowners can try EnergySage to get free solar installation estimates and compare quotes before signing a long-term loan. With EnergySage’s help, the average person can save up to $10,000 on solar purchases and installations.
Homeowners curious about backup battery options can also explore EnergySage for information about home battery storage, including competitive installation estimates.
For more background, EnergySage’s solar map shows the average cost of a home solar panel system by state, along with details on solar panel incentives for each state.
These stories explore the same issues behind a pricey solar quote in Los Angeles, from what drives installation costs up to where homeowners can save. 
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
• EnergySage experts have helped homeowners slash solar prices by $9,000 through competitive bidding.
• Tesla and IronRidge are rolling out a lower-cost rooftop mounting system to simplify installations.
• Tesla’s newer inverter technology could save homeowners about $4,500 by reducing solar equipment costs.
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
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The string of records from Australia’s renewable energy transition continue to tumble with rooftop solar output reaching a new all-time high of 17,488 MW in the National Electricity Market (NEM) at noon on Sunday.
Geoff Eldridge from Global Power Energy (GPE NEMLog) said the new peak is 495 MW higher than the previous record of 16,993 MW set just two weeks earlier and 2,388 MW, or 15.81% up on the 15,100 MW generated on 4 October 2025. 
At the time of the new rooftop solar generation peak, combined distributed PV and utility-scale solar share of NEM consumption reached a record 72.29%, up from the 70.80% achieved on 12 September 2026.
Eldridge said the latest rooftop solar output milestone is part of a “remarkable run” with four new records across three regions in just five days.
On Wednesday, 7 October Victoria recorded 4,191 MW of rooftop solar generation, surpassing its previous high of 4,036 MW set in January this year. During this peak interval, renewables contributed 65.9% of the state’s total generation.
On the same day, South Australia recorded a new rooftop solar peak of 2,070 MW, eclipsing the previous peak of 1,970 MW set two weeks earlier. At the time of the new high, renewables covered 96.3% of the state’s total electricity demand.
On Friday, 9 October New South Wales recorded a new rooftop solar generation peak of 6,346 MW, 241 MW higher than the previous record of 6,106 MW set nine days earlier.
Eldridge highlighted that the new peaks are instantaneous output records and not daily energy production records but pointed out that they do demonstrate the growing contribution of renewable energy across the NEM.
“They reinforce the expanding contribution of consumer energy resources and the changing daytime operating environment across the NEM,” he said.
The Australian Energy Market Operator said between 1 January and 30 September 2026, renewable energy has accounted for an average of 44% of all electricity generation across the NEM.  About 4 million Australian homes and small businesses have embraced rooftop solar, having installed an estimated 22 GW of rooftop PV capacity, and that enthusiasm is continuing to build with 2026 on track to be a record year of installations.

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R.Power has completed construction of its 55MWp Lazuri solar project in Satu Mare County, north-western Romania, with energisation planned by the end of 2026.
The European independent power producer said the high-voltage project comprises 88,708 PV modules and six medium-voltage stations.
R.Power added that the facility is expected to generate around 70GWh annually once operational, equivalent to the electricity consumption of more than 44,000 households.
The Lazuri development is one of Romania’s largest solar farms by installed capacity and has secured a 15-year Contract for Difference (CfD) from the Romanian authorities.
The project was financed through a €44 million project finance facility signed by R.Power in June 2026 with ING Bank NV and UniCredit Bank SA.
The financing covers a portfolio of four PV projects in Romania with a combined capacity of approximately 75MWp.
Lazuri forms part of R.Power’s 1.5GW pipeline of solar, hybrid and energy storage projects in Romania.
R.Power country head for Romania Florin Federenciuc said: “Completing construction works at Lazuri is an important milestone for R.Power’s Romanian solar portfolio.”
“The project has moved efficiently from development through financing and construction, and we are now preparing for energisation and the start of operations.”
“Romania remains a key market in our CEE strategy, and we look forward to Lazuri contributing utility-scale clean energy to the grid.”
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Solar cells normally absorb sunlight from a narrow range of directions but can emit light across a much wider range.
Solar cells could potentially generate more electricity by controlling not only how they absorb sunlight, but also the directions in which they emit light. Researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Barcelona have experimentally demonstrated a method for reducing one source of energy loss in solar cells by narrowing the angular range over which they emit photons. 
The approach, published in Energy & Environmental Science, could offer a route to surpass the conventional theoretical efficiency limit for single-junction solar cells. The work focuses on a loss mechanism known as Boltzmann loss, which occurs because a material that absorbs light can also emit it.
A solar cell receives sunlight from a relatively narrow range of directions. The Sun occupies only a small area of the sky, meaning incoming sunlight reaches a solar cell within a narrow angular cone.
Photons generated inside the solar cell, however, can normally be emitted over a much wider range of directions. According to the ICFO researchers, this mismatch between the narrow incoming cone and broad emission cone reduces the amount of useful work that can ultimately be extracted from the device.
The researchers sought to reduce that loss by making the solar cell more selective about the directions in which it can emit light.
The team, led by ICFO and UPC Professor Jordi Martorell, included Dr. Francisco Bernal Texca, Chiara Cortese, Dr. Mariia Kramarenko and Dr. Quan Liu. They used an inverted organic solar cell based on the PM6:Y6 material blend and transformed it into an optical cavity.
The resulting structure inhibited photon emission at large angles, effectively narrowing the cell’s emission cone.
The researchers achieved the effect using a silver-based front electrode combined with a layered structure and a second silver electrode at the back of the cell.
The metal front electrode provides high reflectivity across a broad range of angles for emitted light. Together with the rear electrode and surrounding layers, it forms an optical cavity.
The cavity performs two functions at once: it suppresses light emission at wider angles while allowing incoming sunlight to enter efficiently from the direction it arrives. That allows the angular distribution of emitted light to more closely resemble the angular distribution of incoming sunlight.
Importantly, the researchers say the approach does not require additional fabrication complexity compared with many other strategies being explored to push photovoltaic efficiency beyond conventional limits.
The work addresses the well-known Shockley–Queisser limit, which describes the theoretical efficiency ceiling for a conventional single-junction solar cell under the assumptions of the model.
ICFO puts that limit at 33.16 percent. The researchers say that if the emission cone could be narrowed sufficiently to better match the absorption cone of sunlight, efficiencies approaching 43 percent could theoretically become possible.
That does not mean the researchers have produced a 43-percent-efficient solar cell. The study demonstrates the optical strategy for reducing the relevant loss mechanism in an organic photovoltaic device.
“Our study is a significant step forward in the solar energy conversion field as it opens a completely unexplored route to surpass the Shockley–Queisser limit,” said Dr. Francisco Bernal Texca, first author of the study.
The researchers also emphasize that the underlying principle is not restricted to organic photovoltaics. While the experiment was conducted using an organic solar cell, Martorell said the concept could, in principle, be applied across different photovoltaic technologies.
If the approach can be translated into higher-performing practical devices, controlling the direction of photon emission could become another tool for squeezing more electricity from the same amount of incoming sunlight.
Higher photovoltaic efficiency could also reduce the land and materials needed for a given amount of solar generation while lowering the cost per watt of electricity produced, according to the researchers.
Kaif Shaikh is a journalist and writer passionate about turning complex information into clear, impactful stories. His writing covers technology, sustainability, geopolitics, and occasionally fiction. A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, his work has appeared in the Times of India and beyond. After a near-fatal experience, Kaif began seeing both stories and silences differently. Outside work, he juggles far too many projects and passions, but always makes time to read, reflect, and hold onto the thread of wonder.
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Lebanon County, PA news, events, and opinions.
From left, Union Township solicitor Paul Bametzreider, supervisors Stephen Lum, Kerry McCrary, and Gary Longenecker, and township manager Brent McFeaters at the Oct. 14 meeting. (Todd Lassa)
This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.
Union Township supervisors voted 3-0 Wednesday to grant conditional approval to SolAmerica Energy’s planned Newswanger Solar Farm at 107 Awol Road.
Approval was made conditional after township solicitor Paul Bametzreider’s recommendation because SolAmerica was not yet able to provide $1.1 million escrow for required stormwater improvements to the project.
“Until that escrow agreement is funded, and the bank is supposed to give us the escrow agreement in writing when it is funded, you cannot finally approve the plan,” Bametzreider told the board.
Union Township’s planning code allows conditional approval before the developer secures financing, Bametzreider said, “but they’re limited to 90 days before that conditional approval goes away.”
In addition to the $1.1 million in escrow for stormwater improvements, signed agreements and the recording fee remain outstanding.
SolAmerica Energy will need the full 90 days of the conditional approval period to secure escrow for the stormwater improvements, Alviez Chagan, senior project development manager for the Atlanta-based company, told supervisors.
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The developer plans a 2-megawatt solar farm to generate solar power sold to energy utilities, on 10 to 20 acres of farmland leased from the Newswanger family, Chagan told LebTown. He did not have the estimated total cost of the solar farm, but said the company expects to begin construction next year.
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In a separate item, township manager Brent McFeaters said in his zoning officer’s report that Sudarshan Niroula approached him about two weeks earlier to discuss establishing a roadside stand and shed at 2629 State Route 72 to sell chickens. Customers would choose a chicken from the house or stand, where it would be defeathered before being handed to the customer, McFeaters said.
Niroula told McFeaters the business plans to have 100 to 200 chickens in stock and expects to sell about 50 per week, but to sustain such a business the business would need 500 to 600 chickens, including peeps, McFeaters said. The property is on eight acres in a residential neighborhood zoned as an agricultural district, he said.
“They can have up to a thousand chickens,” McFeaters said. “My concern is avian influenza, for one thing.”
Before Union Township can issue a zoning permit, Niroula’s chicken business would need a number of state and federal permits, including a permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“They kind of backed off when I mentioned the USDA permit,” McFeaters said.
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Todd Lassa is a career journalist with experience at metro dailies, a business weekly, a Capitol Hill newsletter publisher, and three national car enthusiast magazines. Lassa also contributes to LNP/Lancaster Online and Autoweek and is founding editor of thehustings.news. He lives in Columbia with his… More by Todd Lassa
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New solar-cell design based on dots and wires  MIT Energy Initiative
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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.
Availability depends on the municipality or school district, not a national program.
Photo Credit: iStock
A few volunteer hours at a library, community center, or administrative office can mean lower property taxes for some older homeowners.
In parts of eight states, local “tax work-off” programs turn volunteer service into credits on residents’ property tax bills, according to Kiplinger.
Availability depends on the municipality or school district, not a national program.
The AARP indicates these arrangements can reduce annual costs for older Americans by as much as $1,500.
Most programs require the applicant to own and live in the home year-round as a primary residence. Many programs set eligibility at age 60, 62, or 65, though some also include veterans, surviving spouses, or people with disabilities.
Participants typically serve in public departments, including libraries, community centers, and administrative offices. 
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States usually convert their hours at either the state minimum wage or a locally set rate, and apply the resulting credit to the homeowner’s property tax bill.
Kiplinger identified eight states where laws allow some form of work-off property tax relief: Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Colorado, and Texas.
Rising housing costs are one reason this type of relief can matter for older adults. 
The National Institutes of Health estimates that about 168,000 adults over 65 face eviction or forced displacement each year.
That makes even modest credits significant, particularly in places where annual savings can reach four figures. Retirees on fixed incomes feel property tax increases sharply when local assessments outpace their household budgets.
The rules vary widely by state. 
In Massachusetts, the standard cap is $1,500 per fiscal year, although towns can approve an increase to $2,000. In Rhode Island, qualifying residents may receive up to $1,500 per year for municipal volunteer service.
In New York, some volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers can qualify for a property tax break of up to 10% where local tax jurisdictions allow it, while many Pennsylvania school districts cap benefits at about $550 to $1,000, with some reaching $1,200.
Anyone interested in using one of these programs should start with their local municipal or school district website, because the detailed rules are often set there. 
Even when a legal framework exists, local municipalities or school districts determine the cap, required hours, and participating departments.
Maine lets residents 60 and older earn up to whichever is greater: $1,000 or 100 times the state minimum wage. Washington’s version depends on participating local school districts and is open to residents 62 or older.
Homeowners in towns that don’t offer a tax work-off option may still have other ways to reduce their bills. 
Kiplinger listed exemptions, tax freezes, and circuit breaker programs as alternatives, and cited New Jersey, where qualifying households may be eligible for as much as $6,500 a year across three property tax programs.
Kiplinger, citing AmeriCorps Seniors, says one to two years of volunteering was associated with lower depression, anxiety, and loneliness. It also referenced an NIH survey linking at least 100 volunteer hours per year to lower mortality risk and fewer physical-function limitations.
The NIH survey Kiplinger reviewed linked about two hours of volunteering per week, or at least 100 hours a year, to better mobility and higher overall physical activity.
Other programs can help homeowners offset rising housing costs, including state insurance relief and government-backed rebates or tax credits for home upgrades.
• In Hawai’i, lawmakers approved a lifeline for thousands as insurance costs climbed.
• States are unlocking billions from the government for home renovation rebates and efficiency upgrades.
• In Virginia, homeowners can collect up to $550 for bill-cutting renovations through performance rebates.
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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