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That layer is then crystallized with a pulsed green nanosecond laser.
Photo Credit: LONGi
Solar power’s steady march forward has reached another milestone, as Chinese photovoltaic module manufacturer LONGi announced in a news release that it has achieved a 28.29% power conversion efficiency for a hybrid interdigitated-back-contact, or HIBC, silicon solar cell. 
Now, the company is saying the result pushes the technology closer to its theoretical ceiling.
The result was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin, as pv magazine reported. With that verification, LONGi moved past the 28.13% efficiency it posted in May and set a record for single-junction crystalline silicon solar cells.
Higher efficiency lets a solar cell generate more electricity from the same amount of sunlight and footprint. LONGi said this was its third record in 2026.
“LONGi has broken the world records three times this year, pushing cell efficiency to 28.04%, 28.13%, and 28.29%,” the company wrote.
By its estimate, crystalline silicon solar cells have now reached 96.2% of their theoretical maximum efficiency.
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Crystalline silicon remains the dominant material in the global solar market. Improvements at this level can ripple across the industry, potentially making clean electricity more affordable and more practical in places where roof area or land availability is limited.
In a scientific paper last November, LONGi described the HIBC cell’s construction, as pv magazine recounted. It said the architecture pairs passivated tunneling contacts with dielectric passivation layers and includes both n-type and p-type contacts.
The company said the device is built on a high-resistivity half-cut M10 wafer and incorporates edge passivation along with optimized n-type contacts made through a mix of high- and low-temperature processing. 
LONGi also said an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer aids lateral transport, while multilayer aluminum oxide and silicon nitride coatings curb surface recombination, per pv magazine.
More efficient panels can also help companies and utilities generate more energy from existing footprints, potentially reducing installation and land-use costs.
During fabrication, LONGi said its in situ passivated-edge approach handles edge passivation. The company also pointed to deep-trenched metal fingers and selective ITO etching as ways to limit leakage between the n-type and p-type contacts, per pv magazine.
LONGi said it also uses a thicker amorphous silicon layer to improve junction coverage and better encapsulate the sidewalls. The company said it then crystallizes that layer with a pulsed green nanosecond laser to cut contact resistivity while preserving passivation.
According to LONGi, the approach may be suitable for heterojunction solar cell manufacturing. The company added that resistive losses in the p-type contact still need further reduction.
“This marks the successful mass production of this cutting-edge technology and demonstrates Longi’s robust capability to develop premium PV products and commercialize advanced technologies,” the company concluded.
Records from other solar developers and labs show how quickly cell design is improving.
• In Singapore, researchers achieved a certified world-record efficiency with a new perovskite solar cell.
• In China, scientists solved a hidden leak problem and pushed tandem-cell efficiency past 33%.
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TV customers allege that a broadcast TV surcharge was not clearly disclosed at sign-up.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Customers who enrolled in Spectrum internet or TV packages with advertised monthly price guarantees say those bills did not stay flat for the entire promotional period.
Complaints about those mid-promotion increases are now being gathered in an investigation that may help both current and former subscribers pursue compensation, Top Class Actions reported.
The inquiry centers on complaints from residential Spectrum internet and TV subscribers who say Charter Communications, which operates Spectrum, raised charges during advertised one- or two-year fixed-rate periods in what is alleged to be a bait-and-switch pricing scheme.
One complaint involves the advertised monthly price; customers say the base rate on their service plans increased annually even before the promised fixed-price period ended.
Subscribers also point to separate line items on their bills, and they said charges for cable boxes and modems rose during the same period. 
TV customers allege that a broadcast TV surcharge was not clearly disclosed at sign-up and later was added or increased during what was supposed to be a fixed-rate term.
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Companies may advertise a simple monthly rate, but the real cost can become harder to track once extra fees and line-item adjustments start appearing on statements.
Consumers who believe they were affected can fill out the form via Top Class Actions. 
People who signed up for one- or two-year fixed-price plans may want to review old bills, promotional emails, service agreements, and equipment charges. 
Documents showing when service began, what rate was promised, and when fees changed could help determine whether costs increased during the promotional window.
Spectrum customers’ complaints about rising prices reflect a wider problem: Household bills keep climbing in ways many people do not expect. These articles look at utility profits and efforts to pass more costs on to customers.
• Across the U.S., utility providers reported rising profits as customers absorbed higher bills.
• A watchdog said utilities engineered schemes to keep electricity bills high for households.
• Utilities gave tech companies special deals as data centers drove homeowners’ bills upward.
• Utilities across the country requested record-breaking $31 billion in rate hikes despite backlash.
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Yanara has awarded Gamuda Australia the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the first stage of the Mortlake Energy Hub being developed in southwest Victoria, paving the way for the hybrid project to move into construction.
The $790 million (USD 554 million) contract covers the design, procurement, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of the facility. Gamuda said it also expects to soon secure an operation and maintenance (O&M) contract worth $45 million.
The signing of the EPC contract comes after Yanara late last year appointed Gamuda under an early contractor involvement (ECI) arrangement, a phase that enabled the partners to advance designs, undertake procurement and commence construction planning.
The Mortlake Energy Hub (MEH) is to combine 450 MW of solar generation with a 600 MW / 2,400 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) and is expected to be built across two stages.
In a statement, Gamuda said Stage 1 of the integrated hybrid project will include 435 MWp solar and a 300 MW, 4.5-hour duration battery energy storage system (BESS), although that battery capacity does not reconcile with the 1,449 MWh included in the contract disclosure and is an increase from the 1,200 MWh specification Gamuda previously gave for Stage 1. The project is to connect to Victoria’s 500 kV network via the existing Mortlake Terminal Station.
While the specifics of the technologies have yet to be confirmed, Yanara Australia Chief Executive Officer David Delmas said the project represents one of the region’s most significant clean energy investments, noting that by combining solar generation with battery storage, the facility will provide greater flexibility to Victoria’s electricity system as renewable energy accounts for a growing share of the state’s generation mix.
“Beyond its scale, MEH represents the next generation of clean energy infrastructure, combining renewable generation and storage to deliver reliable, dispatchable power while creating lasting economic value for local communities and Victoria’s energy future,” he said.
Victoria is targeting a 65% renewable energy share by 2030 and 95% by 2035, as well as aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.
Early works are expected to begin on the Mortlake Energy Hub in the coming weeks with main construction works scheduled to commence in November.
The project is scheduled to be energised in April 2028, with operations expected to commence in the first quarter of 2029. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of about 200,000 homes.
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The saga left them in a maddening holding pattern.
Photo Credit: iStock
A United Kingdom homebuyer said that after purchasing a house with rooftop solar panels in 2025, access to the system’s feed-in tariff may hinge on missing paperwork from previous owners.
As they shared on the r/SolarUK subreddit, the saga left them in a maddening holding pattern. 
In a Reddit thread, the homeowner said Ofgem identified Good Energy as the property’s feed-in tariff provider after they bought a house with existing solar panels. 
But when they tried to transfer the account into their name, they said Good Energy told them it could not move forward because its records for earlier owners were incomplete.
In response, the buyer said they sent over the documents they had, including proof of ownership, information about the seller, the seller’s solicitor’s details, and the paperwork they received during the purchase. They said the issue was still unresolved after repeated requests for updates and a formal complaint.
The original poster summed up the issue this way: “It seems really frustrating that I can’t get any benefit from the solar panels due to action/inaction of previous owners.”
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This kind of complication is especially relevant for buyers who assume rooftop panels automatically transfer with the property in every practical sense. While the hardware may remain on the roof, the account tied to tariff payments may still require a separate administrative transfer.
For buyers inheriting an existing solar setup, the income attached to it depends on whether the ownership paperwork is complete before the sale closes.
Homeowners can get stuck between different parts of the energy system when trying to resolve incentive-program issues tied to records created before they bought the property.
Buyers can verify solar paperwork before closing whenever possible. That can include confirming the tariff provider, requesting proof of previous ownership transfers, and making sure the seller’s documents include records connected to the system’s registration.
If the paperwork is already missing, a formal complaint record and an escalation pathway may be the best consumer tools available.
A commenter pointed the homeowner to a practical next step of opening a dispute on the Energy Ombudsman website once eight weeks had passed.
At first, the original poster balked at the advice because they believed Good Energy was not covered based on the page titled “Information for disputes with network operators” on the website. 
However, a commenter confirmed the company was responsible.
“Good Energy is absolutely covered by the Energy Ombudsman for standard supplier disputes,” they wrote. “As an energy supply company, they are legally required to be a member.”
With that in mind, the OP could get some justice.
“The Ombudsman has the legal power to force Good Energy to clear the backlog, issue an apology, and potentially pay you compensation,” the commenter noted.
Home solar can come with plenty of fine-print headaches beyond the panels themselves. 
• One solar owner was hit with ‘ridiculous’ charges from a utility company despite generating rooftop power.
• In Australia, residents warned that ‘free’ solar panel ads looked like a brazen scam.
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ELLINGTON, CT — A nearly 5-megawatt solar farm proposed for an orchard along the Ellington-Stafford town line has received final approval from the Connecticut Siting Council.
The council issued a declaratory ruling for the Schoolhouse Road project after determining that it would not have a substantial adverse environmental effect. The decision, reached Sept. 17 and issued the following day, includes 22 conditions that must be met during construction and operation.
Greenskies Clean Energy plans to build the 4.99-megawatt facility on approximately 21.6 acres of a 74.6-acre peach and apple orchard. The site is on Schoolhouse Road near the Stafford border and is zoned Rural Agricultural Residential.
The estimated $11 million project would include 11,076 solar panels mounted on a tracking system that follows the sun. At their highest angle, the panels would stand about 9 feet above the ground.
The facility would be surrounded by a 7-foot fence and connected to the Eversource system through a combination of underground wiring and four new utility poles. Approximately 1 to 2 miles of an existing electrical feeder would also be upgraded from single-phase to three-phase service.
Electricity, capacity and renewable-energy credits generated at the site would be sold to Eversource through a 20-year Shared Clean Energy Facility agreement. The project has a contractual in-service date of Oct. 30, 2027.
The Siting Council’s approval requires Greenskies to obtain a state stormwater permit and submit final site, structural and emergency-response plans before beginning construction or operating the facility.
The company must also provide emergency-response training to Ellington firefighters. Before the solar farm begins operating, the town fire marshal must certify that the training has been completed and the emergency plan has been approved.
Other conditions call for protections within the Shenipsit Lake watershed, measures intended to protect American kestrels and the reinstallation of a kestrel nesting box after construction. Greenskies must also conduct a noise study once the facility is operating and take corrective action if the project exceeds state standards.
A bond will be required to cover the cost of dismantling the facility at the end of its useful life.
Ellington officials previously raised questions about buffers, noise from transformers and inverters, and the loss of land used for agriculture. The town’s Conservation Commission also questioned how the project would affect farmland soils of statewide importance.
Greenskies later submitted a revised farmland map. The state Department of Agriculture said the property does not contain prime farmland and therefore did not fall under the department’s authority for a formal determination.
The nearest occupied residential property line is about 228 feet east of the proposed facility, while the nearest home is approximately 445 feet west of the fence. State reviewers said portions of the project may be visible from Schoolhouse Road, although existing vegetation is expected to block most views from surrounding areas.
The company has three years from the date of the decision to complete construction. Unless the council grants an extension, the approval will become void if the facility is not built by then.
For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.
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The portability of the kits means they can be taken along when someone moves.
Photo Credit: iStock
California is one step closer to making a low-cost version of home solar legal, which could let many renters and apartment dwellers cut their electricity bills without installing panels on a roof.
With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature, residents could use compact solar kits at home by plugging them into a standard outlet, TechRadar reported.
Senate Bill 868, known as the Plug and Play Solar Act, has cleared the California legislature and awaits Newsom’s action. If signed, it would permit plug-in solar kits of up to 1,200 watts and require only a simple online registration form.
Unlike traditional rooftop solar, these kits are intended to avoid the higher costs, permitting issues, and permanent property changes that often come with full installations.
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.
Homeowners can set them up on a balcony, mount them to a wall, or place them in a backyard before connecting them to a regular outlet.
The electricity generated by the kits can offset part of a home’s power demand, and official estimates put the potential annual savings at up to $450.
Going solar is one of the best ways to save money on home energy over time. If you’re exploring a full rooftop system, EnergySage can help you get free solar installation estimates and compare quotes.
Renters could be among the biggest beneficiaries, since they often can’t make larger clean-energy upgrades to the buildings where they live.
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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.
For that reason, plug-in solar may offer a way to access some of solar’s benefits without taking on a major renovation.
The approach may also work for people whose roofs are shaded, poorly suited to panels, or otherwise impractical for a standard setup, and the kits’ portability means they can be taken along when someone moves.
California would be joining a growing trend rather than breaking entirely new ground. TechRadar reported that Utah became the first U.S. state to legalize plug-in solar in 2025, and eight more states followed.
In New York, similar legislation is awaiting the governor’s signature, while proposals remain pending in seven other states.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
Shoppers may not see that policy change reflected in stores right away. TechRadar noted that big-box retailers offer few of these kits, while companies such as Bright Saver sell systems for under $300 plus a $29 annual subscription.
The next question is whether the bill becomes law and which systems become available.
Plug-in solar may be a practical entry point, but homeowners with the right roof space may find that a full solar installation delivers bigger savings.
EnergySage can help either way. With EnergySage’s help, the average person can save up to $10,000 on solar purchases and installations. Tools such as EnergySage’s solar map, which shows the average cost of a home solar panel system by state and details solar incentives in each state, can help homeowners get the best price for rooftop solar panels and access available incentives.
Adding battery storage to a solar setup is also one of the best ways to protect your home during outages, save on energy costs, and go off-grid. If that is part of your plan, EnergySage can also help you explore home battery storage options, including competitive installation estimates.
If California finalizes the law, it could expand access to solar for people long excluded from the market, especially renters looking for a simpler, cheaper way to reduce utility bills.
These stories look at the push to make plug-in solar cheaper and easier to use. They put the effort to expand low-cost solar access for renters and other households in context.
• Lawmakers advanced a plug-in solar bill letting California residents use wall outlets to cut bills.
• In the Golden State, officials moved a step closer to legalizing plug-in solar with no permit required.
• California neared approval for balcony solar that plugs into wall sockets and trims household bills.
• Across the U.S., plug-in solar panels can cut costs, though few states allow them.
• In Maine, lawmakers proposed access to plug-in solar so renters can share in homeowner savings.
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By ANDREW HAZZARD/Sahan Journal
Winifred Sylvah picked a handful of plump cucumbers on a cold, wet September morning as raindrops trickled off rows of solar panels in the background.
They’ve been a productive plant for Sylvah on a new plot of land at a solar farm in Big Lake. She’s already harvested about 140 pounds of cucumbers, with rows more waiting to be picked. Sylvah is one of three farmers working the land in between and outside the rows of a 1-megawatt solar array in Big Lake.
The Big Lake Farm is an example of agrivoltaics, a technique of mixing farming and solar power generation. The two interests are often pitted against each other in rural areas, but the rows of flourishing crops between rows of solar panels shows there’s enough sun to go around.
The farm is a partnership between The Food Group — a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization that helps emerging farmers and fights hunger — U.S. Solar and Conexus Energy. It allows farmers like Sylvah to affordably lease farmland while providing an additional use for land that would otherwise be fenced-in rows of panels.
The project started as a pilot in 2023, but this year was made permanent with Sylvah and two other farmers entering 10-year leases on the land. She wasn’t sure what to make of farming between panels, but after hearing from pilot project farmers and seeing new infrastructure like irrigation systems and a walk-in cooler to store freshly picked produce come to the land, Sylvah was up for the challenge.
“I decided to take a chance,” Sylvah said.
The program expansion comes as federal officials slash support for emerging farmers. In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $300 million in cuts for a grant program focused on supporting land and market access for new farmers, defunding three programs aimed at helping farmers of color in Minnesota, MPR News reported. The cuts are part of the Trump administration’s eradication of federal spending aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“Because racial equity is a core value for our organization and how we’ve set up our programming, we aren’t going to actively pursue federal grants for the next couple years,” Food Group Executive Director Sophia Lenarz-Coy told Sahan Journal.
Accessing land is a challenge for emerging farmers. The Food Group’s Big River Farms in Marine on St. Croix, Minn., is a popular incubator program for emerging farmers, many of whom are immigrants. But once they leave, farmers who can’t afford to buy land often lease plots for a year at a time, which doesn’t allow them the certainty to become certified organic or the chance to adapt to the soil over the years.
“What’s nice about people having longer term leases is they’ll have a little more time to experiment,” Leranz-Coy said.
Growing between rows of solar panels offers similar yields to standard farming, according to Iowa State University Professor Ajay Nair. Nair has helped lead research on agrivoltaics in Ames, where a partnership with utility firm Alliant Energy led to a 10-acre solar garden lined with rows of crops.
Iowa State researchers have tried various fruits and vegetables in the solar garden, and for the most part are seeing the same yield as in comparison plots.
“Any grower can commercially grow their produce within an agrivoltaic system,” Nair told Sahan Journal.
There’s more space between solar rows than many assume, Nair said. Wires are deep underground and typically don’t prohibit tilling the land, and some plants benefit from rotating shade. As long as irrigation is in place, it’s a perfectly viable place to farm, he said.
There are co-benefits between farmers and solar firms, Nair said. Solar companies build large fences around their projects, which is useful for farmers. Farmers are on the land consistently and can tell the company right away if a panel has been damaged in a storm or if anything is amiss on the property. It also helps ease rural land politics by allowing solar and agriculture to co-exist.
“Having some sort of an agriculture system in there gives them the social license to operate,” Nair said.
Most agrivoltaic projects in the United States focus on livestock grazing, not produce farming. In western Minnesota, researchers at the University of Minnesota-Morris have run a successful cattle agrivoltaics plot for the past eight years.
Some 275 cows munch grass in between rows of a 500-kilowatt solar array in Morris, Minn., animal science Professor Brad Heins said. The cows benefit from the solar panels’ shade, with researchers finding less heat stress in the herd. That helps keep the cows healthier and more productive, Heins said.
“I think it’s garnered a lot of interest in Minnesota and around the world,” Heins said.
Sylvah came to Minnesota from Sierra Leone as a student in the 1980s. She worked in banking for more than 30 years before retirement. But she always loved growing food and has fond memories of tending the family vegetable garden with her grandmother.
She grew vegetables at home and got involved in a community garden, but when she retired she decided to make farming her profession. She got involved with The Food Group and worked a plot at Big River Farms.
The Big Lake farm is much closer to her home in Otsego. And it gives her the chance to get to know the land. She has about an acre and a half total: one acre in the solar garden and half an acre in an adjacent plot.
Sylvah has a large mix of crops. In the solar garden she planted vegetables that benefit from shade: onions, collard greens, green beans and scallions. They all did well, she said.
She’s learned from this season. She didn’t put down fabric to discourage weeds, but she will next year after spending too much time maintaining her beds.
Her banking background shines through: Sylvah is always thinking about the market for anything she grows. She’s developed a following for her West African crops. Her okra, sweet potato greens, collard greens and eggplant are in high demand, she said.
“I make sure I know people are interested in what I’m growing,” Sylvah said.
She has some bitter balls, a West African eggplant that Sylvah said is popular in Minnesota’s Liberian community, but she’s not selling any this year and instead hopes to get seeds for a larger haul next season. In late August, she put down new rows of green beans, planning a late fall harvest.
“I always will do my last harvest for Thanksgiving,” she said.
Sylvah sells her food through a Community Support Agriculture program and to local public school districts in Albertville, Minn., and Buffalo, Minn., harvesting and delivering to the schools herself this fall.
___
This story was originally published by Sahan Journal and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | September 28, 2026
CertainTeed has launched a new solar roofing system, Landmark PWR. Built on CertainTeed’s Landmark roofing portfolio, Landmark PWR combines roof protection with solar power in a single integrated solution.
CertainTeed Landmark PWR
“The Landmark PWR solar roof represents the next evolution of our integrated roofing and solar strategy,” said Andrew Wickham, director of product management. “As homeowner demand for energy-focused solutions continues to grow, contractors and builders need products that help them differentiate their offerings while simplifying the path to solar adoption. With our broad portfolio of roofing, solar and future-ready energy solutions, CertainTeed is uniquely positioned to help customers deliver high-performance, integrated systems that combine protection, energy generation and long-term value.”
CertainTeed has been involved with the solar industry for over a decade, offering SunStyle tiles and Solstice-branded solar shingles and full-sized solar panels.
CertainTeed Landmark PWR
The Landmark PWR system features half-cut solar cells assembled into 4-ft long shingles capable of producing 85 W. The solar shingles mount closer to the roof than traditional solar panels, and Landmark PWR shingles incorporate with asphalt shingles to complete the roof. By comparison, the Solstice solar shingle can reach 70 W and uses full-sized solar cells.
“At CertainTeed, we’re committed to advancing residential resilience through innovative building solutions,” Wickham added. “With Landmark PWR, we’re making it easier than ever for homeowners to invest in a roof that not only protects their home but also powers it.”
Landmark PWR will officially be available on Nov. 1, 2026.
Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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Zenith Energy Acquires Two Solar Projects Totaling 11 MWp in Lombardy  energynews.pro
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Vikram Solar has secured a 400 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) module supply order from an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) player for a portfolio of decentralised solar projects across multiple locations in Maharashtra. The order strengthens the company’s presence in the agricultural-feeder solarisation segment, where distributed renewable energy projects are being deployed to support power supply for agricultural consumers.
Under the agreement, Vikram Solar will supply 620 Wp high-efficiency N-Type TOPCon G12R modules featuring glass-to-glass, bifacial technology and half-cut cells. Module supplies are scheduled to begin in October 2026.
The projects form part of Maharashtra’s broader agricultural-feeder solarisation efforts, which aim to bring renewable generation closer to electricity consumption points while supporting reliable power supply for agricultural loads. Decentralised solar projects are also expected to contribute to grid resilience and India’s wider renewable energy and energy-security objectives.
Technology and deployment
Gyanesh Chaudhary, Chairman & Managing Director, Vikram Solar, said: “Programmes like MSKVY 2.0 represent an important evolution in India’s clean energy journey, bringing the benefits of solar power closer to farmers and agricultural communities. Supplying modules for projects of this scale across Maharashtra reflects the confidence placed in Vikram Solar’s advanced G12R TOPCon technology and our ability to support large, geographically distributed solar deployments. As India continues to expand its renewable energy infrastructure, we remain committed to delivering highperformance solar solutions that support energy security, strengthen domestic manufacturing and contribute meaningfully to the country’s clean energy ambitions.”
The company said the order reflects its ability to serve large-scale solar programmes spread across multiple locations, supported by its expanding manufacturing footprint and technology portfolio. The deployment of higher-efficiency modules is expected to support the development of distributed solar capacity under agricultural-feeder solarisation programmes.
Domestic supply chain
The order follows Vikram Solar’s entry earlier this month into a domestic solar cell supply agreement with Avaada Electro for 1 GW of domestically manufactured solar cells. 
The company is positioning its manufacturing expansion and domestic cell sourcing strategy to support the growing deployment of solar projects that require domestically manufactured components.
The featured photograph is for representation only.
PFC Consulting Limited (PFCCL) has invited bids for selecting a transmission service provider (TSP) to develop “Transmission system for proposed Green Hydrogen/Green Ammonia projects in Kakinada area, Andhra Pradesh (Phase-I).”  The bids will be processed under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) model on a build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) basis. The Request for Proposal…
Read More PFCCL invites bids for transmission project for green hydrogen in Kakinada
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) and H.G. Infra Engineering Limited have completed the acquisition of project-specific Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) from REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL) after emerging as successful bidders under the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process. The acquisitions, completed on June 30, 2026, relate to two interstate transmission projects…
Read More PGCIL, H.G. Infra acquire WR-ER transmission SPVs from RECPDCL
The Department of Expenditure under the Union Ministry of Finance has granted a two-year exemption from public procurement restrictions to four Indian subsidiaries of Chinese electrical equipment manufacturers, allowing them to participate in Central government procurement without registration under the Public Procurement Order. The exemption, effective June 24, 2026, has been granted following a request…
Read More What two-year exemption for Chinese power firms means for domestic manufacturers
Resonia Ltd. has appointed Aditya Mittal as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Based in Mumbai, he will report to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Prashant Sinha. Mittal brings nearly two decades of experience across strategic finance, budgeting, profit and loss management, internal audit and statutory compliance. His sector experience includes infrastructure, energy, metals, manufacturing, and oil and…
Read More Resonia appoints Aditya Mittal as CFO
CG Power and Industrial Solutions Limited reported a strong financial performance in the third quarter of FY26, posting its highest standalone quarterly revenue and Profit Before Tax (PBT) to date. The results were supported by strong order inflows and sustained operational efficiency. For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, CG Power recorded standalone sales of…
Read More CG Power posts record quarterly revenue and PBT in Q3 FY26
French renewable energy firm Neoen has inaugurated Portugal’s largest solar park, located in Azambuja, 70 km north of Lisbon. The facility began supplying electricity to the grid in late 2024 and is now fully operational. The park includes the 204 MWp Rio Maior and the 68 MWp Torre Bela solar farms, which together will generate…
Read More Neoen inaugurates Portugal’s largest solar park in Azambuja
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The problem with falsehoods is that if they get repeated often enough, they start to sound plausible. And misinformation about clean energy increasingly matters because it can shape whether communities support projects in the first place. As clean-energy campaigners have learned, sometimes the answer is to get there before the myth does. 
So, let’s bust a few.
Yes, they are.
A solar panel contains materials with real value, including glass, aluminium, copper and silver. The problem isn’t whether we can recycle panels. It’s building the collection and recycling industry required to do it economically at enormous scale.
That’s already happening. PV Industries’ Sydney facility can process about 200,000 panels annually and recover up to 90% of a panel by weight. The Australian government is also funding a $24.7 million (USD 17.34 million) national pilot that aims to recycle up to 250,000 panels while working out how a national system should operate. 
Verdict: Panels are recyclable. Australia’s recycling system is simply younger than its solar industry.
This one usually begins with a wonderfully ominous phrase: heavy metals.
Which ones? In what quantity? And how exactly are they escaping from an intact panel?
Some PV technologies contain small quantities of potentially hazardous substances, which is one reason proper end-of-life recycling matters. But a functioning solar panel isn’t a loose pile of its constituent ingredients. Solar cells are encapsulated inside a module engineered to survive decades outdoors.
Treating the materials inside a sealed panel as though they’re simply washing into the paddock is rather like looking at everything inside your television and assuming it’s leaking onto the living-room carpet.
Verdict: End-of-life disposal needs to be managed properly. An intact solar panel is not quietly dissolving into the ground.
This one presents a false choice: food or electricity.
Drive to the New England Solar Farm near Uralla and you’ll find something inconvenient for that argument: sheep. More than 6,000 of them have grazed beneath roughly one million panels in the project’s first 400 MW stage. 
This idea even has a name: agrivoltaics.
An earlier NSW solar-grazing trial found enough moisture remained beneath shaded panels for grass to continue growing during hot, dry conditions. The panels provided sheep with shade and lambing ewes with protection, while grazing helped control vegetation. 
None of this means we should indiscriminately cover Australia’s best cropping country in panels. We shouldn’t. We should also put far more solar on warehouses, factories and other commercial roofs.
But grazing and electricity generation can occupy the same paddock. Not only that but in many cases a farmer will receive rental income for hosting the panels which can help make their farm drought proof.
Verdict: Sometimes solar doesn’t replace farming. It joins it.
Sure. Hail can break solar panels. It can also break windscreens, roof tiles and skylights. That doesn’t mean we stop making cars, houses or windows.
Solar panels are specifically tested for hail impact. The IEC 61215 certification test includes firing a 25 mm ice ball at a panel at about 23 metres per second – roughly 83 kmh. Manufacturers can and do test beyond that baseline. 
Can an extraordinary Australian hailstorm overwhelm those specifications? Absolutely. “Designed to withstand hail” doesn’t mean “indestructible.”
Verdict: Hail is a risk solar panels are engineered and tested to withstand, not some previously undiscovered fatal flaw.
And perhaps that’s the common thread running through all five myths.
Solar isn’t magical. It isn’t indestructible. It doesn’t have zero environmental impact and it doesn’t maintain itself. But it’s far better than this bullshit and the bullshit alternative of fossil fuels, especially in Australia, where no shit, fossil fuels cost more.
They do, and this is where we should acknowledge something the solar industry itself occasionally gets wrong.
Solar doesn’t mean maintenance-free.
Modern panels commonly carry long performance warranties, often more than 25 years, and are designed to operate for decades. But a solar systemincludes inverters, wiring, isolators, mounting equipment and other components. Things can fail. Connections deteriorate. Debris accumulates. Equipment needs inspection.
That’s not evidence solar doesn’t work. That’s evidence solar is infrastructure.
Verdict: Solar lasts. Look after it.
Author: Daniel Lazarus, Managing Director, Industrias
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
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TOYO Signs $240 Million in Binding US Solar Supply Agreements  energynews.pro
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Kent County Levy Court approves a 25-acre solar farm proposal despite public backlash.
The solar farm, developed by Sunrise Solar and planned for a parcel south of Kenton, raised concerns about the panels potential to contaminate the ground they are placed on – about 15 acres of the 25 total.
Public comment from around 10 people, including State Sen. Dave Lawson, voiced concerns that the solar farm could contaminate the ground and water in the area and create noise pollution.
But Commissioner Jody Sweeney, who voted to approve the project, says those concerns are unfounded.
“Every report that I’ve ever read said there are panels that do contaminate the soil: [the ones] with cadmium in the panels. But those panels are not being used east of the Mississippi. Those panels are being used in wide open areas like the desert.” he said.
Sweeney also added the farms are “extremely quiet.”
And Jonathan Falkowski, Principal Engineer on the project, says most soil is actually in better shape after hosting a solar farm.
“There’s no herbicides and no pesticides used. So, you have that over the span of 25 years that does not go into the soils.” he told the Levy Court.
Sweeney, along with other supporters, says the project is one way to produce more energy in the First State. The lack of local generation is often cited as a leading driver of high energy costs.
Lawson’s concerns go beyond just pollution, though. He asked the commission to reconsider the project being placed in what is otherwise a “tranquil, picturesque area.”
He also argued that this project and those like it won’t be built without government subsidies.
The facility is listed as a “community solar” facility, meaning Delmarva Power customers who subscribe to the state’s community solar program can use the power generated there. That program aims to save customers between 10 and 20% on their energy bills, depending on income.
The measure passed with 4 yes votes, 2 abstentions, and one absence, although Commissioners Robert Scott, Paul Hertz, and Terry Pepper each said they felt they couldn’t legally vote “no”. Scott and Hertz voted yes for that reason; Pepper abstained alongside Commissioner Allan Angel.

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Executive Summary:
Azerbaijan connected the 100-megawatt Gobustan solar plant to the grid on September 16, adding to a rapidly expanding renewable sector that Baku says will reduce domestic gas consumption and support its electricity and gas exports.
The renewable build-out builds on Azerbaijan’s gas-based energy strategy, with the United Arab Emirates’ Masdar, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, the People’s Republic of China’s Universal Energy, and SOCAR Green developing major solar and wind projects.
Baku’s green energy strategy aims to meet rising domestic electricity demand, export renewable electricity, and free up natural gas for export, with new generation capacity and planned connections to Türkiye and Europe designed to advance all three objectives.
On September 20, Azerbaijan marked the thirty-second anniversary of the 1994 “Contract of the Century,” the $7.4 billion production-sharing agreement that brought eleven international oil companies from seven countries into Baku to develop the Azeri–Chirag–Gunashli fields (President of Azerbaijan, accessed September 28). Signed under former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev just under three years after Azerbaijan regained independence, the agreement anchored the country’s modern oil strategy and eventually turned it into a major supplier of gas to Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor. Four days earlier, on September 16, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the Gobustan solar power plant, indicating a new chapter in Baku’s energy strategy over the next decades.
Azerbaijan connected the new 100-megawatt (MW) Gobustan solar power plant, built on 300 hectares in the Garadagh district outside Baku, to its grid on September 16. The Ministry of Energy projects it will generate about 260 million kilowatt-hours a year, saving 57 million cubic meters of natural gas annually and cutting carbon emissions by 124,000 tons (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). The plant was developed by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) Universal International Holdings Limited, the winner of Azerbaijan’s first renewable energy project auction in 2024 (Trend.az, September 18). According to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy, its commissioning brought the country’s total installed renewable capacity to 2,170 MW across 85 plants, which is about 21.5 percent of Azerbaijan’s total generation capacity (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). Baku intends its green energy program to cover rising domestic electricity demand, export renewable power, and free up natural gas for export rather than burning it at home.
The logic connecting these three goals is straightforward. Azerbaijan’s power sector has historically run almost entirely on gas. Every MW-hour produced by a solar or wind plant is a MW-hour of gas that does not have to be consumed domestically and can instead be sold abroad. Gas exports to Europe totaled 12.8 billion cubic meters in 2025, Azerbaijan’s Energy Ministry says, against a standing target of 20 billion cubic meters a year by 2027. Aliyev describes this as Baku’s “commitment” to the European Union (President of Azerbaijan, July 19, 2024; AZERTAC, January 12). When Aliyev broke ground on the Garadagh solar plant in 2022, he said that Azerbaijan has “great potential in terms of electricity exports” (President of Azerbaijan, March 15, 2022). Every new renewable MW built since has strengthened that argument, giving Azerbaijan’s green energy push economic, strategic, and environmental benefits.
Baku’s investment in renewables is considerable. Beyond Gobustan, the United Arab Emirates’ Masdar has operated the 230-MW Garadagh solar plant in Azerbaijan since October 2023, the country’s first foreign-invested independent solar project. At the plant’s inauguration, Aliyev called Masdar’s involvement an “outstanding contribution to the development of Azerbaijan” (President of Azerbaijan, October 26, 2023). Masdar’s broader “Mega” project with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Green, the company’s renewable energy subsidiary established in 2024, now covers a further 445 MW of solar capacity at Bilasuvar, 315 MW at Neftchala, and 240 MW of wind at Absheron and Garadagh (Trend.az, April 7, 2025). Financing for these projects closed at COP29 in November 2024, and construction began with the installation of the first solar panel at Bilasuvar in October 2025 (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, November 16, 2024, September 22). Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, present in the market since 2019, commissioned its own 240-MW Khizi-Absheron wind farm on January 8, which it expects to generate about a billion kilowatt-hours a year (Trend.az, January 8).
With hydropower still accounting for most of Azerbaijan’s installed renewable capacity and an economic renewable energy potential the energy ministry puts at 27 gigawatts (GW), including 23,000 MW of solar, Azerbaijan is working toward a target of raising renewables to at least 30 percent of the energy mix by 2030 and reducing emissions by 40 percent by 2050 (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). The ministry has set a target of commissioning more than 2 GW of green energy capacity as part of a first development phase running through 2027. Beyond Gulf-backed mega-projects, this initiative includes smaller ventures such as the 25-MW Shams 1 and 25-MW Garbi Ufug solar plants agreed for Nakhchivan in February with CEI Nakhchivan LLC and Enerso LLC. Both companies are outside the Masdar–ACWA–SOCAR Green circle (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17).
A separate green energy framework covers the Karabakh and East Zangezur regions (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). Within it, 38 hydropower plants with a combined 307 MW are already operating, with 11 more totaling 48.5 MW under construction, alongside more than eight MW of rooftop solar installed across some 2,500 homes and public buildings (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). In the Jabrayil district, solar capacity, including the 240-MW Shafag plant, has reached a combined 340-MW capacity (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). SOCAR Green functions as the domestic anchor across the largest of these ventures, pairing Masdar and ACWA Power’s capital and technology with local infrastructure and regulatory access.
Azerbaijani and Turkish officials describe three parallel projects now moving through implementation, each intended to give Europe access to carbon-neutral electricity from the Caspian region (Trend.az; AZERTAC; Anadolu Agency, September 11). The first would integrate Nakhchivan’s grid with Türkiye, eventually linking through to mainland Azerbaijan via the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) in southern Armenia (Trend.az, September 11; Anadolu Ajansı, September 11; Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, September 17). The second is a four-country green corridor connecting Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye, and Bulgaria. A founding memorandum was signed in April 2025, and officials now hope to crown it with a full intergovernmental agreement at COP31 in Antalya this November (Trend.az; APA, September 11). The third and most ambitious is the Black Sea Energy Corridor, a 1,195-kilometer (743-mile) submarine cable linking Azerbaijan and Georgia to Romania and onward to Hungary, initially rated at 1,000 MW with capacity envisaged to rise in phases to as much as 3.9 GW by 2032 (Trend.az, March 3, June 1). Agreed among the four governments in Bucharest in December 2022, the project has been included in the European transmission operators’ Ten-Year Network Development Plan for 2026, with a cost-benefit assessment due by year’s end. Together, these three projects would make Azerbaijan a renewable electricity exporter to Europe in much the same way it is already a gas exporter.
In 1994, foreign capital arrived to build an oil industry that did not yet exist in Azerbaijan. Today, Gulf partners such as Masdar and ACWA Power, alongside developers from the PRC such as Universal Energy, are financing most of the renewable build-out. Western companies, with the partial exception of BP’s stake in the 240-MW Shafag solar plant in Jabrayil, have so far stayed largely on the sidelines despite years of dialogue through forums such as the Azerbaijan–U.S. Green Energy Forum (Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy, March 31, 2023; President of Azerbaijan, May 9). Their involvement will impact the standards and governance of an energy corridor that will mainly benefit Europe.

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© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
The saga left them in a maddening holding pattern.
Photo Credit: iStock
A United Kingdom homebuyer said that after purchasing a house with rooftop solar panels in 2025, access to the system’s feed-in tariff may hinge on missing paperwork from previous owners.
As they shared on the r/SolarUK subreddit, the saga left them in a maddening holding pattern. 
In a Reddit thread, the homeowner said Ofgem identified Good Energy as the property’s feed-in tariff provider after they bought a house with existing solar panels. 
But when they tried to transfer the account into their name, they said Good Energy told them it could not move forward because its records for earlier owners were incomplete.
In response, the buyer said they sent over the documents they had, including proof of ownership, information about the seller, the seller’s solicitor’s details, and the paperwork they received during the purchase. They said the issue was still unresolved after repeated requests for updates and a formal complaint.
The original poster summed up the issue this way: “It seems really frustrating that I can’t get any benefit from the solar panels due to action/inaction of previous owners.”
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This kind of complication is especially relevant for buyers who assume rooftop panels automatically transfer with the property in every practical sense. While the hardware may remain on the roof, the account tied to tariff payments may still require a separate administrative transfer.
For buyers inheriting an existing solar setup, the income attached to it depends on whether the ownership paperwork is complete before the sale closes.
Homeowners can get stuck between different parts of the energy system when trying to resolve incentive-program issues tied to records created before they bought the property.
Buyers can verify solar paperwork before closing whenever possible. That can include confirming the tariff provider, requesting proof of previous ownership transfers, and making sure the seller’s documents include records connected to the system’s registration.
If the paperwork is already missing, a formal complaint record and an escalation pathway may be the best consumer tools available.
A commenter pointed the homeowner to a practical next step of opening a dispute on the Energy Ombudsman website once eight weeks had passed.
At first, the original poster balked at the advice because they believed Good Energy was not covered based on the page titled “Information for disputes with network operators” on the website. 
However, a commenter confirmed the company was responsible.
“Good Energy is absolutely covered by the Energy Ombudsman for standard supplier disputes,” they wrote. “As an energy supply company, they are legally required to be a member.”
With that in mind, the OP could get some justice.
“The Ombudsman has the legal power to force Good Energy to clear the backlog, issue an apology, and potentially pay you compensation,” the commenter noted.
Home solar can come with plenty of fine-print headaches beyond the panels themselves. 
• One solar owner was hit with ‘ridiculous’ charges from a utility company despite generating rooftop power.
• In Australia, residents warned that ‘free’ solar panel ads looked like a brazen scam.
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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Global solar additions reached around 690 GW in 2025, according to the latest report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS).
IEA-PVPS’ Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2026 report reveals last year’s additions represented a 15% increase on installations during 2024. 
By the end of last year, cumulative installed solar capacity reached 2.96 TW. The report says this capacity could theoretically generate about 3,845 TWh annually, equivalent to approximately 12% of global electricity consumption.
China installed 415 GW, or 60%, of global installations last year. India ranked second for annual additions, at 54 GW, followed by the United States (43 GW), Germany (18 GW) and Pakistan (14 GW). Collectively, the European Union added 68 GW. 
The report notes that PV deployment continued to broaden geographically, with 36 countries installing more than 1 GW of solar, three more than in 2024.
Centralised solar systems accounted for 410 GW of new solar systems last year, led by China (256 GW), India (42 GW), USA (35 GW), Spain (11 GW) and Germany (8.3 GW). The report also notes Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s as growing markets that are driven by centralised systems.
Distributed solar accounted for 282 GW of new installations in 2025, a record for the market segment, up from 228 GW in 2024. 
China deployed 159 GW of all distributed solar last year, followed by Pakistan (14 GW), India (12 GW), Germany (9.2 GW) and Brazil (7.9 GW). The report lists France, Türkiye, Japan and Australia as other countries where the distributed market is driving overall growth.
Last year saw Australia surpass the Netherlands as the country with the highest cumulative installed PV capacity per inhabitant, with 1,604 W/cap compared to 1,584 W/cap. Germany ranks third in this metric, with 1,413 W/cap.
An additional eight European countries – Spain, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland and Belgium – are above 1,000 W/cap. China’s penetration rate also moved beyond this threshold, to stand at 1,040 W/cap.
In the report’s forward, co-managers of IEA-PVPS Task 1, Melodie de l’Epine and Izumi Kaizuka, and IEA-PVPS chair, Daniel Mugnier, wrote that last year’s deployments “continued alongside significant industrial imbalance.”
They explain that module production remains above annual installations figure, while low utilisation rates, continuing price pressure and weak profitability impact manufacturers throughout the value chain. 
Figures from the report state that global production of solar modules reached 722 GW last year, a 0.6% decrease on 2024. This represents a slowdown on the 61.7% year-on-year growth recorded between 2022 and 2023.
China accounted for 79% of global PV module production last year. The country’s global share dropped from 86% in 2024 as manufacturing capacity expanded in India and the USA.
Global PV module manufacturing capacity is estimated to have reached 1,531 GW/year last year, of which 71% was located in China. 
de l’Epine, Kaizuka and Mugnier added that the scale of solar deployment is changing the relationship between solar capacity, electricity systems and electricity markets.
“Curtailment, negative prices, declining capture prices and grid connection constraints are more increasingly visible in high penetration markets,” they said. “Storage, flexible demand, stronger networks, improved forecasting and appropriate market access are becoming essential to extending the contribution of PV beyond the hours in which it generates.”
Additional figures from the report highlight the considerable growth in storage deployment. Annual battery energy storage capacity additions across Europe, Canada and the US combined have grown from 2.9 GWh in 2020 to almost 79 GWh in 2025, representing a more than 25-fold increase.
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NBN Co trials solar ‘sleeve’ to power wireless towers  Energy Magazine
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According to the latest IndexBox report on the global Building Integrated Photovoltaics Facade market, the market enters 2026 with broader demand fundamentals, more disciplined procurement behavior, and a more regionally diversified supply architecture.
The global Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Facade market is entering a decisive phase of expansion, moving from a niche architectural solution to a mainstream component of sustainable construction. As of 2026, the market is being reshaped by the convergence of stringent decarbonization mandates, advances in photovoltaic efficiency, and evolving building codes that increasingly recognize the facade as an energy-generating asset. Unlike conventional rooftop solar, BIPV facades replace traditional cladding and glazing, delivering dual value: electricity generation and envelope performance.
This report analyzes the market from 2026 to 2035, providing a data-driven view of demand drivers, supply chain dynamics, and competitive strategies. The forecast horizon captures a period in which commercial offices, residential high-rises, and institutional buildings will increasingly specify BIPV systems to meet energy performance targets. The market is also witnessing a shift from bespoke, project-specific modules toward standardized, cost-competitive systems, attracting major glass, construction, and PV manufacturers.
This analysis is designed for manufacturers, distributors, investors, and advisors seeking a consistent, transparent view of the BIPV facade landscape and its trajectory through 2035.
The baseline scenario for the Building Integrated Photovoltaics Facade market from 2026 to 2035 assumes continued policy support for building decarbonization, steady improvement in BIPV module efficiency, and gradual cost reduction across the value chain. Under this scenario, the market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.2%, reaching a market index of 290 by 2035 (2025 = 100). This growth is not uniform: commercial office and institutional segments will lead adoption, supported by corporate ESG commitments and green building certification requirements.
Residential high-rises will follow, particularly in dense urban markets where facade area is abundant and energy self-sufficiency is valued. The retrofit segment will gain momentum after 2030 as building owners seek to upgrade aging envelopes and comply with performance standards. Regionally, Asia-Pacific will remain the largest market, driven by rapid urbanization and supportive industrial policies, while Europe will see strong growth from regulatory mandates. North America will benefit from tax incentives and state-level building codes.
Supply chain constraints, particularly in specialty glass and encapsulants, may temper growth in the near term, but capacity expansions are expected to alleviate bottlenecks by the late 2020s. Overall, the baseline outlook is positive, with BIPV facades increasingly evaluated on economic and performance metrics alongside traditional cladding.
Commercial office buildings represent the largest end-use sector for BIPV facades, as owners and tenants increasingly demand energy-efficient, sustainable workspaces. In the current market, adoption is concentrated in high-profile corporate headquarters and premium office towers where BIPV serves as a visible statement of environmental commitment. Through 2035, demand will broaden to mainstream commercial developments as building codes tighten and the economic case for on-site generation strengthens. Key demand-side indicators include office vacancy rates in green-certified buildings, corporate net-zero pledges, and the levelized cost of energy from BIPV systems relative to grid electricity.
The mechanism is straightforward: as BIPV costs decline and electricity prices rise, the payback period shortens, making BIPV facades more attractive to developers. Additionally, the dual function of BIPV as both cladding and power source reduces material costs and roof space requirements, a critical advantage in dense urban environments. This sector will continue to lead in adopting innovative, aesthetically customized BIPV solutions. Current trend: Strong growth driven by ESG mandates and green building certifications.
Major trends: Integration of BIPV into net-zero corporate campuses, Rising demand for semi-transparent and colored modules for architectural aesthetics, Increased use of BIPV in building retrofits to meet energy performance standards, and Collaboration between architects and BIPV manufacturers for custom facade solutions.
Representative participants: Onyx Solar, AGC Inc, Saint-Gobain, Guardian Glass, and BIPV Ltd.
Residential high-rises are a rapidly growing segment for BIPV facades, particularly in dense urban markets where facade area is plentiful and energy costs are high. Currently, adoption is driven by developers seeking to differentiate their projects through sustainability features and by homeowners valuing energy self-sufficiency. Through 2035, demand will accelerate as building codes in major cities mandate renewable energy integration and as BIPV costs become more competitive with traditional facade materials. Demand-side indicators include residential electricity prices, the prevalence of net-metering policies, and the growth of green building certifications for residential towers.
The mechanism is twofold: BIPV reduces common-area energy costs for building owners, and it can provide backup power during grid outages, a feature increasingly valued by residents. However, adoption is tempered by the need for standardized, cost-effective solutions that can be deployed at scale. The segment will benefit from modular BIPV products designed for rapid installation and from financing models that lower upfront costs. Current trend: Growing adoption in urban multifamily buildings, supported by energy self-sufficiency goals.
Major trends: Rising demand for BIPV in luxury and mid-range residential towers, Development of standardized, plug-and-play BIPV facade systems, Integration with smart home energy management systems, and Government incentives for residential renewable energy adoption.
Representative participants: Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, SunPower Corporation, Ertex Solar, and Suntech Power.
Institutional buildings, including government offices, universities, hospitals, and schools, represent a significant and stable end-use sector for BIPV facades. Adoption is currently driven by public decarbonization mandates, resilience requirements, and the desire to showcase sustainable leadership. Through 2035, demand will grow as public procurement policies increasingly favor renewable energy integration and as budgets for green infrastructure expand. Demand-side indicators include government spending on public building upgrades, the adoption of green building standards for public projects, and the availability of green bonds for institutional retrofits.
The mechanism is policy-driven: many jurisdictions require new public buildings to meet net-zero or near-net-zero standards, making BIPV a natural choice for facade integration. Additionally, institutional buildings often have large, unobstructed facades suitable for BIPV, and their long ownership horizons align well with the payback periods of BIPV investments. This sector will also drive innovation in BIPV for retrofits, as many public buildings are older and require envelope upgrades. Current trend: Steady growth as public entities pursue decarbonization and resilience goals.
Major trends: Public procurement mandates for renewable energy in new buildings, Retrofit of aging institutional buildings with BIPV facades, Use of BIPV to achieve resilience and backup power for critical facilities, and Green financing and grants for institutional sustainability projects.
Representative participants: Hanergy Thin Film Power, Onyx Solar, AGC Inc, Saint-Gobain, and BIPV Ltd.
Retail and shopping centers are an emerging end-use sector for BIPV facades, with adoption driven by brand image, energy cost savings, and corporate sustainability goals. Currently, BIPV is most common in flagship stores and premium shopping destinations where aesthetics and environmental leadership are valued. Through 2035, demand will expand as retail chains seek to reduce operating costs and meet corporate ESG targets. Demand-side indicators include retail electricity consumption, the number of green-certified retail buildings, and consumer preference for sustainable brands.
The mechanism is primarily economic: BIPV facades can offset a significant portion of a retail building’s energy consumption, reducing operating expenses and hedging against electricity price volatility. Additionally, the visible nature of BIPV can enhance a retailer’s brand image as a sustainability leader, attracting environmentally conscious consumers. However, adoption is constrained by the need for cost-effective solutions and by the fact that many retail buildings are leased rather than owned, which can complicate investment decisions. Current trend: Moderate growth, driven by brand image and energy cost savings.
Major trends: Integration of BIPV into flagship stores and premium retail destinations, Use of BIPV to achieve green building certifications for retail chains, Growing interest in BIPV for mixed-use retail and entertainment complexes, and Collaboration between retailers and BIPV manufacturers for branded facade designs.
Representative participants: Guardian Glass, Vitro Architectural Glass, Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, and Ertex Solar.
Transportation hubs, including airports, train stations, and bus terminals, represent a niche but high-visibility end-use sector for BIPV facades. Adoption is currently driven by public infrastructure investment, sustainability mandates for public transport, and the desire to showcase renewable energy in high-traffic areas. Through 2035, demand will grow as governments invest in modernizing transportation infrastructure and as airports and rail operators pursue net-zero targets. Demand-side indicators include public infrastructure spending, airport and rail passenger volumes, and the adoption of green building standards for transportation facilities.
The mechanism is twofold: BIPV facades can generate significant electricity to power lighting, HVAC, and signage in large transportation hubs, and they serve as a public demonstration of a city’s or region’s commitment to sustainability. However, adoption is constrained by the complex approval processes and stringent safety requirements for transportation infrastructure, which can lengthen project timelines and increase costs. Despite these challenges, the segment offers substantial long-term potential as transportation hubs become showcases for urban sustainability. Current trend: Niche but high-visibility growth, supported by public infrastructure investment.
Major trends: Integration of BIPV into new airport terminals and rail stations, Use of BIPV to achieve net-zero energy goals for public transport infrastructure, Growing demand for BIPV in smart city and transit-oriented development projects, and Public-private partnerships for BIPV deployment in transportation hubs.
Representative participants: Saint-Gobain, AGC Inc, Onyx Solar, SunPower Corporation, and Suntech Power.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
Asia-Pacific dominates the BIPV facade market, driven by rapid urbanization, supportive government policies, and a strong manufacturing base. China, Japan, and South Korea are key markets, with increasing adoption in commercial and residential high-rises. The region is expected to maintain its lead through 2035, supported by ambitious renewable energy targets and green building codes. Direction: Leading growth.
North America is a significant market for BIPV facades, with growth driven by corporate ESG commitments, state-level building codes, and federal tax incentives. The U.S. leads in commercial office and institutional adoption, while Canada shows growing interest in residential high-rises. The region is expected to see steady expansion through 2035, though supply chain constraints may temper growth. Direction: Steady expansion.
Europe is a key market for BIPV facades, with stringent building energy performance standards and ambitious decarbonization targets driving adoption. Germany, France, and the Netherlands are leading markets, supported by government incentives and a strong architectural focus on aesthetics. The region is expected to see robust growth through 2035, particularly in the retrofit segment. Direction: Policy-driven growth.
Latin America represents an emerging market for BIPV facades, with growth driven by urbanization, rising electricity costs, and increasing awareness of sustainable building practices. Brazil and Mexico are the largest markets, though adoption is still limited by high upfront costs and a lack of supportive policies. The region offers long-term potential as building codes evolve. Direction: Emerging potential.
The Middle East & Africa region is a niche but growing market for BIPV facades, with adoption concentrated in high-profile projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Growth is driven by government sustainability initiatives and the need for energy-efficient buildings in extreme climates. The region is expected to see gradual growth through 2035, supported by smart city developments. Direction: Niche growth.
In the baseline scenario, IndexBox estimates a 11.2% compound annual growth rate for the global building integrated photovoltaics facade market over 2026-2035, bringing the market index to roughly 290 by 2035 (2025=100).
Note: indexed curves are used to compare medium-term scenario trajectories when full absolute volumes are not publicly disclosed.
For full methodological details and benchmark tables, see the latest IndexBox Building Integrated Photovoltaics Facade market report.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Building Integrated Photovoltaics Facade market in the World, including market size, structure, key trends, and forecast. The study highlights demand drivers, supply constraints, and competitive dynamics across the value chain.
The analysis is designed for manufacturers, distributors, investors, and advisors who require a consistent, data-driven view of market dynamics and a transparent analytical definition of the product scope.
This report covers Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Facade systems, which are multifunctional building envelope components that generate electricity while serving as the external cladding or glazing of a structure. The scope includes products designed for integration into curtain walls, rainscreens, spandrels, and window systems across new construction and retrofit projects. It encompasses the technological and architectural integration of photovoltaic materials into the building facade.
The market is analyzed under relevant international trade classifications. BIPV facades intersect categories for electrical generating equipment, specialized glass, and fabricated plastic or aluminum components used in construction. The classification reflects the dual function of these products as both construction materials and electricity generators, capturing their position in the supply chain from specialized material production to finished module assembly.
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The analysis is built on a multi-source framework that combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, and expert validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to ensure consistency across time series.
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Major glass manufacturer with BIPV solutions
Specialist in BIPV glass for facades & skylights
Pioneer in flexible, lightweight solar films for facades
Specialist in bespoke solar cladding & rainscreen systems
Produces colored, transparent, and opaque BIPV glass
Provides BIPV glass for facades, canopies, windows
Offers solar slate and facade panel systems
Produces artistic and colored solar facade panels
System integrator and supplier of facade BIPV
Supplies premium modules suitable for BIPV applications
Develops flexible thin-film products for building skins
All-black panels used in architectural BIPV projects
Panels used in custom BIPV facade installations
Offers modules suitable for BIPV facade integration
Provides modules for BIPV projects globally
Develops glass solutions with integrated solar technology
Has developed BIPV glass solutions in the past
Primarily roofing; facade potential with Solar Glass
Historic involvement in solar for building integration
Manufactures solar cells and modules for diverse applications
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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | September 28, 2026
CertainTeed has launched a new solar roofing system, Landmark PWR. Built on CertainTeed’s Landmark roofing portfolio, Landmark PWR combines roof protection with solar power in a single integrated solution.
CertainTeed Landmark PWR
“The Landmark PWR solar roof represents the next evolution of our integrated roofing and solar strategy,” said Andrew Wickham, director of product management. “As homeowner demand for energy-focused solutions continues to grow, contractors and builders need products that help them differentiate their offerings while simplifying the path to solar adoption. With our broad portfolio of roofing, solar and future-ready energy solutions, CertainTeed is uniquely positioned to help customers deliver high-performance, integrated systems that combine protection, energy generation and long-term value.”
CertainTeed has been involved with the solar industry for over a decade, offering SunStyle tiles and Solstice-branded solar shingles and full-sized solar panels.
CertainTeed Landmark PWR
The Landmark PWR system features half-cut solar cells assembled into 4-ft long shingles capable of producing 85 W. The solar shingles mount closer to the roof than traditional solar panels, and Landmark PWR shingles incorporate with asphalt shingles to complete the roof. By comparison, the Solstice solar shingle can reach 70 W and uses full-sized solar cells.
“At CertainTeed, we’re committed to advancing residential resilience through innovative building solutions,” Wickham added. “With Landmark PWR, we’re making it easier than ever for homeowners to invest in a roof that not only protects their home but also powers it.”
Landmark PWR will officially be available on Nov. 1, 2026.
Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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TCL Solar, the photovoltaic arm of Chinese company TCL, showcased its C2 back-contact module lineup at the Solar & Storage Expo Conference held in Vicenza, northern Italy, last week. The products made their initial appearance in Asia during early summer and can now be ordered in Europe, with the first shipments heading to the United Kingdom.
This release widens TCL Solar’s back-contact offerings, which had previously featured items sold under the TCL Solar and SunPower names. The C2 family addresses both residential and larger-scale uses.
The C2 module for homes incorporates 108 back-contact cells and is offered in 480 W and 485 W variants, delivering efficiencies of 23.6% and 23.8% respectively. Its dimensions are 1,800 mm by 1,134 mm by 30 mm, and it weighs 24.7 kg.
The C2 M comes in six power classes spanning 645 W to 670 W, rising in 5 W steps. Efficiency ranges from 23.9% at 645 W up to 24.8% at 670 W. This n-type bifacial, double-glass module employs 132 G12R back-contact cells, measures 2,382 mm by 1,134 mm by 30 mm and weighs 32.5 kg.
Power bifaciality for the C2 M stands at roughly 75%. TCL Solar specifies bifaciality coefficients of 80% for maximum power, 100% for open-circuit voltage and 80% for short-circuit current.
Both formats feature 2.0 mm heat-strengthened, anti-reflective coated front glass alongside 2.0 mm heat-strengthened rear glass, an anodized aluminum-alloy frame and an IP68 junction box containing three diodes. Maximum static load ratings are 5,400 Pa for the front and 2,400 Pa for the rear.
Operating temperatures for both products span -40 C to 70 C, with a maximum system voltage of 1,500 V DC. The maximum-power temperature coefficient is -0.26% per degree Celsius. Each carries Class II electrical protection and a Class C fire rating.
For the residential module, TCL Solar provides a 25-year product warranty plus 30-year linear power coverage; the C2 M comes with a 15-year product warranty and 30-year linear performance warranty. Both guarantee a minimum output of 99% after year one and cap annual degradation at 0.35%, yielding 88.85% warranted output at the 30-year mark.
Packaging for the residential module is 36 units per pallet and 936 units per 40-foot high-cube container, whereas the C2 M is packed at 36 units per pallet and 720 units per container.
TCL Solar stated the C2 series can be purchased via authorized distributors throughout Europe. Pricing remains undisclosed.
The new range has clear forerunners within TCL’s own catalog. TCL Solar’s E Class residential back-contact module, released in late 2025, achieved 475 W and 23.8% efficiency. The new C2 S Black lifts that to 495 W and 24.3% while adopting a gapless design. The progression is more pronounced for the large module: the earlier E Class HSM-BD66-GR family topped out at 665 W and 24.6%. The C2 L keeps the HSM-BD66-GR model family but raises the top rating to 670 W and 24.8%, while cutting listed module weight from 33.5 kg to 32.5 kg.
This launch coincides with TCL’s efforts to grow its back-contact manufacturing capacity. In July, pv magazine reported that TCL Zhonghuan, another part of TCL’s solar business, had finished acquiring DAS Solar and set out plans to convert 20 GW of solar cell capacity and 25 GW of module capacity to back-contact production.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
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World's largest monocrystalline silicon producer
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LED packaging and components
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LED packaging and lighting
LED packaging and components
LED packaging and smart lighting
LED packaging and display products
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Ultrawide-bandgap perovskite materials are critical for high-efficiency, triple-stacked solar cells.
Researchers at Nanjing University in China and collaborating institutions have developed a novel processing strategy to resolve a major efficiency issue in monolithic all-perovskite triple-junction solar cells.
In particular, a surface reconstruction and halide homogenization strategy has been designed to address performance-limiting issues in 2.0-eV ultrawide-bandgap (UWBG) perovskite films.
It led to the development of the perovskite triple-junction solar cell with an impressive 30.1 percent power conversion efficiency (certified at 29.3 percent). As per the study, this integrated design operates with high stability under continuous use and could push future multi-layered solar cell efficiencies beyond 35 percent.
Standard silicon panels currently dominate the solar industry, but face physical limits that restrict how much sunlight they can convert into energy. Perovskites offer a promising alternative, as these synthetic materials can be stacked in layers to absorb a wider range of wavelengths across the solar spectrum more efficiently.
To capture high-energy sunlight, scientists build ultrawide-bandgap (2.0-eV) perovskite films rich in bromide. But high bromide content behaves unpredictably during fabrication. The top surface dries and crystallizes first. The bottom remains wet.
This mismatch creates a rigid outer skin over a fluid core, causing the film to wrinkle, crack, and segregate its chemical ingredients. As a result, the energy is wasted, and severe voltage losses occur.
Researchers solved this issue by creating a dual processing technique that smooths the material surface and manages how the crystals form. It resolved the uneven drying issue by combining a targeted solvent bath with a small amount of oleylammonium chloride additive. 
The balanced solvent treatment reshapes and flattens the top layer, while the chloride addition forces the bromide and iodide components to crystallize at the same time. This joint approach prevents premature surface hardening, creating a smooth and structurally uniform film throughout the entire material.
A monolithic triple-junction cell combines three interconnected light-absorbing layers, each designed with a distinct bandgap to target different parts of the solar spectrum.
Elimination of surface wrinkles and structural defects led to the optimization of all three layers of the solar cell for peak energy capture. The top 2.0-eV subcell achieved a high open-circuit voltage of 1.46 V, paired with a 1.60-eV middle layer for spectrum matching and a 1.22-eV bottom layer for deep infrared absorption. 
Together, this monolithic triple-junction configuration delivered a record 30.1 percent power conversion efficiency, which was independently certified at 29.3 percent.
“The resulting UWBG perovskite films show uniform surface potential, suppressed non-radiative recombination, improved carrier mobility and an open-circuit voltage of 1.46 V,” the researchers noted. 
It works, and it even lasts. Reportedly, the finished cell retained over 90% of its initial efficiency after 569 hours of continuous, maximum-power operation under simulated suns.
After completing initial laboratory testing, the team aims to reduce voltage and fill-factor losses, refine current matching, and scale up device size for larger applications. Future studies will shift from initial efficiency measurements to evaluating module performance under realistic operating conditions, with a specific focus on radiation, ultraviolet, vacuum, and thermal-cycling durability for potential space missions.
And because it avoids heavy silicon wafers, it points toward ultralight, flexible solar modules designed for commercial roofs, wearable electronics, and satellite deployments.
Mrigakshi is a science journalist who enjoys writing about space exploration, biology, and technological innovations. Her work has been featured in well-known publications including Nature India, Supercluster, The Weather Channel and Astronomy magazine. If you have pitches in mind, please do not hesitate to email her.
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Luis Reyes
Sep 28, at 2:00pm ET
“Circular economy” is one of those phrases that gets stapled to every corporate sustainability report, and most of the time it means a recycling bin and a nice infographic. So when a mining giant tells me it’s closed the loop for real, my default setting is polite skepticism.
Then I read the fine print on what’s now standing at Kennecott.
Kennecott is Rio Tinto’s copper operation southwest of Salt Lake City, built around the Bingham Canyon pit, the kind of hole you can pick out from a plane window. Since December 2025 it’s been drawing power from a 25-megawatt solar plant made up of more than 71,000 thin-film panels. And those panels contain tellurium produced right there on the property, pulled out of the same refinery that processes the mine’s copper.
Follow that loop for a second. The mine digs the ore, and the refinery pulls tellurium out of the leftovers. A Canadian company turns that tellurium into semiconductor material, an American company builds it into solar panels, and the panels go back up on the mine’s own land to power the operation that dug the ore in the first place. As loops go, this one’s pretty hard to argue with.
Almost every solar panel you’ve ever seen is built around silicon. First Solar, the company that made these, went a different way years ago: its modules use cadmium telluride, a compound laid down as a film a few microns thick on a sheet of glass. That thin coating is what actually turns sunlight into electricity, and tellurium’s half the recipe.
The catch is that tellurium is scarce, and you can’t really mine it on its own. Back when Kennecott’s tellurium circuit started up in 2022, Rio Tinto Copper’s chief operating officer at the time, Clayton Walker, explained why the metal lives where it does: “Approximately 90 percent of the world’s tellurium resource is contained in copper ore.” So if you want tellurium, you go find someone refining copper.
When a refinery purifies copper, everything that isn’t copper collects as residue in the tanks. Gold, silver, selenium and tellurium all end up in that sludge, and recovering them is basically a second, much smaller mining operation that happens indoors. The US Geological Survey says that’s where nearly all of the world’s tellurium comes from.
Rio Tinto spent $2.9 million bolting a recovery circuit onto the Kennecott refinery, designed to produce about 20 tons of tellurium a year from those byproduct streams. That made Kennecott one of exactly two tellurium producers in the United States, which sounds like a small club because it is one.
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The material that leaves Utah isn’t finished tellurium, though. Per the USGS, there’s no refinery in the United States taking the metal to a finished grade. Kennecott ships copper telluride. 5N Plus, a semiconductor materials company, converts it in Canada into the thin-film feedstock First Solar needs. First Solar builds the panels. And for this project, the panels came back to the exact operation the tellurium started in, a chain Rio Tinto points out never leaves North America.
Let me flag one thing, though. Rio Tinto says the new array’s panels contain Kennecott tellurium; it hasn’t said whether every ounce across all 71,000 came from Utah, and I couldn’t find a breakdown anywhere. The loop is real either way. Just don’t picture each panel as 100 percent homegrown.
Construction on the 25-megawatt plant started in October 2024 with Bechtel building it, wrapped up in October 2025, and the array was energized in December. Bechtel says it handed the project over two months ahead of schedule, with about 200 local jobs on the build. Add the smaller 5-megawatt plant Kennecott finished in 2023 and the site now runs 30 megawatts of solar.
So does that take a copper mine off the grid? Not even close. Rio Tinto isn’t claiming it does, either. The company’s own math says the 30 megawatts is enough to power about 1,026 average American homes a year and trims Kennecott’s Scope 2 emissions by roughly 6 percent, about 20,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, the same as taking 4,400 cars off the road.
Scope 2 is accountant-speak for the emissions behind the electricity a company buys from the grid. And frankly, that 6 percent is the most revealing number in the whole announcement: if 30 megawatts of solar only covers about 6 percent of the purchased-power footprint, you get a feel for just how much electricity a full mine, smelter and refinery complex drinks.
Now, why does a 20-ton circuit in Utah matter beyond Salt Lake City? Because of who controls the rest of the supply.
The USGS put China at roughly 75 percent of the world’s estimated refined tellurium output in 2024. China also put export controls on tellurium-bearing products in February 2025, and exporters have generally needed a government license ever since. First Solar has flagged that exposure to its own investors, something we dug into when its $1.1 billion Louisiana factory opened with no Chinese polysilicon in it and a tellurium question still hanging over it.
The company’s other answer is recycling. First Solar has run its own module recycling for more than 20 years and reported recovering over 95 percent of the material in 2025, tellurium included, which came up when we looked at where America’s dead solar panels actually end up.
Twenty tons a year from Kennecott isn’t going to rewrite that market, and I doubt anyone at Rio Tinto thinks it will. But when a country has exactly two domestic sources of a mineral and the world’s dominant refiner keeps a license book over exports, a $2.9 million circuit bolted onto a refinery that was already running looks like some of the cheapest supply-chain insurance in American energy.
Rio Tinto flipped the switch in December 2025 and made the project official on January 20, 2026, with 30 megawatts of solar now feeding an operation the company says supplies nearly 15 percent of America’s copper.
Agree or laugh out loud?
Luis Reyes · Sep 24, 2026
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Luis Reyes · Sep 28, 2026
Luis Reyes · Sep 28, 2026
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The U.S. Commerce Department finalised steep duties on solar cells and panels imported from India, Indonesia and Laos on Sept. 11, 2026. It found producers in all three countries dumped products in the U.S. market and benefited from government subsidies. Anti-dumping margins were set at 123.04% for India, 94.36% for Indonesia, and 65.43% for Laos. Countervailing duty rates were set at 126.09% for India, between 73.2% and 173.7% for Indonesia, and between 82.03% and 153.67% for Laos. The case originated from a trade investigation brought by the Alliance for American Solar Manufacturing and Trade, whose members include First Solar, Hanwha Qcells and Mission Solar Energy. The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to make a final determination on Oct. 14 on whether the imports materially injured or threatened to injure U.S. manufacturers. If affirmative, Commerce is expected to issue final duty orders in November. The ruling follows earlier U.S. duties imposed on Chinese solar products in 2012, which prompted manufacturers there to shift production to other Asian countries.
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Denver-based PureSky Energy and the Ecology Action Center [ECA] in Normal have partnered to launch the first community solar program in McLean County — and in the state of Illinois. It was developed through the Illinois Solar for All program.
The McLean 1 solar farm has reached full operation as of this week. The project aims to bring clean, affordable energy to income-eligible households.
It does so by allowing low- and moderate-income households to subscribe to the program with guaranteed savings of 50% of their electric bills. Other similar programs for non-income eligible households offer about 10% of savings.
“All the electricity [from the solar panels] goes into the grid and then it’s part of this electricity mix that everybody in the local area will consume, so none of the renewable energy goes directly to any of our subscribers,” said Janet Janzen, marketing manager at PureSky.
Rather, sets of solar panels have been set up in the county to collect electricity and then solar credits are reflected on subscribers’ bills. One set of panels is about a mile southeast of Bloomington-Normal and the other is in Gridley.
Michael Larkin, senior development manager, said the project is exciting because it brings the benefits of solar to communities otherwise unable to have them.
“We’re able to provide the benefit of solar to subscribers without them having to install infrastructure locally on their property, or we can provide savings to renters who don’t have control of their… yard and such,” he said. “It’s been a great benefit and we’ve basically targeted subscribers locally within the Ameren service territory to provide them with power.”
Largely, families in the program are ones who are not able to afford the costly expense of buying and installing solar panels, but the program also welcomes those who can’t have them. These include people such as renters or homeowners with houses that are too old to handle panels.
“Community solar is often the easiest way for renters and homeowners alike to participate in solar energy, because there’s no infrastructure being installed locally. It’s simply just subscribing to the community solar array,” Larkin said. “So, the biggest benefit for people is most simple — it’s lower electricity costs.”
The project also relieves worries for subscribers over nonrenewable energy consumption. The solar community project is estimated to power 429 households annually while relieving about 4.6 million pounds of CO₂.
Larkin said Illinois has a “tremendously robust” community solar program and that is what makes the state attractive. On top of that, the openness of McLean County made it an ideal spot for its first program in the state for community solar.
“McLean County was one of the early adopters of utility scale wind and their ordinance has always been relatively friendly towards solar, even before the state statute was passed to set standards across the state,” he said.
“The state still has several years ahead that are looking very favorable for solar development and further clean energy penetration with ComEd and Ameren.”
Corn Belt Energy customers are not eligible for the program at this time.
Michael Brown, executive director of ECA, said he is also excited about the project. It fits into a broader theme for sustainability he shares in: sustainability is made doable through accessibility.
“Community solar in itself, the concept of it really is all about removing the barriers for clean, renewable energy for residents,” he said. “Not everybody can afford to put solar on their home; not everybody even owns their home. In rental situations, obviously, you cannot put solar on top of your apartment.”
Even in his case, Brown said his house was assessed and denied approval for solar panels because of the mature trees on his property. He said by removing the barriers to something like solar power, anyone and everyone gets to have access if they want it.
Furthermore, solar is one of many ways the county and EAC can remain a leader in the sector.
“I think more community solar can do that, but at the same time, we need to look at other ways and places we can be installing solar,” said Brown. “I think there is growing concern about solar taking up valuable farmland, and I think even just to that point directly, there’s lots of ways where solar can coexist with agricultural usage…”
Brown said solar and agriculture can be done in the same area, but also urban locations should not be ignored. He said a good example is the solar installation at Illinois State University’s new College of Engineering.
As for his own work, Brown said EAC has recently published a new community energy strategic plan to increase the amount of clean renewable energy.
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North Star Renewable Energy has appointed Shivanand Nimbargi as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to support the company’s efforts to mobilise private capital and accelerate the country’s energy transition.
North Star Renewable Energy is a joint venture between British International Investment (BII) and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). BII and CIP’s Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II) made the appointment, with Nimbargi set to lead North Star’s efforts to develop and scale renewable energy projects across India. 
Shivanand Nimbargi brings more than three decades of experience across the energy, transport and infrastructure sectors. Most recently, he served as Managing Director and CEO of Ayana Renewable Power, a renewable energy company and a platform originally established by BII in 2018.
Under his leadership, Ayana grew into a leading renewable energy business that attracted major institutional investors and helped demonstrate the potential of BII’s platform-building approach in India’s clean energy sector.
His experience in building and leading renewable energy businesses, together with his longstanding association with BII, positions him to lead North Star as it establishes and scales its renewable energy platform in India.
North Star is also a key platform within British Climate Partners (BCP), BII’s £1.1 billion climate finance initiative established to support the decarbonisation of coal-dependent economies, including India, by mobilising private capital at scale.
North Star will invest across solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy, as well as storage projects. These projects are expected to generate more than 4 mi
Last year, British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, entered a new five-year strategy; this year to launch British Climate Partners (BCP).
It developed BCP, a new £1.1 billion initiative to mobilise private capital at scale to support the energy transition in Asian developing economies and accelerate progress towards net zero. 
Through platform investments such as North Star, BCP aims to unlock institutional investment in climate solutions and support large-scale emissions reductions across Asia.
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The 100 MW, which is the first phase of the 300 MW Huainan Panji coal-mining subsidence-area floating PV project in Anhui province, achieved full-capacity grid connection. China Energy Engineering Group Anhui No. 2 Electric Power Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. is serving as the EPC contractor. The project uses the water surface of a deep coal-mining subsidence area in Panji that had remained largely idle. It is planned in two phases, comprising 100 MW in the first phase and 200 MW in the second. The project includes a 220 kV step-up substation and a 330 MVA main transformer shared by both phases. Once the 300 MW project is completed, it is expected to deliver about 350 million kWh of electricity to the grid annually.
A research team from Yunnan University and Southwest United Graduate School has developed a wide-bandgap perovskite solar cell for underwater photovoltaic applications. The device has a bandgap of about 1.96 eV and achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 16.79% under AM1.5G illumination and 34.71% under a simulated spectrum corresponding to a water depth of 10 meters. It operated continuously at its maximum power point for 1,160 hours without significant degradation, according to results published in Joule. The team also conducted field tests near Weizhou Island in the South China Sea. A 115 cm² perovskite module operated at an actual depth of 10 meters for two hours and generated 324 mWh of electricity, which was used to charge a lithium-ion battery and power an LED. Accelerated aging tests indicated a projected T80 lifetime of about 5.49 years under simulated spectral conditions corresponding to a depth of 10 meters.
Yuedong New Energy Technology has broken ground on a semi-solid-state battery pack and containerized energy storage project in Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone, Jiangsu province. The facility will assemble lithium-ion energy storage modules and containerized energy storage systems, with planned annual capacity of 5 GWh once completed. According to the Yancheng government, it currently has more than RMB100 million in orders on hand and plans to complete factory renovations and begin equipment commissioning in November, targeting production by the end of 2026. Its containerized systems use dual-mode liquid cooling and liquid heating thermal management, with the company claiming system conversion efficiency of at least 94%. The products are intended for utility-scale power plants, C&I energy storage and new-energy heavy-duty trucks.
Energy developer, CGN New Energy, has launched procurement for implementation-planning services for a 12 GW integrated energy project in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia. The planned renewable energy capacity comprises 5 GW of wind and 7 GW of solar, with coal-fired power, electrochemical energy storage, pumped hydro and concentrated solar power to be configured as part of the overall project plan. Earlier this month, CGN New Energy also launched a tender for power-source planning services for the Tengger-Badain Jaran Desert renewable energy and storage base supporting the “Inner Mongolia electricity transmission to Hubei” project. The planned base includes 4 GW of wind and 8 GW of solar. The two projects together represent 24 GW of planned wind and solar capacity in Inner Mongolia.
TaiyangNews 2024

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Researchers have carried out tests on solar panels placed as deep as 10 metres underwater, a development that could point toward longer-lasting power sources for subsea equipment and reduce a sole reliance on batteries, according to TradeArabia News Service.
The panels were engineered to capture blue and green wavelengths of sunlight, which pass through seawater more effectively than other parts of the light spectrum.
In a two-hour trial conducted near China’s Weizhou Islands, the technology produced 324 milliwatt-hours of electricity at a depth of 10 metres. The research, published in Joule, extends earlier work that had been limited to depths of two metres or less.
The team relied on perovskite solar cells, which can be adjusted to absorb particular wavelengths and serve as an alternative to conventional silicon cells. Laboratory testing indicated that the cells turned about 35% of available sunlight into electricity under conditions designed to replicate a 10-metre depth.
Drawing on the testing, the researchers estimate that the panels could run continuously underwater for roughly 5.5 years. Such a capability could potentially support subsea sensors, monitoring systems and other equipment.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Perovskite Solar Cells market in China, including market size, structure, key trends, and forecast. The study highlights demand drivers, supply constraints, and the competitive landscape across the value chain.
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Transition to Inox Solar Americas digital platforms will maintain continuity for Boviet Solar customers, technical support and warranty inquiries
GREENVILLE, N.C., Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Inox Solar Americas LLC, a U.S.-based solar technology and manufacturing company specializing in the production of advanced PV cells and high-performance PV modules for the U.S. solar market, today announced that the Boviet Solar website, social media platforms, and other external brand touchpoints will begin a gradual transition to the Inox Solar Americas brand as part of the ongoing integration of Boviet Solar’s U.S. business and operations into Inox Solar Americas.
Earlier this year, Inox Solar Americas acquired Boviet Solar’s U.S. PV module manufacturing and PV cell manufacturing assets in Greenville, North Carolina, as well as its U.S. commercial operations. The acquisition established the foundation for Inox Solar Americas’ growing U.S. solar manufacturing and commercial platform.
GRADUAL BRAND TRANSITION
The brand transition will be implemented in phases across website content, social media channels, company and product information, marketing communications, trade shows, industry events, customer-facing materials, and other external brand touchpoints, progressively transitioning from Boviet Solar to the Inox Solar Americas brand.
During the transition period, customers, partners, and other industry stakeholders may continue to see both the Boviet Solar and Inox Solar Americas names across certain websites, social media platforms, product materials, technical documentation, trade shows, industry events, and other communications.
The transition will be managed progressively to maintain continuity and access to important product, technical, and customer information while establishing Inox Solar Americas as the company’s U.S. solar manufacturing and commercial brand.
The transition represents another important step in the integration of Boviet Solar’s U.S. business into Inox Solar Americas and the continued development and expansion of the company’s U.S. solar manufacturing platform.
Additional updates regarding the Boviet Solar brand transition and related platforms, materials, and communications will be provided as the integration progresses.
CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR BOVIET SOLAR CUSTOMERS
Existing Boviet Solar customers and partners requiring customer service, PV module technical support, warranty assistance, product information or other product-related support can continue to submit inquiries through inoxsolar.us/company/contact-us. Inquiries submitted through the website will be directed to Boviet Solar’s Global team for review and follow-up.
INOX SOLAR AMERICAS
Inox Solar Americas, founded in 2026 in the United States, is a leading solar technology and manufacturing company specializing in advanced monocrystalline PV cells and high-performance Gamma Series™ monofacial and Vega Series™ bifacial PV modules. Inox Solar Americas’ photovoltaic solutions are engineered to meet the needs of residential, commercial, industrial, community solar, and utility-scale applications, delivering exceptional efficiency, reliability, and long-term value.
Inox Solar Americas acquired Boviet Solar’s U.S. PV manufacturing assets in Greenville, North Carolina, USA, including 3.0 GW of annual PV module manufacturing capacity and 3.0 GW of planned annual PV cell manufacturing capacity, expected to come online in 2027. Through localized manufacturing, resilient supply chains, operational excellence, and efficient logistics, Inox Solar Americas is helping strengthen the U.S. solar supply chain and meet growing domestic demand.
Inox Solar Americas is part of the broader renewable energy platform of Inox Clean Energy and the INOXGFL Group, headquartered in India. Backed by the group’s financial strength, business stability, manufacturing capabilities, technological innovation, and industry expertise, Inox Solar Americas is committed to delivering high-quality, reliable, and sustainable solar solutions to customers across the U.S. solar energy market.
For more information, visit: inoxsolar.us, inoxclean.com and inoxgfl.com.
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Songül Atacan
Head of Global Brand and Marketing
Inox Solar Americas | Boviet Solar USA
[email protected] 
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Researchers have shown that solar panels can generate electricity 10 meters (33 feet) beneath the surface.
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Researchers have shown that solar panels can generate electricity 10 meters (33 feet) beneath the surface.
The work was carried out by a team from Yunnan University and the Southwest United Graduate School, and was published in the in the journal Joule.
During the study, field trials conducted off the Weizhou Islands in the South China Sea demonstrated that submerged perovskite solar cells produced 324 mWh of energy over a two-hour submersion window. The generated electrical output is enough to recharge lithium-ion batteries. In addition, tests predicted that the equipment would function autonomously for roughly 5.5 years at depth.
The breakthrough addresses a longstanding technical challenge in offshore monitoring, where sunlight rapidly loses intensity below the surface. To counter the water absorbing different wavelengths, the team engineered wide-bandgap cells tailored to absorb blue-to-orange light wavelengths before testing them on autonomous robotic platforms.
The team plans to evaluate the cells at increasing depths to discover whether they can supply long-term, autonomous green power to submerged cameras, environmental sensors and offshore aquaculture installations.
Lead author Wen-Hua Zhang underscored the significance of extending operational ranges beyond the shallows:
“Very few studies have been reported on underwater solar cells, and all of them are focused on very shallow water depths of only two meters or less, a scenario far from catering for requirements of practical application. This work presents the first functional validation of submerged solar cells practically operating at a water depth of up to about 10 meters, greatly broadening their application scope.”
Zhang highlighted the real-world performance of the hardware:
“What surprised us most was so much electrical energy our large-area modules generated under real-world conditions at 10-meter water depth for only two hours. Moreover, we have achieved scaling from small-area laboratory cells to large-size modules. The combination of the laboratory investigations and the in situ experiments provides strong evidence for the operation of underwater photovoltaics.”
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CertainTeed Expands Solar Solutions With Launch of Landmark PWR  LBM Journal
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TOYO Secures $240 Million in U.S. Solar Module Supply Agreements  SolarQuarter
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The U.S. Department of Commerce has rolled out an emergency measure designed to stop a rush of imports ahead of new tariffs throughout the solar supply chain, according to pv magazine. Issued as a Temporary Final Rule by the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the action imposes tight oversight and volume restrictions on polysilicon, wafers, cells, and modules coming from abroad.
The rule seeks to keep foreign suppliers and developers from amassing stockpiles before fresh trade safeguards begin on December 4. Starting that day, arriving shipments will be hit with a 15% tariff plus existing minimum import prices established under Section 232 Presidential Proclamation 11052.
Commerce is reviewing total import volumes for each importer of record relative to historical baseline averages. Those found to be importing amounts far exceeding prior baselines will be prohibited from filing any additional entries of covered solar equipment ahead of the December 4 cutoff.
Procurement contracts for equipment usually name the importer of record, which could be the project developer, an engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, a component maker, or a third-party supplier, depending on how customs clearance is handled.
To shut down possible loopholes tied to newly formed corporate entities, the rule applies stringent weekly quantitative limits to importers of record that registered after August 6 and have no historical baseline data.
From September 22 through December 4, such new importers may bring in no more than 12 kilograms of polysilicon, seven kilograms of wafers, 2,000 solar cells, and 55 solar modules per week. Customs brokers who assist entities in dodging or getting around these volume caps face financial penalties or the formal loss of their broker licenses.
Entities affected by the limits can send email requests to Commerce seeking a waiver to exceed them. Applicants must supply documentation proving that import volumes planned between August 6 and December 4 rest on legitimate commercial grounds rather than pre-tariff stockpiling, together with a binding pledge against stockpiling. Commerce intends to reply within 14 days, and its responses may ask for further trade documentation.
Commerce also keeps the power to provide tariff waivers to manufacturers that file verified onshoring plans to construct, renovate, or enlarge domestic factories for making solar products within the United States.
Clean energy trade associations and project developers caution that layering Section 232 tariffs and minimum import prices onto already existing trade duties will drive up project execution expenses, cause cell supply shortages for domestic module assemblers, and delay broader decarbonization schedules.
U.S. solar manufacturers praised the federal enforcement push, characterizing pre-policy import surges as an opportunistic tactic employed by overseas producers to erode American trade protections.
Andy Park, global chief executive officer at Hanwha Qcells, said that inundating the U.S. market with large volumes of imported products is a strategy companies abroad have long relied on to weaken American manufacturers. He noted that import volumes have repeatedly spiked before major U.S. trade or industrial policies, as companies look to exploit loopholes and secure an unfair edge before new measures kick in.
Park added that the enforcement actions are expected to help remove unlawful market practices, bring integrity and fairness back to the U.S. solar market, and ensure the administration’s trade and industrial policies meet their intended goals. He said the efforts would ultimately help attract more manufacturing investment and high-quality jobs onshore and speed up growth in American-made energy.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
This report is an independent strategic market study that provides a structured, commercially grounded analysis of the market for Polysilicon in the United States. It is designed for component manufacturers, system suppliers, OEM and ODM teams, distributors, investors, and strategic entrants that need a clear view of end-use demand, design-in dynamics, manufacturing exposure, qualification burden, pricing architecture, and competitive positioning.
The analytical framework is designed to work both for a single specialized component class and for a broader electronic materials / semiconductor feedstock, where market structure is shaped by product architecture, performance requirements, standards compliance, design-in cycles, component dependencies, lead times, and channel control rather than by one narrow customs heading alone. It defines Polysilicon as High-purity polycrystalline silicon, a foundational raw material for manufacturing semiconductor wafers and photovoltaic cells and examines the market through end-use demand, BOM and subsystem logic, fabrication and assembly stages, qualification and reliability requirements, procurement pathways, pricing layers, and country capability differences. Historical analysis typically covers 2012 to 2025, with forward-looking scenarios through 2035.
This report is designed to answer the questions that matter most to decision-makers evaluating an electronics, electrical, component, interconnect, or power-system market.
At its core, this report explains how the market for Polysilicon actually functions. It identifies where demand originates, how supply is organized, which technological and regulatory barriers influence adoption, and how value is distributed across the value chain. Rather than describing the market only in broad terms, the study breaks it into analytically meaningful layers: product scope, segmentation, end uses, customer types, production economics, outsourcing structure, country roles, and company archetypes.
The report is particularly useful in markets where buyers are highly specialized, suppliers differ significantly in technical depth and regulatory readiness, and the commercial landscape cannot be understood only through top-line market size figures. In this context, the study is designed not only to estimate the size of the market, but to explain why the market has that size, what drives its growth, which subsegments are the most attractive, and what it takes to compete successfully within it.
The report is based on an independent analytical methodology that combines deep secondary research, structured evidence review, market reconstruction, and multi-level triangulation. The methodology is designed to support products for which there is no single clean official dataset capturing the full market in a directly usable form.
The study typically uses the following evidence hierarchy:
The analytical framework is built around several linked layers.
First, a scope model defines what is included in the market and what is excluded, ensuring that adjacent products, downstream finished goods, unrelated instruments, or broader chemical categories do not distort the market boundary.
Second, a demand model reconstructs the market from the perspective of consuming sectors, workflow stages, and applications. Depending on the product, this may include Semiconductor wafer substrate, Photovoltaic cell absorber layer, and Power electronics substrate across Semiconductor & IC Manufacturing, Solar PV Module Manufacturing, Consumer Electronics, Automotive (EV/Power), and Industrial Electronics and Feedstock Sourcing & Qualification, Crystal Growth (CZ/FZ) Ingot, Wafer Slicing & Polishing, and Cell/Device Fabrication. Demand is then allocated across end users, development stages, and geographic markets.
Third, a supply model evaluates how the market is served. This includes Metallurgical Grade Silicon (MG-Si), Trichlorosilane (TCS) / Silane, High-purity graphite components, Significant electrical power, and Specialty chemical gases, manufacturing technologies such as Siemens Process (TCS-based), Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) Process, Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon (UMG) refining, and Monocrystalline vs. Multicrystalline growth, quality control requirements, outsourcing and contract-manufacturing participation, distribution structure, and supply-chain concentration risks.
Fourth, a country capability model maps where the market is consumed, where production is materially feasible, where manufacturing capability is limited or emerging, and which countries function primarily as innovation hubs, supply nodes, demand centers, or import-reliant markets.
Fifth, a pricing and economics layer evaluates price corridors, cost drivers, complexity premiums, outsourcing logic, margin structure, and switching barriers. This is especially relevant in markets where product grade, purity, customization, regulatory burden, or service model materially influence economics.
Finally, a competitive intelligence layer profiles the leading company types active in the market and explains how strategic roles differ across upstream material and component suppliers, OEM and ODM partners, contract manufacturers, integrated platform players, distributors, and engineering-support providers.
This report covers the market for Polysilicon in its commercially relevant and technologically meaningful form. The scope typically includes the product itself, its major product configurations or variants, the critical technologies used to produce or deliver it, the core input categories required for manufacturing, and the services directly associated with its commercial supply, quality control, or integration into end-user workflows.
Included within scope are the product forms, use cases, inputs, and services that are necessary to understand the actual addressable market around Polysilicon. This usually includes:
Excluded from scope are categories that may be technologically adjacent but do not belong to the core economic market being measured. These usually include:
The exact inclusion and exclusion logic is always a critical part of the study, because the quality of the market estimate depends directly on disciplined scope boundaries.
The report provides focused coverage of the United States market and positions United States within the wider global electronics and electrical industry structure.
The geographic analysis explains local demand conditions, domestic capability, import dependence, standards burden, distributor reach, and the country’s strategic role in the wider market.
This study is designed for strategic, commercial, operations, and investment users, including:
In many high-technology, electronics, electrical, industrial, and component-driven markets, official trade and production statistics are not sufficient on their own to describe the true market. Product boundaries may cut across multiple tariff codes, several product categories may be bundled into the same official classification, and a meaningful share of activity may take place through customized services, captive supply, platform relationships, or technically specialized channels that are not directly visible in standard statistical datasets.
For this reason, the report is designed as a modeled strategic market study. It uses official and public evidence wherever it is reliable and scope-compatible, but it does not force the market into a purely statistical framework when doing so would reduce analytical quality. Instead, it reconstructs the market through the logic of demand, supply, technology, country roles, and company behavior.
This makes the report particularly well suited to products that are innovation-intensive, technically differentiated, capacity-constrained, platform-dependent, or commercially structured around specialized buyer-supplier relationships rather than standardized commodity trade.
The report typically includes:
The result is a structured, publication-grade market intelligence document that combines quantitative modeling with commercial, technical, and strategic interpretation.
Electronics-Market Structure and Company Archetypes
Major U.S. producer, joint venture of Dow Corning
Operates one of the largest U.S. polysilicon plants
Subsidiary of Wacker Chemie, U.S. headquarters
U.S. subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials
Bankrupt but legacy U.S. producer, still relevant in market history
Norwegian parent, but U.S. HQ for North American ops
Parent of Hemlock Semiconductor
Equipment supplier, not direct producer
Niche processor in U.S. market
Produces silicon feedstock for polysilicon
Separate entity from Hemlock Semiconductor, same location
Subsidiary of REC Silicon
U.S. subsidiary of South Korean OCI
U.S. office of Chinese GCL-Poly
U.S. subsidiary of Chinese LDK
U.S. trading arm of Chinese company
U.S. subsidiary of Trina Solar
U.S. office of Chinese manufacturer
U.S. subsidiary of Canadian Solar
Major U.S. solar manufacturer, uses polysilicon indirectly
U.S. solar company, significant polysilicon demand
Indirectly involved via solar supply chain
U.S. subsidiary of German SolarWorld, now defunct
U.S. division of Japanese conglomerate
U.S. subsidiary of Sharp Corporation
U.S. division of Panasonic
U.S. subsidiary of LG
U.S. subsidiary of Hanwha Group
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Solaren Renewable Energy Solutions: Using Solar Energy To Power The Future Of AI  Benzinga
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A map showing the flight paths from the Watertown Municipal Airport and the location of the proposed Concord-Highland Solar project circled in red.
The parcel where the proposed Concord-Highland Solar Project would be built near Watertown.
A map showing the flight paths from the Watertown Municipal Airport and the location of the proposed Concord-Highland Solar project circled in red.
The parcel where the proposed Concord-Highland Solar Project would be built near Watertown.
WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Committee passed the proposed solar project north near the STH 26 Bypass in Watertown, despite the City of Watertown’s opposition.
The Concord-Highland Solar Energy Systems project is an approximately 25-acre, 5MW solar array proposed by the Seattle-based solar company OneEnergy Renewables LLC.
The City of Watertown has officially opposed the development.
In a letter to the Jefferson County Board, Watertown Mayor Robert Stocks outlined the City’s concerns, citing conflicts with the City’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use provisions, as well as safety concerns.
“A solar farm is not compatible with the planned mixed-use designation,” wrote Stocks. “It is not contemplated or permitted under the City’s adopted comprehensive plan and would significantly constrain future economic development that the plan identifies as vital for the greater community.
“A solar farm located near an aircraft landing zone can (also) create significant safety concerns for pilots, passengers, and people on the ground. Solar panels can produce glare or reflected light that may temporarily impair a pilot’s vision during critical phases of takeoff and landing.”
The Watertown Municipal Airport has been attempting to rebuild its runway for the past 15 years and an opportunity presented itself this summer for the refurbishment.
In his letter, Stocks also outlined concerns regarding the Jefferson County Solar Energy Systems Ordinance and approval from the closet municipality to the process. Stocks said the Town of Watertown did approve the development.
“In addition, a small (solar energy system) may be permitted as a conditional use, subject to the requirements of this ordinance, within the A-T zoning district with written approval from the closest municipality,” the ordinance reads.
“I’m not in favor of it,” District 5 (Watertown) Supervisor James Braughler. “It falls within the five miles (of the) airport. It also needs approval from the municipality, and there’s some potential litigation. I think it’s a poor use of the land. The first thing (when) you come into a town, you do not want to see a solar farm right there.”
Jefferson County Director of Planning and Development Matt Zangl noted that a glare analysis had “showed no glare or potential hazards of that nature.” He said that the Federal Aviation Administration had determined a, “null hazard,” relating to the proximity of the proposed project to the airport.
According to Zangl, OneEnergy had also submitted an affidavit showing that they provided notice to the airports in compliance with zoning ordinance requirements.
A letter sent to the county from Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, the law firm representing OneEnergy, said the City did not provide a, “lawful basis” to deny the project’s conditional use permit.
“Any restriction on the project must fit within one of the categories set forth in Wis. Stat. section 66.0401(1m). The Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that a municipality cannot restrict a solar project based on generalized local concerns (e.g., impact on aesthetics and property values) or incompatibility with land use and development plans. Therefore, the City’s opposition to the Project based on its comprehensive plan is not a lawful basis to deny the Project’s CUP application or impose conditions on it,” stated the letter.
“I know the big conflict is the proximity to the city. Obviously, the City (does) not provide its approval. The ordinance allows the committee to modify the conditional use requirements, meaning, if there’s a standard that the committee finds overburdensome or not applicable, the committee can modify it,” said Zangl.
Zangl stated that each solar farm should be reviewed “on a case-by-case analysis,” and the Planning and Zoning Committee “may modify (the ordinance) or make modification as necessary to ensure compliance with Wisconsin statute.”
Jefferson County Administrator Michael Luckey explained that, as far as he understood, any proposed expansions for the Watertown Municipal Airport would not overlap with the project’s footprint.
“As far as the runway expansion goes, from what I understand, they’re actually looking to expand up to 5,000 feet for runway, but most of that will be occurring on the northeastern portion of it as you go southwest,” said Luckey.
Zangl said that if the county had more information regarding possible expansions from the City, it could request OneEnergy examine any possible conflict with expansions.
Jefferson County Corporation Counsel Danielle Thompson said that the Committee could not deny the development based solely on one municipality’s disapproval.
“You cannot just rely on the fact that the City of Watertown said no,” said Thompson. “If you choose to deny today, (you) have to articulate, based on the record that’s been provided, some reason in which you believe denial is necessary to preserve or protect public health or safety.”
Zangl mentioned that a similar situation had happened, “west of Koshkonong.” The town had attempted to overturn a Public Service Commission of Wisconsin decision to approve a solar farm. The attempt did not pass and the Koshkonong facility is currently under construction.
The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors will review the proposed development during its next meeting.
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By Joe Griffin
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The Micro Renewable Energy Federation (MREF) has welcomed reports that the government is planning improvements in solar PV grants for homes, farms and businesses.
These reported improvements include grant supports for battery storage and extending eligibility for grants to houses constructed since 2021.
The budget is due to be delivered by the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris on Tuesday, October 6.
MREF chair Ciaran Kells also addressed the issue of solar grants for farmers under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS 3).
He noted that in the federation’s budget submission, “we were particularly critical of the restrictions now on TAMS supports for farm solar PV installations and proposed that non-domestic grants from the SEAI should be increased to replace TAMS”.
“We also sought new grant supports for battery storage.
“These measures will also assist thousands of small businesses in reducing their energy costs and carbon emissions.”
Earlier this year, as MREF launched its pre-budget submission, Kells criticised the “slashing of Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) solar grants, with 90% of applicants being rejected due to budgetary constraints in recent tranches of farmer applications”.
Proposed measures for Budget 2027 are understood to include the eligibility of newer homes, constructed after 2021, for grant supports for solar PV installations.
Kells said: “MREF set out a number of practical measures in its 2027 Pre-Budget Submission, making a strong case for improvements in solar PV grants up to at least 6kw, the introduction of grants for installing battery storage, and insisting that the government removes the exclusion of houses that received a new ESB connections after 2021 from securing a grant.”
Kells added that MREF has continually highlighted the anomaly whereby homes constructed after 2021 are denied access to grants supports for solar PV installations.
“Proposed changes to extend grant eligibility to homes constructed since 2021 is very welcome, and overdue,” he said
Kells also welcomed recent reports that improved supports are now planned for the micro-generation sector. 
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A recent solar social post made a vivid point about the economic cost and outright danger posed by bad workmanship and ignorance.
So I thought it would be worth examining here to explain why we have standards and why, in a first-world society, you have to be prepared to employ people who know what they’re doing.

The photo above shows a garden variety AC power cable that was run through a tile roof by a thoughtless imbecile or DIY enthusiast.
That hole you can see punched through the cable was made by a tile bracket screw. To quote the industry professional holding the screw gun, he “nearly [florid expletive] died” in the process and I don’t blame him for swearing.
Why didn’t this bloke with the power tool look where he was pointing it? Well, he did, it’s just that the cable in question was placed illegally and rendered invisible by a conductive layer of foil sarking.
Threading wires over the top of a rafter might be quick and easy, but anyone familiar with AS3000 knows full well it’s a cardinal sin to run wiring within 50 mm of a finished surface, precisely because it’s easy to drive a screw or nail through it when you don’t know it’s there.
Roof tiles are a finished surface, and if you’d like to argue the rafters are 50 mm below it, there’s a special place in hell for you to listen to kids who lost their Dad in an industrial accident. Thankfully, this accident didn’t claim anyone because the circuit breaker tripped as designed, the safety standards were adequate, the system worked.
And that’s just the thing. A true patriot gets a parking fine and rejoices that the system works! So I guess we should be pleased when laws are enforced, and people realise the consequences of their actions, but the grubs who did this little bit of wiring aren’t likely to be caught.

You can carve a channel into masonry walls, secure wiring, and plaster over the top with sand and cement; that’s acceptable for a single-leaf brick wall on edge or a solid stone wall.
Australian houses are generally framed with 90 mm timbers. Once you add 10 mm of cladding on both sides, there’s enough wiggle room to run a cable down the middle and still be 50 mm from each surface. If your walls are thinner or there’s some obstruction, the wiring must be mechanically protected by at least 2 mm of steel. The easiest way to imagine that is a piece of galvanised water pipe, or in other words, something pretty much nail-proof.
It’s a legality that if you change the supply by adding a battery, everything downstream must be brought up to current standards. Sadly, some unscrupulous operators ignore the requirement or lay it as a trap when offering a cut-price quote.
When considering a solar, or especially a battery system installation, you’ll often need to put aside a separate budget for switchboard upgrades, even if it’s just to make more room. The fact of the matter is that the rules were updated in April 2021, so if you haven’t had an electrician visit in the last handful of years, there’s work to be done. From 30 April 2023, Type AC RCDs were prohibited in new installations, alterations, additions, and certain replacements.
Type AC safety switches (on the left) are better than nothing; however, if you get a quote for a switchboard upgrade over the phone and they ask for pictures, these symbols must be legible. Otherwise, you are better off replacing the whole lot.
I’ve recently attended a house to examine the aftermath of a fire that started under an inverter, next to a battery, in a domestic garage. It didn’t make the news, and when I quizzed the Office of the Technical Regulator, they didn’t really raise an eyebrow. These things happen sometimes, and when you put in large solar power systems, they’ll crop up more often.
Not to be alarmist, it’s just a fact that when you’re using more electricity in a modern all-electric home, there will be more chances for things to go wrong.
Every day is a thermal cycle: every time you use an appliance that draws heavily on the mains, or every day you move lots of power to or from the grid for hours on end, the wiring and connections are heated and cooled. Eventually, the connections can relax, and when things start to get loose, then bad joints under high load cause excess heat, and the vicious circle ramps up until a terminal blowout or blowup.
I digress because that’s a story we’ll cover in more detail soon.
I’ve written before about standards and about DIY electrical. I’ve been flamed by the handymen in the cheap seats and I get it, you’re out to save money like they do in the UK. The thing is, many don’t appreciate rules, like keeping cables 50 mm away from walls, floors, roofs, or ceilings. Even if they’re not deliberate, they simply don’t know they’re cutting corners.
Electricians, and indeed the general public, rely on everyone adhering to standards, following conventions, and abiding by the law because it keeps us all safe.
And remember, when you buy a few items from the hardware shop, on the shelf with a “licensed trades only” sticker on it, you might not save much. When you ring an electrician and ask for a price, there’s every chance they’ll double the estimate if you say “I’ve already got all the gear” because nobody likes working with cheap junk for cheapskates.
I’ve broken this short video down into the salient points with a few explainers. Shout out to Paul from Brightside Solar for making people aware of this crap.
Perfectly standard tile bracket screwed down to a rafter
 
Screw out & zoom out to see the blue foil sarking has been cut to find out what’s going on here
 
Remove the stainless steel bracket
 
The plastic packer prevents the bracket from crushing & breaking the tile. Different profiles need different spacers or brackets.
 
WHAT have we got HERE?
 
Oh that’s no good. That doesn’t belong there. Hopefully, there’s enough slack to cut and repair this cable.
 
Even if it wasn’t pierced, the cable had been crushed so tightly under the bracket that it’s now impressed a pattern on the timber rafter.
 
Grubs… It’s the understatement of the year.
What I’d really like to see is better-resourced state government regulators who could inspect and police this sort of practice. While governments have spent well on incentivising the new energy systems we need, they haven’t put additional money into the technical regulators who have the power to impose fines or strip licences from dodgy operators.
If a hidden wiring fault can nearly take out a professional electrician, it’s worth knowing what to ask before anyone touches your switchboard. Standards exist because they save lives. Get quotes from vetted installers who won’t cut corners like this one did.
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Anthony joined the SolarQuotes team in 2022. He’s a licensed electrician, builder, roofer and solar installer who for 14 years did jobs all over SA – residential, commercial, on-grid and off-grid. A true enthusiast with a skillset the typical solar installer might not have, his blogs are typically deep dives that draw on his decades of experience in the industry to educate and entertain. Read Anthony’s full bio.
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UK independent power producer (IPP) Elgin has acquired the Blackhall Solar Farm in County Meath, in the Republic of Ireland, from German energy supplier GP Joule.
Elgin plans to invest around €200 million (US$227.3 million) into the development and construction of the project, which will have a capacity of around 200MW and that Elgin described as at the “late-stage” of development. The IPP added that approval and grid connections for the project are already in place.
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The company said that the deal would increase its capacity eligible for participation in the sixth round of Ireland’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), a key facilitator of the Irish government’s goal to increase renewable generation to 80% of the country’s electricity production by 2030. Figures from Irish grid operator Eirgrid show that renewable energy accounted for 29% of domestic electricity generation in August, up 58% from the same period in 2025.
The sixth round of the RESS is the most recent edition of the Irish auction system and the first that will incorporate non-price criteria requirements under the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and separate pots for onshore wind and solar PV projects. Eirgrid plans to announce the results of the auction next January.
“As we continue to grow our portfolio of owned renewable energy assets, projects like Blackhall will play an important role in supporting Ireland’s decarbonisation ambitions, energy security and long-term economic growth,” said Elgin CEO Dermot Kelleher, who described the Blackhall project as a “significant addition” to the company’s portfolio.
Elgin has advanced a number of solar PV projects across the UK and Ireland this year, including starting construction on a 112MW solar PV portfolio and securing over half a billion dollars for a 1GW pipeline of solar projects and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
GP Joule, meanwhile, has shifted its focus to its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work in mainland Europe, starting construction on a 96.4MW solar PV project in Bremerhaven, Germany, in April.

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New Delhi: The Union government has approved Rs 75,021 crore for a rooftop solar scheme that promises households up to 300 units of free electricity every month.
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana aims to install rooftop solar systems across one crore households by 2026-27. Union and state subsidies reduce the cost. A designated bank loan is intended to help households that cannot finance the installation independently. Apartment complexes can receive support for systems serving common facilities. A separate utility-led model is intended to cover underserved households.
On paper, then, the scheme contains multiple routes to participation.

But each route begins with conditions that India’s most energy-insecure urban households may not meet. A household needs to be recognised by the formal electricity system. It needs access to a suitable roof or another eligible space. It needs control over how that space is used. And it needs either money or access to formal credit for the remaining cost.
Across three neighbourhoods in Ghaziabad and Noida, these conditions create a ladder of access.

At the top are Vijay Nagar homeowners who possess all four and are receiving government support. In Khora, households have electricity connections but do not necessarily control a roof. In Unnati Vihar, families have roofs and already use solar, but lack the regular electricity connections required to enter the standard household scheme.
The irony is that as the households become more energy-insecure, the scheme becomes harder for them to access.

In Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad, the scheme’s presence is hard to miss. Advertisements for solar companies cover colony walls. Look up and panels sit on one rooftop after another.
Over a few weeks, The Wire conducted a door-to-door survey of approximately 24 Vijay Nagar households that had installed rooftop solar. Households were identified through visits across selected parts of the neighbourhood and snowball sampling, with residents and local vendors helping locate additional installations.

Rooftops across Vijaynagar in Ghaziabad are covered with solar panels under PM Surya Ghar. Photo: Author provided

The sample is not statistically representative of Vijay Nagar and its findings cannot be extrapolated to the entire area. But within the surveyed group, the pattern was consistent and was independently echoed by the local ward councillor and multiple solar vendors operating in the area.
The households interviewed shared a strikingly consistent profile. All were property owners living in independent houses, largely three storeys or higher. Their homes generally had multiple fans and appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines. None lived in a flat or an apartment building where the rooftop was controlled collectively.
Every household surveyed had installed at least 3 kW of rooftop solar. Under PM Surya Ghar, a household installing a 3 kW system can receive a maximum central subsidy of Rs 78,000. In Uttar Pradesh, the state government under UP Solar Energy Policy 2022 provides another Rs 15,000 per kW, capped at Rs 30,000 per consumer. A household installing a 3 kW system in Ghaziabad can therefore receive up to Rs 1.08 lakh in combined central and state support.
Several households surveyed said they had received both subsidies. The assistance, however, is capped at 3 kW. A household installing a 5 kW system remains eligible for the same maximum amount of Rs 1.08 lakh.
Government support was reaching households in Vijay Nagar. Their electricity bills had also fallen substantially. But it was reaching households that had already crossed several thresholds before the subsidy entered the picture.
They owned their homes. They controlled an independent rooftop. They had regular electricity connections. And they could arrange the money required to install solar.
The survey cannot establish the income profile of all rooftop solar beneficiaries in Vijay Nagar. But it does reveal the property and financial conditions shared by those The Wire found accessing the scheme.
Households do not necessarily need to finance the entire installation independently.
Public-sector banks offer designated loans under PM Surya Ghar. Loans of up to Rs 2 lakh for systems of up to 3 kW are available without collateral, although the solar equipment is hypothecated to the bank. Interest rates advertised by individual banks, however, vary and may also depend on a borrower’s credit profile.
Although these loans are described as collateral-free, the scheme guidelines do not contain a government credit guarantee for individual household borrowers. None of the approximately 24 solar adopters interviewed in Vijay Nagar had used a bank loan to install their systems.
The Wire also spoke to four solar vendors operating in Ghaziabad, particularly Vijay Nagar. None said they had encountered customers financing their rooftop systems through the designated bank loan.
The local ward councillor of Vijaynagar similarly observed that solar adoption in the area was concentrated among households financially capable of making the investment.
In Unnati Vihar, homes lack proper solar installation, but residents use the panels in ways they have learned themselves. Everyone here has become an expert. Photo: Author provided
PM Surya Ghar is not formally restricted to independent houses.
Group Housing Societies and Resident Welfare Associations can receive central assistance of Rs 18,000 per kW for rooftop solar serving common facilities, including electric-vehicle charging. Support is available up to 500 kW, subject to a limit calculated at 3 kW for each house in the complex.
But this route does not operate like the individual household model.
In an apartment complex, the terrace is shared and its use generally requires a collective decision. The society must determine how the installation will be financed, where the panels will be placed, how the electricity will be used and how the resulting savings will be distributed.
A system powering lifts, lighting and other common facilities also does not automatically provide every flat with the same direct reduction in its domestic electricity bill that an individual rooftop system may provide to a homeowner.
None of the approximately 24 beneficiaries covered by the Vijay Nagar survey lived in an RWA-managed apartment building. The four solar vendors interviewed for this story also said they had not handled an installation under the scheme for an RWA or group housing society in the area.
Also read: Why the Modi Government’s Track Record on Solar Energy Needs a Closer Look
In Vijay Nagar, the beneficiaries interviewed had crossed every major entry barrier. They owned their homes, controlled their roofs, possessed regular electricity connections and could install solar without taking the designated bank loan.
Travel a few kilometres away and households begin falling off this ladder one condition at a time. In Khora Colony, Sunita lives with her family in a one-room home. The household has an electricity connection and owns a cooler. Rising electricity and energy costs matter enormously to them.
What the family does not have is a terrace of its own. “The Iran war has shot up our LPG cylinder costs, and this summer was unbearable for us,” she said. “If there is an aspect of solar, then we cannot dream of having it. We don’t have a terrace.”
PM Surya Ghar’s guidelines make this physical requirement clear. To receive central financial assistance, a residential rooftop solar plant must be linked to a residential electricity connection and installed on an eligible roof, terrace, balcony or elevated structure.
Sunita has the electricity connection. But she does not control the physical space required to generate solar power through the standard household route.
For families such as hers, exclusion from rooftop solar is not simply exclusion from another government incentive. They live in small homes where summer heat is difficult to escape. They own a fan or cooler, but using it for longer increases an electricity bill that must be balanced against cooking LPG, food and other essential expenses.
These are households for whom cheaper electricity could offer the greatest relief during extreme heat. But the same housing conditions that make them more vulnerable, including small homes, crowded construction and the absence of a private terrace, make the standard rooftop model harder to access.
The Union government recognises that the standard individual-household model cannot reach everyone.
Under a separate Utility-Led Aggregation model, DISCOMs can aggregate households into larger groups. Instead of each family financing and arranging its own installation, the utility or an appointed entity can install and manage the systems.
The model is intended to cover underserved households, including beneficiaries from PMAY and households belonging to BPL and SC/ST categories.
The government says around 1.6 lakh beneficiaries have been covered through this route.
But according to what The Wire observed in Khora Colony, the model is not reaching informal urban settlements. We reached out to UPNEDA for a comment on on whether the aggregation model is operational in Ghaziabad and Noida, how many households it has covered and whether households without regular connections can participate. The story will be updated when we receive a response.
Even this alternative depends on a household or settlement being recognised and reached by the formal electricity system.
A few kilometres away, in Noida, are families for whom that recognition is itself the problem. They have roofs. Some already have solar panels. What they do not have is a regular electricity connection.
In Unnati Vihar in Noida, around 500 households have been living without regular electricity connections.
Residents say many families have lived here for years. But because the settlement is treated as an informal colony, they have struggled to obtain grid connections.
In Unnati Vihar, families buy solar because there is no regular electricity supply, or bill, to reduce in the first place. Mohammad Alam, 45, is a carpenter and lives with a family of 12. His household relies on a small private solar system, but the electricity it generates is limited.
Nearby lives Babbu, 40, who sells balloons for a living. His family spent around Rs 45,000 on solar. At home, even a fan is among the basic appliances this limited supply must support.
A family of four in Unnati Vihar, displaced after the demolition of their previous home, now relies entirely on a solar panel for electricity. Photo: Author provided
These families already understand the value of solar. But going solar has not meant receiving free electricity. It has meant spending privately to assemble enough electricity to get through the day.
And then there is Sharifa, who is paying Rs 2,000 every month for a solar panel that no longer works. Sharifa, 38, lives with six members of her family. Her house has been without a regular electricity connection for years. With no grid supply available, she bought a private solar system for approximately Rs 40,000.
She could not afford to pay the amount upfront, so she bought it in instalments. She is still paying Rs 2,000 every month. Then a storm damaged the panel. The electricity stopped. The instalments did not.
Her 13-year-old son is in Class 5. The family’s limited electricity supply determines when they can use lights and fans and when and how he can study.
Sharifa put the contradiction more simply. “People who commit crimes and go to jail are also kept under a fan by the government,” she said. “But people like us don’t even have electricity in our homes.”
Sharifa could afford solar only through private instalments. But she cannot access the subsidised system through the standard household route because it sits behind a condition her family cannot fulfil: a regular residential electricity connection.
Her exclusion is not caused by a lack of interest in solar. She has already bought it. Nor is it caused by an unwillingness to pay. She continues paying every month even after the panel stopped functioning. What places her outside PM Surya Ghar is that the state does not formally provide electricity to the settlement in which she lives.
Other families have spent far more.
Sheetla’s household has four solar panels that she says cost around Rs 2 lakh. They can power lights, fans, a water pump and a washing machine.
But owning an appliance and having enough electricity to use it whenever it is needed are two different things.
The washing machine runs roughly twice a week, when there is sufficient sunlight. During the monsoon and winter, solar generation falls. The family then turns to a private generator, adding another expense.
There are around 500 households here. Many have roofs. Many are already spending their own money on solar. But without regular grid connections, they cannot access the standard PM Surya Ghar subsidy.
“We keep asking for electricity,” one resident said. “But then the government says we are living here illegally.”
Rekha was unable to pump water all day in Unnati Vihar as cloudy weather left the solar panel without enough power. Photo: Author provided
These are three different solar economies operating within the same region.
In Vijay Nagar, homeowners with regular electricity connections and independent rooftops install systems that reduce their monthly bills. Central and Uttar Pradesh government subsidies together provide as much as Rs 1.08 lakh. The beneficiaries interviewed could arrange the installation without taking a bank loan.
In Khora, households such as Sunita’s have electricity connections and are vulnerable to rising energy costs. But without control over a suitable roof, they cannot enter through the same route.
In Unnati Vihar, families face the deepest electricity deprivation of the three. They lack regular grid connections and spend Rs 40,000, Rs 45,000 and sometimes Rs 2 lakh on private solar systems simply to operate fans, bulbs and pumps.
Households with less secure housing fell out at successive stages. Some had electricity connections but no roof they could use. Others had roofs and were already paying privately for solar, but lacked the formal grid connection required to claim government support.
The result is a paradox.
The households facing the deepest energy deprivation may have the most to gain from affordable solar. But they are also the least likely to possess the property, infrastructure and formal recognition required to enter the scheme.
India can count how many rooftops receive panels and how many consumers record a zero bill. What it does not yet publicly count is how many households were unable to apply because they lacked a recognised electricity connection, control over a roof or access to formal housing in the first place.
That is the number an inclusive energy transition would also need to measure.
This story was supported by the Earth Journalism Network.
Shubhangi Derhgawen and Bindu Gurjar are independent journalists.
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Plans for a prospective solar farm are progressing again.
Jay County Commissioners gave

Invenergy plans to build Skycrest Solar, a $150 million, 155-megawatt facility on 2,500 acres in Penn and Jackson townships. The company will contribute about $1.74 million in economic development payments to the county over four years. Payments must begin no later than six months after construction begins, according to approved agreements.
One of Invenergy’s agreements with the county requires a bond to cover decommissioning costs. County attorney Wes Schemenaur noted the company plans to seek estimates from engineering firms Westwood Professional Services and Stantec. Invenergy will present the estimates as options for commissioners to choose from at their Oct. 26 meeting.
Invenergy’s agreements with the county require construction to begin by the end of 2026, with the solar panels to go online by Dec. 31, 2028.
In November 2025, Jay County Plan Commission approved a limited construction permit for Invenergy in northwest Jay County. Invenergy still needs to seek its full construction permit from the county. Schemenaur said the company plans to seek the permit in December, after which it plans to break ground.
Invenergy is the second company to seek estimates for a decommissioning bond for a solar project in Jay County.
Earlier this month, commissioners set Scout Clean Energy’s decommissioning bond for its Sun Chief Solar project northeast of Redkey at $5.64 million.
Plans for Sun Chief Solar call for a $100 million, 100-megawatt solar farm on 1,200 acres near Bitter Ridge Wind Farm. The company has until Dec. 31, 2027, to finish construction.
Over the last six years, Invenergy, Scout Clean Energy and Leeward Renewable Energy have been working to establish solar farms in Jay County. Hodson Energy had also been developing New Jay Solar Farm but recently announced it had canceled the project because it was no longer feasible without a buyer for the electricity.
Also Monday, commissioners authorized Jay County highway superintendent Bob Howell to move forward with plans to purchase a new road roller in January. The decision hinges on Jay County Council approving the highway department’s 2027 budget.
Howell explained the department has been renting a roller but pointed to rising prices. He suggested using funds budgeted for a second new pickup truck next year. Howell estimated the roller would cost $159,800 and suggested using the $57,000 pickup truck allotment as a down payment, with the remainder to come from a loan.
Commissioners also gave Howell permission to transfer one of the department’s old pickup trucks to Jay County Courthouse superintendent Monte Shrack for maintenance needs. Duane Monroe, president of the commissioners, thanked Howell for coordinating with other department heads regarding vehicles.
In other business, commissioners Chad Aker, Doug Horn and Monroe:
• Agreed to hold a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 13 on a request to rezone Kevin Smith’s property at 7518 E. Indiana 67, Bryant, from commercial to agricultural residential.
• Tabled a decision on a request for a letter of support from East Central Indiana Regional Planning District designating the district as Jay County’s economic development district. Monroe noted district representatives plan to attend a meeting in October and suggested holding off until they make a presentation to commissioners.
• Approved the following: Jay County Health Department’s application for its annual bioterrorism grant; a $33,920 claim from JH Consulting for Jay County Emergency Management Agency’s commodity flow study, funded through a hazardous materials grant; and a $23,500 claim from Goodhew Roofing for repairs at Jay County Retirement Center (Jay County Country Living).
• Approved scrapping Jay County Highway Department’s 1993 Ford Ranger.
• Asked Jay Emergency Medical Service director Gary Barnett to seek quotes for new tablets for the department’s ambulances. Aker pointed to issues with the existing equipment.
• Learned JEMS is working on a program to begin carrying blood products on ambulances. The program would be funded by a grant for at least the first five years.
• Heard a monthly financial breakdown from Barnett. In August, JEMS had $146,217.72 in expenses and $91,829.86 in income. As of Sept. 1, the department had $212,858.87 in bills yet to be collected.
• Agreed during the drainage board meeting to hold a public hearing Nov. 9 regarding plans to combine the Upper Salamonie River watershed into the Salamonie River watershed.
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They wanted a way to keep food in the freezer from spoiling and continue pumping water from the well.
Photo Credit: iStock
Solar panels can slash electric bills under normal conditions, but many homeowners are surprised to learn that rooftop systems often stop working during a blackout without a battery and switch system.
That surprise can become an expensive one when a freezer full of food, a private well, or other household essentials suddenly lose power, even on a bright, sunny day.
In a Reddit thread on the r/TwoXPreppers subreddit, users discussed a question that often comes up after storms and utility outages. 
The original poster prompted the discussion with a question. “When power goes out I lose my solar panels because my panels can’t keep putting electricity back into the grid for safety,” they said. “But is there a way to disconnect from grid power and power my house during the day?”
What they needed most was straightforward. They wanted a way to keep food in the freezer from spoiling and continue pumping water from the well.
What a solar setup can do during an outage depends on more than the panels themselves. In many cases, a home also needs equipment such as battery storage, a transfer switch, or a hybrid inverter to disconnect safely from the grid and keep power flowing.
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Commenters also noted that battery backups do not all behave the same way. Some systems can run into black start problems, where batteries drained during an outage may not be able to recharge afterward. That issue can surprise homeowners who assume a costly solar installation automatically provides blackout protection.
“Look into generator transfer switches, solar islanding, and batteries,” a top-voted user offered. “Also consider some water storage.”
The latter was already on the homeowner’s mind after the well went dry. They shared that they “now have 525 gallon storage and a 350 gallon truck tank.”
For homeowners who want solar to keep working during outages, the first step is understanding what equipment is already installed. Some systems can be upgraded with battery storage or compatible inverters, while others may require more extensive retrofits.
“Tl;dr: You need a hybrid inverter,” one commenter said. 
Another commenter said Enphase IQ8 microinverters may keep household power on during a grid outage without a battery during sunlight hours. Beyond that, you’d need at least one IQ Load Controller to maintain system stability in off-grid mode, and you would need an Enphase System Controller or other smart switch to cut the home off from the grid during such an outage as well, since that electricity could backfeed into nearby power lines and shock or electrocute a worker repairing the outage. 
A backup-capable system may help a household avoid losing food and keep critical equipment such as refrigerators, fans, or wells operating during outages. For homes that rely on private wells, maintaining access to water may be even more important than preventing food loss.
Homeowners can also ask installers direct questions before purchasing or upgrading a system: Will it operate during a blackout? Does it support manual or automatic transfer? Can it handle a black start? And if the home already has an electric vehicle, it may also be worth asking whether vehicle-to-home backup is possible.
As for the original poster, they had options if they were willing to consult, research, and invest in a true backup.
“You can have a grid tied system with battery backups,” a commenter explained. “You just have to have a cutoff so that it doesn’t back feed into the lines. This could be a manual switch or an automated switchover (preferred).”
Battery storage, hybrid equipment, and newer solar setups can make the difference during a blackout.
• Across the United States, backup batteries paired with solar are helping more homes ride out blackouts.
• After a hurricane, one homeowner saw solar panels keep the lights on when neighbors lost power.
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UK independent power producer Elgin has acquired the Blackhall Solar Farm in County Meath, in the Republic of Ireland, from German energy supplier GP Joule, according to pv-tech. The transaction adds a late-stage development asset to Elgin’s owned renewable energy portfolio.
Elgin intends to commit roughly EUR200 million, equivalent to about US$227.3 million, to developing and building the project, which is planned to have a capacity of around 200MW. The company said the project has already secured approval and grid connections.
The acquisition is expected to expand the capacity Elgin can enter into the sixth round of Ireland’s Renewable Electricity Support Scheme. That auction round is the latest edition of the Irish support mechanism and the first to include non-price criteria tied to the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act, alongside separate categories for onshore wind and solar photovoltaic projects. Grid operator Eirgrid plans to publish the auction results next January.
Irish authorities have set a goal of raising renewable generation to 80% of national electricity production by 2030, with the support scheme serving as a central instrument. Eirgrid data cited in the report show renewables represented 29% of domestic electricity generation in August, an increase of 58% compared with the same month in 2025.
Elgin chief executive Dermot Kelleher said the Blackhall project would be a significant addition to the company’s portfolio and would support Ireland’s decarbonisation ambitions, energy security and longer-term economic growth as Elgin continues to expand its owned renewable assets.
Elgin has progressed several solar photovoltaic projects in the UK and Ireland this year, including beginning construction on a 112MW solar portfolio and raising more than half a billion dollars for a 1GW pipeline of solar projects and battery energy storage systems.
GP Joule, for its part, has redirected attention to engineering, procurement and construction activity in mainland Europe, having started construction on a 96.4MW solar photovoltaic project in Bremerhaven, Germany, in April.
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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | September 28, 2026
Two more landfills in the Cleveland, Ohio, area are going solar, as recently announced by the City of Cleveland Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Department of Public Utilities and Department of Port Control. A 7-MW project is being designed for a city-owned landfill off Kolthoff Drive, and a 2-MW array will be on a landfill off West 11th Street.
Solar installation at the Brooklyn landfill. Credit: SPW archives
The Kolthoff project will help power operations at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), while the West 11th project will send power to Cleveland Public Power (CPP) customers. Both projects are being developed by Enerlogics Networks, Energy Independent Solutions and Prairie Wind Group.
“Keeping costs affordable for Cleveland residents is a priority,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “This project allows us to put underused land back to work by generating energy locally, lowering energy costs, and ensuring our clean energy investments deliver real value to the people who live here.”
CPP also hosts a 4-MW project on the capped landfill in Brooklyn, Ohio, just outside Cleveland limits.
The two new landfill solar projects are being developed through a broader regional clean energy initiative funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program.
In 2024, a coalition of Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland and the City of Painesville received a $129 million grant from the EPA to expand renewable energy throughout Northeast Ohio. The funding will support solar and battery storage projects, restoration of approximately 400 acres of polluted land, and workforce development in clean energy career pathways.
The broader initiative is expected to support the development of approximately 53 MW of solar power, natural restoration projects and a 20 MW battery installation associated with the permanent closure of a coal-powered facility in Painesville. The work is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and other pollution, expand locally generated renewable energy and put previously blighted or otherwise difficult-to-develop properties back into productive use.
Cleveland committed in 2018 to reaching 100% of its electricity demand from clean, renewable energy by 2050.
“These projects bring tangible financial cost savings in a volatile energy market while reducing climate emissions in the longer term,” said Sarah O’Keeffe, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. “Expanding locally generated clean energy is both a climate action and a step to future proof our community.”
In addition to generating renewable electricity, both projects will demonstrate how clean energy development can support natural restoration. Pollinator-friendly plants will be seeded beneath and around the ground-mounted solar panels, creating habitat and food sources for beneficial insects and wildlife, including bees, butterflies and birds.
Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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There is undoubted controversy and increasing community resistance surrounding the growing demand for new data centers. Recent figures compiled by Goldman Sachs suggest this controversy won’t fade away either. One concern is the power these behemoths consume; Goldman Sachs data forecasts that US data-center power consumption will more than double to 66 gigawatts (GW) in 2027 from an already hefty 31 GW in 2025. This is largely driven by the demand for AI infrastructure. For context, one gigawatt is enough to power around 750,000 homes. This means the power needed to run our data centers is equivalent to what it takes to power just shy of 50 million homes.
So, couldn’t we just build solar plants next to data centers and power them that way? Let’s set some benchmarks and find out. To be fair, we’ll rule out powering massive data centers run by companies like Amazon, which can continuously draw over 100 MW of power. Instead, let’s consider how many it would take to power a medium-sized data center of 10 MW. 
For solar panels, we can use the typical output of a commercial panel: about 500 watts. A 10 MW data center would consume about 240 MWh of energy in a day; under perfect conditions with 12 hours of sunlight, a 500-watt panel can theoretically produce at least 6 kWh of energy per day. That means you’d need around 40,000 solar panels to power the data center and charge the batteries to keep it running after dark. 
The figure above makes several assumptions that reality often doesn’t match. Therefore, it’s worth taking a deeper look at how that figure comes together. First, we assumed a 12-hour window every day, and unless the data center is on the Equator, that won’t happen. However, for any location, we can assume an average of 12 hours of daylight per day over the course of a year. Even then, we’re not accounting for factors like performance drops due to weather, which is one of the biggest drawbacks of solar power. In other words, just counting how many solar panels are needed to power a data center needs a little more than introducing some industry-average figures.
Perhaps the easiest way to show how this affects the calculation is to look at how a data center’s location affects it. According to data published by Current Results, Phoenix, Arizona, has an average total annual sunshine of about 3,872 hours — or about 10.6 hours per day. By contrast, the average annual sunshine for Seattle is 2,170 hours, which equates to about 5.9 hours per day. While solar panels don’t need piercing sunlight to work, according to PowerOutage.us, they lose between 23% and 67% of their output on cloudy days.
In practical terms, the number of panels needed can depend on geography. If we take a midpoint of about 45% efficiency loss from the Power Outage figures, then a data center in Seattle would lose nearly half the potential from each panel, pushing the number far beyond 40,000 and nearly doubling it.
Data center workers don’t lock the factory gates and shuffle off home when the whistle blows; these facilities run 24/7, 365 days a year. One of the main things enabling this is a reliable and continuous electricity supply. This is where solar-only designs come up short. Even under ideal conditions, fully off-grid solar-and-battery systems reach about 99% uptime. This might sound impressive, but it falls short of the near 100% availability needed for a data center to be classified as a Tier IV facility. 
We also need to consider the footprint of such a facility. While the 40,000-plus solar panels figure sounds big, it isn’t outrageous. For instance, China’s Talatan Solar Park has around 7 million solar panels and has a footprint about seven times the size of Manhattan. As a side note, China’s massive solar farm does more than just produce electricity. However, our more modest project will still take a lot of land. A solar farm capable of producing the required 10 MW of power would need about 40 to 50 acres of land. Of course, additional infrastructure, access roads, and battery storage facilities would increase this requirement.
So, while there are examples of solar-powered-only data centers, including a 100 MW capacity facility in Dubai, a more realistic model is to use a hybrid approach to powering data centers. Currently, about a third of planned data center capacity is planning some form of onsite power production. This isn’t entirely centered on solar power (not everywhere gets as much sun as Dubai), but this approach is gathering momentum.

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India added 50.6GW of solar module manufacturing capacity and 9.7GW of solar cell manufacturing capacity in the first half of 2026, according to Mercom India’s State of Solar PV Manufacturing in India H1 2026 report.
India installed a record 27GW of solar generation capacity in 1H 2026, up 49% year on year from 18GW in H1 2025, according to the research firm.
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The growth followed a record first quarter, with India installing 15.3GW of solar generation capacity in Q1 2026, up 143% year on year from 6.3GW in Q1 2025 and 49% from 10.3GW in Q4 2025, according to data released by Mercom in May 2026.
Cumulative annual module manufacturing capacity reached 261.7GW as of June 2026, while annual solar cell manufacturing capacity stood at 36.6GW.
Of the cumulative capacity, 225.5GW of module manufacturing capacity was listed under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List-I, while ALMM List-II covered nearly 35.5GW of cell manufacturing capacity.
Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) accounted for 80% of ALMM-listed module manufacturing capacity as of June 2026, making it the dominant technology.
Monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC)/TOPCon accounted for 11%, followed by Mono PERC at 4%, heterojunction technology (HJT) at 3%, and thin-film technology at 2%.
Gujarat remained the largest manufacturing hub, accounting for nearly 45% of India’s module manufacturing capacity and more than 36% of cell manufacturing capacity. Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu ranked second and third for module manufacturing, with 26.1GW and 23.4GW of capacity, respectively.
For solar cells, Gujarat led with 37% of annual production capacity, followed by Tamil Nadu with 4.3GW and Telangana with 4.2GW.
India’s solar cell and module imports increased 18% in 1H 2026 compared with the first half of 2025. Solar cells accounted for 81% of total imports, while modules represented the remaining 19%.
The US remained India’s largest export market for solar cells and modules in 1H 2026, accounting for 92% of total exports.
However, this could be adversely affected by the US Department of Commerce’s (DoC) final anti-dumping and countervailing duties on crystalline silicon PV cells from India, announced earlier this month, with a combined rate of 249.13% for Indian manufacturers. The rate comprised a 123.04% final dumping margin and a 126.09% countervailing duty.
The country’s manufacturing capacity also remained concentrated among major producers. The top 10 manufacturers accounted for 60% of India’s total module manufacturing capacity.
According to an IEEFA and JMK Research & Analytics report released in September 2026, India’s solar module production capacity had reached approximately 233GW, with factories operating at an estimated 35–40% utilisation. The report estimated that a further 135GW of module capacity backed by firm investment commitments and near-certain commissioning schedules was in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, Mercom reported that Indian Mono PERC module average selling prices declined 1.8% quarter over quarter.
India’s installed renewable power generation capacity reached 288GW as of June 30, 2026, accounting for about 54% of total installed energy capacity, according to JMK Research & Analytics’ Q2 2026 India RE Update, released in August 2026.
Solar accounted for 162GW, or 56%, of installed renewable generation capacity, followed by wind at 57GW and large hydro at 52GW.
Around 149GW of renewable power generation projects, including solar, wind, hybrid and storage, were in the pipeline as of June 30, with commissioning expected over the following four to five years. A further 48GW was in the bidding phase, with tenders issued but auctions yet to conclude.
India’s renewable energy transition, from solar PV and energy storage to grid integration, will be a key topic of discussion at the Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo, co-located with the Energy Storage Summit India (ESS India), in Greater Noida on 22-24 October 2026. For the full agenda and booking details, click here.

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