Solar Now

Plug-in solar is officially legal from today – I asked an expert what you need to know before buying  t3.com
source

Residents in Rotherham and Doncaster were wrongly informed about how to provide feedback on plans for a new solar farm, the Planning Inspectorate has revealed.
One Nation, the developer behind the Whitestone Solar Farm project, issued blank forms to people at public events and told them they could be used to submit representations objecting to or supporting the plans.
But the inspectorate said the forms distributed by the applicant could not be accepted as a relevant representation.
In response, Whitestone said it had since extended to 11 September the deadline for people to register with the inspectorate as interested parties and have their say on the project.
A spokesperson for the company said the mistake was based on staff's "understanding of the relevant guidance at the time" at one of its sign-up days aimed at helping residents engage in the process.
They added: "During one of these events, a small number of individuals expressed that they were unable to register using the online form, because they lacked email addresses.
"In response, we provided a printed form to allow them to submit their details and feedback to the Planning Inspectorate by post. This was based on our understanding of the relevant guidance at the time.
"After further discussions with the Planning Inspectorate, we understand that they are not able to accept this form."
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the Planning Inspectorate statement saw local community groups worry that their submissions would not be counted, as news about the incorrect forms arrived one day before the 27 August deadline.
The inspectorate said that in order for representations to be accepted, "they must be submitted either via the online form, or by obtaining an official version of the hard copy form from the Planning Inspectorate".
Philip Knight, secretary of Save Our Greenbelt Conisbrough Parks, said it was the "statutory right" of local residents to participate in the process, adding: "[We] must be given accurate information about how to do so."
The Whitestone spokesperson said: "Individuals who cannot complete the online form should request a paper form from the Planning Inspectorate, as per their guidance.
"As relevant representations are made directly to the Planning Inspectorate, we have not collected or retained any personal information from the individuals who attended last week's events."
The plans for the solar farm have been classed as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, which are treated separately from normal local authority planning because of their size and importance to wider communities.
Whitestone said that if the plans for the site went ahead, it would power about 250,000 homes in Rotherham and Doncaster and exceed the size of Europe's current largest operational solar farm.
Solar farm plans causing 'great deal of heartache'
Formal plan submitted for controversial solar farm
Local Democracy Reporting Service
“All it takes is a pen and some intelligence,” the president said.
“Every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality,” Jake Reiner told WABC-TV.
Humphreys was previously scheduled to die last December
Semi-truck had clipped a guardrail and ended face down in a ditch off US-60
Medical experts hope it will one day be used to help patients, especially older ones, track their health and well-being
Robert Pattinson plays the longtime TV personality in ‘Primetime’
Trump’s order has no effect outside the United States
Economists and food safety experts break down what American carnivores need to know.
Russia warns Britain is ‘playing with fire’ by supplying Storm Shadow missile technology to Ukraine
A 39-year-old man is receiving treatment following an assault involving a bladed weapon, Cleveland Police says
The 23-year-old female beluga, named Peekachu, died on Tuesday while staff were attempting to administer rehydration therapy
The teenager received a five-year sentence for killing 48-year-old ​Octavia Redmond
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki is headed to the 15-day injured list after exiting Wednesday night's 6-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves with a blister on his middle finger. Sasaki said the blister came on suddenly in the fourth inning. “When I was facing the first hitter in the fourth inning, I actually didn’t feel anything coming beforehand," Sasaki said after the game through an interpreter.
It has been confirmed that three major UK airports were targeted by the attack
The Snow League, a halfpipe circuit created by Shaun White, reupped its deal with NBC Sports, which will show the league's four events this season. The season starts Sept. 19 in New Zealand and will also include a new event in Park City, Utah — the host of the 2034 Olympics that hasn't had a 22-foot halfpipe since it hosted world championships in 2019. NBC will show encore presentations of all the events, with live shows on Peacock and the league's YouTube channel.
Nobody has publicly seen the 84-year-old senator since June so he's probably fine. Right?
Signal detected by monitors for seismic activity actually came from the force of ‘glacial collapse and debris flow’, says USGS
Don’t worry: The storm’s name has no connection whatsoever to the legendary singer.
Closing arguments concluded on Thursday in a case that has sparked widespread online debate and protests outside the courthouse
‘Do I think they want me killed? Absolutely,’ former Border Patrol Commander-at-large Gregory Bovino told Tucker Carlson

source

The rise of domestic PV module production in the US is gathering pace, but some parts of the local supply chain have fallen behind. Among the biggest gaps is solar glass, a market dominated globally by a handful of predominantly Chinese companies. While the US supply of float glass for First Solar’s thin-film technology is long established, American-made low-iron rolled patterned glass for crystalline silicon modules remains almost entirely unavailable.
One Ohio-based company, Stewart Glass, is due to offer trials of its solar glass to US module assemblers this summer. If the glass meets quality requirements while offering cost benefits over imports, it could establish a precedent. But its current production capacity would meet only a fraction of US demand.
Get Premium Subscription
Meanwhile, pressure on module producers to use locally sourced components is increasing through tax incentives and domestic-content requirements (DCR). The question is whether these incentives will be sufficient to overcome the financing, expertise and grid challenges involved in building large glass furnaces.
Most glass used in buildings and automotive applications in Europe and the US is produced domestically because it is heavy and expensive to ship, explains Suvi Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Arizona-based PV recycling firm Solarcycle. Until recently, there was not enough US PV module production to create demand for domestic solar glass.
“Now that there is [local PV production], we can build a true domestic supply chain,” says Sharma. “We are going to need solar glass here.”
US module manufacturing grew more than 50% last year, with 65.5GW of capacity online, up from 42.5GW at the end of 2024, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Although actual production has lagged well behind nameplate capacity, the potential market for locally made glass has nevertheless expanded rapidly.
One specific solar-glass requirement is already being catered for domestically. First Solar obtains the float glass required for its CdTe thin-film modules from within the US via Mexican firm Vitro Architectural Glass and Japanese glass giant NSG Group. However, the glass required for crystalline-silicon modules remains largely unavailable.
“As US module manufacturing has been growing, there has been no supply of non-iron content glass,” confirms Martin Pochtaruk, president of US and Canada-based module manufacturer Heliene, which has 1.3GW of US crystalline module capacity.
For Heliene, domestic glass would help complete an increasingly localised supply chain. Pochtaruk notes that Heliene will be among the companies trialling Stewart Glass’ locally made samples of ready-to-use, antireflective-coated and tempered glass this summer.
“Being able to use [locally made] glass versus importing glass is also part of de-risking the geopolitics of imports from Asia, and that’s why it’s so important,” says Pochtaruk.
The company is already making modules using US-made polysilicon, ingot, wafer, cell, frame, encapsulant and backsheet. “The only thing we don’t have today in the US is glass and the diode that goes in the junction box.”
Sharma sums up the current gap: “There’s virtually no rolled solar glass production in the US. As far as what crystalline silicon needs, which is rolled pattern glass, it doesn’t exist in the US.”
Despite the supply gap, activity is increasing. Stewart Glass is expanding its Ohio facility, with a second line expected online in June 2027. Solarcycle is planning a first-of-its-kind US facility that would use recycled materials to produce new solar glass, although it still needs additional financing before construction of its furnace can begin.
Virginia-based startup MSolar Manufacturing is planning a new facility in Virginia to manufacture heterojunction (HJT) cells and modules, as well as solar glass. Meanwhile, US solar manufacturer T1 Energy is interested in US glass production, particularly because of the logistics advantages, although CEO Dan Barcelo highlights the challenge of competing on price with Southeast Asia.
Texas-headquartered module manufacturer SEG Solar is also looking for land to potentially produce PV glass itself or through a joint venture with a glassmaker.
“I still think we’re at least two years out from seeing some of these new ideas be able to work,” says SEG Solar CEO Jim Wood. “But if someone should build a big glass manufacturing [facility] for solar glass, they need to see policy beyond 2030 to really make sense of that investment.
“You need lots of power, a big space, to keep running that facility 24/7 for a year, never shutting it down, never stopping to be able to recapture your capex, and so there needs to be policy to support glass manufacture.”
The scale of glass production is one of the fundamental obstacles. “Glass factories… they just come in one size, which is large,” says Sharma.
A 5-6GW glass furnace can require US$550-600 million of investment, making financing one of the biggest hurdles facing prospective US producers. Banks must also decide whether to finance a new company without a track record of producing solar glass, rather than an established overseas manufacturer.
The challenge is therefore not simply expensive equipment and infrastructure. Domestic producers also lack some of the experience and expertise needed to make a convincing case to investors.
Power is another constraint. Although non-iron silica sand is generally considered readily available as a feedstock for glassmaking, glass furnaces require enormous quantities of electricity.
In some parts of the US, grid constraints mean it can take 12-18 months for investment in grid infrastructure to bring sufficient power to a manufacturing site, according to Pochtaruk. “It becomes a two-year construction project. So, it’s not quick,” he adds. “It’s not that you say, well, somebody won the lottery and is giving me US$500 million, so I’m going to build it in my backyard now. You need a power supply that is massive, and that could also be a constraint. Because of the size of the investment, this is proving to be quite difficult because nobody has been able to pull it off so far.”
Long-term certainty over demand is critical for infrastructure projects of this scale, and volatility in US government policy has already adversely affected potential developments.
Canadian Premium Sand, for example, paused development of a planned 4GW US pattern-glass facility until there is greater stability in trade policy and the geopolitical landscape. The company had secured 30% of planned output through binding offtake agreements, but needed 80% to proceed, with progress hindered by “uncertainty surrounding US solar energy policy”.
Glass furnaces also cannot simply be switched off if demand or policy changes.
“The reason you can’t shut it down is, as you heat up the furnace, it seals itself, and then as you cool it down, you have to jackhammer the refractories out,” says Michael Pilliod, CEO of glass engineering consultancy Central Tension.
“Glass furnaces can’t turn on and turn off. They turn on and they run, and if they turn off it’s a multi-year programme to be able to decommission, break it down and then reassess it.”
Pilliod points to China’s success in connecting glass manufacturers with multiple module suppliers, backed by government incentives and protection, including tax support, and greater certainty over both supply and buyers. He argues that a similarly coherent US strategy may be needed.
Under domestic-content bonuses, glass is categorised as a subcomponent that contributes to the total calculation of whether a module qualifies as US-manufactured.
Meanwhile, the recently announced 232 tariffs of 15% on imports of polysilicon and solar wafers, cells and modules to the US are yet “another move from the US administration to provide a graded playing field for domestic manufacturing versus imports”, says Pochtaruk.
However, even stronger incentives for glass specifically, or extending the length of the 45X manufacturing tax credits to help PV manufacturers, may not solve the financing problem.
“That will help to provide a context,” Pochtaruk adds. “However, even with a good context, if you and me go knock on a bank saying we’re going to build a US$600 million glass electric air furnace, but we have never done it, we have no idea how to do it, but we know we’ll do it well, people will laugh it off.”
The 45X credits also include requirements relating to non-FEOC companies. Sharma says there are currently few suppliers of solar glass that meet the requirement, creating an incentive for US module manufacturers to source from a domestic producer.
The Domestic Content adder could be less useful to glass manufacturers in the short term, however, because many eligible projects will be built before new glass furnaces could come online. Such facilities can take at least three years to establish.
The longer-term policy direction may therefore be as important as existing incentives.
“It’s an evolving area of duties and taxes, as can be seen by Section 232,” says Sharma. “That alone was a huge change and boon for domestic manufacturing. So, most of the companies here believe that there’s going to be more policies, whether it’s carrots or sticks, that are going to push them into manufacturing.”
When Stewart Glass delivers its US-made solar glass this summer, Heliene will test it against its quality requirements before potentially adding it to its domestic-content offering to customers.
The technology itself is not groundbreaking, says Pilliod, but glass is a competitive, low-margin business. Stewart Glass’ position as a first mover in the US therefore represents a significant commercial step.
“The next question is, can you do it at a reasonable competitive price to the large manufacturer?” says Pilliod. “No one wants to pay more for glass.”
While Stewart Glass’s line 1 produces 150 tonnes per day (line 2 will produce an additional 250 tonnes in June 2027), Solarcycle is pursuing a different, larger-scale approach. Its planned facility would produce around 1,000 tonnes of glass per day, equivalent to roughly 5GW per year, although it’s notable that some individual Chinese plants are around ten times larger.
Scale matters because higher volumes reduce costs; however, US producers also have potential advantages from lower shipping costs and, in some regions, cheaper natural gas.
Solarcycle has obtained land and permits and is raising capital. Its plans include progressively increasing the proportion of recycled glass cullet used as feedstock as more US modules reach the end of their lives. With only around 1GW of modules currently coming offline annually, it could take a decade before recycled glass can fully supply the planned furnace.
Even if production shifts to the US, some expertise may initially still have to come from Asia. Sharma says most of the relevant expertise currently resides in China. Solarcycle, for example, is using Chinese equipment because it is commercially viable and expects to bring engineers from China to support its facility.
“I don’t see a clear path to have competitive solar glass domestically without the engineering assistance of Chinese equipment makers or Chinese glass manufacturers,” he says. “Tariffs and duties help to raise the price [of imports], but that’s not a panacea. That’s not going to solve everything. We still are going to need the expertise coming from overseas.”
For Solarcycle’s co-founder and CSO, Jesse Simons, the case for domestic solar glass goes beyond simply replacing imports. Some of the original solar companies, including SolarCity and SunPower, invested in Solarcycle because they viewed reshoring the wider supply chain as necessary to truly domesticate US module assembly.
“When you do that, then you can start getting economies of scale, and you can start competing directly head-to-head with landed modules from Asia,” he says. “You don’t need tariffs, you don’t need all this crazy trade policy.”
Sharma also says that glass is crucial to completing the domestic supply chain, arguing that glass and solar cells are the two components most important to module performance and reliability.
“These investments take a long time,” he adds. “So, we need to start now and really work as an industry together, and we’re seeing a lot of infrastructure folks who really want to support the build-out of glass here.”
The immediate obstacles remain formidable with hundreds of millions of dollars of capital needed, enormous power requirements, a shortage of domestic expertise and uncertainty over policy beyond 2030.
But with US module manufacturing expanding rapidly, the market that domestic glass producers could serve is finally emerging. The question is whether companies such as Stewart Glass and Solarcycle can scale enough to capture it.
There will also be questions over whether to focus on float glass or rolled pattern glass in the US, but Pilliod believes solar demand will reach an inflection point where the two will become less competitors and more complementary.
The build-out of the US solar supply chain will be the focus of our PV CellTech USA event in San Francisco on 13-14 October. For full details and booking, click here.

source

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swipe for next article
The panels can lower energy bills by cutting how much electricity households pull from the grid
Removed from bookmarks
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Plug-in solar panels are to go on sale online and in shops as new regulations allowing their sale in the UK come into force.
Stores are rolling out the technology from Thursday, allowing solar power to run into the home network using an ordinary plug.
The panels, already popular in countries such as Germany where people mount them onto balconies or fences, can lower energy bills by cutting how much electricity households pull from the grid.
Each kit produces up to 800W of power, which is enough to provide up to 20% of an average home’s electricity use when the sun is shining, according to officials.
As they go on sale, ministers say prices could start off higher but they expect them to settle at around £400 to £600 – depending on the size and model – amid growing competition as more models come on to the market.
Households should then be able to recoup this cost over a few years, with savings of up to £110 annually on their bills, Desnz said.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said: “Plug-in solar is a simple, affordable way for households to take control of their energy bills and start saving straight away.
“From this summer, we’re giving more families the ability to power their homes with clean homegrown energy.”
Argos has confirmed it will begin selling the kits from Thursday, with Amazon expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Currys, B&Q, Screwfix and Wickes are also among retailers that have committed to stocking plug-in panels.
The sale of the technology was previously restricted in the UK because of safety and wiring standards.
But ministers say the legal change follows rigorous, independent safety testing, covering all key electrical elements, which shows compliant panels are safe and compatible with UK wiring, officials said.
The Government first announced plans to remove the legal barriers earlier this year, announcing it was working with retailers and manufacturers to bring the plug-in solar kits to market.
Energy minister Martin McCluskey said the technology “enables people who might otherwise not be able to get a rooftop solar array to take advantage of solar power”.
This includes renters, leaseholders and homes where installing rooftop solar remains untenable.
However, many will still require consent from landlords, building owners, councils, freeholders or even planning permission or listed building consent.
Before purchasing or installing plug-in solar devices, officials have urged people to check whether any permissions are required for the property.
Mr McCluskey said the Government has written to the National Landlords Association to communicate the panels’ benefits to tenants and encourage them to consider each case on its individual merits.
As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to drive volatile global energy prices, he said the hope is to give British people “a little bit of breathing room” on their household costs, coming alongside the Government’s previously announced plans to cut VAT on electricity bills.
On whether there will be any support or discounts to help households purchase the kits, Mr McCluskey said the Government is not proposing to deliver them through a Desnz scheme, but local authorities, charities and others will have their own funds they could choose to use for plug-in solar subsidies.
Elsewhere, people will also be asked to register their kits after purchase to provide a “proper line of sight” for grid operators, who have faced multiple challenges balancing supply and demand this summer amid extreme weather, network bottlenecks and shifting energy sources.
“We’re not anticipating any issues with this additional capacity of solar, but it’s obviously something we’ll monitor as the rollout progresses,” he said.
Addressing concerns that some households will need to pay for advice from electricians on installations, Mr McCluskey said the independent safety testing “has given us the assurance that plug-in solar panels are safe and that they’re compatible with UK domestic electrical systems”.
He added consumer advice on installations will be published through the Energy Saving Trust.
Joanna O’Loan, knowledge manager at the Energy Saving Trust, said: “As these products become more widely available, access to clear and reliable information is essential to help people make informed choices that are right for their home and budget.”
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

source

Public Hearing Held to Discuss Potential Solar Farm in Eden  Campbellsport News
source

Mount Hope Cemetery solar project collapses (Video)  Belleville News-Democrat
source

Energies Media
A Texas solar farm has become the new home and “workplace” of two orphaned barn owls.
In the United States, large-scale solar capacity has become fundamental to a rapidly changing energy landscape.
However, as the infrastructure expands across the nation, unexpected equipment issues can occur.
In Texas, innovative biological solutions are being deployed to address these challenges.
Will introducing native predators to these sites help increase critical infrastructure protection naturally?
A century ago, the United States primarily used electricity for lighting, early appliances, and entertainment.
This luxury slowly transformed urban life and industries.
Today, it is no longer a luxury but a common factor in daily life.
However, this energy landscape continues to evolve.
The nation’s total power consumption has reached new record highs due to digitization and industrial electrification.
Electricity demand is now surging past 4,268 billion kilowatt-hours.
Unsurprisingly, these modern power requirements are straining existing grid infrastructure.
Power fluctuations occur more frequently, as regional grids were not designed to handle these major loads.
To overcome this expanding supply gap without releasing more emissions, America is rapidly deploying green infrastructure.
Utility-scale solar facilities have become key to bridging this gap.
Developers are now aiming to expand capacity by adding 43 gigawatts to supply heavy-duty generation.
It is also essential in meeting critical climate goals.
The U.S. has set very clear, ambitious federal climate targets.
These targets entail significantly lowering emissions and achieving zero-carbon electricity generation.
This renewable energy transition is led by solar power, which has an operational capacity of over 280 gigawatts.
As this source continues to expand, environmental concerns rise.
Utility-scale photovoltaic plants require vast acreage, and rural regions often offer the best space.
Deploying thousands of panels can alter local ecological dynamics.
This is because the large panels provide shade, boosting water retention and soil quality.
Developers are also opting for ecovoltaics to restore biodiversity.
This entails adding native vegetation underneath and around the panels, which in turn attracts local species.
These conditions are ideal for providing shelter to native rodents and small mammals.
However, these animals can cause severe equipment damage and operational delays by burrowing and chewing.
Power Alliance recently highlighted a biological solution in Texas that addresses this more sustainably.
Instead of just protecting owls at solar farms, a Texas facility has put them to work.
Traditionally, rodents and burrowing animals were managed using synthetic pesticides and chemical rodenticides.
This temporarily reduces populations but also creates severe environmental risks.
They produce chemical runoff that seeps into local soils and contaminates nearby watersheds.
Unfortunately, it impacts non-target wildlife.
The Cattlemen Solar Park in Milam County, Texas, uses a much smarter approach.
This solar farm, developed by EDP Renewables, has a combined installed capacity of 390 megawatts.
A sudden loss in generation is therefore not ideal.
After completing a 97-day rehabilitation program at Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, two orphaned barn owls were released at the site.
The predators patrol the facility daily, keeping the rodent numbers in check.
One barn owl consumes up to 1,000 rodents annually, thanks to its acute senses.
Hence, the pair provides self-sustaining, chemical-free electrical component protection.
So far, the biological solution at the Cattlemen Solar Park has been successful.
This approach has a promising future outlook.
Not only does it overcome pest challenges more sustainably, but it also gives a second chance for rehabilitated owls.
Looking ahead, more developers should embrace similar eco-friendly partnerships with wildlife centers in the country.
Ultimately, by replacing toxic chemicals with bio-solutions, renewable energy infrastructure can scale while promoting long-term environmental protection.
Anke Maree is a writer with a clear and engaging editorial style. Her work focuses on making complex topics accessible, informative, and relevant for readers across different areas of interest.
Anke Maree is a writer with a clear and engaging editorial style. Her work focuses on making complex topics accessible, informative, and relevant for readers across different areas of interest.
Anke Maree is a writer with a clear and engaging editorial style. Her work focuses on making complex topics accessible, informative, and relevant for readers across different areas of interest.

source

Get upto 50% off
VMPL

New Delhi [India], August 27: Every year, as the first clouds of June gather over Madhya Pradesh, thousands of homeowners and business owners across Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, and Ujjain quietly shelve their decision to go solar. “Baarish ka season hai, solar kaam nahi karega,” they tell themselves. And just like that, another monsoon passes, another year of electricity bills piles up, and the decision gets pushed to “next summer.”

This article is for every person who has ever said that, because almost everything you believe about solar and monsoon is wrong.
The Monsoon Misconception That Is Costing MP Households Thousands Every Year
Let us be direct. The single biggest barrier to solar adoption in Madhya Pradesh during June, July, and August is not money. It is not technology. It is not even government paperwork.

It is a myth.
The myth that solar panels stop working when the sun goes behind the clouds. That monsoon makes solar panels useless. That installing solar before or during monsoon season is a waste of money.
At Ganit Solar, having installed over 10 MW of solar capacity across 500 residential, commercial, and industrial projects in Madhya Pradesh, we have seen this misconception delay solar decisions for thousands of families and businesses. And every delayed decision means more money paid to electricity companies month after month, year after year.
So let us settle this once and for all.
Myth #1: “Solar Panels Only Work in Direct Sunlight”
The Truth: Solar panels work on light, not just direct sunlight.
Modern solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are designed to capture a broad spectrum of light, including diffused light, the scattered light that fills the sky even on a completely overcast day. This is the same light that makes it possible for you to see clearly outdoors even when there is no sun visible.
On a heavily overcast monsoon day in Indore, a well-installed rooftop solar system typically generates between 30% to 50% of its peak capacity. On a partially cloudy day which describes most of the monsoon in Madhya Pradesh that number rises to 60% to 80%.
Think about what that means practically. If your 5 kW solar system generates 20 units on a clear summer day, it will still generate 10 to 16 units on a rainy monsoon day. Your electricity meter is still running backwards. Your savings are still happening.
Myth #2: “Madhya Pradesh Monsoon Is Too Heavy for Solar to Be Useful”
The Truth: MP receives an average of 300 sunny days per year and even monsoon months have significant solar generation hours.
Let us look at the numbers for Indore specifically.
Madhya Pradesh falls in one of India’s highest solar irradiance zones, with an average Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) of 5.5 to 6.0 kWh per square metre per day annually. Even during the peak monsoon months of July and August, Indore receives an average of 4 to 5 hours of usable solar irradiance per day when cloud cover, diffused light, and intermittent sunshine are all factored in together.
The monsoon in central India is not like the monsoon in Kerala or Assam; it does not rain continuously for weeks. Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, and Gwalior all experience intermittent rainfall, with significant dry and partially cloudy periods throughout the day. Solar panels continue generating power through all of it.
Myth #3: “Heavy Rain and Wind Will Damage My Solar Panels”
The Truth: Quality solar panels are specifically engineered to withstand extreme weather and monsoon rain actually helps them.
Every solar panel installed by Ganit Solar meets international manufacturing standards, including IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 certifications. These panels are tested against hail impact, heavy rainfall, high winds, humidity, and temperature extremes before they ever reach a rooftop.
In fact, monsoon rain is one of the best things that can happen to your solar panels. Dust accumulation on panel surfaces is one of the leading causes of reduced solar output especially in cities like Indore where summer dust is significant. The monsoon effectively gives your panels a thorough, free wash, restoring them to near-peak efficiency. Many of our clients actually see a noticeable uptick in generation in the days following a good rainfall.
Ganit Solar’s installations also include proper mounting structures designed for Indian weather conditions, including wind load calculations appropriate for Madhya Pradesh’s geography. Your panels are not going anywhere.
Myth #4: “It Makes No Financial Sense to Install Solar Before or During Monsoon”
The Truth: Monsoon may actually be the smartest time to install for multiple reasons.
First, the financial logic. A solar system installed in July starts generating power immediately and even at 40-60% capacity during heavy monsoon days, that is still savings on your electricity bill from day one. By the time October arrives and MP gets back to clear skies, your system is fully commissioned, net metering is active, and you are already harvesting maximum power through the long, sunny post-monsoon months that follow.
Second, practical logic. Monsoon months are typically when solar installation teams have better availability, since demand from residential customers slows down due to the exact misconception this article is addressing. This often means faster installation timelines, better attention to your project, and smoother coordination with DISCOM for net meter connections.
Third, the subsidy logic. The Government of India’s PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana provides subsidies of up to Rs. 78,000 for residential solar installations. These subsidies do not come with a monsoon exclusion. Processing your application and installation during monsoon means you could be fully set up and subsidy-approved well before the next summer season begins with zero time wasted.
Myth #5: “Solar Is an Added Expense During Monsoon Because It Won’t Produce Enough”
The Truth: Your electricity bill does not pause during monsoon so why should your savings?
This is the myth that perhaps costs people the most. The assumption that because solar generation is lower during monsoon, it somehow becomes a burden.
Consider this: your air conditioning, refrigerator, lights, fans, water pumps, and industrial machinery do not stop running in July. Your electricity bill from MPEB does not go down because it is raining. In fact, for many households and businesses, monsoon months see increased energy usage due to water heating, lighting needs during dark cloudy days, and reduced opportunity for natural ventilation.
Every unit of electricity that your solar system generates even at 50% of peak capacity is a unit you are not buying from the grid at Rs. 8 to Rs. 12 per unit. Over a 25-year system lifespan, those monsoon units add up to lakhs of rupees in savings.
An on-grid solar system from Ganit Solar, connected to the net metering infrastructure of MPEB, also allows any surplus units generated during sunny daytime hours to be exported to the grid, giving you credits that offset your nighttime consumption. Rain or shine, the economics of solar work in your favour.
Why Ganit Solar And Why Now
For over a decade, Ganitstar Engineering Pvt. Ltd. has been building Madhya Pradesh’s solar infrastructure from the ground up. As an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified solar EPC company based in Indore, Ganit Solar has completed more than 500 rooftop and ground-mount solar projects across the state for homes, factories, cold storages, petrol pumps, hotels, and commercial buildings.
With 10 MW of installed capacity, Ganit Solar’s portfolio includes landmark projects such as the 753 kWp installation for Khalsa Nutritious India Pvt. Ltd., a 186 kWp system at the International Swimming Pool IDA Indore, and commercial installations for clients including Hindustan Petroleum, Beryl Drugs, Guruji Products, and Nature Fresh Cold Storage all of which generate power every single month of the year, monsoon included.
What sets Ganit Solar apart is not just the scale of work, but the end-to-end commitment. From initial site assessment and system design to DISCOM approvals, government subsidy processing, installation, commissioning, and long-term Operations & Maintenance, Ganit Solar handles everything. There are no hidden charges, no middlemen, and no delays.
The team of experienced solar engineers designs every system for Madhya Pradesh’s specific climate, ensuring that seasonal variation including monsoon is accounted for in both the technical design and the financial projections shared with clients.

The Bottom Line
Monsoon is not solar’s enemy. Misinformation is.
Solar panels work in rain, in clouds, in diffused light, and in every kind of weather that Madhya Pradesh’s monsoon can produce. The only thing that stops solar from saving you money during monsoon is the decision not to install it.
If you have been putting off your solar decision because of monsoon season, this is your sign to stop waiting. Every month of delay is a month of electricity bills that could have been savings.
Ganit Solar is currently offering free site visits and solar feasibility assessments for homeowners and businesses across Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, and surrounding areas of Madhya Pradesh.
To book your free consultation, visit: ganitstar.com/solar-company-in-indore
Or reach us at: info@ganitstar.com
Office: Plot No. 32 & 35, Sinhasa IT Park, Dhar Road, Indore – 452013
Follow Ganit Solar: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube @ganitstarengineering
Ganit Solar is a division of Ganitstar Engineering Pvt. Ltd. an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified solar EPC company serving Madhya Pradesh since its inception. With 10 MW installed capacity and 200 completed projects across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, Ganit Solar is Madhya Pradesh’s trusted name in rooftop and ground-mount solar energy solutions.
(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same.)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
Already a Member? Sign In Now
Already a Member? Sign In Now
THE TRIBUNE, India’s oldest, daily English-language newspaper, was first published on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan), and save for 40 days in the immediate aftermath of Partition, has come out every day over the last 145 years. THE TRIBUNE was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist of the time. The newspaper is run by a five-member Trust, which is chaired by Shri N N Vohra, former Governor of J&K State (2008-2018); as well as Justice S S Sodhi, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court; Shri Gurbachan Jagat, former Governor of Manipur; Lt Gen. Shamsher Singh Mehta, former Western Army Commander; Shri Paramjit Singh Patwalia, Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court.

THE TRIBUNE is free, objective, and independent. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language, are the hallmarks of the paper.

The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).
Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia

source

source

source

OMRO, Wis. (WBAY) – Gov. Tony Evers visited a nonprofit in Omro this week to tout renewable energy.
“They’re putting solar on the roof. They have put it on, and looks like it’s gonna work well, save them significant money,” he said at Casa Esther, an advocacy for immigrants in the area.
As of this past spring, more than $3 million was awarded in grant money to support solar investments for 270 different projects.
Casa Esther recently received a $5,000 grant towards its new solar panels. It was part of a larger push, “Renew Wisconsin,” splitting $30,000 among six organizations. Together, the six projects are adding more than 300 kilowatts of solar energy.
Copyright 2026 WBAY. All rights reserved.

source

Can’t install plug-in solar panels? No problem — I’ve hand-picked 12 solar-powered gadgets to brighten your home and save you money anyway  TechRadar
source

Sign up for email newsletters

Sign up for email newsletters
Don't miss:
Copyright 2026 Baltimore Sun. All rights reserved. The use of any content on this website for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems, algorithms, machine learning models, text and data mining, or similar use is strictly prohibited without explicit written consent.

source

Welcome to the PV Chart of the Week produced in partnership with our colleagues at PV Tech Research. This week, we look at the forecast domestic solar PV supply chain in the US until 2027.
After exploring the imbalance between solar cells and modules earlier this month, this week’s chart highlights how wafer supply is actually the weakest link in the US.
Get Premium Subscription
As the chart shows, 2026 and 2027 are both forecast to see an uptick in US cell production, to some extent closing the gap that has opened up between module and cell capacity in the past couple of years.
However, the biggest problem is the scarcity of US-made wafers (just over 10GW by 2027) to supply the more than 30GW of solar cells forecast to be in production by 2027. Currently, there are only two manufacturers, Corning and Qcells, that have either operational or planned wafer capacity in 2026.
In the case of Corning, the wafer manufacturer began production in the third quarter of 2025, while Qcells started producing solar cells at its 3.3GW vertically integrated facility in Georgia in June of this year and expected to reach full production, wafers and ingots included, in Q3 2026.
A third company, Graphene & Solar Technologies’ (GSTX) subsidiary, The Quartz & Silicon Materials Company (QSM), also aims to build a 10GW silicon wafer plant in Chula Vista, California and a monocrystalline silicon ingot manufacturing plant in California’s Imperial Valley. The company expects to begin production at the wafer facility in early 2027.
In the coming weeks, our colleagues at PV Tech Research will publish a series of articles on PV Tech covering the US manufacturing landscape.
The state of the US solar supply chain will be explored in detail at our annual PV CellTech USA conference in San Francisco on 13-14 October 2026. For full agenda and booking details, click the link above.

source

Thailand is moving crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules from a voluntary industrial standard to a mandatory market-access regime. Consultations, industry training and certification preparations are under way, but the final ministerial regulation and legally binding effective date had not been officially published as of August 27, 2026.
The distinction matters for China-based module manufacturers and Thai importers. The measure is not a new tariff: it introduces product testing, factory-site inspections, importer licensing, model-scope controls and ongoing surveillance. Because certification is generally tied to the actual manufacturing site, a regulatory start date that precedes approval of major supply bases could create a temporary gap in compliant supply.

Mandatory market access has not yet taken effect
Thailand introduced the updated TIS 61730 Part 2-2567 standard in 2025. It took effect as a general industrial standard on June 13, 2025, but that date did not require every module imported into or sold in Thailand to hold a TISI license.
Mandatory status requires a ministerial regulation and related implementation procedures. The policy direction is clear, and September 2026 has been identified as the target window, but it should not be presented as a confirmed statutory date until the final regulation is published.
Companies therefore need to keep two dates separate. June 13, 2025 marked the implementation of the updated technical standard; September 2026 is the government’s target window for compulsory market access. The final effective date, any transition period, and treatment of goods already imported or in transit remain open questions.
The proposed rule targets safety—not tariffs or module performance
The proposed compulsory regime centres on TIS 61730 Part 2-2567, which is aligned with IEC 61730-2:2023. It addresses safety risks involving electric shock, fire, mechanical and environmental stress, component failure and personal injury.
TIS 61215 serves a different purpose. It focuses on design qualification, performance retention and environmental reliability, while TIS 61730 covers electrical, mechanical and fire safety. Earlier policy discussions referenced both standards, but the latest compulsory-control process focuses on TIS 61730 Part 2-2567. It would be inaccurate to state that both standards are already mandatory.

The measure is a safety and quality market-access requirement, not an anti-dumping duty, import tariff or local-content rule. Certification can raise the minimum threshold for product safety and traceability, but it does not by itself establish module efficiency, lifetime energy yield, long-term degradation or project bankability.
The current draft primarily covers crystalline-silicon PV modules. Modules incorporated into other industrial products are outside the draft’s direct scope. The treatment of thin-film, building-integrated, floating, offshore, vehicle-mounted and other specialised modules will depend on the final regulation and subsequent implementation guidance.
Factory-by-factory audits are likely to be the main bottleneck
For imported products, the Thai importer will generally act as the license applicant. The manufacturer must provide technical files, test reports and quality-management documentation, and must support on-site factory inspections and subsequent surveillance.
The process normally covers application preparation, product-family definition, testing or assessment of existing IEC reports, factory inspection, corrective action, technical and administrative review, import and marking controls, and post-approval surveillance. A license is not linked to a brand name alone; it is associated with the applicant, production site, product family, technical construction, bill of materials and declared power range.

The factory inspection is the most easily underestimated timing variable. Inspectors need to verify the actual production site rather than only the corporate headquarters or brand owner. If one supplier intends to serve Thailand from several factories, those sites will generally need to be included separately within the approved scope. Approval of one plant should not be assumed to cover every facility within the same group.
Site inspections typically review production processes, incoming-material controls, in-process and final inspection, key materials and suppliers, equipment calibration, non-conforming product controls, model and BOM changes, traceability records, insulation testing and ground-continuity checks. An ISO 9001 certificate or group-wide quality manual may support the application, but it does not replace verification of the operating factory.
For manufacturers with plants in China and other jurisdictions, travel coordination, inspector availability, factory scheduling, corrective actions and follow-up reviews can extend the process. A surge in applications around the implementation date could create a queue for both testing and factory inspections. Even with a valid IEC report, modules from a production site that has not completed the required inspection and license coverage may be unable to enter the Thai market under the new regime.
IEC reports can shorten the process, but they do not become TISI licenses automatically
An IEC 61730-2:2023 report can form an important part of the application, but it cannot be converted automatically into a Thai license. The report must meet requirements relating to the applicable standard version, age, laboratory competence and product consistency, and it must cover the factory, model, materials and power range included in the application.
Reports are generally expected to be issued by a qualified ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory and, under current preparation practices, to remain within the accepted validity window. A version mismatch, an older report, a laboratory-scope issue, or differences between the tested sample and the product to be supplied may trigger supplementary testing or a new sample submission.
A valid factory-inspection report may be reusable for another Thai importer when the plant and product scope are identical and the report remains valid. The importer’s license itself is not transferable, however: each importer must complete its own licensing and import-control requirements.
There is also no official fixed “six-to-eight-month” certification period. Some companies use that range for planning a first full application because it may involve test scheduling, a foreign-site inspection, corrective action, document translation and a concentrated review queue. A well-prepared plant with current reports, stable product families and an experienced importer may complete the process faster; a first-time applicant with complex models or factory remediation may take longer.
A compliant-supply gap could affect deliveries before it affects underlying demand
The current draft does not clearly provide a statutory three-, six- or twelve-month transition period. If the regulation takes effect before some production sites complete inspection, corrective action and licensing, Thailand could face a period in which project demand remains intact but the range of products legally available for import and sale is temporarily limited.
The size and duration of that gap would depend on the number of factories approved in the first wave, the power ranges covered, the progress of Thai importer licenses and the amount of compliant inventory already in the country. It would not be determined by a single standard certification timeline.
Mandatory certification will also add costs for testing or retesting, samples and international freight, factory inspections and travel, importer applications, document preparation, ongoing surveillance and model extensions. These are primarily market-access costs. They become manufacturing costs only where the supplier must change module design, critical materials, testing equipment or factory controls.
As of August 21, SMM assessed the weekly average CIF Thailand prices for M10, G12 and G12R TOPCon modules at $0.111/W, $0.112/W and $0.112/W, respectively. The three benchmarks remained about 1.8%, 2.6% and 1.8% below their July 10 levels. Prices recovered slightly from early-August lows, but the market had not yet established a clear, broad-based TISI compliance premium.

SMM data also show that China’s module exports to Thailand fell to 0.37 GW in July from 0.58 GW in June, a month-on-month decline of about 36.2%. This means the ability to pass certification costs through to buyers will still depend on project procurement, local inventory and supplier competition.
If several approved suppliers enter the market at the same time, compliance expenses may not translate fully into higher module prices. If factory inspections and testing queues restrict the range of approved models, however, a temporary premium could emerge. In that case, the price effect would come not only from certification expenses but also from a short-term contraction in compliant supply.

Manufacturers with several production bases will need to prioritise which plants should be approved first. Certifying every factory simultaneously may increase coordination and remediation complexity; certifying only selected plants requires enough compliant capacity to cover Thailand’s core demand. Switching an order to another factory without confirming that the site is included in the license scope could delay an otherwise valid contract.
Outlook: execution details will matter more than the headline date
Thailand is also preparing standards and compulsory controls for inverters and power-conversion equipment, low-voltage circuit breakers and switchgear, PV fuses, 1.5 kV DC PV cables and lithium batteries used in energy-storage systems. These products are not all at the same procedural stage, and the September target should not be interpreted as a single automatic effective date for every category.

References to early 2027 relate to a broader solar-system standards roadmap covering equipment, design, installation, testing and storage. They do not constitute a fixed transition period for crystalline-silicon modules.
SMM will monitor seven implementation issues: publication and effective date of the final ministerial regulation; transition arrangements for imported, in-transit and contracted goods; final product scope; acceptance criteria for IEC reports and product-family grouping; factory-by-factory inspection schedules and report reuse; treatment of model and critical-material changes; and coordination with standards for inverters, cables, fuses and storage batteries.
In the near term, suppliers with approved factories, disciplined product-family management and strong coordination with Thai importers will have a timing advantage. If major production bases remain in the inspection queue when the regulation takes effect, the resulting compliant-supply gap could amplify delivery and price volatility. Whether that produces a lasting premium will still depend on demand, inventory and the pace of project procurement.
SMM will continue to track the final TISI regulation, implementation dates, testing and factory-inspection practices, and their effects on Chinese module exports, product availability and pricing in Thailand.
Written by:
Ryan Tey Tze Yang | SMM PV Analyst
+60 127179370 | ryan.tey@metal.com
Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.
Notice: By accessing this site you agree that you will not copy or reproduce any part of its contents (including, but not limited to, single prices, graphs or news content) in any form or for any purpose whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher.

source

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
The Independent’s journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
These small systems are no substitute for full rooftop solar, but they could open the door to renters, flat owners and households, says Jeff Meyer
Removed from bookmarks
Solar panels have traditionally been seen as a home upgrade for those with the right property, a suitable roof, the money to cover the upfront cost and the willingness to take on a full installation. That leaves plenty of households out of the equation.
However from 27 August, UK homes will be able to buy plug-in solar panels from retailers like Amazon and B&Q. It’s easy to focus on the novelty of Lidl and other high-street retailers putting plug-in solar panels in the middle aisle alongside everyday household buys. But it shows that solar is beginning to become smaller in scale, not in ambition, but more compact, affordable and straightforward, potentially opening it up to people who have traditionally been left out of the conversation.
For years, rooftop solar panels have largely been an option for homeowners with a suitable roof, a sizeable budget and the willingness to go through a full installation. If you had a south-facing roof, planned to stay in your home for the long term and could afford to spend thousands upfront, solar could be a smart investment. But despite its benefits, traditional rooftop solar has often felt more like a solution for a relatively small group of households than something genuinely accessible to everyone.
Read more: Best solar panels for UK homes
In practice, the usual solar conversation has excluded lots of people: renters, flat owners, those with small outdoor spaces but no real roof to work with, and households that like the idea of generating some of their own electricity, but have never been in the market for a full system. For them, solar has often felt less like a practical option than a sensible thing other people do. Plug-in solar could begin to change that.
That doesn’t mean it will transform the economics of home energy overnight. It will not. The systems now being discussed for the UK are small in terms of their output capability, and hence so are the likely savings. Anyone hoping for a plug-in miracle that wipes out a chunk of their electricity bill is likely to be disappointed. Amid all the excitement, we should be clear that these devices are not a substitute for a full rooftop system, and they are certainly not a substitute for wider action on energy bills, insulation or the cost of heating homes.
But I do think plug-in solar panels represent something important all the same.
For one thing, they make solar look less like a renovation project and more like a normal consumer purchase. And that is an important cultural shift. Heat pumps are still a major decision. Full solar installations are still a major decision. Home batteries, for most households, are still a major decision. They all involve quotes, installers, disruption and big upfront sums. Plug-in solar hints at a different kind of energy technology that’s smaller, cheaper, lower-commitment, and perhaps easier for more people to imagine themselves actually buying.
Read more: Where to buy plug-in solar panels in the UK
That shift in perception is not trivial. Technologies often change the market long before they transform the numbers. Sometimes the big breakthrough isn’t a product becoming dramatically more powerful, but rather it becomes more familiar, affordable and ordinary so people stop seeing it as something specialist.
That is why I think the democratising case for plug-in solar is real, even if the headline savings are modest.
If you rent a home with a balcony or own a flat with some usable outdoor space, the appeal is obvious. A smaller setup that lets you generate at least some of your own electricity is a very different proposition. It lowers the barrier to entry and offers a version of self-generation that feels less exclusive. This resonates with people because the energy transition has not always felt especially democratic.
Too often, the technologies that make homes cheaper to run are the ones that require the most money, control and permanence to install, and the households that would most benefit from lower bills aren’t always the ones with the easiest route to solar, batteries or deep retrofit work. This is perhaps the biggest reason why public enthusiasm for green technology can feel uneven. People are often asked to get excited about systems that are plainly out of reach for most of us.
Read more: Plug-in vs installed solar panels
Plug-in solar does not solve that problem, but it does at least point in a better direction. It’s a first step and suggests a world in which home energy technology isn’t only for people embarking on expensive projects. It opens up a new market in which smaller, simpler products can coexist with full installations and give millions of people the confidence that self-generation is something ordinary households can join in with, even on a small scale. But the caveats all apply.
The UK should be careful not to oversell this. Plug-in offerings will not make every home suitable for solar. It will not deliver the same savings as a larger rooftop array. Not every property will have the right outdoor space, sunlight or permissions. And there is always a risk with new consumer energy products that the hype runs ahead of the practical reality.
That is especially true with anything presented as cheap and easy. In energy, cheap and easy can quickly be mistaken for universally useful. But home energy is rarely that simple. What works well in one property may be pointless in another. The best way to think about plug-in solar is not as a universal answer, but as a new option for homes that have previously had very few.
That, to me, is what is most significant about this news. It presents an opportunity to widen access to a technology that has so far been shaped around a relatively narrow vision of who the energy transition is for. And in the long run, that may prove just as significant as the number of kilowatt-hours it produces.
Find out how plug-in solar panels actually work
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

source

When it comes to energy production, few things are as dirty as coal. That’s why CBS is now reporting that a coal mine in Colorado, owned by a beer manufacturer, has been converted into a solar power plant to produce significantly cleaner energy.
In total, the decommissioned mine now has 19 hectares (think 26 soccer fields) of solar cells, 16,000 of them, producing seven megawatts. This provides Molson Coors International with seven percent of its energy needs, and CEO Jim Crawford comments:
"For the last 150+ years of Golden Valley’s history, we’ve been focused on efficiency, on seeking opportunities for improvement and sustainability."
You must be logged in to comment. If you are not yet a member – join now!

Loading next content

source

We use cookies to improve your experience and for marketing. Read our cookie policy Manage cookies
Search across reports, market insights, and blog stories.
A solar-plus-storage facility, described as the first in Africa to provide round-the-clock renewable electricity, has started operations at a copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The project, developed by independent power producer CrossBoundary Energy, reached commercial operation on 25 August, according to an announcement made earlier this week.
The hybrid facility, comprising 233MWp of solar PV and a 123MVA/526MWh battery energy storage system, supplies 30MW or more of dispatchable baseload power to the Kamoa Copper mining complex, which spans nearly 400 square kilometres. The complex is thought to be Africa’s largest copper mining operation, with two mines currently in production and additional areas under exploration.
While the performance guarantee ensures 30MW of firm power, CrossBoundary Energy noted that in early operation the PV plant has already provided more than 150MW, with 50MW supplied directly to the mine network and the remainder charging the batteries. The maximum expected output is 180MW.
CrossBoundary Energy’s development director for the DRC, Gracia Munganga, said the start of operations was a significant step toward mainstreaming round-the-clock renewable power. The company added that the adoption of 24/7 renewable energy will reduce the mine’s carbon emissions and lessen its exposure to diesel fuel cost volatility and supply chain risks. The hybrid plant operates at a 95% availability factor, according to a project fact sheet.
The power purchase agreement between CrossBoundary Energy and Kamoa Copper was signed in the second quarter of 2025. At that time, the company said the fuel offset would result in an annual reduction of 78,750 tonnes of CO2 emissions. CrossBoundary Energy noted that while solar and storage installations are becoming more common at mines, a fully round-the-clock power guarantee is rare due to the variable nature of renewable generation. The increasing efficiency of solar PV and declining battery storage costs made the project feasible at the Kamoa Copper site.
Kamoa Copper is a joint venture between Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines, China’s Zijin Mining Group, and the DRC government. The mine began producing copper concentrates in 2021, and in 2025, Africa’s largest copper smelter was commissioned at the complex. Prior to the CrossBoundary deal, the joint venture collaborated with the DRC’s state-owned electricity company, SNEL, to build a hydroelectric plant. The Mwadingusha hydropower station opened in the same year as the mine, and additional hydro capacity was added in 2025, providing a total of 250MW of clean power for the mine and the grid.
CrossBoundary Energy also highlighted the project’s rapid execution. More than 350,000 solar modules, 513 PV inverters, 90 BESS power conversion systems, 180 BESS enclosures, and other equipment were delivered, installed, commissioned, and put into commercial operation within 16 months of the PPA signing. Kamoa Copper project manager Auguy Bakome said the speed of delivery demonstrates how quickly renewable energy can be deployed at scale to support remote mining operations.
In a related note, Ivanhoe Mines’ sister company, Ivanhoe Electric, is the majority owner of VRB Energy, a vanadium redox flow battery technology company. Both companies are part of the Ivanhoe Capital group, led by Robert Friedland.
Making Data-Driven Decisions to Grow Your Business
A Quick Overview of Market Performance
Understanding the Current State of The Market and its Prospects
Finding New Products to Diversify Your Business
Choosing the Best Countries to Establish Your Sustainable Supply Chain
Choosing the Best Countries to Boost Your Export
The Latest Trends and Insights into The Industry
The Largest Import Supplying Countries
The Largest Destinations for Exports
The Largest Producers on The Market and Their Profiles
The Largest Markets And Their Profiles
Instant access. No credit card needed.
Online access to 2M+ reports, dashboards, and tables. Trusted by Fortune 500 teams.
IndexBox, Inc.
2093 Philadelphia Pike #1441
Claymont, DE 19703, USA
Contact us
© 2026 IndexBox, Inc

source

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
The Independent’s journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
Plug-in solar panels can legally go on sale in the UK from today
Removed from bookmarks
Plug-in solar panels can legally go on sale in the UK from today, 27 August, giving households a new way to generate electricity without paying thousands of pounds for a conventional rooftop solar installation.
The rule change allows compliant systems with an AC output of up to 800W to be connected directly to a suitable household socket. Unlike a traditional solar array, these smaller systems can be installed by the homeowner and positioned in a garden or, where the rules allow, on a wall or balcony. However, only products that meet the government’s new plug-in solar device interim product specification qualify under the new rules.
And, for the first time, there are now compliant products that you can actually order. UKSOL has secured compliant listings on the Energy Networks Association’s Connect Direct register for its plug-in solar pro range. Retailers such as City Plumbing have begun listing its first ground-mounted systems.
Other big-name retailers, including B&Q, Currys, Amazon and Lidl, have been working with the government on the introduction of plug-in solar, although they have yet to announce complete ranges of their own.
We’ll be covering the plug-in solar launch live throughout the day, bringing you the latest product announcements, prices, retailer availability, safety advice and reaction as it happens.
Read more: The best plug-in solar panels
The first compliant plug-in solar systems are beginning to appear online. Argos is the first UK retailer to sell plug-in panels online, with prices from £599. It has listed five models that meet the full requirements for the new plug-in solar compliance, all from UKSOL. These kits come complete with everything you need to get started; you just need to set them up and plug them into a standard AC socket.
The cheapest kit currently available to buy at Argos is £599 and is the UKSOL 515W pro compact plug-in solar with hybrid mount bundle. It offers a 515W single solar panel system with adjustable mounting options. The panel then plugs into the 800W microinverter, which can connect via wifi or Bluetooth to the monitoring app on a mobile device. The small microinverter is IP67-rated, so you can leave it outside and run the supplied 4m cable into the house or apartment to plug in.
Aside from Argos, City Plumbing currently lists UKSOL kits, and the brand is also selling systems direct. Other specialist retailers are beginning to list UKSOL systems too. Green2Go, for example, is taking orders for an 890W UKSOL system for £849 and quotes delivery in early September.
Before buying, you should check that the exact product and model number appears as compliant on the ENA Connect Direct register. A similar-looking solar panel, microinverter or European balcony solar kit is not automatically covered by the new rules.
Read more: Plug in vs installed solar panels
Ministers say Britain’s new plug-in solar safety specification is more stringent than the rules in Germany, where balcony solar is already well established. The government says the UK regime was developed following independent testing of the key electrical components, with only compliant products permitted under the new plug-in rules. Germany, meanwhile, added around half a million new plug-in solar devices last year alone.
The most important thing is to check that the exact plug-in solar system you are buying is approved for the new British plug-in solar route.
Manufacturers must have their complete product assessed against the government’s Interim Product Specification and registered through the Energy Networks Association’s Connect Direct system. Shoppers should therefore check the exact manufacturer and model rather than assuming a product is compliant simply because it has a UK three-pin plug or is advertised as “G98 compatible”.
This is particularly important when shopping through online marketplaces. Balcony solar systems are already widely available elsewhere in Europe, but a European kit can’t be connected legally to a British household socket. Adding a travel adaptor or UK plug to an imported system does not make it compliant.
You should also check where the system can safely be positioned, whether your electrical installation and socket are suitable, and whether you need permission from a landlord, freeholder or managing agent. Extension leads, multi-way adaptors and plug-in RCD adaptors should not be used in place of the manufacturer-supplied connection.
The current G98 rules also limit households to one plug-in solar device, even if the property has several separate electrical circuits. Householders must notify their Distribution Network Operator after connecting a compliant system.
Plug-in solar launches against a backdrop of record demand for home renewables. Almost 150,000 certified solar installations were completed in the first half of 2026, according to MCS figures cited by the government, up 17 per cent on the previous record start to a year and equivalent to one installation every 74 seconds. Battery installations have also almost doubled year on year, reaching around 36,000 over the same period.
There is perhaps some confusion right now as people try to understand what counts as “plug-in solar” under the new rules. Shoppers may have already come across compact solar kits marketed as “balcony solar” or “plug and play”, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they qualify as plug-in solar under the new rules that came into force today. Some systems can legally be sold and used in Britain but still need to be hard-wired into the home’s electrical system by a qualified electrician, rather than connected directly to a suitable household socket.
EcoFlow’s STREAM Balcony Kit is one example. The company sells the system on its UK website, but its UK installation guidance says the STREAM Microinverter must currently be connected to the distribution board by a professional installer or electrician. EcoFlow also states in its own guidance that its current products do not meet the exact requirements to be classified as true plug-in solar under the new framework.
Under the new rules, compliance applies to the complete system rather than just the solar panel or inverter. If you’re unsure whether a product qualifies, check the exact make and model on the Energy Networks Association’s Connect Direct register before buying or connecting it.
Hard-wired systems like the EcoFlow STREAM Balcony Kit are perfectly legitimate and powerful systems that can save you money on your energy bills. They just don’t benefit from the new DIY three-pin-plug exemption. So it’s important to read the fine print and know what you’re buying.
Some of the new plug-in solar kits now on sale are labelled 890W, 1,030W or even 1,260W, despite the new rules limiting plug-in solar systems to 800W. Some readers may be wondering how that’s possible. It’s because the larger figure refers to the combined generating capacity of the solar panels, while the 800W limit applies to the AC power the system can feed into the home.
A kit might therefore use more than 800W of panel capacity but pair it with an 800W microinverter, which caps the output before it reaches the household circuit. Oversizing the panels can also help the system produce closer to its 800W maximum for longer periods when sunlight is weaker.
In England, planning rules also changed on 27 August 2026 to expressly include plug-in solar within existing permitted development rights for domestic solar panels. This means many systems can be installed without making a full planning application, provided they meet the relevant conditions.
However, the rules are not unrestricted. Among the new conditions, plug-in solar cannot be attached to a wooden wall, balcony or other wooden enclosure, or to parts of a building clad in timber. Similar restrictions apply to wooden fences, gates and other boundaries where panels are positioned within a garden. The usual restrictions affecting listed buildings, conservation areas and other protected locations can also apply.
Planning rules differ in Scotland and Wales, so people outside England should check the requirements where they live. Renters and leaseholders should also obtain any permission required by their tenancy agreement, lease, landlord or freeholder before installing panels.
Not every solar panel sold with a three-pin plug is automatically legal to connect under the new rules. Buyers should check that the exact system is listed as compliant on the Energy Networks Association’s Connect Direct register and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
The revised network rules also limit homes to one plug-in solar device, and people must notify their Distribution Network Operator after connecting it.
Argos has launched a dedicated plug-in solar range on the day the technology becomes legal in Great Britain. The retailer is currently listing five UKSOL plug-in solar kits, with prices starting at £599 for a 515W Pro Compact hybrid-mount system and rising to £989 for a 1,260W Pro Max kit.
The £599 model includes a 515W bifacial solar panel, an 800W microinverter, mounting frame and the connections needed to plug into a suitable outdoor socket. Argos says estimated delivery for the £599 kit is late October.
OVO has joined the growing list of energy companies entering the plug-in solar market. The supplier says it will launch a full plug-in solar offer for customers in the coming months and is marking today’s rule change by giving away five plug-in solar kits to members of its Beyond rewards programme. The free prize draw runs until 17 September, while further details of OVO’s commercial offer are expected later this year.
British solar manufacturer UKSOL already has compliant plug-in systems available to order. Its 460W Compact ground-mount kit costs £699 for click and collect or £849 with UK mainland delivery, while the 890W Duo costs £1,089 for collection or £1,199 delivered. UKSOL has secured compliant listings on the Energy Networks Association register for a number of systems in its Plug-In Solar Pro range.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

source

© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
It turns out that a feature designed to make power interruptions less noticeable could actually be creating the issues.
Photo Credit: iStock
A homeowner who relied on an EG4 backup setup during a five-hour outage said the system worked flawlessly, but now, with it switching on during seemingly normal operations, they are questioning whether there is a deeper issue.
In a post on Reddit’s r/solar, the homeowner said the long outage passed almost unnoticed, but routine brief grid flickers were followed by visible interruptions and the Flexboss dongle dropping offline for roughly half an hour.
It turns out that a feature designed to make power interruptions less noticeable could actually be creating the issues.
According to the post, the setup includes an EG4 FlexBOSS 21, a GridBOSS, and one all-weather wall-mount battery. Even with that battery backup in place, the owner said short utility disturbances still came with “noticeable” flickers, despite the system reporting no errors and otherwise appearing to work normally.
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.
A commenter pointed to a surprisingly simple yet very unintuitive troubleshooting step: turn off Seamless EPS Switching.
“In my experience that setting makes the system too sensitive to little grid variations that it should just ignore and ride through,” the commenter wrote. “Because of that, it gets ‘twitchy’ and can cause little flickers.”
Given that the system’s point is to be seamless, the naming convention in that setting can cause a great deal of confusion. However, that promising comment ultimately proved not to be the fix.
Backup systems are often expensive and generally expected to smooth over short disturbances rather than respond to them. If a setting is causing nuisance switching, adjusting it could help owners get the reliability they expected.
FROM OUR PARTNER
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers that can help you save as much as $10k on installation.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best local options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
This is an advanced setup, and that usually comes with extra troubleshooting. Regardless, going solar is also one of the best ways to save money on home energy over time. If you’re weighing a system or trying to optimize one you already have, it can help to explore EnergySage to get free solar installation estimates and compare quotes.
Battery-backed systems are often sold under the idea of peace of mind during outages, storms, and grid instability. When a long outage passes without issue but smaller flickers cause strange behavior, homeowners may be left unsure whether they are seeing normal operation, a settings problem, or an early sign that something is off.
The Reddit poster said EG4 support had not yet provided an explanation and asked for wiring photos to confirm the installation was done correctly. That suggests the problem may not have a simple fix, especially when connectivity hardware, such as a dongle, is involved.
Documenting exactly what happens during each flicker could help narrow down the cause. Noting whether a light blinks, whether internet service drops, how long the dongle disconnect lasts, and whether any error logs appear can all be helpful. An installer or support team could also review settings such as Seamless EPS Switching, firmware status, and wiring.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
EnergySage’s free services can also help homeowners make smarter decisions before they spend more money on solar equipment. With EnergySage’s help, the average person can save up to $10,000 on solar purchases and installations. Meanwhile, EnergySage’s solar map shows the average cost of a home solar panel system on a state-by-state level, along with details on solar panel incentives for each state. Together, those resources can help readers get the best price for rooftop solar panels and access available incentives.
Adding battery storage to a solar setup is one of the best ways to protect your home during outages, save money on energy, and go off-grid. It can also give homeowners more control when the utility supply becomes unreliable. If you’re comparing options, EnergySage offers information about home battery storage choices, including competitive installation estimates.
The homeowner wrote, “We are deep into hurricane season now and I am getting paranoid about whether the system will function properly in a grid down situation.”
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.

source

Finland’s solar pipeline has moved well beyond the early planning stage, with 77 projects already permitted
Satakunta has emerged as the country’s largest solar development region
A proposed 50-hectare zoning threshold could become an important factor for larger projects
Finland’s utility-scale solar pipeline has expanded to 26.6 GW across 300 projects, with a growing share of developments reaching stages where construction could move ahead relatively quickly.
Finland had nearly 18 GW of renewable energy capacity installed by the end of 2025, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Solar PV accounted for an estimated 1.56 GW, while wind power exceeded 9 GW and hydropower stood at 3.2 GW. The Renewables Finland project database points to further growth in solar capacity in the coming years.
The latest data from Renewables Finland covers projects reported through June 2026. It covers industrial-scale solar projects, with the smallest project in the database at 1.5 MW and the largest at 770 MW. The average project size is 87 MW.
Of the total pipeline, 77 projects totaling 4.67 GW have received building permits. Another seven projects, with a combined capacity of 320 MW, are already under construction.
A further 196 projects, representing 18.58 GW, remain in permitting or study phases. Twenty projects totaling 3.03 GW have been identified, but are at an earlier stage of development.
Renewables Finland, the English name of the Finnish industry association Suomen uusiutuvat ry, said the capacity of permitted projects has risen by more than 1 GW in six months. It also noted that not every project currently being developed is expected to be built, but the number of advanced projects points to a substantial pipeline that could be delivered on a relatively short timeline.
Solar development is spread across several parts of Finland; however, the association identifies Satakunta as the leading region with 29 projects representing a combined planned capacity of about 3.39 GW.
South Ostrobothnia follows with 2.71 GW across 21 projects, while North Ostrobothnia has 2.68 GW across 28 projects. Uusimaa has 27 projects, with total capacity of about 1.76 GW, while Southwest Finland has 27 projects totaling 1.51 GW.
At the municipal level, Kauhajoki has the largest planned capacity at 942 MW, followed by Kouvola at 900 MW, and Lappeenranta at 854 MW. Kankaanpää, Toholampi and Säkylä also have planned capacity of more than 690 MW each. Loviisa has the most projects, with eight developments. Kankaanpää, Kokemäki and Orimattila each have six projects.
The growth in the project pipeline comes as proposed changes to Finland’s Land Use Act could introduce additional zoning requirements for larger solar plants. Under the proposal currently before Parliament, solar power plants covering more than 50 hectares would require zoning. 
Renewables Finland criticizes the proposed threshold, arguing that it could increase administrative work and slow projects, including those planned for remote wasteland and former peat production areas.
Renewables Finland CEO Anni Mikkonen said, “Renewable energy investments are not accelerated by adding bureaucracy,” adding that the proposed threshold runs counter to efforts to streamline permitting. Mikkonen also pointed to the government’s stated aim of making solar development on wasteland easier, saying that conflicting requirements could make investment planning more difficult. The proposed Land Use Act awaits Parliament’s green signal.
Solar projects increasingly form part of hybrid developments. The project data also shows that solar is being developed alongside other energy technologies.
Renewables Finland’s database includes 300 solar projects, as well as hybrid projects combining solar with batteries, wind or both. It lists 67 wind-plus-battery projects (11.98 GW), 111 solar-plus-battery projects (15.05 GW), 17 wind-and-solar projects (3.11 GW), and 36 projects combining wind, solar and battery storage (10.26 GW) in the project development pipeline.
An earlier study by LUT University found that solar PV in Finland has a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) than wind power. It said Finland could technically and economically meet the continuous electricity needs of data centers using only renewable energy, at an estimated production cost of €103-121/MWh (see LUT Study: Solar, Wind Can Power Data Centers 24/7).
Among project developers in Renewables Finland’s database, Neoen Renewables Finland has the largest cumulative solar project capacity, at 2.27 GW. Forus follows at 1.90 GW, while Ilmatar Energy has 1.39 GW. OX2 and SAJM Holding have 1.24 GW and 1.01 GW, respectively.
Renewables Finland said it will next update its project database in early 2027.
TaiyangNews 2024

source

ArMee Infotech Ltd, an integrated technology infrastructure and renewable energy company, said today it has received Letters of Award (LoAs) from Bondada Engineering Ltd for EPC balance-of-system (BOS) packages for a 600 MW solar project in Fatehgarh, Rajasthan.
The total contract value is around INR 740.97 crore, including GST.
The company has been awarded the EPC BOS scope for Block-1 (300 MW AC) with a contract value of INR 375.18 crore, and Block-3 (300 MW AC) with a contract value of INR 365.79 crore.
The orders cover a combined capacity of 600 MW AC.
ArMee Infotech’s scope of work includes comprehensive engineering, procurement, manufacturing, supply, erection, installation, testing, and commissioning of the Balance of System (BOS) works for the solar power plants, along with associated power evacuation infrastructure. It also includes three years of operation & maintenance (O&M) and annual maintenance contracts (AMC) for designated plant equipment in accordance with project specifications and quality standards.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

US-based SolarWindow Technologies has announced the commercial launch of ElectroFlex, an ultra-thin, flexible solar product designed to generate electricity on flat and curved surfaces.
The product targets applications where conventional PV modules face limitations due to weight, rigidity, or mounting requirements.
The company describes ElectroFlex as a “peel-and-stick” solution that can be applied directly to various surfaces without frames, rigid glass, or conventional support structures. Its size and color can be customized to meet customer specifications.
The new product consists of a five-layer composite laminate measuring 0.85 mm in total thickness. The stack comprises a 0.10 mm front encapsulant, 0.16 mm high-efficiency solar cells, a 0.04 mm copper cell backing, a 0.30 mm composite laminate and a 0.25 mm rear substrate.
ElectroFlex is 0.85 mm thick and integrates interdigitated back-contact (IBC) cells with a power conversion efficiency of 24.4%, according to the manufacturer. It has a power-to-weight ratio of approximately 73 W/kg.
SolarWindow said it also supplies wiring, harnesses, electrical systems, and power-balancing components needed to integrate the product and deliver the electricity it generates.
The company is targeting applications in the transportation, marine, aerospace, architecture, agriculture, infrastructure, utility, and specialty vehicle sectors.
Potential applications include data centers and buildings, roofs of commercial trucks and fleet vehicles, curved train surfaces, and drone and aircraft structures, according to the manufacturer.
ElectroFlex is initially available to Tier 1 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the United States. SolarWindow said it plans to expand sales to selected markets in North America and Asia over the coming quarters.
The company is also developing LiquidElectricity, a transparent coating designed to turn glass and plastic surfaces into electricity-generating elements. SolarWindow claims the technology, which remains under development, could generate electricity from natural and artificial light, as well as low-intensity, shaded, and reflected light.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Our special edition for Intersolar South America 2026 is here!
Discover the latest insights into the Brazilian solar market – in Portuguese.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Saudi Arabia is accelerating its clean energy transition—join the SunRise Arabia Clean Energy Conference 2026 in Riyadh to explore how solar PV and energy storage are powering its digital economy.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
5:30 am – 6:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

Europe’s new renewable-energy champion is a surprise  The Economist
source

FAW Hongqi made the industry’s first solar sunroof prototype with the integration of a perovskite photovoltaic (PV) technology. It was installed on the Hongqi EHS7 electric SUV, achieving 300W of real-time power generation. This technology can produce 400 kWh of energy annually. In the future, it will provide Hongqi EVs with 80 km of clean BEV range per day.
The idea of placing solar panels on vehicles’ roofs comes from the 20th century. Such elements are already being integrated into some mass-produced vehicles, despite questionable effectiveness. On August 27, the oldest Chinese passenger car brand, Hongqi, shared that it successfully produced the new PV sunroof prototype.
Hongqi managed to integrate PV elements into the car’s panoramic sunroof. The R&D staff moved away from using traditional crystalline silicon, as it is fragile and has low efficiency. Instead, Hongqi used a specific calcium titanium oxide mineral called perovskite. The perovskite-made PV elements are lightweight, thin, and flexible. They reportedly have high photoelectric conversion efficiency, come in various colors, and are low-cost.
Hongqi officials underlined that its R&D center faced some challenges of fitting perovskite materials to a car’s sunroof, as they are vulnerable to water, oxygen, and ultraviolet radiation. Another issue is the curved surface of the glass. The PV sunroof prototype was integrated into the Hongqi EHS7 crossover, which sells domestically under the Hongqi Tiangong 08 name. It is a large five-seater with dimensions of 4925/1950/1680 mm, a peak power output of 253 kW (339 hp), and 475 km of WLTP range.
FAW Hongqi representatives shared that the full-size perovskite PV sunroof achieves 300W of real-time power generation under “sufficient sunlight.” It is suitable for producing approximately 400 kWh of clean energy annually. It is enough to satisfy the needs of low-voltage loads, including air conditioning, refrigerators, and sentry mode.
In the future, Hongqi plans to integrate perovskite PV elements into other body parts of the car, including the hood. It will allow a car to generate 10 kWh of electricity per day, suitable for up to 80 km of daily range. It covers over 85% of the daily travel needs of Chinese car users, according to Hongqi data. However, Hongqi didn’t provide any timeline for this technology integration.
Hongqi is the oldest Chinese passenger car brand. However, it aims to enhance its market position in the BEV segment. Therefore, this automaker pushes tech development. Previously, CarNewsChina reported that the next-gen Hongqi cars will feature BYD’s flash charging technology, allowing charging the battery from 10% to 97% in nine minutes. Moreover, the company started testing the 380 Wh/kg solid-state battery prototype. According to China EV DataTracker, Hongqi delivered 15,445 units in July 2026, domestically.

source

US-based solar cell manufacturer Nextnova Solar has unveiled plans to build a 2GW n-type solar cell manufacturing facility in the US state of Oklahoma.
The company expects to inaugurate the facility later this year in November and begin mass production in March 2027, with the possibility of expanding the annual nameplate capacity to 5GW at the same facility.
Get Premium Subscription
Details on the new facility were outlined on a LinkedIn post, which was in turn promoted by executives from US-based module manufacturer, Thornova. When contacted by PV Tech, a spokesperson for Thornova said: “Nextnova is a separate company and not a subsidiary of Thornova Solar. However, Thornova Solar is a close partner to Nextnova and one of their first buyers.”
PV Tech has reached out to Nextnova for additional comments on the new facility, and will update this article with any new information. A newly launched website for Nextnova provides no additional details about the company’s activities beyond the LinkedIn post.
Cell production in the US has become a key area of supply chain activity this year. While annual module nameplate capacity in the US has quickly grown over the past two years, available domestic solar cell capacity still remains scarce in the US. As covered earlier this month, our colleagues at PV Tech Research forecast that by 2027, there will be 96GW of annual module nameplate capacity versus a little bit over 50GW for solar cells. New solar cell capacity announcements, such as Nextnova’s, will help reduce the gap between module and solar cell nameplate capacity in the US.
A recent report from clean energy financing platform Crux highlighted that investment in solar manufacturing increased by 30% between the first and second quarters of 2026 to US$893 million. At the same time, new manufacturing project announcements increased on a quarterly basis, with a valuation of US$10 billion, the highest value in announced projects reported since the first quarter of 2024.
The state of the US solar supply chain will be explored in detail at our annual PV CellTech USA conference in San Francisco on 13-14 October 2026. For full agenda and booking details, click the link above.

source

A proposed 12-17 MW solar farm, located 393 kilometres southeast of Auckland, is to be built on a 24-hectare parcel of airport land northwest of the runways, with estimated generation capability equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 3,000 Hawke’s Bay households, the Airport said.
Hawke’s Bay Airport Chief Executive Officer Nick Flack said the solar farm will enable the airport and the region’s sustainable growth.
“It will ensure we can continue to serve the changing needs of airlines flying people in and out of our region. And in the meantime, it will support our region’s transition to a more resilient energy future,” Flack said.
The EOI announcement follows a mutual decision by Hawke’s Bay Airport and gentailer Manawa Energy, now owned by Wellington-headquartered gentailer Contact Energy, not to pursue a much larger 45MW solar development.
“After exploring the options with Manawa, both parties agreed the best path forward was for the airport to continue developing plans for a smaller, fit-for-purpose solar farm that better aligns with our long-term requirements,” Flack said.
No final investment decision has been made for the proposed development, however feasibility work supports progressing the project to the EOI stage to inform the airport’s preferred delivery, ownership and investment model.
The work will happen over the next 12 months, alongside consenting, engineering, cultural and community engagement workstreams.
“An important part of this next phase is understanding the market’s appetite and capability, including construction delivery, operations and maintenance, and potential co-investment options,” Flack said.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

The Government has announced a major milestone for solar energy in Ireland, with solar capacity passing a 3 gigawatt milestone for the first time.
Across the country, the rollout of solar energy continues at an accelerated pace; this includes rooftop solar and utility-scale solar farms.
A recent milestone of a new record of peak output from utility-scale solar farms was set on the national grid. This Monday, generation from these solar farms on the grid surpassed 1.3 GW; this meant that it supplied one third of the country’s total dispatchable electricity.
In general, solar uptake across Ireland has been strong since the first grid-scale solar farm was energised in April 2022. Over 200,000 homes across Ireland have installed solar panels, many of them with SEAI support.
Free solar panels have also been supplied to 2,000 schools across Ireland, giving vital support as energy prices climb higher.
The Minister for Climate, Energy, and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, said:
“This week we have seen two major milestones for utility-scale solar – reaching 3 GW (Gigawatts) of installed solar capacity and establishing a new record for peak utility-scale solar farm generation [1.3 GW] at a given time on the grid. At times on Monday of this week, we saw utility-scale solar energy exceeding a third of the total electricity mix on the national grid. These milestones highlight just how rapidly solar energy, including the growing rooftop revolution, is becoming a major part of our energy system.
“With continued investment in solar – across homes, farms, businesses and large grid-scale projects – Ireland is building a growing source of homegrown, clean electricity, and strengthening our energy security.”
Nicholas Tarrant, Managing Director at ESB Networks, added: “This milestone underlines the growing role solar energy is playing in Ireland’s journey to a low-carbon future. The contribution of both domestic solar panels and major renewable developers delivering large-scale projects has been instrumental in passing the 3 GW threshold.
“ESB Networks is currently delivering a major programme of investment in the Irish electricity network under Price Review 6 to enable the further growth of renewables and support Ireland’s transition to a clean electric future.”
Minister Darragh O’Brien continued: “The successful solar growth in Ireland has been underpinned by clear Government policy and targeted support schemes and measures. Through initiatives such as the Solar PV grant, and our various renewable electricity support schemes, solar deployment is supported at every scale. We are committed to funding the Solar PV grant for the lifetime of this Government, up until 2030.
“Looking at renewable electricity as a whole, we now have over 8 GW (Gigawatts) of generation capacity connected to the network. To put that into perspective, we have added approximately 5 GW (Gigawatts) of new renewable electricity generation capacity in just ten years. That includes a doubling of our wind energy capacity, along with establishing a strong solar energy supply. Just over 10 years ago, there were 2 MW (MegaWatts) of solar in Ireland. Now there are over 3,000 MW (MegaWatts).”
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.

source

A solar panel that rolls up, from a laboratory at IISc  YourStory.com
source

US engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Burns & McDonnell has partnered with Gritt to deploy AI-powered robotics technology for utility-scale solar construction.
The companies have spent the past year evaluating Gritt’s robotic solar installation technology at multiple utility-scale project sites, testing its performance in real-world construction environments. They said it could focus on safety, project predictability and labour challenges.
Get Premium Subscription
Gritt’s platform combines AI software with robotics systems that can be attached to conventional construction equipment. The technology is designed to automate labour-intensive tasks including solar array placement and assembly, concrete pouring and rebar installation.
“Solar construction is very repetitive work, lifting 80-pound modules day after day,” says Adam Bernardi, renewables business line director at Burns & McDonnell. “As solar installations continue to grow in scale, we have an opportunity to leverage technology in ways that help our teams work safer, faster and smarter. By helping crews handle some of the most repetitive and physically demanding tasks, Gritt offers a solution that can improve safety while helping us deliver projects more predictably.”
Unlike robotics developed for controlled factory environments, Gritt’s systems are designed for outdoor construction sites, where terrain, weather and site conditions can vary. the company said. The technology is intended to support crews with repetitive and physically demanding tasks while adapting through data gathered during field deployments.
According to the companies, the technology is intended to complement construction workers rather than replace them, reducing exposure to repetitive tasks and allowing crews to focus on higher-value activities.
Gritt’s systems can continue to learn from deployments, using experience from changing weather, terrain, site logistics and construction workflows to improve performance.
Burns & McDonnell and Gritt said the partnership could eventually support wider adoption of AI and robotics across infrastructure construction.
Burns & McDonnell has provided EPC services on several utility-scale solar projects across the US, including Alliant Energy’s two Iowa solar projects totalling 200MW and Geronimo Power’s 250MW Portage Solar project in Wisconsin.
The company also spoke to PV Tech about the growing importance of eBOS in utility-scale solar [subscription required], with Burns & McDonnell’s solar preconstruction manager Grant Reasor saying the focus is increasingly on “consistency in the field and repeatability” as developers seek to reduce construction labour and complexity.

source

Want a plug-in battery to go with your new solar panels? Read this first to avoid disappointment  Yahoo Tech
source

New Georgia recreation center getting solar panels in effort to save taxpayer money  Yahoo
source

Ireland has passed 3 GW of installed solar capacity, according to Irish PV association Solar Ireland. This comes from both large utility-scale sites and rooftop installations, according to the industry association.
“Three gigawatts is a big moment for Irish solar,” said Ronan Power, CEO, Solar Ireland, pointing out that a lot of progress has been made in a relatively short time as Ireland’s first utility-scale solar farm was connected to the grid in 2022.
“Four years later, we have more than 200,000 homes with solar on their roofs, businesses generating their own electricity and solar power plants capable of supplying more than a third of national electricity demand at peak,” said Power.
“There has been huge investment and commitment behind that growth from Government, industry, communities and everyone involved in getting these projects connected,” he added.
The few hundred megawatts required to take Ireland to the 3 GW mark were only realized in the past few weeks as the last official statement from the government on installation numbers put the figure at 2.6 GW and this was in June.
According to Central Statistics Office figures, grid-scale solar farms generated 1.1 GWh of Ireland’s electricity in 2025 – a 51% increase compared to 2024.
The country’s solar industry remains set on the 2030 target of 8 GW of installed solar capacity. Developers are preparing for the sixth renewable energy auction, RESS 6, due in December. It is the first auction to incorporate the European Union’s new rules around non-price criteria under the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA).
Speaking to pv magazine this week, Solar Ireland’s policy manager Leanne Donovan said solar is expected to compete well, but it is too soon to predict how things will turn out.
The organization is lobbying the government to ensure solar, battery energy storage and grid updates are included in the upcoming national budget for 2027.
Power said Budget 2027 needs to unlock the full value of the solar that Irish developers have spent the past few years building.
Following the 3 GW announcement, Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, pledged to continue investing in solar.
“With continued investment in solar – across homes, farms, businesses and large grid-scale projects – Ireland is building a growing source of homegrown, clean electricity, and strengthening our energy security,” he said.
The distribution systems operator, ESB Networks, is delivering the government’s investment program of grid infrastructure upgrades.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Our special edition for Intersolar South America 2026 is here!
Discover the latest insights into the Brazilian solar market – in Portuguese.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Saudi Arabia is accelerating its clean energy transition—join the SunRise Arabia Clean Energy Conference 2026 in Riyadh to explore how solar PV and energy storage are powering its digital economy.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
5:30 am – 6:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

Solar panels are becoming hot property, after 53% of prospective buyers say they would actively seek out a home with panels already installed.
In a fairly stagnant housing market they might just be the ticket to getting your house sold, or if you’re worried about global warming, installing solar panels could help you to feel you’re doing your bit.
The thought might have crossed your mind given a Switch Together survey of 2,300 energy consumers across England and Wales found that 56% of households without solar would consider installing it.
And from today August 27, plug-in solar panels can be sold widely across the UK. It’s expected they’ll become available in stores like Lidl and Iceland, as well through online stores like Amazon.
Not to mention, nearly two million UK homes already run on solar power and it’s only going to get more popular.
Either way it seems like a win, right? Well it turns out there’s a bit more to it than that.
Firstly, you need to choose which type of solar panels are going to work best. You can either have them installed on your roof, or have plug-in solar panels which can be mounted in gardens, on walls, or on certain balconies.
You can access completely fee-free mortgage advice with London & Country (L&C) Mortgages, a partner of Metro. Customers benefit from:
– Award winning service from the UK’s leading mortgage broker
– Expert advisors on hand 7 days a week
– Access to 1000s of mortgage deals from across the market
Unlike many mortgage brokers, L&C won’t charge you a fee for their advice.
Find out how much you could borrow online
Mortgage service provided by London & Country Mortgages (L&C), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number: 143002). The FCA does not regulate most Buy to Let mortgages. Your home or property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
Getting standard 4.5 kilowatt-peak (the optimal energy production of the panels in ideal lab conditions, meaning actual output will be a bit lower) PV solar panels installed on your roof will cost you an average of £7,600, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
It will take you about 10 years to break even but Charlotte Snelgrove, head of low carbon tech at Octopus Energy tells Metro the average homeowner could save around £500 per year on energy bills this way.
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
‘You’ll need to own your home, a pitched (non-flat) roof with enough clear space to fit at least two solar panels and a roof with concrete or clay tiles,’ she says. ‘It also requires safe access for scaffolding.’
South-facing roofs are best as they get the most sunlight, and according to Money Saving Expert, your roof should also be in direct light from 10am to 4pm. But east or west-facing roofs will also work. North-facing means solar may not be your best option.
You’ll need to pay for a roof inspection to make sure it can hold the panels, which will set you back around £250, according to Checkatrade.
The Government’s Planning Portal suggests you don’t typically need planning permission for solar panels, but if you have a listed property or you’re in a conservation area you’ll need approval, so just double check with your council.
It’s also important to note these panels typically have a lifespan of 25 years or more, but their efficiency will begin to decline after around two decades.
The lower-cost option is plug-in solar panels which can be placed outdoors on balcony railings, garden fences, patios or shed roofs.
You’ll buy them for about £400, and plug them in to your mains electricity, which means you can take them with you if you move home, and they’re great for people in flats.
These are only just about to become available on August 27, with the UK previously barring them due to safety regulations.
Before you plug them in you’ll need to jump through some hoops. It can be a potential fire-hazard, so an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) from a qualified electrician is recommended to check your wiring can handle it. This will add between £100 and £250 to your total, according to Checkatrade.
You’ll also need a weatherproof, dust-resistant outdoor socket which costs about £140 to £260 to get fitted. You absolutely cannot use a standard extension cable to connect your panels to the socket, instead get an MC4 extension cable if needed.
If you’re renting, you’ll also need your landlord’s permission to get these solar panels, or you risk losing your deposit.
Then, anything in your home will automatically use this free solar power before using electricity from the National Grid, which you pay your energy supplier for.
The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero estimates savings of £70 to £110 per year on energy bills, meaning you’ll break-even in four to six years.
If you’re not someone who is at home during the day, solar panels could be a bit of a waste.
When it comes to roof panels, you’ll need to buy a battery, as well as the panels, to store the energy generated throughout the day so you can use it later.
With a provider like Octopus Energy, installations start from £6,663 for a two-panel system without a battery and from £8,623 for eight panels with a 5kWh essential battery. The most popular system is a 12 panel installation with a 10kWh smart battery which costs £11,115.
With plug-in solar you won’t be able to store the electricity. George Penny, solar panel installer and director at The Solar Co, says: ‘Homeworkers, retirees and families regularly using electricity during daylight hours benefit most.
‘This is because plug-in solar systems don’t currently include battery storage, meaning the electricity should be used as it’s generated to ensure maximum savings on energy bills.
‘Any surplus the household cannot use may flow into the grid, and consumers should not assume they will be paid for it.’
Basically if you use most of your electricity after sunset when you get home from work, it’s going to take you a lot longer to recoup your costs.
A quarter of people who already have solar say they almost didn’t go through with installation because they weren’t sure who to trust.
So, if there’s one thing you need to look for when choosing a provider, it’s the MCS certification.
John Collett, director at Quantum Renewables tells Metro: ‘The Microgeneration Certification Scheme is the industry standard for solar installers in the UK and you cannot access government incentives such as the Smart Export Guarantee without using an MCS-certified installer.
‘Check the installer’s MCS number on the official MCS database at mcscertified.com before signing anything.
‘Beyond that, look for membership of trade bodies such as NAPIT or RECC, check Google and Trustpilot reviews independently.’
Money Saving Expert warns that while some installers let you buy solar panels on credit, through finance agreements, just make sure the loan is interest-free (many are).
Consumer champion Jane Hawkes, founder of the Lady Janey website tells Metro that you should never assume the headline price is the final price.
‘Ask for a written quotation that clearly sets out everything you will pay, including installation, scaffolding, electrical work, cabling, roof repairs, certification, monitoring equipment and any battery or inverter costs,’ she says.
‘It’s also worth asking whether there could be additional charges if the installation takes longer than expected or your property needs extra work.
‘Check whether maintenance, warranties and call-out costs are included, and understand the cancellation terms before signing. If a salesperson won’t provide a clear, itemised price, that should be a warning sign.’
Once you’ve chosen your provider, Charlotte says roof solar panels are installed in three stages.
‘First, the system is designed remotely using photos of the property and a consultation with a solar specialist,’ she says. ‘The provider should handle any required grid approvals and arranges scaffolding ahead of installation.
‘Then, engineers fit and connect the panels and any battery, test the full system, making sure everything is working properly.’
This solar and battery installation can take anywhere from two to four days, so it’s a fairly quick job.
Jane Hawkes explains that if your panels aren’t working properly, you can start by going back to the installer and keep a written record of all correspondence, photographs, invoices and problems.
‘If the company is MCS certified, there are complaints and dispute-resolution routes available through the scheme.
‘Consumers can also contact the Citizens Advice consumer service for practical advice, and concerns about unfair or potentially illegal trading can be passed to Trading Standards.’
She adds that unfortunately getting your money back depends on the circumstances but you have rights if the goods are faulty.
If your solar panels have an MCS certificate, you’ll be able to sell your electricity you generate to the National Grid via The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG).
This doesn’t happen automatically, you need to sign up. Any energy supplier with more than 150,000 customers is required to offer a SEG tariff and these can be a fixed or variable rate.
A friend said I looked ‘snatched’ – I credit this new Charlotte Tilbury powder
Shop MySweetSmile’s biggest Bank Holiday offers before they end
Back-to-school shopping just got a lot cheaper thanks to Primark
The back-to-school essential parents forget every year – and it could cost them
Simba’s cooling mattresses are now up to 30% off ahead of the bank holiday
You’ll be able to earn around 15p to 25p per kWh for each unit of electricity, but you’ll need to install a smart meter to monitor your exports.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk
MORE: Martin Lewis’ MSE shares advice to save 11% on bills before energy price cap hike
MORE: The ‘lively’ London commuter hotspot first-time buyers are flocking to
MORE: We ‘retired’ in our 30s and travel the world on £60 a day with our kids
Sign up for must-read property stories, DIY hacks and tips for buying a home.
Enter your postcode so we can deliver content close to you
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy
OK, logging you in…
Just a moment, creating your account…

source

Aptera’s solar car delivered roughly 47 miles of estimated range with its hatch angled at the sun  Stock Titan
source

California solar owner builds iOS tool to predict electric bills before annual true-up shock  Yahoo Tech
source

The plant was inaugurated in the Abbas Abad Industrial Park in Pakdasht County in the presence of Shina Ansari, head of Iran’s Department of Environment.
Built with 10,000 domestically produced solar panels at a cost of more than 3 trillion rials, the facility generates enough electricity to meet the needs of around 4,000 households.
According to estimates, the plant’s environmental benefits are equivalent to planting 280,000 trees.

source

© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
Broken glass can cut performance and shorten the panel’s usable life.
Photo Credit: iStock
After a homeowner received a solar panel that was so damaged it looks like a golf ball hit it, they took to the internet to ask whether it was salvageable.
The person who bought the 430-watt Epoch panel, which arrived with spiderweb cracking across its face, was frustrated over receiving the damaged product.
Despite being damaged, however, it was still generating electricity. That left the buyer questioning whether the reduced output was good enough or if the panel was doomed. They took the issue to Reddit’s r/SolarDIY community and asked, “If the panel is cracked, is it just a matter of time before it’s finished?”
The original poster added: “It still produces power, decent power. It’s supposed to go back tomorrow. … If it weren’t cracked, it would be solid. Anyone else have experience with these panels?”
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.
Commenters were not optimistic.
One said the damaged surface meant the panel was already sacrificing energy. They also gave a direct answer to the longevity question, writing: “Yes: It is just a matter of time before it’s finished. … And cleaning it would risk one of the glass chips coming loose and going somewhere unexpected.”
Another Redditor said some people try to keep cracked panels in service by sealing them but warned that the practice was “fraught with safety risks.” Someone else was even more blunt, calling the panel “definitely a goner.”
The problem with a cracked panel is not just cosmetic.
FROM OUR PARTNER
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers that can help you save as much as $10k on installation.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best local options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
Solar modules are built to keep moisture out and allow as much sunlight through as possible, so broken glass can cut performance and shorten the panel’s usable life.
If a 430W panel is producing only a fraction of its rated output, the owner could lose meaningful generation, especially in an off-grid or backup power setup wherein every watt matters.
For homeowners looking beyond portable or DIY gear, going solar is one of the best ways to save money on home energy. If you’re comparing options, EnergySage lets you get free solar installation estimates and compare quotes. Those who use EnergySage’s free services can save up to $10,000.
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.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.

source

© 2025 THE COOL DOWN COMPANY. All Rights Reserved. Do not sell or share my personal information. Reach us at hello@thecooldown.com.
A mismatch can leave consumers with equipment that simply will not charge, even if the specs are close on paper.
Photo Credit: iStock
Rolling blackouts are forcing households to piece together backup power solutions on short notice, but what looks like a budget buy can become a frustrating technical problem.
That was the situation facing one family trying to keep their laptops charged during long outages.
The original poster shared a thread in Reddit’s r/SolarDIY community, noting outages in their area sometimes lasted 10 to 12 hours and that their household had bought a 288-watt-hour power station. 
“Since the rolling blackouts started in our area, we decided to get a beefier power bank,” they wrote. “… Searching for the options within our budget, we came across a very reasonably priced power station instead (thanks to my wife’s coupons). So suddenly, we ended up with a solar option.”
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.
The OP noted that the power station required a 100W maximum panel with input of 20-30V. “Practically, such panels do not exist,” they added. “I mean they do, if you are willing to get one of those very expensive portable ones with this rare voltage range. The other option is to get a 200W panel (at almost double the price of a 100W).”
They wanted to know their options, wondering if they could set up a 100W, 18V solar panel.
One commenter pointed out an inconsistency in the post, writing, “I don’t understand why you want an 18V panel if the power station only works with solar input of 20-30V.” 
The OP responded: “There is only one reason for going after an 18V panel: I cannot find a reasonably priced 20V+ one. Practically every 100W hard panel I can find is 18V. For some reason the station’s minimum input voltage is 20V, extremely narrowing the panel options.”
FROM OUR PARTNER
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers that can help you save as much as $10k on installation.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best local options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
Another commenter said: “The 200W one should be fine. Meet the voltage requirements first. Amps will be throttled by your MPPT unless it’s a total total total piece of crap.”
For homeowners, going solar is one of the best ways to save money on home energy, especially when outages make dependable backup power even more valuable. 
But the discussion showed how easy it is to run into trouble when shopping by wattage. In this case, the family was trying to save money without buying a pricy specialty panel or moving up to a 200-watt option that was hard to justify for a small backup setup.
A mismatch can leave consumers with equipment that simply will not charge, even if the specs are close on paper. For households dealing with long scheduled outages, getting the voltage right can mean getting use out of a small battery instead of spending more on gear they may not need.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
Readers looking into bigger long-term savings can explore EnergySage to get free solar installation estimates, more information and guidance, and compare quotes. Those who do can save up to $10,000.
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.

source

JAKSON Engineers Ltd, part of energy and infrastructure conglomerate JAKSON Group, has appointed Ivan Saha as managing director. Saha will lead the company’s integrated solar manufacturing business, overseeing technology, manufacturing operations and business growth.
Saha brings more than 31 years of experience across the semiconductor, solar and sustainable energy sectors, including leadership roles in renewable energy and photovoltaics. Before joining JAKSON, he served as CEO of Reliance Infrastructure’s renewable manufacturing business. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Vikram Solar. He has also served as chief technology officer at ReNew Power and held leadership roles at Moser Baer Photovoltaic and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Saha’s appointment comes as JAKSON expands its manufacturing footprint and advances plans for large-scale backward integration across the solar value chain.
“JAKSON has always taken a long-term view while building businesses that address evolving energy needs. Ivan’s experience will support our continued investment in advanced manufacturing and contribute to the Group’s growth,” said Sameer Gupta, Chairman, JAKSON Group. 
Sundeep Gupta, vice chairman, JAKSON Group, said, “As solar manufacturing becomes more integrated and digitalised, process control, quality and cost efficiency will increasingly shape competitiveness. Ivan’s relevant experience in these domains will be valuable as JAKSON advances its manufacturing plans.” 
Commenting on his appointment, Ivan Saha, managing director, JAKSON Engineers Ltd, “I am excited to join JAKSON and work with its experienced leadership team as the company expands its solar manufacturing capabilities and undertakes an ambitious backward integration journey. I look forward to contributing to this next phase of manufacturing scale up, with a continued emphasis on technology, quality and operational efficiency aligned with the nation’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission.” 
Established in 1947, JAKSON Group has evolved from specializing in diesel generator manufacturing to becoming a multifaceted energy and infra solutions provider. The company operates across distributed energy, solar power, renewable energy, green molecules, alternative fuels, and energy storage systems, along with renewable, metro, electrical, water and civil EPC services. With six manufacturing facilities, over 30 sales offices, and 12 international offices, JAKSON has built a strong footprint across India and global markets.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

Renewables Now is a leading business news source for renewable energy professionals globally. Trust us for comprehensive coverage of major deals, projects and industry trends. We’ve done this since 2009.
Stay on top of sector news with with Renewables Now. Get access to extra articles and insights with our subscription plans and set up your own focused newsletters and alerts.

source

ART-PV is stacking two solar cells on top of each other to push past silicon’s limit  YourStory.com
source

AmpereHour builds the battery systems that let a grid store what its solar farms generate  YourStory.com
source

SA Power Networks, the electricity distribution network operating in the state of South Australia, has announced its annual curtailment test will take place next Tuesday (August 25).
A statement published on the network’s website describes the annual test as “like a fire drill for the grid” that ensures its ability to temporarily curtail rooftop solar generation.
“[The test] simulates a rare but urgent situation so we can confirm that all systems and people are ready to respond if an actual emergency occurs,” the statement adds.
Around 100,000 customers are expected to be impacted on the day, with the curtailment expected to last less than an hour. SA Power Networks says solar systems will ramp down to 0 kW before ramping back up, with customers expected to miss around 1.5 kWh of generation on average.
The network’s update explains that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can direct it to use curtailment to help keep the electricity system stable during a system security emergency. 
“AEMO monitors grid stability nationally and works to maintain system security – balancing electricity supply with demand,” the statement continues. “In South Australia, that balance can be challenging because we have more rooftop solar per capita than almost anywhere in the world.”
The government of South Australia passed legislation in 2020 requiring all solar systems installed after September that year to be able to be remotely disconnected during a system security emergency.
Curtailment is considered as one of the biggest challenges facing the development of Australia’s solar market, across all market segments. Analysis from February found South Australia typically sees relatively moderate curtailment through autumn and winter followed by a sharp escalation in spring and early summer.
Earlier this year, the Australian Energy Market Commission unveiled plans to modernize its distribution network planning, which it says will help to lower curtailment of rooftop solar.
According to figures shared by the International Solar Energy Society, the number of dwellings with rooftop PV in South Australia has now passed 50%.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source

Canadian Solar Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results  Yahoo Finance Singapore
source

Choose edition
Search
singapore
asia
world
opinion
life
business
sport
Visual
Podcasts
STClassifieds
Paid press releases
Advertise with us
FAQs
Contact us
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
A solar and battery boom in Australia is helping home owners cut their electricity bills and feed power into the grid.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Prashant Mehra
Published Aug 24, 2026, 06:00 AM
Updated Aug 24, 2026, 12:05 PM
AI generated
SYDNEY – For Sydney resident Ken Enderby, energy bills are a thing of the past. In fact, his power retailer owes him about A$600 (S$550) in credit.
The former teacher estimates he is saving more than A$5,000 a year after installing a 10.5-kilowatt rooftop solar system and a 13.5 kilowatt-hour Tesla Powerwall battery at his suburban home. The solar panels and battery easily meet most of the electricity needs for his home and electric vehicle (EV).
He has spent a total of A$2.87 to run his EV over the past 2½ years, plus A$345 in maintenance.
Soon after installing his battery, Enderby joined a virtual power plant (VPP), which allows his energy retailer to automatically manage when the battery charges and discharges, including sending electricity back to the grid when prices are high.
He retains the ability to override the system. In 2025, he made nearly A$800 from exporting electricity. He is now looking to add a second battery and another 5kW of solar, mainly to cover additional usage in winter.
“I was selling quite a lot of power into the grid… but I couldn’t get my hands on the savings that I was making, I couldn’t cash it out,” he said. “The only way you could do that is to join a virtual power plant.”
Sydney resident Ken Enderby standing next to his Tesla Powerwall battery at his home. The former teacher estimates he is saving more than A$5,000 a year after installing a solar system and battery.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF KEN ENDERBY
Enderby’s experience is far from typical but points to a bigger change under way in Australia’s electricity market.
One in three homes – or 4.3 million – has rooftop solar, the highest per-capita rate in the world. The combined capacity of these solar systems is 28.3 gigawatts – or more than twice Singapore’s total installed power generation capacity. Even farmers are turning to solar.
Now, a proliferation of batteries is turning those homes into miniature power plants. During the day, batteries charge up via solar panels; at night, that stored energy powers the house or gets sold back to the grid, cutting peak evening power bills.
Battery installations have been turbocharged by a federal subsidy under the government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Programme through which households, businesses and community organisations can get a discount of about 30 per cent on the upfront cost of installing battery systems. Depending on the type and size, these can cost A$9,000 to A$14,000 after the subsidy.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced on Aug 14 that the federal battery programme crossed 500,000 installations nationwide, taking total battery capacity to 14,000 megawatt-hours, barely a year after its launch.
That is roughly the amount of power to run 2,300 homes for a full year, or enough to run 6,400 EVs for an entire year.
Bowen noted that Australia has more home batteries than the United States, which has total battery capacity of 9,000 megawatt-hours.
But beneath the headline numbers lie some key questions: Can these batteries, scattered across neighbourhoods, be knitted together to behave like a coordinated source of grid capacity? And will home owners let energy retailers control their batteries?
Although large amounts of battery capacity now sit in homes, only about 24 per cent of battery owners participate in VPPs, according to latest data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
That is well short of the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) forecast of a 50 per cent long-term participation rate. Achieving that level could avoid A$7.2 billion in additional generation and network investment.
For consumers, the financial case appears attractive: ACCC data shows customers with solar-and-battery systems saw median annual bills that were 20 per cent to 52 per cent lower than those of regular customers, while those participating in VPPs saw bills 57 per cent to 63 per cent lower.
Most retailers, including Origin Energy and AGL, run VPP schemes, while Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, offers households up to A$1,000 for signing up. Despite this, persuading home owners to hand over control of an asset they have just spent thousands of dollars on has proved difficult.
“Consumer energy decisions tend to be quite complex already, a lot of consumers struggle to engage with energy plans,” said Jay Gordon, energy finance analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
“If you add to that, having a battery and VPP offerings, it can tend to be quite confusing. A lot of consumers also don’t have trust in their energy retailers.”
Brisbane home owner David King knows the feeling. He installed solar panels and an 8 kilowatt-hour battery in July 2025 under the federal scheme, cutting his monthly bill from about A$80 to between A$10 and A$20. Since then, he has not needed to draw electricity from the grid during the evening peak.
But he has resisted joining a VPP. “I’m not so keen on the VPP yet, because I would lose control of some of that timing of when things will be taken out of a battery,” he said. King is open to the option if he gets more storage capacity installed and is confident enough reserve capacity will remain for his own needs.
That highlights a central challenge for VPP operators: giving home owners confidence they will retain enough control over a battery they have paid for.
Some do this by putting limits on battery discharge, leaving 20 per cent to 25 per cent capacity reserved for the home owner.
Brisbane home owner David King installed solar panels and an 8 kilowatt-hour battery in July 2025, cutting his monthly bill from about A$80 to A$10 to A$20.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID KING
But the problem is also financial: VPPs generally automate battery dispatch to maximise electricity trading returns – for instance, selling power in the evenings when demand and wholesale prices spike.
“The traditional VPP model is… automate for the retailer and keep the majority of the spoils, sharing a little bit with the customer. That little bit has not been well received,” said Tim Barson from Amber Electric, an energy retailer.
The issue is that retailers can profit by tapping stored battery energy and selling it when electricity wholesale prices spike, without sharing that profit fully with battery owners.
Amber charges a flat A$25 monthly fee on its VPP plan, passes on the wholesale energy price without taking a cut, and allows customers to intervene and retain manual control of their battery.
Asked what customers want from their batteries, Barson has a blunt answer: “No more power bill.”
Even without widespread VPP adoption, the impact on Australia’s energy system is already profound. AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman noted in June that consumers with full control over their batteries deliver enormous benefit to the grid by reducing evening peak demand.
The shift is measurable: Gas-fired electricity generation in Australia recently hit its lowest level since 2003, partly because grid-scale and household batteries are covering power demand after sunset.
Analysts say batteries operating passively are reducing peak demand more than expected.
The coordinated use of VPP lets retailers charge thousands of batteries when power is cheap and draw on them when demand spikes, giving the network greater visibility over distributed storage and reducing the need for expensive generation and network investment.
The challenge is convincing home owners the trade-off is worth it – a problem that is partly economic, but also one of trust and transparency.
Heidi Lee Douglas, chief executive of consumer advocacy group Solar Citizens, said households need clearer pricing, stronger consumer protections and more transparent VPP offers to unlock the value of their batteries for the wider system.
One potential answer is to make the financial reward more obvious. Currently, households might pay 15 Australian cents per kilowatt-hour to import power while receiving only four Australian cents for exporting the same amount.
Douglas said her group is pushing for symmetric tariffs – paying households the same rate for exporting as importing at any given time – alongside clearer signals so consumers feel confident that sharing their stored power will be properly rewarded.
Moreover, about a third of Australians cannot install batteries because they live in rented accommodation or apartments. For them, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which turns electric vehicles into mobile batteries, may be the most viable path. Solar Citizens is proposing that V2G inverters be covered under a federal rebate.
Amber’s Barson agrees V2G is the next frontier, opening savings to EV owners who cannot install a home battery.
Singapore, where most people live in apartments, offers a useful counterpoint to where Australia might be headed.
Douglas points to a workaround already in motion: Australia will expand its small-scale renewable energy scheme from October to cover commercial and industrial rooftops, enabling shared power arrangements that apartment dwellers could plug into.
Australia
Electricity and power
Renewable energy
Energy
Climate change
E-paper
Newsletters
Podcasts
RSS Feed
About Us
Terms & Conditions
Personal Data Protection Notice
Need help? Reach us here.
Advertise with us

News titles published by SPH Media

source

0
By clicking the button, I accept the Terms of Use of the service and its Privacy Policy, as well as consent to the processing of personal data.
Don’t have an account? Signup
Powered by :
JAKSON Engineers Limited, part of JAKSON Group, an energy and infrastructure conglomerate, has appointed Ivan Saha as its new Managing Director. He will lead JAKSON’s integrated solar manufacturing business, overseeing technology, manufacturing operations, and business growth.
Saha brings extensive leadership experience in the renewable energy and photovoltaic sectors. Prior to joining JAKSON, he served as CEO of Reliance Infrastructure’s renewable manufacturing business. Before that, he had worked with Vikram Solar as well as ReNew. 
With over 31 years of experience across the semiconductor, solar, and sustainable energy sectors, Saha brings deep technical, operational, and business expertise. Sharing the news of his appointment, JAKSON said the leadership change would strengthen its manufacturing footprint and advance its large-scale backward integration plans across the solar value chain.
Earlier in his career, he was Chief Executive Officer of Vikram Solar, having previously held the positions of Chief Technology Officer and Head of Manufacturing at the company. He also served as Chief Technology Officer at ReNew Power and held key leadership roles at Moser Baer Photovoltaic and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Saha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ceramic Technology from the University of Calcutta and a Master of Technology degree in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt from Motorola University.
A member of the World Solar Congress Advisory Board, he has also authored more than 65 research papers and filed over 10 patent applications in photovoltaic technology.
Welcoming Saha, Sameer Gupta, Chairman, JAKSON Group, said, “JAKSON has always taken a long-term view while building businesses that address evolving energy needs. Ivan’s experience will support our continued investment in advanced manufacturing and contribute to the Group’s growth.”
Sharing his perspective on the sector, Sundeep Gupta, Vice Chairman, JAKSON Group, said, “As solar manufacturing becomes more integrated and digitalised, process control, quality, and cost efficiency will increasingly shape competitiveness. Ivan’s relevant experience in these domains will be valuable as JAKSON advances its manufacturing plans.”

We are India’s leading B2B media house, reporting full-time on solar energy, wind, battery storage, solar inverters, and electric vehicle (EV)
Quick Links
© 2025 Saur Energy. All Rights Reserved.

source

The latest round of the Australian government’s Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) is officially open, providing renewable energy project developers with the opportunity to register and bid for underwriting contracts for generation projects in Western Australia’s Wholesale Electricity Market (WEM).
CIS Tender 11 is seeking about 1.8 GW of renewable energy generation capacity with projects supported through the tender expected to be operating by 2030. Registrations for the tender are already open with bids opening on 27 August alongside the release of the tender guidelines.
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the tender will be the first to require participation in the government’s new Developer Rating Scheme (DRS), that is designed to give landholders and local communities greater transparency about the track record, capability and conduct of renewable energy developers and transmission companies
“Western Australia needs more power as its economy and population grow, and this tender will bring forward another 1.8 GW of new generation to help deliver it,” Bowen said.
“We’re also lifting the bar for developers – if you want Commonwealth backing through this tender, you need to show you’re serious about working properly with communities and landholders.”
The DRS is run independently by data, analytics and technology company Equifax. It looks at areas such as community engagement, commercial capabilities and financial capacity. To bid in Tender 11, developers must have commenced the DRS assessment process.
The new tender also includes a 180 MW First Nations Equity and Revenue Sharing Set Aside. It is for projects that commit to 5% or higher First Nations equity participation, or a similar revenue-sharing arrangement.
Federal Assistant Energy Minister Josh Wilson the tender will also place a stronger emphasis on projects being ready and able to deliver, including their ability to attract financing. 
“By placing a stronger emphasis on deliverability and financing capability, we’re ensuring projects supported through the Capacity Investment Scheme are well positioned to be built and provide energy when it’s needed,” he said.
“This tender will help bring forward the generation capacity needed to support the state’s growing economy and population.”
The launch of Tender 11 builds on recent CIS investment in WA. Earlier tenders announced this year supported 1.9 GW of renewable energy generation and 482 MW of battery energy storage across 10 projects.
The government said Tender 11 is likely to be the final CIS tender in the WEM, provided generation and dispatchable capacity targets are met.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: [email protected].
Comments
Please login to comment
Our special edition for Intersolar South America 2026 is here!
Discover the latest insights into the Brazilian solar market – in Portuguese.
Entries open in seven categories: Modules, Inverters, BoS, BESS, Manufacturing, Sustainability, Projects.
April 01 – August 31, 2026
A two-day conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together leaders in US solar manufacturing, equipment specification, and factory execution.
Saudi Arabia is accelerating its clean energy transition—join the SunRise Arabia Clean Energy Conference 2026 in Riyadh to explore how solar PV and energy storage are powering its digital economy.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
5:30 am – 6:30 am CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid
pv magazine USA hosts its third multi-day virtual event on advancing U.S. solar and energy storage markets, covering financing, supply chains, and distributed energy’s role in grid resilience.
Thursday, October 7, 2026
11:00 am – 12:30 pm CEST, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

You have no items in your basket.

source