Solar Now

Naturgy, through its international generation subsidiary Global Power Generation (GPG), has finalised the commissioning of the 260 MW Glenellen and the 96 MW Bundaberg solar farms in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, respectively.
The 200 MW Glenellen Solar Farm is Naturgy’s largest PV plant to date in Australia and features about 375,000 modules installed across a 300-hectare site near Albury in southern NSW. The project also integrates sheep grazing to preserve agricultural land use.
The Bundaberg Solar Farm, near the town of the same name on the central Queensland coast, has an installed capacity of 96 MW and includes more than 162,000 solar modules.
The Bundaberg power plant is expected to generate about 200 GWh of renewable energy per year while the Glenellen Solar Farm is forecast to supply 450 GWh of energy annually.
Long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) have already been locked in for the output from both projects with Australian telecommunications giant Telstra having committed to purchasing 100% of the capacity from the Bundaberg plant and 50% of the electricity generated by the Glenellen facility.
Nuturgy said the PPAs “reinforce revenue visibility and business stability” while both projects strengthen its presence in the Australian energy market, one it rates as attractive market for the development of renewables at an international level thanks to its “regulatory stability, its high growth potential and its commitment to the energy transition.” 
The commissioning of the Glenellen and Bundaberg solar farms increases Naturgy’s combined capacity in operation in Australia to 1.3 GW, including the country’s first large-scale solar-hybrid power plant at Cunderdin in Western Australia.
The company also has a further 500 MW under construction and a 2 GW pipeline of projects in development across the country, including a 290 MW solar farm and 180 MW / 360 MWh battery energy storage project planned for Queensland’s Fraser Coast region.
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Experts would likely conclude that Enphase's AI-powered ecosystem represents a significant leap in residential energy management, combining cutting-edge hardware with intelligent software to enhance energy independence, efficiency, and financial savings for European homeowners.
FREMONT, CA – June 17, 2026 – As Europe accelerates its ambitious green transition, the focus is increasingly shifting from large-scale power plants to the individual home. In a move that signals a profound transformation in residential energy management, California-based Enphase Energy has unveiled a suite of new products poised to create a truly integrated and intelligent home energy ecosystem. The announcement, coming just ahead of the prestigious Intersolar Europe conference in Munich, goes far beyond a simple hardware refresh. It represents a strategic play to unify solar generation, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging under a single, AI-driven platform, effectively turning passive energy consumers into active managers of their own power.
This isn't just about adding solar panels to a roof anymore. The 2026 lineup, featuring a high-density battery, a hyper-efficient microinverter, and groundbreaking bidirectional EV chargers, is designed to function as a cohesive whole. It’s a vision where a home not only generates and stores its own clean energy but also intelligently optimizes its use, provides backup during grid outages, and even sells power back to the grid, all orchestrated by sophisticated software. For the European homeowner, this promises a new level of energy independence, resilience, and financial control.
At the core of Enphase’s new ecosystem are fundamental advancements in its cornerstone technologies. The new IQ9N Microinverter represents a significant milestone in solar energy conversion. By leveraging Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, the device achieves a formidable 97.4% EU weighted efficiency. This technical jargon translates into a tangible benefit: more of the sun’s energy captured by high-power solar panels is converted into usable electricity for the home. GaN semiconductors run cooler and lose less energy to heat compared to traditional silicon, a breakthrough that not only boosts performance but also enhances long-term reliability—a key factor underpinning the product's industry-leading 25-year warranty.
Complementing this generation prowess is the IQ Battery G5, the company's fifth-generation storage solution. Its most notable feature is a 1.9x increase in energy density over the previous model available in Europe. This allows homeowners to store more energy in a smaller, more aesthetically pleasing footprint. The system is modular, scaling in 5 kWh blocks from a 5 kWh starting point up to 30 kWh, allowing for a tailored fit to any household's needs and budget. Critically, the battery uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which is widely recognized for its superior safety profile and longer lifespan compared to other lithium-ion variants. With a robust 15-year warranty and each module containing its own grid-forming microinverter, the IQ Battery G5 is engineered not just as a power reserve, but as a resilient backbone for the entire home energy system, capable of providing seamless backup power.
While the hardware is impressive, the true paradigm shift lies in the software that binds it together. The IQ Energy Management platform acts as the central nervous system, using artificial intelligence to elevate the system from a collection of components into a predictive, self-optimizing organism. The platform goes beyond simple timers, using AI to forecast solar production based on weather data, anticipate household energy consumption patterns, and even monitor fluctuating utility electricity prices.
With this intelligence, the system makes thousands of micro-decisions every day to maximize value for the homeowner. It can prioritize charging the battery with free solar energy during the day to avoid expensive grid power in the evening, or pre-charge an EV before a scheduled trip using the cheapest available power. Enphase claims the system can help cover up to 50% of a household's EV charging needs with solar and cut water-heating costs by up to 35%. Furthermore, its ability to integrate with select third-party devices like heat pumps and hot water heaters demonstrates a commitment to an open and expandable ecosystem, a crucial factor for long-term relevance in the rapidly evolving smart home market. This AI-driven optimization is the key that unlocks the full potential of home energy assets, shifting the value proposition from simple energy generation to sophisticated financial and carbon savings.
Perhaps the most forward-looking component of Enphase's announcement is its deep dive into bidirectional EV charging. The company is launching two distinct but complementary products. The new IQ EV Charger 2 is an AC charger that is ready for the future, designed to support AC bidirectional charging once automakers enable the capability. More immediately transformative is the IQ Bidirectional EV Charger, a DC-based unit that unlocks the ability for a compatible EV to power the home (Vehicle-to-Home, or V2H) and export power to the grid (Vehicle-to-Grid, or V2G).
This technology effectively turns an electric vehicle—which often sits idle for over 90% of the day—into a large, mobile battery for the home. During a power outage, the EV can power the entire house, providing a far greater reserve of energy than most stationary batteries. On a daily basis, it can discharge power to the home during peak-price evening hours, dramatically reducing electricity bills. Looking ahead, V2G capabilities will allow homeowners to participate in grid services, selling power back to utilities during times of high demand and creating a new revenue stream. By engineering this charger to comply with emerging European standards like the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) and key communication protocols (ISO 15118-20), Enphase is positioning its customers at the forefront of this energy revolution.
“Europe is at the center of the home energy transition, and Intersolar is where we show how Enphase is helping define what comes next,” said Sabbas Daniel, senior vice president of sales at Enphase Energy. His statement underscores the strategic importance of this integrated launch. By combining higher-performance hardware with an intelligent, predictive software layer and revolutionary bidirectional charging, the Fremont-based firm is offering a compelling vision for the future of residential energy in Europe. It’s a future where the home is not merely a destination for power, but a dynamic, resilient, and valuable hub within a smarter, cleaner energy grid.
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Location is one of the most important factors in solar panel installation. Water that drips off these devices can improve certain environments — one of China’s largest solar farms is greenifying the Qinghai desert, for example — but shade is the nemesis of solar panels. You aren’t supposed to install photovoltaics near tall objects like towers since they can potentially block the panels, but what about transmission lines? The answer might be yes.
The energy company ISA Energia Brasil conducted a test in São Paulo, Brazil, to determine whether it could install solar panels near electrical power lines. Of course, the study was designed to determine the impact of shade cast by the transmission cables, as well as whether placing the components near each other caused electromagnetic field interference or affected operational compatibility.
Surprisingly, the study’s data showed that the solar panel installation experienced little interference, and that the shade cast by the power lines barely affected the panel’s performance. To be fair, though, ISA Energia Brasil didn’t use run-of-the-mill solar panels (the solar panels you install on your home). The company built a “prototype solar panel plant” that used high-efficiency panels. These photovoltaics could even absorb radiation reflected off nearby objects, but since the study was conducted in the real world rather than in a laboratory environment, it’s hard to argue with the results.
According to ISA Energia Brasil’s computer calculations, a solar panel plant similar to the prototype used in the experiment could generate 1.746 MWh of power annually (Now imagine how much more energy such a plant could provide if fossil fuels weren’t ruining solar power). The main takeaway of this study is that the ground beneath power lines is an untapped resource that could solve many energy problems.
ISA Energia Brasil maintains around 23 kilometers (14.3 miles) of power lines — São Paulo alone occupies 16.2 million square meters (6.25 square miles) of associated safety zones ripe for solar power plants. The company believes it could install photovoltaic plants on these lands with minimal issues, thereby supplementing the electricity already flowing through the transmission lines with renewable energy.
Admittedly, many electrical grids already transfer energy from solar power plants to users, but they all share an issue: These existing systems must shuttle the electricity through limited-capacity long-distance transmission cables. ISA Energia Brasil’s study demonstrates that electric companies can potentially install miniature solar farms in the front yards of many customers (figuratively if not literally), quickly delivering the maximum amount of renewable energy. Plus, such installations would help decarbonize Brazil’s electricity sector and potentially do the same in other countries that adopt them.

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For businesses today, sustainability is no longer a peripheral consideration. Rising energy costs, evolving policy frameworks, and increasing expectations from customers, investors, and regulators are steadily pushing clean energy higher up the corporate agenda.
At the same time, businesses are becoming more conscious of the risks associated with energy decisions – from cost volatility and operational reliability to long-term performance and maintenance accountability. As a result, going green is increasingly treated not just as an environmental choice but as a business decision that must balance savings, risk, and operational certainty.
This is particularly evident among India’s small and medium enterprises, which collectively account for more than 65 million businesses. While intent to adopt clean energy is strong, execution often feels complex, driven by upfront cost, financing choices, and questions around long-term performance.
The cost lever many businesses underestimate
Across manufacturing, logistics, education, food processing, and e-commerce, leadership teams typically focus on growth and delivery. Electricity, cooling, lighting, and pumping are often treated as fixed overheads, even though they directly influence margins.
For many commercial and industrial consumers, grid electricity remains one of the largest recurring expenses. A rooftop solar installation, for example, can require INR 35-50 lakh for a 100-kilowatt system, with a payback period of around seven years. Yet the long-term advantage is clear: commercial tariffs often range between INR 8-INR 12 per kWh, while well-structured rooftop OPEX tariffs can fall in the INR 3.5-INR 5 per kWh range.
Solar, therefore, offers a structural opportunity to reduce long-term energy costs and introduce greater predictability into power spend. The challenge lies less in the economics and more in how risk is allocated through financing and accountability.
Why financing shapes adoption outcomes
The way a solar project is financed determines who carries the downside.
Ownership-based models financed through bank loans or NBFC-led green financing can improve early-year economics through mechanisms such as accelerated depreciation and GST input credit. However, they also place performance responsibility on the business, meaning repayments continue even if generation drops or downtime occurs.
To reduce this exposure, many MSMEs consider power purchase agreements (PPAs). Under a PPA, a developer installs and operates the system, and the business pays only for the electricity consumed, typically at a tariff below prevailing grid rates. The trade-off is that ownership and associated tax benefits remain with the developer.
Increasingly, businesses are looking for models that sit between these two.
Aligning payments with performance
A growing trend in business solar is linking payments to how much electricity a system actually generates. In these structures, repayments are tied to energy output rather than the fixed monthly payments.
This reduces the burden of fixed monthly payments during periods of underperformance and strengthens accountability across the system’s operation. At the same time, it allows businesses to retain long-term ownership and associated tax benefits such as accelerated depreciation and GST input credits – combining the advantages of ownership with stronger risk protection.
A separate option for businesses that already have solar
For businesses with existing solar systems, solar refinancing has emerged as a way to unlock capital while transferring ongoing maintenance and performance responsibility to specialised partners. This allows businesses to continue benefiting from solar generation while transferring operational responsibility – and, where chosen, asset ownership – to the developer.
Policy adds another layer of consideration
India’s renewable energy framework continues to evolve, with central policies implemented differently across states. Differences in net metering rules, open-access regulations, tariff structures, and grid permissions can materially affect project outcomes.
This variability reinforces the importance of choosing financing and operating models that can absorb policy-related uncertainty. Solar decisions, therefore, consider not only cost and sustainability goals, but also long-term regulatory standards.
Beyond sustainability: a strategic business decision
For India’s MSMEs, the question is no longer whether to go solar, but how to do it in a way that delivers savings without introducing new risks.
With the right financing structure, clear performance accountability, and an understanding of state-level policy dynamics, solar moves beyond a sustainability initiative. It becomes a stable, cost-efficient component of business infrastructure -strengthening resilience, improving efficiency, and supporting long-term growth.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
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Futurity is your source of research news from leading universities.
Vials of seawater, Great Salt Lake water, nickel sulfate, copper chloride wastewater, and desalinated water, along with recovered salts show how a new approach turns natural and industrial waters into fresh water and reusable minerals. (Credit: J. Adam Fenster/U. Rochester)

You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.
A new desalination method produces drinking water from seawater without chemical additives.
The solar-powered system uses specially engineered black metal to absorb sunlight.
Its self-cleaning surface separates and collects salts, instead of dumping them as harmful brine waste.
From the salts, the system can extract lithium, a key material for rechargeable batteries.
The approach could help address global water shortages and growing mineral demand.
The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and communities from California to the Middle East rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water.
Common desalination techniques, such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation, are energy-intensive, require pre- and post-water treatment, and leave behind a concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine. The brine byproduct wreaks havoc on sea life when it’s deposited back into the ocean by raising the salt level and lowering oxygen in the water.
But a new approach developed at the University of Rochester offers a way to overcome these drawbacks. Researchers at URochester’s Institute of Optics developed a new solar-thermal desalination process to produce fresh water in an energy-efficient way that does not leave behind brine and requires no chemical additives to pre-treat the water.
A team led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and of physics and a senior scientist at URochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, describes their method in a paper in Light: Science & Applications.
The technology uses solar panels made of black metal etched with femtosecond lasers to make the surface super light-absorbing and superwicking—or extremely attractive to water. The panels have a laser-treated active region that pulls a thin layer of water across the surface, absorbs nearly all solar radiation, distills the water, and deposits the leftover salts and minerals into the panel’s untreated sides or “passive” region so that the salt does not clog the active region and disrupt continuous desalination.
Guo says other researchers have developed solar-thermal desalination techniques that work well in lab experiments using simulated seawater made of only water and sodium chloride. As the water evaporates, the sodium chloride crystallizes in a grainy and porous fashion allowing water to pass through to dissolve the salt. The solar panels, meanwhile, can be easily cleaned.
But real ocean has a much more complex composition, and these systems tend to encounter issues when tested in the field. Unlike sodium chloride, many other components in seawater, such as magnesium- and calcium-based materials, crystallize in a crusty and non-porous fashion on the solar panel’s surface, clogging it. Eventually, water can no longer seep through. This is the same phenomenon as your shower head clogging over time or your teapot lined with scales, except that seawater contains hundreds of times more salts than your tap water.
To keep their solar panel surface from gumming up similarly, Guo’s team precisely etched the black metal’s grooves so the various salts and minerals in ocean water would simply slough off. They also leveraged a physical phenomenon that has plagued clumsy javaphiles for centuries: the coffee ring effect.
“If you drop coffee on a surface, eventually the water evaporates, and there’s a ring left at the outer edge that is the concentrated coffee particles,” says Guo. “We use that same principle to advance the salts to the passive region.”
Testing their solar-thermal desalination technique using samples of water from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, Guo and his team were able to make the surface self-cleaning. In other words, it extracted freshwater and directed the remaining salts to the passive region where they could be later collected without reducing the panel’s efficiency.
One of the new desalination method’s distinct advantages is that instead of leaving behind brine that must be disposed of or processed, it extracts nearly 100% of the salts in solid form. This could not only produce an abundant supply of table salt, but it could also be used to extract more precious minerals, including lithium, which is used in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and other electronics.
In a related paper in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Guo and his colleagues show how they can use the same superwicking solar panels to separate lithium from the rest of other salts in desalination. Embedding nanoparticles made of hydrogen titanate in the tiny grooves of the black metal surface isolates the lithium from other salts and minerals.
“Mining lithium from the earth has proven to be very taxing from an energy and environmental standpoint, so pulling lithium directly from saltwater could be a very important future route,” says Guo.
Using water samples from Great Salt Lake, the researchers extracted about 50% of the lithium from the salts left behind by the desalination process.
Guo says now that the superwicking desalination technology has been demonstrated in proofs of concept on small-scale devices, he sees the technology inherently scalable, capable of improving global access to drinking water and building more sustainable supply chains for precious minerals.
The National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Worldwide Universities Network supported this research.
Source: University of Rochester
Original Study DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02315-4
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Smarten, an Indian provider of power backup and solar energy solutions for residential and commercial applications, has announced plans to expand its distributor network to more than 350 distributors during FY 2026–27 as part of its strategy to strengthen market presence and meet rising demand for energy solutions across the country.
The company currently operates through a network of over 250 distributors across India and plans to add 108 new channel partners during the fiscal year to enhance product accessibility and customer support in key markets.
Under the expansion plan, North India will account for the largest share of new appointments with 41 distributors, followed by South India with 32, East India with 23, and West India with 12. The initiative is aimed at deepening the company’s reach in existing markets while expanding into high-growth territories.
Commenting on the development, Rajnish Sharma, Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer of Smarten, said that the company’s distribution network has been instrumental in helping it serve customers across diverse geographies and understand regional energy requirements.
He noted that the planned expansion is focused on strengthening market coverage, building long-term channel partnerships, and improving customer access to reliable power backup and solar energy products. According to Sharma, the initiative is expected to support growing demand from residential and commercial consumers while contributing to the broader adoption of renewable energy technologies across India.
The announcement comes amid increasing demand for power backup systems and solar solutions across households, businesses, and small enterprises as consumers seek reliable and sustainable energy alternatives.
Smarten believes that expanding its distribution ecosystem will play a key role in supporting its long-term growth objectives, improving customer engagement, and enabling wider deployment of power backup and renewable energy solutions throughout the country.
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Understanding the routes for financing new solar PV manufacturing capacity in the United States has now become as important as the technologies deployed and the process flows involved.
This critical topic is set to take centre stage at the forthcoming Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 event in Austin, Texas on 22-23 September 2026 — the first event to be held in the United States focused exclusively on the build-out of a full domestic PV manufacturing ecosystem
By focusing on the sources of finance — and the key stakeholders and partnerships involved — Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 will therefore provide a unique meeting place for those tracking capital investments into U.S. PV manufacturing and the companies now creating business plans to benefit from this uptick in spending.
This article explains why PV manufacturing investment strategies in the United States are beginning to diverge from those seen historically in the PV industry going back more than 30 years; and what this means for companies active across the value and supply chains in the sector.
Debt financing and regional loans have dominated PV manufacturing investments in the past
Traditionally, new solar PV manufacturing capacity has been financed directly by the producers of polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells and modules. The most common route has been debt financing, with few companies having the luxury to fund expansions purely with cash.
The source of these funds has been dominated by loans from regional (or in China, provincial) banks or state-backed funding vehicles, and through share placements or dual listing IPOs (typically mainland A-Share and Hong Kong H-Share combinations for China).
During the China-specific manufacturing investment boom of 2021-2023, funds were often provided from state-backed vehicles that were seeking quick returns through newly formed privately held entities moving to listed status in Shanghai or Hong Kong within 2-3 years. For many, this tactic came to an abrupt halt when IPOs were unsuccessful.
Consequently, the manufacturers themselves were largely tasked with delivering the desired return-on-capital-employed through operations; directly purchasing the necessary raw materials (for example polysilicon, wafers or cells) and then having a sales force that secured orders for the manufacturing sites.
Over the past 30 years, this self-contained manufacturing model has dominated the PV industry, with a couple of exceptions now described.
First, some companies (mostly in China) have operated in a manufacturing-lite fashion, using OEM companies to produce modules that were then rebranded. Some companies today in China (and Europe) have taken this model to an extreme, being more resellers than producers.
The other exception that has existed since about 2020 was created in the wake of the Sheffield Hallam University report on the solar industry regarding forced labour, and its impact on polysilicon supply auditing, subsequently tightened in scope following the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the United States and the Solar Stewardship Initiative in Europe.
Owing to the limited polysilicon volumes available to the solar industry outside China (in Malaysia, Germany and the United States), module suppliers (whether these companies made cells or wafers) then sought to secure (purchase) the polysilicon directly from a select group of suppliers (Wacker, Hemlock / Corning and OCI). This polysilicon would then often be shipped to third-party ingot pullers, wafer slicing companies and even cell fabrication sites, before reaching the buyers’ factories for module assembly.
This type of purchasing (or raw materials ‘investment’) gives a hint at what is unfolding today in the United States, but is fundamentally still a manufacturing closed-loop exercise in which the module buyer (or solar site investor / asset-owner) sits at arm’s length, potentially only involved by way of contract deliverables that require certain component sourcing to be guaranteed in order to take receipt of the modules.
What is unfolding now in the United States, as it relates to specific investments in manufacturing sites and operating entities, is fundamentally different and is discussed now in the next section of this article.
Securing cell, wafer and glass supply may become more important than who assembles the module
As the attention from downstream solar project investors and developers in the United States moves to securing increased domestic production of value-chain components (polysilicon to module) and the key materials used in the manufacturing processes, it may simply become too much of a risk to rely on specific module assembly companies to ‘tick all these boxes’. Are all the module suppliers to the U.S. market today going to be in business by 2030? How many have the ‘buying power’ to secure supply volumes 5-10 years out?
Moreover, the shortage of value-chain capacity is unlikely to be at the module assembly stage; rather, it will be upstream at cells, wafers and polysilicon.
Therefore, the smart money from downstream investors and asset owners should possibly be flowing directly into securing domestic ‘off-take’ of polysilicon, wafer and cell production — the parts of the value-chain that are going to be the crux points in coming years.
This type of supply-chain sourcing would be new in the solar industry, with the previously cited module-supplier polysilicon offtake arrangement being the closest historical analogy.
The only other examples of downstream investors / owners having contractual arrangements with upstream manufacturing can be found in India today but are somewhat different. Energy and infrastructure conglomerates Adani, Tata and Reliance each operate in-house solar manufacturing activities that can supply self-developed and owned projects. And in recent years, some of India’s pure-play IPPs have backward integrated to cell and module production for in-house consumption.
However, what’s being proposed for the United States is very different to the closed-cycle India model today, with the financial transactions potentially having different paths.
The simplest example involves direct purchase of polysilicon, wafers or cells — effectively securing these domestic components to supply to a different module entity. More nuanced versions would exist when purchasing from domestic manufacturers that produce at different stages of the c-Si value-chain.
Taking the new purchasing model to an extreme, we end up with equity ownership by downstream players in upstream manufacturing capacity — something that has been muted for decades but never prioritized.
Aside from the Indian companies noted above that operate different business units for upstream and downstream renewable energy activities, the solar industry has routinely seen module suppliers operate downstream project development arms — but rarely to be long-term asset owners and often using PV modules from competitors to reduce new site capex.
It is unclear exactly how this will impact manufacturing investments in the coming years and whether downstream investments will also start to flow into materials supply such as solar glass, frames, films, pastes and quartz crucibles.
Consider the example of Tesla and the company’s 100 GW plans. Could this come to fruition by relying on raw materials suppliers to somehow be aligned with volumes when needed for production?
New financing of U.S. PV manufacturing sites presents new challenge for equipment and materials suppliers
Historically, PV equipment and materials suppliers relied on working relationships with the actual manufacturers. Moving forward, this could change for each of these supplier types.
Equipment suppliers may come under increased scrutiny from the actual ‘investors’, especially if China imposes any official (or indirect) mandates on its PV equipment suppliers to restrict exports of tools from China to the United States. This may see stronger working relationships between the source-of-funding and PV equipment suppliers with non-China ownership and manufacturing-location origin.
Materials suppliers — by virtue of domestic production bases coming to fruition in the United States — could benefit significantly, if the materials in question are likely to be in short supply in coming years.
But possibly the most urgent example where downstream funds need to flow into U.S. PV manufacturing is at the polysilicon stage. How much longer is the U.S. solar industry going to rely on the volumes produced by one company — Corning (Hemlock) — that is in the process of developing a value-chain model involving ingots, wafers and modules that could lead to all of Corning’s polysilicon being consumed in-house?
Could downstream investments into new polysilicon capacity in the United States be the most prudent use of capital in coming years?
The topic of financing new U.S. PV manufacturing sites — and securing domestic materials supply — will be a core theme across the two days of the forthcoming Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 event in Austin, Texas on 22-23 September 2026. 
To get involved in the proceedings, or simply to input your ideas ahead of the event, you can contact the team at [email protected].
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Serving Meeker and the White River Valley since 1885
RBC |  Last week the Rio Blanco County Board of County Commissioners met June 9 in Meeker, holding a morning work session followed by its regular meeting. All three commissioners were present.
During the work session, commissioners heard a presentation from Byron Kominek, owner of Jack’s Solar Garden and executive director of the Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center, who discussed combining solar energy production with agricultural operations.
Kominek explained that his family’s Boulder County farm transitioned from hay production to solar development after traditional farming became financially unsustainable.
“We were losing money on hay,” Kominek said. “We needed to figure something else out, or we lose the farm over time, and solar was a way that we could come about piecing things together.”
The family converted an eight-acre hay field into a solar array in 2020, installing more than 3,200 solar panels capable of generating electricity for approximately 300 homes.
Research conducted through partnerships with Colorado State University and the University of Arizona has found that some crops benefit from the partial shade provided by solar panels.
“The lettuces, arugula, spinach — they would grow two to five times larger within the solar array versus outside,” Kominek said.
Kominek said research on forage production beneath solar arrays has also shown benefits during drought years.
“What we found in the solar array is that we actually grew 20% more grass in the solar array versus outside,” Kominek said.
He also discussed livestock grazing within solar facilities, noting that agricultural use can continue alongside energy production.
“We can have cattle and solar,” Kominek said. “It’s useful for the cattle because there’s shade available to them.”
Commissioners asked questions regarding wildlife movement, fencing requirements and long-term land management associated with solar projects.
County Attorney Rose Pugliese later provided legal and administrative updates, including recommendations for strengthening the county’s agenda review process to ensure legal review occurs before agendas are published. Commissioners also discussed pending contracts, concerns about liability provisions and Colorado’s 1041 regulations, which allow local governments to regulate matters of state interest, including renewable energy development.
Commission Chair Callie Scritchfield expressed interest in learning more about how the regulations could be applied locally. “I would like to understand a little bit more,” Scritchfield said. “I don’t understand that 100%.”
The board also reviewed a draft memorandum of understanding involving the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District and a proposed feasibility study grant application. Under the draft agreement, Rio Blanco County would serve as the grant administrator and fiscal agent for the project.
Commissioners also met Rio Blanco County’s new Colorado State University Extension agent, Meghan Davis, and reviewed CSU Extension Advisory Board bylaws. No formal action was taken during the work session.
During the regular meeting, commissioners approved the agenda and consent agenda. The consent agenda included payroll and motor vehicle reports and approval of a Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment contract amendment providing an additional $105,000 to Rio Blanco County Public Health.
The board then received its annual county update from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Region 3 Transportation Director Jason Smith outlined CDOT’s four primary functions.
“CDOT has four functions: construction, maintenance and operations, multimodal service, and asset management,” Smith said. “All four of these areas can really incorporate safety, mobility and asset management, so that’s really the center of what we do.”
Smith said the department’s priorities for the year include improving roads, transportation safety and transportation options.
“Fix our roads, advancing transportation safety, and sustainably increase transportation choices services,” Smith said.
Smith noted that Region 3 covers 15 counties in northwestern Colorado and maintains more than 5,000 lane miles of roadway, 13 mountain passes, seven tunnels, more than 700 bridges and more than 15,000 culverts.
“We have over 5,000 lane miles roadways that we service and keep open, 13 mountain passes, 13 rest areas, seven tunnels, over 700 bridges and over 15,000 culverts,” Smith said.
Smith also discussed workforce challenges and recruitment efforts following staffing shortages during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have a very inexperienced crew that we’re trying to get trained and get them up to speed,” Smith said.
District 6 Transportation Commissioner Rick Ridder and Regional Planner Mark Rogers also participated in the presentation. Rogers reviewed CDOT’s approximately $2 billion annual budget and explained that a significant portion of transportation funding comes from federal and state fuel taxes.
Commissioners questioned CDOT officials about road funding formulas and regional allocations. Officials explained that a revised funding formula places greater emphasis on population, which is expected to reduce future funding allocations for Region 3.
Resident Engineer Justin Kuhn who covers Rio Blanco, Moffat, and Routt counties reviewed upcoming transportation projects, including resurfacing work on State Highway 13 north of Meeker and improvements along State Highway 139 south of Rangely planned for 2027.
Commissioners later approved a letter of support for the Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District’s Lake Avery expansion feasibility study.
“Our goal there is to help Yellow Jacket get this expansion feasibility study in motion,” Scritchfield said. “We’ll know more in July.”
The board also approved participation in an amicus brief supporting Suncor Energy USA in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving Boulder County’s climate-related lawsuit against the company.
Commissioner Doug Overton said the case could have implications beyond Colorado.
“When Boulder County sued Suncor, it went to Supreme Court of the United States and they picked Boulder County to hear,” Overton said. “The outcome of this decision by the Supreme Court will affect 100 other cases across the United States, so we felt that it was well worth our time and money to try and do the right thing.”
Commissioners also approved ratifying County Attorney Rose Pugliese’s authorization to inform Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado and Mesa County Attorney Todd Starr that Rio Blanco County will participate in the amicus brief and will contribute up to $7,500 toward legal fees for the amicus brief.
Commissioners concluded the public portion of the meeting with updates on recent activities, including Commissioner Overton participation in strategic planning sessions, Commissioner O’Hearon legislative meetings, Club 20 events, Colorado Counties Inc, and Commissioner Scritchfield conferences and recovery efforts related to local natural resource projects.
The board then entered executive sessions to conduct performance evaluations, discuss negotiations related to APHIS Wildlife Services and receive legal advice.
The next meeting of the Rio Blanco County Board of County Commissioners is scheduled for June 23 at 1 p.m. at the Rio Blanco County Annex building in Rangely.

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The Sun Eclipses Natural Gas as California’s Top Power Supplier  GV Wire
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Top Stories Of The Day: Deloitte-IPS Energy Alliance; India Solar Hits 157 GW; ₹15,032 Cr Infra Boost and More…  SolarQuarter
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Two Kansas solar farms would convert nearly 3,000 acres of farmland near Wichita  Wichita Eagle
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Solar PV solutions provider Nextpower has launched its redesigned NX Gemini two-in-portrait (2P) solar tracker.
The launch is part of a wider expansion of Nextpower’s solar solutions portfolio in Europe, which includes NX Anchor, a foundation system developed for its flagship NX Horizon 1P tracker and designed for use in Europe’s diverse geotechnical conditions. The system includes multiple pile options designed for soft, expansive, frost-prone, medium and mixed soil types, and can be installed using standard equipment. 
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Co-engineered for use with the NX Horizon 1P tracker, NX Anchor supports higher tracker clearances while requiring up to 70% less embedment depth than conventional H-pile foundations, according to the company. According to Nextpower, the system can reduce installation times by up to 20%. 
The company said its product redesign will support the next phase of solar deployment through a combination of high-density tracker systems, integrated foundations and software-enabled controls tailored to site-specific conditions.
“European solar projects are becoming more specialised, and customers need more flexibility in how projects are designed and built,” said Yves Figuerola, general manager, Nextpower Europe.
“We are excited to bring our foundation solutions and a differentiated 2P tracker system to our customers in Europe where site and soil conditions can be challenging. These offerings are designed to provide a comprehensive solution set with more flexibility to help improve efficiency and reduce construction risk, while bringing Nextpower’s proven controls and software platform to more project configurations.”    
The NX Gemini tracker builds on 2P technology and has been designed to improve project performance, constructability and cost-effectiveness. The system incorporates updates to the company’s tracker controls and software architecture, including row-level control, network communications, weather-response functionality and centralised site intelligence. 
The company will also extend its existing software and controls platform to the NX Gemini tracker. This includes TrueCapture advanced tracker control technology, designed to optimise energy generation, and agrivoltaics-specific operating modes available through the NX Navigator monitoring and control platform. 

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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | June 17, 2026
Ingeteam helped with the first inverter-fed electroluminescence (EL) inspection of solar panels on U.S. soil. Ingeteam INGECON SUN 3Power UL C Series inverters were used on Acciona’s 458-MW Red-Tailed Hawk Solar Farm in El Campo, Texas. A total of 18,125 modules from a pre-selected section were inspected using the electroluminescence capabilities of three of Ingeteam’s inverters, requiring just two hours of inspection time per inverter. Quantified Energy (QE) provided a specialized camera, drone, pilot training and the software needed to perform the inspection and analysis of the results.
The Ingeteam testing crew
EL is a phenomenon in which a material emits light when an electrical current is applied to it. An EL inspection involves injecting a current into the panels so that the photovoltaic cells emit infrared light, which is captured by a camera and subsequently analyzed. In this way, micro-cracks and hidden defects at the cellular level are identified, allowing asset owners to evaluate the quality of their solar panels on a highly granular level to streamline warranty and insurance claims. This process is used in laboratories and solar panel factories to determine the health of modules. Ingeteam developed its EL functionality to facilitate these inspections in large utility-scale farms.
Electroluminescence functionality is one of many ways that Ingeteam has leveraged its investment in R&D to design inverters with innovative technologies and set itself apart. By equipping inverters with this feature, Ingeteam helps customers to reduce the necessary time for O&M inspections, with all strings being energized at the same time instead of string-to-string polarization. It also means greater efficiency as only inverter consumption is necessary vs. the need for additional power supplies (DC and AC). Furthermore, it offers a more reliable and safer option because the operator does not have to manipulate string box cables.
The EL inspection process at the Red-Tailed Hawk Solar Farm allowed Acciona to evaluate the health of the solar panels at this site in a precise, efficient and safe manner, and the findings have provided information that will help optimize site performance. While this is the first inspection conducted in the United States, Ingeteam has carried out this type of electroluminescence testing worldwide, reducing the LCOE of the analyzed assets. This technique has already been used to optimize the performance and reliability of solar farms in Spain, Chile, Panama and Australia. Ingeteam inverter-enabled field inspections have achieved a throughput of up to 40,000 modules per night utilizing QE’s technology in some of these projects.
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Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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In addition to supplying clean energy, solar panels have a surprisingly positive impact on degraded land and local wildlife. The panels block the sun, allowing the soil to retain more moisture to the point where China’s largest solar farm is changing the desert around it, turning a once dry landscape green with plant life. Animals can also benefit from solar farms, including the San Joaquin kit fox, an endangered species that lives in central California, whose population faces many threats, including habitat loss and predators.
Some San Joaquin foxes have found a safe haven within the Topaz Solar Farm and California Valley Solar Ranch, both of which were built on their natural habitat. Researchers examined how the facilities impacted local foxes in two separate studies carried out from 2014–2017, with results published in a 2019 report (link will download a PDF to your device). They found that solar farms’ fences kept out common predators like bobcats and coyotes, animals too large to fit underneath. Additionally, the solar panels provided shielding from birds of prey like the golden eagle. It seems to be effective, too.
Another study carried (link will download a PDF to your device) out between 2019 and 2022 found that survival rates remained consistent for San Joaquin kit foxes on the solar farm at the same time as they dropped on the outside. This is a great example of how, while these kinds of massive solar farms can disrupt habitats and the local ecosystem, they can also provide surprising benefits. That’s especially true when these facilities are designed with the environment in mind.
Many California solar farms have implemented some great fox-friendly measures that can serve as inspiration for other green energy projects. Their fences were designed with a 12 to 15 cm gap between the fence and the ground, specifically so wildlife like San Joaquin kit foxes could get through. Topaz Solar Farms even added a rail at the bottom of the gap to deter larger animals, such as those that prey on foxes, from digging their way in.
Those benefits to animals can also improve human lives. Solar grazing is a growing industry that has helped local residents near a solar farm in Tibet and other farmers make extra income by grazing their sheep below and between the panels. The sheep are both more efficient and eco-friendly than other landscaping options necessary to prevent fire and overgrowth. In this case, the low vegetation also happens to suit the foxes’ preferences.
There’s still work to be done when it comes to balancing solar energy production and conservation. Birds can’t tell the difference between solar farms and lakes, which leads to fatalities and migration disruption. Finding ways to minimize the environmental impact of solar facilities will be important as we expand our clean energy usage. That’s why these California solar farms stand out as perfect examples of how these solar projects can also create opportunities to help wildlife rather than disrupting it.

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Solar Panel Plants Are Having An Unexpected Effect On Bat Behavior  Yahoo
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According to data collected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its OECD MAGIC Database of Industrial Subsidies, China has subsidized its solar power-related manufacturing industries by $17.4 billion from 2010 through 2024. 
In contrast to China’s huge investment, OECD countries — 38 member states primarily located in Europe and the Americas, including the U.S. — have subsidized their manufacturers by just $3.9 billion over the same period.
During this window, the price of electricity generated by solar panels has fallen from nearly $0.40/kWh to under $0.04/kWh – a drop of more than 90%. 
As of May, during ongoing Middle Eastern fighting, Europe had saved $11.6 billion in energy costs due to solar.
During the 15 years in question, China’s share of the total was 81%. In 2024, the gap narrowed sharply, with China falling to 62%, and the OECD share increasing to 38%. For all of 2024, China supported over 500 gigawatts of output and a terawatt of capacity, versus the rest of the world’s roughly 60 gigawatts.
Over the full 15-year period, of the $3.9 billion given by OECD countries, 54% was delivered in the last two years. Most of it was in the U.S. via the 45X manufacturing tax credit tool created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The report noted the accuracy of the U.S. data was aided by tax filing requirements.
In 2025 alone, it is estimated that the world deployed nearly $500 billion of solar power, with the U.S. and Europe alone deploying nearly $150 billion worth.
The most common Chinese incentives were noted as being below-market loans and direct grants to firms. Recently, the nation ended an export tax credit, which led to a significant export sprint.
Subsidies received by the 15 industrial sectors covered by the report totalled $108 billion in 2024. Solar was the most subsidized industry with its $21 billion representing almost a fifth of the total value over the 2010 to 2024 period.
By correlating BloombergNEF installation volume data and OECD industrial incentive volumes, the chart above shows that the global solar subsidy intensity has fallen by just over 88%. 
In 2010, the subsidy was $0.048/W in support of deploying 18.3 GW of capacity. In 2024, while the total amount of subsidy did increase by almost 400%, the volume of solar modules deployed by more than 3200% – pushing the subsidy down further to $0.0057/W.
One can see very clearly that this is not a ‘subsidy’, but an investment – and a very good one at that.
In the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA’s) Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual review, it is suggested solar employment has increased from almost 1.4 million people in 2012 – to greater than 7 million in 2024. During that period, the amount of subsidy per job ranged from as low as $190 up to $599 in recent years.
All of this is prior to any consideration of Americans dying due to coal and gas air pollution due directly to solar panel bans, climbing to millions globally.  It also does not take into account the most pressing challenge of our species: managing a warming climate that threatens to do more harm than most can conceive.
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Navitas Solar, a Surat-based PV module manufacturer, has announced plans to invest around INR 1,500 crore in a 3.6 GW solar cell manufacturing facility and a pilot wafer and ingot production line in Gujarat as part of its backward integration strategy.
The project will be developed in phases, with the first phase scheduled for commissioning in 2027. Additional capacity expansions are planned thereafter, subject to market conditions and project readiness.
As part of the project, civil work covering over 10 lakh sq. ft. is currently underway. Navitas Solar said it has secured technology tie-up for the planned manufacturing line and appointed senior leaders to spearhead the new business vertical. The company is further strengthening its project execution, manufacturing, technology and quality functions to support the successful implementation of the expansion and its long-term growth plans.
According to the company, the cell manufacturing facility is being designed as a highly automated and future-ready production platform capable of supporting next-generation solar technologies. The manufacturing line will be developed with upgradeability and flexibility to adapt to evolving technology pathways, including potential transitions to advanced cell architectures, subject to market and technology readiness.
The company also plans to set up a pilot wafer and ingot manufacturing line in 2027 as a part of its long-term roadmap for deeper backward integration. The initiative is expected to strengthen internal capabilities, enhance technology understanding, and support future localization requirements across the solar value chain.
Navitas Solar’s proposed 3.6 GW cell facility is aligned with the Government’s implementation of the ALMM List-II framework for solar PV cells, which will significantly drive the demand of domestically manufactured cells.
The company estimates the project to generate nearly 1,000 employment opportunities across manufacturing, engineering, operations, project execution, quality assurance and research functions, while also creating significant indirect employment across logistics, ancillary industries and supporting services.
Navitas Solar currently has an annual solar module manufacturing capacity of 3 GW and offers a comprehensive portfolio of Mono PERC and high-efficiency TOPCon modules ranging from 40W to 720W. The company also has upstream integration through its subsidiary, Navitas Alpha Renewables, which manufactures solar encapsulants.
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Recognized As The Best Medium-Sized, Nondaily Newspaper In Illinois
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
PAXTON — A solar farm is planned for 25 acres of farmland just outside of Paxton, Mayor Bill Ingold revealed during the city council’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 9.
“About a week or so ago, the city attorney (Tony Schuering) and I were on a Zoom phone call with somebody inquiring about the possibility of locating a 25-acre solar farm near Paxton,” Ingold told aldermen. “It would be near some property that was contiguous (to city limits), and they asked about a possible annexation (of that land into city limits). … And what we said (in response) was that we would want to kind of bring it up (to the council first) … to see what you thought.”
While two of the six aldermen present for the meeting said they were against any solar farm being built on farmland, the council agreed to hear the developer’s pitch anyway. Ingold said he would contact the developer the next morning to arrange for them to attend the council’s July 14 meeting to provide further details and answer any questions.
In response to a question from Alderman Rob Pacey, Schuering said the council could expect the project’s permitting to move quickly if that would be the council’s desire.
“If they come (to the meeting) in July and you are interested in moving forward with the project, it would be up for a vote for your consideration in August,” Schuering told aldermen.
In addition to the council’s approval of the annexation, the city’s zoning code seems to incidicate that the project would require approval of a special-use permit — plus the agriculturally zoned land’s rezoning to a permitted use district — following a public hearing before the city’s planning and zoning commission.
While few details of the project were publicly disclosed by the mayor or city attorney, including the developer’s name and the project’s proposed location near Paxton, Ingold did reveal that the solar farm would not include any battery storage facilities and would not be located in the city’s tax-increment financing district, “because it’s not in there right now.”
Schuering said in response to a question from Alderman Kristen Larson that he was unsure of the project’s electricity generating capacity. Ingold said he was told the electricity would feed into the grid for use locally by residents and businesses here in Paxton.
Also in reply to a question from Larson, Schuering was unable to say whether the developer already owns the involved property or instead plans to either buy or lease it.
“I think that would be a good question for them,” Schuering replied. “Based on the conversation that we had with them, I don’t know that we could have really inquired on that, frankly. (The discussion) was more so about, ‘Let’s check with the council and see if they’re interested in having the discussion.’ If you are, then we can get them here and let them speak for themselves.”
“Right now, we’re just taking your temperature to see what you think,” Ingold told aldermen. “If this is something that you’d like to hear more about, we’ll invite them to come to the July meeting.”
Aldermen Justin Withers and Deane Geiken both said they were not in favor of solar farms being built on farmland but said they would be willing to hear out the developer anyway.
“I would suggest that we at least hear what they have to say before we make a decision on anything,” Alderman Mike Wilson said.
“I’m OK with that,” Geiken replied.
“We have an obligation, I think, to at least have more information than we have right now,” Pacey said.
Ingold noted that even if annexation is not pursued and the project remains outside of city limits, the city could still have a say in whether it is allowed, as the city has zoning authority withina11/2-mileradiusof its corporate boundaries.
“We do zone out a mile and a half, so we do kind of control what’s going on,” Ingold said. “If we told them ‘no’ and they don’t annex (the land) into the city, they could always go to the county (for a special-use permit).”
Schuering said some developers of solar farms might pursue annexation and a city-issued permit because, among other reasons, “there’s a little bit more regulatory certainty if they go through our process as opposed to keeping it in the county.”
“Also, frankly, I think we can do it faster,” Schuering said. “I think we can go through the regulatory hearings and the processes and all of that more expeditiously than counties can. … It’s just the process that they have to go through (at the county level) looks different and, as a result, takes longer.”
Also present for the meeting was Alderman Joe Reinhart. Absent were Aldermen Eric Evans and Matt Greenburg.
The council’s July 14 meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 145 S. Market St.
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Independent power producer (IPP) Alluvial Power has started commercial operations at its 150MWac project in Ford County, Kansas. 
The Boot Hill Solar project’s electricity output will be contracted and sold to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). Sunflower is a not-for-profit electric generation and transmission utility serving seven member utilities across central and western Kansas. 
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Boot Hill Solar is expected to generate nearly 400,000MWh of electricity annually, equivalent to around 9% of Sunflower’s current system energy demand, according to project estimates. 
Alongside energy supply, the project is positioned to deliver on-peak capacity during high-demand summer periods, particularly in the Dodge City area, where grid stress typically intensifies. 
“Reaching commercial operation is a major step forward for this project and for the Sunflower system,” said Corey Linville, Sunflower senior vice president and chief operations officer of generation and power supply. “We appreciate the collaboration of Ford County, Victory Electric Cooperative and the many partners who helped Alluvial and Sunflower advance the Boot Hill Solar project to completion.”  
Alluvial Power said the project supports system reliability and wholesale price stability while diversifying Sunflower’s generation mix. The company describes Boot Hill as part of its broader US energy transition pipeline. 
Financing for the project included a construction and term debt facility led by MUFG Bank, with tax equity provided by RBC Community Investments. Financial terms of the package were not disclosed. 
Boot Hill Solar adds to the portfolio of Alluvial Power, an energy transition platform focused on developing, re-developing and constructing US power infrastructure. The firm says its team has delivered 7GW of operating projects representing more than US$30 billion in investment. 
Alluvial is backed by OPTrust, one of Canada’s largest pension funds, which manages more than CA$27 billion (US$19.2 billion) in assets. 

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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | June 17, 2026
Convalt Energy is trying again. The company that bought the manufacturing equipment from the former SolarWorld facility for a new solar panel assembly site in New York has now set its sights on an “advanced manufacturing campus for the production of solar cells, solar modules, and solar glass” in New Mexico.
Convalt announced in 2021 that it was going to start a solar factory in Watertown, New York. Plans never progressed beyond land acquisition, and Convalt is paying back the $1.05 million loan the local government provided. The company began in 2011 as a solar developer working in Southeast Asia and Africa, and Convalt has since increased its efforts outside of the United States. Earlier this month, Convalt signed an agreement with the government of Lesotho in Southern Africa to develop 4.6 GW of solar.
Now the company has announced a binding purchase and sale agreement with Gallup Land Partners for a solar manufacturing campus in Gallup, New Mexico, that also promises up to 1 GW of behind-the-meter power generation.
“We are thrilled to announce this new partnership with Gallup Land Partners, further strengthening a relationship that leverages GLP’s deep roots within the Gallup community. We are also pleased to welcome GLP as a shareholder in Convalt,” said Hari “Harry” Achuthan, CEO of Convalt Energy,
Convalt expects the project to create approximately 900 permanent jobs and more than 1,000 construction jobs over a construction period anticipated to extend through 2028. Total investment is expected to reach up to $5 billion across all phases of development, Convalt says.
The Convalt website says the New Mexico site will be a 3.6-GW HJT cell and module manufacturing facility, noting that the company now has former Meyer Burger professionals on staff. The surface area of the plot is 2.5 million ft².
Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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You could soon by plug-in solar panels from Amazon, Asda, Currys, B&Q, Screwfix, Lidl after they and other major retailers joined government plans to roll out the technology.
After announcing in March 2026 that it was planning to make plug-in solar panels more available for customers, the government has said it will consult with industry giants to make sure plug-in panels are safe to use.
Ministers say customers will be able to build on the savings they can already make by using roof-top solar panels (about £480 on average) once plug-ins are fully available.
At a government roundtable, John Boumphrey, UK & Ireland Country Manager, described plug-in solar panels as “a fantastic opportunity to make renewable energy more accessible”. Helping households to create their own energy, Boumphrey said, would save money and cut carbon emissions.
Martin McClusky, minister for energy consumers, said the “easy-to-install tech” can be “transformative for renters or those on lower incomes”.
Georgina Hall, Corporate Affairs Direcotr, Lidl GB, said that plug-in solar would a “highly effective, low-cost” option for people to cut their energy bills.
“We welcome this consultation and look forward to working alongside the government and industry partners to explore how these products can safely play their role in the UK’s clean energy revolution,” she said.
Plug-in solar panels are already popular in Europe. They can be put on balconies or any other outdoor space, connecting straight into the mains socket. This means it’s possible to run a home entirely on free solar power without an upfront installation cost.
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Global Power Generation, the international subsidiary of Spanish energy group Naturgy, has brought two utility-scale solar photovoltaic plants online in Australia, with a combined capacity of 360 megawatts. This information was reported by PV Tech.
The commissioning of these two projects raises Naturgy’s total installed capacity in Australia to 1.3 gigawatts.
The larger of the two facilities, named Glenellen, is a 260-megawatt solar PV plant situated in Greater Hume Shire, southern New South Wales, roughly two kilometres northeast of Jindera. The installation spans 300 hectares and contains nearly 373,000 solar modules. Naturgy acquired the project from Trinasolar in February 2024. The company stated that Glenellen is expected to produce approximately 450 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year. It is Naturgy’s largest solar project in Australia to date and was designed as an agrivoltaic facility, meaning it combines renewable energy generation with agricultural use.
The second plant, called Bundaberg, is a 96-megawatt project located in Queensland. It represents Naturgy’s first solar installation in that state and is forecast to generate around 200 gigawatt-hours annually.
Both projects have secured long-term power purchase agreements for their energy output, which provides revenue visibility over their operational lifetimes.
These commissioning announcements follow a period of active capacity growth for GPG in Australia. At the time of a 2.3 billion Australian dollar portfolio financing completed in December 2024, the company’s Australian portfolio consisted of eight operating assets. Those assets included six wind farms, a battery storage system in the Australian Capital Territory, and the Cunderdin solar-plus-storage hybrid project in Western Australia. With the addition of the two new plants, the total number of operating assets now stands at ten.
GPG has been active in Australia for more than fifteen years, building a portfolio that now includes wind, solar, and battery storage across multiple states. Its wind fleet comprises the 218-megawatt Ryan Corner and 180-megawatt Berrybank 1 in Victoria, along with Berrybank 2, Crookwell 2, Crookwell 3, and Hawkesdale.
As reported by PV Tech last year, GPG inaugurated the Cunderdin solar-plus-storage project in Western Australia, which was the first large-scale grid-connected hybrid solar and battery project in that state. It combines a 128-megawatt solar plant with a 55-megawatt, 220-megawatt-hour battery storage system supplied by Sungrow.
The Glenellen project had a lengthy approvals history. It was referred to the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission in late 2023 after more than 50 objections were received during the public exhibition phase.
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Solar Power World
By Kelly Pickerel | June 17, 2026
Homebuyers pay 1-2% more for homes with rooftop solar or high-efficiency heat pumps, but current homeowners appear largely unaware of these assets’ resale value, according to new research conducted by home energy intelligence company 257.
Credit: 257
After cuts to the federal energy efficiency rebate program and solar tax credit, these findings offer residential HVAC and solar businesses a new basis for proving ROI to their prospects, including those who may not stay in their homes through the full payback period.
In 257’s examination of over 500,000 U.S. homes sold between 2024-2025, it found that although most real estate listings didn’t advertise the energy-efficient assets present, those that did were rewarded with higher purchase prices:
Per EnergySage, the average upfront installation cost in 2026 is $30,500 for rooftop solar and $14,529 for a ducted heat pump. Given 257’s new findings, homeowners who market these additions when listing their properties for sale can expect to earn back 27-33% of their initial investment on top of the ongoing operational savings, making the expense ROI-positive for millions more homes.
“Changing incentives and rising energy costs have made it harder for homeowners to rationalize large home energy improvements,” said Scott Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of 257. “This data shows that homeowners who invest in upgrades can both save on their bills over time and make nearly a third of their money back upon selling their home. Solar and HVAC companies stand to benefit from educating their customers about the often-overlooked resale opportunity.”
257 profiles hundreds of property, demographic and energy characteristics for all 130 million homes in the United States. It conducted this research as part of a broader industry study released today by the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) exploring the role of energy efficiency in home values and buyer preferences.
While only 8% of listings last year advertised energy efficiency features, this number has nearly tripled since 2015, suggesting that homeowners are beginning to realize the resale potential as energy affordability and grid reliability quickly become two of the greatest concerns facing Americans.
“We use 257’s data and AI to identify homes most likely to purchase energy upgrades like solar, storage, generators and HVAC systems,” explained Lauren Martin, CMO of Freedom Power, one of the largest home energy providers serving Texas and Florida. “This analysis shows that not only do these investments help with day-to-day energy costs, but they can also increase home value. It’s a win-win: good for consumers, good for suppliers like us and another compelling reason to keep investing in America’s clean energy transition.”

Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.

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In late 2025, BloombergNEF (BNEF) projected that 2026 would be the first down year for solar panel installations in two decades and with Chinese capacity installations slowing significantly versus the prior year at this point, it looks like this forecast may come true.
Speaking at SNEC 2026 exhibition in China last week, BNEF solar analyst Jenny Chase examined why the ongoing wars have a limited effect on solar, and what might pull the solar module industry from its doldrums.
Although there are multiple energy wars (Ukraine and the Middle East) ongoing, solar power is mostly indirectly affected. Both of these global events are heavily affecting oil, which — according to the International Energy Agency — represents only 2.6% of all electricity generation. However, the war in Ukraine began with conflict over natural gas resources, and the world’s largest liquefied natural gas export facility, in Qatar, has been taken out by Iranian missiles.
Since the start of the Middle East events, after an initial increase in global liquefied natural gas pricing, pricing has returned to the average pricing of 2025. Within the United States, pricing increased for a moment, then returned to regular pricing. However, solar’s own pricing is having the greatest effect on solar deployment.
Across the world — China, France, California — solar power installations are driving negative pricing and curtailment. Across Europe in 2025, zero and negative pricing hours rose in seven countries, per BNEF. Spain logged 800 hours of zero or negative prices in 2025, and in the first quarter of 2026 set a new quarterly record of 397 hours of negative prices — already approaching 2025’s annual total of 555 negative-price hours, and more than a third of the roughly 1,080 daytime hours in the three-month window.
With this reality in mind, the question posed by BNEF was — what will drive solar deployment next? The answer focused on energy storage.
BNEF projects that after 2025’s record capacity deployment of 112 GW / 307 GWh, which was a 48% jump on 2024, a 41% increase to 158 GW / 459 GWh can be expected in 2026.
Energy storage is showing that it can arrest the downward pricing trend leading to “free” daytime solar in California. Still, Chase noted the 459 GWh of batteries to be added in 2026 can store only about 43 minutes of peak output from the 640 GW of new solar expected the same year.
An economic analysis by BNEF suggests that solar and storage have total deployment limits due to the low prices of coal and gas. These BNEF economic models suggest solar just breaks 30% of global electricity by 2050, with gas holding around 17% and coal sliding to roughly 10%.
Chase expects the actual deployment of solar and energy storage to outpace BNEF’s modeling, as deployments of both technologies have historically beaten forecasts.
While data centres are getting a lot of headlines, they’re not that big of a deal when considering all of the other ways electricity is used globally. In 2025, BNEF suggests data centres used 501 TWh of electricity, which is expected to more than double to 1,114 TWh — 3.6% of global electricity — by 2035.
The roughly 613 TWh increase would require, depending on where the solar is deployed, between 250 GW and 450 GW of solar capacity. At this year’s pace of 640 GW, it would increase solar deployments by 4% to 7% over the next decade.
Chase also noted there was an “X factor” which could drive demand: electric vehicles, which are expanding greatly due to ongoing conflicts. In Europe, EV demand rose 24% year on year in April, per BNEF.
However, even EVs can carry solar only so far — BNEF’s Electric Vehicle Outlook projects a fully electric global road fleet would need some 8,313 TWh of electricity by 2050 in its Net Zero Scenario — roughly 80% more than data centers’ projected 4,627 TWh that year.
BNEF sees a path for far greater growth, forecasting roughly 900% growth over the recently reached 3 TW of cumulative capacity. BNEF said that in the 2050 Net Zero Scenario, cumulative installed solar capacity could reach 30.8 TW.
From pv magazine Global

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Researchers are working on a concept for a fully recyclable solar panel. 
Published on June 17, 2026
© TU Delft
Mauro swapped Sardinia for Eindhoven and has been an IO+ editor for 3 years. As a GREEN+ expert, he covers the energy transition with data-driven stories.
Solar power is the main driver of the energy transition and the cheapest form of electricity. With billions of solar panels now connected to the grid, what will happen to them at the end of their life? “The total weight of the entire human population is around 600 megatons. End-of-life solar panels waste could reach around 200 megatons by 2050,” explains Urvashi Bothra, a postdoc at the Delft University of Technology.
Currently, solar panels are shredded when discarded. This is because solar cells are coated in a layer of EVA — ethylene-vinyl acetate, a glue that binds them to the glass. As much as this coating keeps the different components together, protects them from moisture, and provides stability, it also makes it hard to disassemble solar panels at the end of their life – usually after 25 to 30 years. 
From copper to silicon, solar panels contain a wealth of valuable materials. Moreover, following refurbishment, the same silicon cells can be reused. Bothra’s work focuses on designing solar panels that use circularity as their guiding principle. 
The researcher is part of the Photovoltaic Materials and Devices (PVMD) group at TU Delft. The group focuses on the full solar energy chain, working on new materials, innovative solar panels, and battery solutions. 
The postdoctoral researcher’s work starts from the assumption that current EVA-coated solar panels are too hard to recycle. Therefore, the solution to the problem lies in designing solar panels that achieve performance comparable to what is available on the market, are easy to disassemble, and enable the smooth recovery of materials. 
A concept she has been working on is a liquid-filled module. Instead of EVA, silicone oil is chosen for its optical properties that match well with glass. “As a result, we achieved a solar module with an efficiency of 21.4% in the lab,” underlines Bothra. “This is essentially the same as the conventional solar modules that use EVA.”
The efficiency is the amount of sunlight a solar panel can convert into electricity.  Solar panels on the market range from 22% to 26%. The choice of silicone oil aligns precisely with this direction while offering an easier path to recycling. 
The liquid-filled module concept is inspired by a previous solar module concept: the air gap module, which uses air to encapsulate cells. However, given the different refractive indices of glass and air, a fraction of the light is reflected rather than transmitted. As a result, the solar panels were less efficient. 
Disassembling is straightforward. “You take out the liquid, you cut the edge sealant, and you have the solar cell — from which you can recover high-grade silicon and silver," explains the postdoc. In this way, every single gram of the used material can have a second life. At the same time, the silicone oil showed potential for full reusability. Being a non-toxic product, there is no disposal issue. 
For comparison, once solar panels are dismissed, they are treated as follows. The aluminum frame and the junction box — where cables connect to get electricity – are removed. Everything else, from glass to cells, goes into a shredder and is then used as filler material for road making. 
The development of these modules passes through proving tests. In the climate chamber, an isolated device, looking a bit like a fridge, solar panels are thoroughly tested for wear and weather resistance. 
Modules are tested for sun exposure, simulating years' worth of exposure in a matter of weeks. For instance, conventional solar panels turn yellow, gradually reducing the light reaching the cells and degrading performance over time. Liquid-filled modules, Bothra notes, could be promising and not show this effect. The tests are underway. 
“We test temperature, humidity, and their interaction,” underlines Bothra. It is painstaking work, but it is what stands between a promising prototype on a lab bench and a product that can be trusted on a roof.
A snapshot of the liquid-filled module assembled and disassembled. – © TU Delft
To make an impact, the innovative solar cells need to get out of the lab. To do so, the researchers are working on scaling the design. One issue the group has identified is hydrostatic pressure: in a full-size module, the weight of liquid creates pressure that can cause the glass to bow. That is an engineering problem being actively worked on. 
A more encouraging finding on the manufacturing side: the lamination equipment used to make conventional modules requires only one additional step — the liquid-filling — to produce the new design. TU Delft is already working with a Dutch manufacturer, Biosphere Solar, on this transition within the FAIR-PV project.
Full-size prototypes are not just sitting in the lab. Liquid-filled and air-gap modules have been installed at the Innovation Pavilion, Marineterrein, Amsterdam and are being monitored for outdoor performance alongside commercial panels. 
Much of the solar industry's success has been grounded in cost per watt — circularity has never been part of the equation. Bothra's work is a bet that it will have to — that as deployment scales into the terawatt range and the first wave of panels begins reaching end of life, the industry will need a way to close the loop. 
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Last year, the United States solar industry installed 43 gigawatts of new capacity. As solar projects continue to expand across the United States, state policymakers are increasingly focused on a question that comes up decades after construction: What happens when projects reach the end of their operating lives?
The 50 States of Solar Decommissioning: 2025 Snapshot report from the NC Clean Energy Technology Center and DSIRE Insight found that solar decommissioning policy is becoming an increasingly active area of state regulation, as lawmakers and landowners seek to clarify who is responsible for removing equipment, restoring land, and covering end-of-life costs.
Planning for the full project life cycle
Solar decommissioning generally refers to the removal of solar panels, racking, wiring, fencing, inverters, transformers, access roads, storage systems, and other project infrastructure, followed by site restoration. Most solar projects are expected to operate for 25 to 30 years, meaning the first large wave of utility-scale decommissioning is still ahead. But rapid deployment is pushing states to set rules now.
The report notes that there is still no consistent national standard for solar decommissioning. However, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is developing a standard for decommissioning solar and energy storage equipment. In the meantime, states are creating their own frameworks. For developers, landowners, and state and local governments, that means bringing decommissioning into the conversation around solar development now.
As of 2025, the DSIRE report found that 23 states had statewide solar decommissioning policies, 10 had statewide/local hybrid policies, one had a statewide optional policy, and one offered a state model template for local governments to adopt. More than two dozen state legislatures considered or enacted bills in 2025 related to solar and battery storage decommissioning, financial assurance, recycling, or material disposal. 
Decommissioning approaches vary nationwide
The country’s largest solar markets show how varied decommissioning approaches can be. Across the top solar states by installed capacity — California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Virginia, and Georgia — several themes are emerging. Financial assurance is becoming the backbone of decommissioning policy, with states relying on bonds, letters of credit, escrow arrangements, and other mechanisms to ensure that projects can be decommissioned. Agricultural land is another major driver, especially in states focused on restoring farmland, protecting drainage systems, and returning land to productive use.
Battery storage is also an essential part of the decommissioning conversation, as solar-plus-storage becomes the go-to model for projects. Some states include co-located storage in solar decommissioning rules, while others are developing separate storage-specific requirements. Recycling remains less uniform, though more states are beginning to address panel reuse, recycling facility reporting, and disposal limits.
Top solar states demonstrate variability 
Among the top solar states, policy approaches vary widely. Some states have statewide or hybrid state-local rules. Others are still relying more heavily on local processes or have only considered legislation that has not yet passed.
California, the nation’s largest solar market, uses a statewide/local hybrid model. Under its Solar Use Easement framework, project owners must submit decommissioning plans and financial assurance to the local government, with review and approval by the California Department of Conservation. The policy emphasizes soil management, site restoration, equipment removal, and five-year financial assurance updates.
Texas takes a landowner-focused approach for certain private, non-utility-owned solar projects, requiring equipment removal, land restoration, reseeding, and reuse or recycling of eligible components. In 2025, Texas enacted laws addressing solar component recycling and battery energy storage facility agreements.
Florida and Arizona show that large solar markets do not always have detailed statewide decommissioning frameworks. Florida lawmakers considered 2025 bills that would have allowed counties to require decommissioning of solar facilities over 2 MW on agricultural land, but the bills failed. Arizona is not included among the report’s state policy profiles.
North Carolina applies decommissioning requirements to new solar projects of 2 MW or more, including ancillary battery storage. Project owners must register with the Department of Environmental Quality and submit a decommissioning plan, cost estimate, financial assurance, and fees.
Illinois’ policy is driven largely by concerns about farmland. Solar facilities over 500 kW on third-party agricultural land must file an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement and submit a deconstruction plan to the county.
Nevada focuses on larger utility-scale projects, requiring certain ground-mounted projects over 70 MW to file surplus asset retirement plans. New York requires projects of at least 25 MW, including co-located storage, to submit detailed decommissioning and restoration plans covering funding, timelines, safety, recycling, and future site use.
Virginia requires local governments to secure written decommissioning agreements as part of solar approvals. In contrast, Georgia requires operators under new or renewed solar facility agreements to remove equipment and restore land to its prior condition.
The rapid buildout of solar has made decommissioning less of a distant issue and more of a near-term policy design question. The report shows that states are beginning to fill the gap, but the top solar markets are moving at different speeds and with different priorities.
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How deep-red Utah helped launch a portable plug-in solar movement  AOL.com
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Solar technology firm Create Energy has finalized its acquisition of SOL Components, purchasing the solar structure and tracker manufacturer from parent company Kloeckner Metals Corp.
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
The deal is set to greatly bolster Create Energy’s offerings in the solar tracker market, officials say, positioning the Portland, Tennessee-based firm as a “premier provider of fully integrated energy systems” in the U.S. Additionally, the deal furthers the company’s mission of becoming a single source solar platform for EPCs, IPPs, and hyperscale solar developers.
Create Energy CEO Dean Solon says he is thrilled to see the deal’s closure, as his company adds to its “Un-Evil Empire” and the ONTRACK solar tracker platform. He adds that the company has more in the works, and advised customers to keep watch for further business moves.
“We are building a unified power plant platform that simplifies and elevates how energy projects are designed, procured, and deployed,” Solon says. “Our mission is clear: deliver the best products, unmatched customer service, and absolute reliability. I’ve been in solar for over 30 years, and it’s time to completely revolutionize the tracker market.”

Keeping Create Energy ONTRACK

One of the greatest benefactors of this deal will be Create Energy’s ONTRACK platform, the company says. Already fully integrated with the firm, the platform provides “a seamless panel-to-power experience” eliminating complexity, reducing costs, and strengthening execution.
In a rapidly consolidating solar and solar tracker market, Create Energy is working to consistently expand its offerings. The aggressive M&A strategy the firm has deployed recently is part of its wider vision, it says, as it works to build a “powerhouse platform” of solar offerings.
The deal is a step forward for the company, representatives add, toward changing how the energy infrastructure industry handles design, deployment, and scaling. Create Energy is working to “fundamentally reshape the industry,” the firm adds, rather than make incremental improvements.
“Create Energy promised to be a dominant force in the M&A market this year, and we are delivering,” says Joseph Fahrney, Create’s chief of staff. “In a consolidating industry, customers choose us because they trust Dean Solon and our ability to provide speed, certainty, unmatched performance, and one of the best warranties in the industry.
“This acquisition amplifies our momentum and solidifies Create Energy as the premier long term solutions provider for the energy sector.”


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Technical to deployable potential of rooftop solar photovoltaics  Nature
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Fine Art Photography Daily
©Jamey Stillings, El Romero Solar, photovoltaic power plant, Atacama Region, Chile, 2017 This 246-megawatt solar farm (photovoltaic power plant), located north of La Serena, provides 100% of the electricity needed by the Google Data Center in Santiago.
Documentary photographer Jamey Stillings has recently opened the remarkable exhibition ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where it will remain on view through August 26, 2026. In a reflective accompanying essay, Stillings recounts the journey behind bringing the exhibition to life, offering insights into the relationships, fundraising efforts, and complex logistical challenges that shaped its realization.
As part of that reflection, he starts with the exhibition’s introductory statement:
ATACAMA, a seminal project by documentary photographer Jamey Stillings, examines the evolving nexus between renewable energy and mining in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Stillings shares his distinctive aerial perspective to examine dramatic large-scale renewable energy projects, dynamic views of enormous mining operations, and the stark natural beauty of the Atacama Desert, so often scarred by human activity.
Why are Chile and the Atacama Desert significant?
Because the copper and lithium we use daily in our cars, computers, and smartphones likely come from Chile. As the global leader in copper production, Chile supplies more than one-quarter of the world’s copper and is the second largest lithium producer. These facts make our connection to Chile and its environmental practices more relevant and tangible.
The ATACAMA project features aerial photography exploring renewable energy, mining, and our global reliance on copper and lithium. New solar and wind projects supply electricity to the grid, power mines, and significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Chile has tripled its renewable energy capacity since 2017, and most major mines have transitioned to 100% renewable energy for electricity, setting a promising example for other countries.
Stillings’ aesthetic interest in the human-altered landscape and his environmental sustainability concerns are the principal pillars of his work. His imagery elicits a critical dialogue about meeting society’s needs and desires while seeking an equilibrium between nature and human activity. ATACAMA demonstrates how photography can concurrently be a source of inspiration, motivation, and information. It reminds us that a carbon-constrained future is crucial to a responsible and sustainable approach to life on Earth.
Jamey Stillings at work
©Jamey Stillings, Proyecto Solar San Andrés, photovoltaic power plant, Atacama Region, Chile, 2017 This 50-megawatt photovoltaic plant uses a single-axis tracking system aligned north-south, allowing the rows of panels to slowly tilt from east to west and follow the sun.
Jamey Stillings’ multi-decade career spans documentary, fine art, and commissioned work. Since 2010, he has focused on renewable energy through an extended aerial photography project, Changing Perspectives: Renewable Energy & the Shifting Human Landscape. Stillings has photographed extensively over the United States, Japan, Uruguay, and Chile from helicopters and light airplanes. New US-based and international chapters of Changing Perspectives are under development.
Stillings has published three books:
Atacama: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile (Steidl, 2023)
The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar (Steidl, 2015)
The Bridge at Hoover Dam (Nazraeli Press, 2011)
Stillings presents globally at photo festivals, universities, TED events, and professional conferences. His work is exhibited and published widely in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America. Recent publications include The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, Newsweek Japan, WIRED Italia, and Photoworld China. Stillings’ photographs are in private and public collections, including the United States Library of Congress, the Museum of Fine Arts – Houston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Nevada Museum of Art.
©Jamey Stillings, Landscape, Atacama Region, Chile, 2017
©Jamey Stillings, Mina Zaldívar, open-pit copper mine, Antofagasta Region, Chile, 2017 In 2020, Mina Zaldívar became one of the first copper mines to operate entirely on renewable energy, using power from wind, solar, and hydro sources on Chile’s national grid. This transition helps reduce the mine’s operational greenhouse gas emissions, even as large-scale copper ore extraction continues.
©Jamey Stillings, These turquoise lithium evaporation ponds are part of SQM’s operations in the northern Salar de Atacama, an ancient, dried lakebed. Lithium-rich brine is pumped from beneath the salt flat and concentrated in a network of ponds within a lithium-producing zone of roughly 900 square kilometers (about 350 square miles), in a basin that contains a significant share of the world’s known brine-based lithium reserves.
©Jamey Stillings, Pampa Elvira Solar, solar thermal power plant, at the Minera Gaby copper mine, Antofagasta Region, Chile, 2017 This 27.5-megawatt solar thermal array provides most of the hot water needed for the electrowinning process at Minera Gaby. Electrowinning is an electrochemical process used to plate pure copper from an aqueous solution.
©Jamey Stillings, Pacific Ocean coastline, Antofagasta Region, Chile, 2017
©Jamey Stillings, Cerro Dominador, solar thermal power plant under construction, Antofagasta Region, Chile, 2017 In 2017, this 110-megawatt solar thermal power plant was under construction, featuring a 252-meter-high receiver and a 17.5-hour molten salt storage capacity. It would become part of a hybrid facility that includes a 100-megawatt photovoltaic power plant.
ATACAMA – Creating an Exhibition from Scratch
When you pour heart and soul, along with several years, into a photo project, creating an exhibition of the work is a fitting culmination of your creative efforts. Such was my goal with ATACAMA.
ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile is a major chapter in the extended project, CHANGING PERSPECTIVES: Renewable Energy and the Shifting Human Landscape, which I began in late 2010. It comprises a major body of aerial work photographed from a small plane over the Atacama Desert in 2017, an ATACAMA book interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, another round of work over the Atacama in 2022, and, finally, a book of the same name, published by Steidl in 2023 .
The opportunity to create an exhibition arose at the suggestion and encouragement of Wendy Watriss, co-founder of FotoFest, and Steven Evans, FotoFest executive director. My friend and colleague Brad Temkin had a successful exhibition, The State of Water, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) in 2020. Perhaps HMNS would host an ATACAMA exhibition in conjunction with Global Visions: FotoFest at 40 ?
Lisa Rebori, Senior VP of Collections and Exhibits, and her team at HMNS were indeed interested. They were willing to professionally install an exhibition I delivered. The question of where ATACAMA would be exhibited within the museum was TBD, and they would not contribute funding towards its creation.
OMG! How could I bring the ATACAMA exhibition into existence?!?
My standards are high. The exhibition must be museum-quality and at home in an art, science, or natural history venue. Raising funds, curating and producing the work, designing the exhibition, including text and graphics, installing it with the HMNS team, and then promoting it to the world – all of it seemed daunting, to say the least!
In my studio with Dianne Duenzl (dianneduenzl.com), my able and dependable studio manager, we created a budget, a fundraising plan, and a production schedule. I knew that every month from December 2024 through March 2026 would be dominated by ATACAMA. It would intrude on my sleep and dinnertime conversations. ATACAMA would be IT for sixteen months of my life!
Back in 2023, I applied to and was accepted by Fractured Atlas as my fiscal sponsor for CHANGING PERSPECTIVES. My goal was to raise $65K in 90 days to make the ATACAMA exhibition a reality. My son, Zubin, shot, edited, and produced the intro video. I launched the campaign in early June 2025, using the Fractured Atlas fundraising platform, MailChimp for email, and Little Green Light  as my client relationship management (CRM) system.
You learn a lot quickly when you take on a fundraising campaign. Why should you help Jamey with an ATACAMA exhibition when there are a thousand other requests for contributions? How do others decide whether to support you or not? What is the etiquette for such requests with close friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and those of means who support the arts? How often do you reach out? How do you best respect others’ decisions? And how do you give love and support back to friends who cannot contribute and are going through difficult times?
Not surprisingly, the base of my support came from artist friends and colleagues, with contributions ranging from $50 to $250. Members of my extended family chipped in as well. Several friends and supporters contributed at the $1,000–$5,000 level. But as I neared the 45-day mark, I had reached only one-third of my goal. I had been counting on a longtime client and supporter of the arts to come through at a high level. Radio silence. Then, out of the blue, he wrote, expressed his enthusiastic support, and contributed $20K. All of a sudden, the $65K goal seemed attainable!
It came down to the wire. We crossed the finish line with less than 24 hours to go, thanks to one last email push and the energy that comes with a goal in sight. Thank you to each and every one who supported ATACAMA!
In September 2025, I began final image editing and proofing, while curation, exhibition design, and production began in earnest. I wanted to create the exhibition with framed dye-sublimation metal prints and chose to collaborate with Blazing Editions. I asked Clay Williams , a talented graphic designer and longtime friend and collaborator, to help me design the exhibition graphics, and he readily agreed. Throughout the process, we worked closely with the HMNS exhibition and design team. The push was on.
Jamey Stillings at Blazing Editions for ATACAMA
In early February 2026, three crates arrived at HMNS. I flew to Houston with my wife, photographer Esha Chiocchio, who had been a constant source of love and support throughout the process. With the museum’s friendly and excellent exhibition team, we installed ATACAMA in a beautifully prepared space on the 3rd floor, near King Tut’s Tomb, the Hall of Ancient Egypt, and Death by Natural Causes exhibitions. On Saturday afternoon, February 21, we held an informal opening, followed by a reception generously hosted by my friends, Kath and Jorge Blanco.
©Jamey Stillings, Houston Museum of Natural Science, ATACAMA scale model of exhibition
©Jamey Stillings, Houston Museum of Natural Science, ATACAMA scale model of exhibition
©Jamey Stillings, Houston Museum of Natural Science, ATACAMA installation of exhibition
©Jamey Stillings, Houston Museum of Natural Science, ATACAMA installation of exhibition
©Jamey Stillings, Houston Museum of Natural Science, ATACAMA installation of exhibition
It is a different experience to have an art exhibition in a natural science museum than in an art museum. A science museum celebrates the exhibition’s content, whereas an art museum celebrates the art and the artist. But it is also true that nearly two million visitors come to the Houston Museum of Natural Science each year, compared with one million at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Each time I visit the ATACAMA exhibition, I see myriad people taking it in –– families, young kids, and older folks. I am grateful to each and every person who helped make ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile a reality!
The ATACAMA exhibition will continue at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through August 26, 2026.  – Jamey Stillings
For more information about the ATACAMA exhibition, please view the interactive online ATACAMA Traveling Exhibition catalog.
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
©Jamey Stillings, Installation of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
LINKS FOR ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile
jameystillings.com
The ATACAMA Traveling Exhibition catalog
75-second Video Tour of ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
The book, ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile (Steidl, 2023)
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
ATACAMA at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
ATACAMA Traveling Exhibition Catalog / Jamey’s Invitation
I am excited to share a traveling exhibition that uses art to build awareness about renewable energy and climate change through compelling, thought-provoking photographs. Following its premiere exhibition at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (February through August 2026), the exhibition is available to travel to museum and institutional venues across the United States and internationally.
I welcome opportunities to collaborate with host venues to adapt the exhibition to their unique missions, audiences, and spaces. Its flexible format makes it easily scalable and customizable, allowing presentations that range from formal museum installations with framed works to large mural-sized prints, outdoor exhibitions, LED displays, or immersive projections.
My photography offers a distinct perspective that captivates and informs viewers through the geometry of human-made structures framed within the organic landscapes of nature. This exhibition invites audiences to engage in the vital and sometimes challenging conversations necessary to imagine a more sustainable future for life on Earth.
I look forward to working with you to bring this vision to life!
Introducing the ATACAMA PORTFOLIO




 
I am happy to share that I have created a limited-edition portfolio of work from ATACAMA: Renewable Energy and Mining in the High Desert of Chile.
A portfolio of twelve prints–six from work in 2017 and six from 2022–in an edition of nine, plus one AP. Archival pigment prints on Canson Platine Fibre Rag paper, 17×22”, signed and numbered, in a custom-built portfolio case.
Portfolios purchased on or before 31 December 2026 • $9,000 each
Beginning 1 January 2027 • $10,000 each through #5, #6 through 9 TBD, the AP is NFS.
If you are interested in acquiring THE ATACAMA PORTFOLIO, please contact me directly.
Thank you for supporting my ongoing project work!
 
Tags: Chile, Enviroment, Jamey Stillings
Posts on Lenscratch may not be reproduced without the permission of the Lenscratch staff and the photographer.

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Researchers from the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) have fabricated a shingled photovoltaic module that can be combined with thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and allow efficient PV–TEG waste-heat energy recovery.
TEGs can convert heat into electricity through the “Seebeck effect,” which occurs when a temperature difference between two different semiconductors produces a voltage difference between two substances. The devices are commonly used for industrial applications to convert excess heat into electricity. However, their high costs and limited performance have thus far limited their adoption on a broader scale.
The shingled cell technology replaces conventional ribbon-based interconnections by connecting solar cell strips directly in series, which eliminates soldered ribbons. This design increases the active area available for light absorption while also reducing thermal and mechanical stresses within the module. As a result, it improves both efficiency and long-term reliability compared with standard interconnection approaches.
For module assembly, the KIER researchers used PERC solar cells supplied by South Korea’s Shinsung Engineering as the starting material. The cells were first divided into narrow strips using a 1,064 nm infrared laser scribing process, followed by mechanical cleaving. Shingled modules comprising three, five, or seven strips were fabricated with a total active area of 100 cm², whereas the 14-strip configuration had an increased area of 170 cm². The corresponding strip dimensions were 100 × 38.83 mm, 100 × 21.70 mm, 100 × 16.07 mm, and 85 × 16.07 mm for the three-, five-, seven-, and 14-strip modules, respectively.
Electrical interconnection between adjacent strips was formed by series assembly using CA 3556HF conductive adhesive. The structures were then hot-pressed and cured at 180 C for 1 minute to ensure reliable bonding. PV tabbing ribbons were soldered to both ends of each shingled module to provide external electrical contacts. Finally, the modules were encapsulated with a front glass layer, an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant, and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) backsheet to enhance mechanical protection and environmental stability.
The scientists explained that this module architecture is beneficial for TEG integration because its series-connected strip design increases the operating voltage while reducing the output current, which in turn minimizes current-dependent resistive losses and Joule heating in the TEG. This improved electrical matching reduces the impact of the TEG’s relatively high internal resistance, enhances fill factor stability, and ultimately enables more efficient and load-resilient power extraction in PV–TEG hybrid systems under real operating conditions.
The commercial thermoelectric (TE) elements were provided by Chinese specialist Xinrong. A 100 cm² substrate-free TEG array was fabricated using 308 elements with polymer-filled gaps for mechanical stability and optimized heat transfer. The arrays were assembled via patterned copper (Cu) films on polyimide substrates using screen-printed solder, reflow soldering, and final substrate removal to expose electrodes for electrical connection.
The hybrid PV-TEG systems developed for testing consisted of a two-terminal (2T) setup, where PV and TEG are directly connected in series with a single external contact pair, and a four-terminal (4T) setup, where both components operate independently to eliminate series resistance losses from the TEG. The 2T configuration was primarily used, while the 4T architecture was employed only for loss analysis and comparison purposes.
A custom experimental platform was developed using a transparent Cu mesh heater on top and a bottom cooler to impose a controlled temperature gradient while simultaneously transmitting standard solar irradiation to the device. This setup enabled accurate I–V characterization of PV, TEG, and combined PV–TEG devices under coupled thermal and optical loading, with additional measurements supported by a dedicated numerical model.
TE elements were electrically characterized using Hall-effect and time-dependent resistance measurements under controlled current biases to evaluate transport and stability behavior. The PV component was modeled using a double-diode formulation combined with a thermoelectric generator equation set, solved via Lambert W-function-based transformations. Model fitting to experimental I–V data allowed extraction of key parameters, including effective TEG resistance, and enabled quantification of power losses in 2T operation.
The measurements showed that minimizing PV current while increasing voltage significantly reduces the impact of TEG resistance on device performance, withe the shingled PV modules being found to be particularly effective in achieving this low-current, high-voltage operating regime. Thermal analysis also revealed that PV-driven current induces both rapid Peltier cooling/heating and slower Joule heating within the TEG, which increases its effective resistance over time.
Furthermore, linear correlations between current and temperature gradients confirmed the coupling between electrical transport and thermoelectric heat exchange within the hybrid system. A validated numerical model, meanwhile, predicted that optimal designs with low current and high voltage operation can reduce power loss to near zero levels. This prediction was experimentally confirmed in a large-area 170 cm² device, which achieved ultra-low loss and high power output under controlled conditions.
“Using a 14-strip shingled module, which divides the current while increasing the voltage across multiple strips, we realized a load-resilient shingled PV module for a field-scale PV–TEG,” the researchers concluded. “The scale and performance of our PV–TEG represent significant advances over the largest (68 cm2) and best-performing (1.15 W) devices reported thus far in the literature. Unlike tandem solar cells, which require complex monolithic integration and sophisticated spectral splitting, our PV–TEG involves only a straightforward connection of commercially available PV and TEG components, with no front-end-of-the-line fabrication being necessary.”
The new solar module concept was described in the study “Load-resilient shingled photovoltaic module for field-scale thermoelectric coupling,” published in scientific reports.
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What often gets overlooked are the innovations underway where the power grid ends. It costs power utilities a lot to keep these towns connected to the grid. But the plunging costs of renewables and storage mean it’s increasingly possible to do things differently. It makes sense for towns, remote communities and mine sites to produce more of their own power – and eventually, cut the link to the grid entirely.
Western Australia – a state larger than Western Europe – is at the forefront of these changes. Because it’s not connected to the national power grid, it has long gone its own way on power. Now, utilities are rethinking whether the state’s huge grid is necessary. Over 15,000 km of overhead line have been decommissioned in recent years.
For the residents of small towns in outback Western Australia, remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory or a mine site in the middle of the Western Australian Goldfields, power isn’t something to take for granted.
For decades, these places have had to make do with an often unreliable trickle of electricity transmitted along very long, ageing wires. These can be battered by storms, coated in salt and sand, and regularly knocked out .
For instance, the small outback Queensland town of Thargomindah had 20 unplanned blackouts in the three months to February 2024 – more than one a week.
This is a common problem for communities at the edge of the grid. Electricity is often less reliable and more expensive. Transmitting power thousands of kilometers from where it is produced means up to 35% is lost along the way.
Many remote communities rely on diesel generators, either as a backup or permanently. Because these rely on expensive fuel trucked in, residents can end up paying much more for electricity than people in cities.
Grid frontiers
For a long time, there was no real alternative to generators and unreliable power. Now there are several.
The three most advanced options are standalone power systems, renewable microgrids and community batteries. All represent a shift away from grid dependence, though they differ in the degree. Standalone systems operate without the grid, microgrids can work with or without it and community batteries remain connected to the network.
Western Australia has two electricity grids – one in the southwest, where most people live, and another in the northwest mining hub. It also has 38 microgrids . Authorities want to have 1,000 standalone power systems dotting the state by 2030 .
Here are some examples of what’s being tested at the edge of the grid.
The town of Kalbarri sits at the end of a notoriously unreliable 130km power line from Geraldton, regularly lashed by storms. This is why it was chosen to host the state’s standout example of what’s possible – a 5 MW microgrid .
It combines local wind, rooftop solar and batteries and detects faults in milliseconds, switching to island mode so smoothly that residents may not even notice. It’s expected to eliminate 80 per cent of the town’s previous outages.
In towns such as Esperance, Exmouth and Carnarvon, 10 community batteries are being installed, while the gold mining hub of Kalgoorlie will soon host a large 50 MW battery.
Mining companies are looking to these methods to lower operating costs and cut emissions. The Agnew Gold Mine now gets 50-60% of its electricity from wind, solar and batteries with 99.99% reliability, which is essential for a mining operation.
Remote First Nations communities such as Blackstone are also looking to microgrids combining solar, batteries and a diesel backup. Reliable electricity is vital for family homes and healthcare.
The innovation at the edge of the grid isn’t just vital for remote residents.
These real world trials of microgrids, batteries, smart software and standalone power systems will feed into how we manage bigger energy grids and make the best use of renewables and storage.
Authors: Asma Aziz, senior lecturer in power engineering, Edith Cowan University; Yasir Arafat, senior research engineer in electric vehicle batteries and battery storage, Edith Cowan University
This article was initially published in The Conversation and is republished here under a Creative Commons Licence.
From pv magazine Australia
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June 17, 2026 08:00 ET  | Source: Enphase Energy, Inc. Enphase Energy, Inc.
FREMONT, Calif., June 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a global energy technology company, today announced that it will showcase a range of current and new products for the European market at The smarter E Europe (Intersolar Europe) in Munich, Germany from June 23-25, 2026. Highlights include:
“Europe is at the center of the home energy transition, and Intersolar is where we show how Enphase is helping define what comes next,” said Sabbas Daniel, senior vice president of sales at Enphase Energy. “Our 2026 lineup brings together higher-performance solar, next-generation storage, smarter and bidirectional EV charging, and AI-powered energy management to make the home energy system easier to install, easier to use, and more valuable for homeowners.”
Enphase will be present at The smarter E Europe in Hall C5, booth C5.530, from June 23-25, 2026. To schedule a meeting with our team, please visit the Enphase website. For more information about Enphase products and services, please visit our regional websites.
About Enphase Energy, Inc.
Enphase Energy, a global energy technology company based in Fremont, CA, is the world’s leading supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery systems, EV chargers, home energy management systems, and virtual power plant (VPP) solutions. Enphase products enable people to harness the sun to make, use, save, and sell their own power, all controlled through the Enphase App. The company revolutionized the solar industry with its microinverter-based technology and has shipped approximately 87.8 million microinverters, with more than 5.2 million Enphase-based systems deployed in over 165 countries. For more information, visit https://enphase.com/.
©2026 Enphase Energy, Inc. All rights reserved. Enphase Energy, Enphase, the “e” logo, IQ, and certain other marks listed at https://enphase.com/trademark-usage-guidelines are trademarks or service marks of Enphase Energy, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements related to the expected capabilities and performance of Enphase Energy’s IQ Battery G5, IQ9N Microinverters, IQ Bidirectional EV Charger, IQ EV Charger 2, and IQ Energy Management, including safety, quality, efficiency, and reliability; the expected availability, timing, and geographic expansion of these products in European markets; anticipated installation times, system performance characteristics, and product features; the potential energy savings, cost reductions, and operational benefits associated with these solutions; the compatibility of Enphase products with third-party devices, electric vehicles, and supported grid-service programs; expectations regarding compliance with current and future regulatory requirements in Europe; and Enphase Energy’s expectations regarding the adoption of home energy, electrification, and AI-enabled energy management solutions in European markets. These forward-looking statements are based on Enphase Energy’s current expectations and assumptions and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, changes in market demand; electricity pricing and tariff structures; the ability to meet anticipated product availability timelines; the performance, availability, and reliability of third-party products and services, including cellular connectivity; regulatory and policy developments; product performance and reliability; supply chain constraints; and other factors discussed in Enphase Energy’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those risks described in more detail in Enphase Energy’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K. Enphase Energy undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, or changes in its expectations, except as required by law.
Contact:
Enphase Energy
press@enphaseenergy.com
FREMONT, Calif., June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a global energy technology company and the world's leading supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery…
FREMONT, Calif., June 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a global energy technology company, today announced the launch of the new IQ9N™ Microinverter for residential…

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Audit puts Texas solar factory among Intertek’s top-rated globally  Stock Titan
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A team of chemical engineers led by UQ’s Dr Miaoqiang Lyu and Professor Lianzhou Wang have developed a new fabrication method that eliminates the need for toxic lead and other hazardous solvents in perovskite indoor solar panels.
“Indoor solar cells themselves are not new, but the power conversion efficiency of the commercial silicon-based technology is only around 10 per cent,” Dr Lyu said.
“Halide perovskites are an emerging technology that could replace silicon, offering much higher efficiencies and commercial potential.
“However, most still rely on lead-based hazardous materials.
“The technology we developed eliminates those materials while still delivering high efficiency.”
UQ PhD student Zitong Wang, who is under the supervision of Dr Lyu and Professor Wang, developed a safe and scalable vapour-based manufacturing process for fabricating high-quality lead-free perovskite material with fewer performance-limiting defects.
Indoor perovskite solar cells operate under low-intensity artificial light, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent lamps.
Using the new method, the panels achieved an efficiency of 16.36 per cent — the highest reported for this type of lead-free perovskite indoor solar cell made using an industry-compatible evaporation method.
“This material has very attractive properties that can absorb indoor light and convert very weak indoor light efficiently into electricity,” Dr Lyu said.
“By removing those solvents entirely, the process is much better suited to scalable manufacturing.”
Lead-free perovskite indoor solar cells are also increasingly viewed as an alternative to coin-cell and button batteries for low-power electronics like environmental sensors, wearables, medical and health monitoring devices, and small consumer electronics.
Supermarkets trialling battery-powered electronic shelf labels, which replace thousands of paper price tickets and reduce manual labour, are among the potential early applications of the technology.
“With suitable voltage management, these devices can replace coin‑cell batteries, reducing the number of small batteries that end up as waste or in children’s toys,” Dr Lyu said.
Panels fabricated using the UQ process are thin, scalable and can be made on flexible plastic and in different shapes, making them easy to integrate into a wide range of products.
The next step is sealing the panels before further testing.
“I think the key here is encapsulation, to protect the material from oxygen and moisture,” Dr Lyu said.
“People will probably see perovskite indoor panels and integrated consumer electronics in the market in the next few years.”
The research paper is published in ACS Energy Letters.
Dr Lyu is an ARC Future Fellow at UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering whose research group focuses on advanced optoelectronic materials. Zitong Wang is a PhD student based at UQ’s Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), and Professor Lianzhou Wang is an Honorary Professor at UQ with a strong research record in functional nanomaterials for clean energy applications. Dr Dongxu He is a post-doctoral researcher at School of Chemical Engineering. 
Source: University of Queensland

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GreenYellow has commissioned a 700 kWp photovoltaic plant for Dupol Next in Zanica, Italy, under a 20-year self-consumption contract fully financed by the company.
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Valenciaport is moving forward with the installation of vertical solar panels on the breakwater of the northern expansion of the Port of Valencia, an initiative that is part of the European project RENEWPORT – Harnessing RENEWable energy potential for the clean energy transition of MED PORTS. This initiative aims to promote the clean energy transition of Mediterranean ports.
The contract has been awarded to Pavener Servicios Energéticos S.L. for a total of 169,314.55 euros, and the installation is expected to be completed and operational by September 2026. The work includes the installation of solar panels and the placement of the project’s official signage, in accordance with the communication requirements established for projects co-financed by the European Union.
This project began in January 2024 and is 80% co-financed by the European Unionthrough the INTERREG EURO-MED program, under the Greener MED initiative. Its aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of Mediterranean ports by identifying, demonstrating, and validating innovative solutions based on renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy.
Renewable Energy in a Real-World Port Environment
The installation of this vertical solar plant marks a new step in Valenciaport’s strategy to move toward a more sustainable, efficient, and carbon-free port model. Through projects such as RENEWPORT, the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) is strengthening its role as a demonstration site for clean technologies, capable of generating useful knowledge and replicable solutions for other ports in the Mediterranean and across Europe.
The project aims not only to implement new sources of renewable energy but also to assess their technical, economic, and environmental viability in real-world port infrastructure. In this way, RENEWPORT helps transform ports into more sustainable and resilient energy hubs, in line with European goals for the energy transition, the fight against climate change, and the circular economy.
Collaboration to accelerate decarbonization
In addition to installing renewable energy solutions, RENEWPORT promotes knowledge transfer and collaboration among port authorities, operators, energy companies, research centres, and other stakeholders in the port ecosystem. This cooperation is key to accelerating the decarbonization of the maritime-port sector and ensuring that the solutions developed can be adapted and implemented in other locations. With milestones such as the installation of these vertical solar panels, Valenciaport continues to make progress in identifying innovative solutions and demonstrating clean technologies in a real-world operational setting. This initiative reinforces the APV’s commitment to sustainability, energy efficiency, and the gradual reduction of its facilities’ carbon footprint.
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What often gets overlooked are the innovations underway where the power grid ends. It costs power utilities a lot to keep these towns connected to the grid. But the plunging costs of renewables and storage mean it’s increasingly possible to do things differently. It makes sense for towns, remote communities and mine sites to produce more of their own power – and eventually, cut the link to the grid entirely.
Western Australia – a state larger than western Europe – is at the forefront of these changes. Because it’s not connected to the national power grid, it has long gone its own way on power. Now, utilities are rethinking whether the state’s huge grid is necessary. Over 15,000 kilometres of overhead line have been decommissioned in recent years.
Life at the end of the grid isn’t easy
For the residents of small towns in outback Western Australia, remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory or a mine site in the middle of the WA Goldfields, power isn’t something to take for granted.
For decades, these places have had to make do with an often unreliable trickle of electricity transmitted along very long, ageing wires. These can be battered by storms, coated in salt and sand, and regularly knocked out .
For instance, the small outback Queensland town of Thargomindah had 20 unplanned blackouts in the three months to February 2024 – more than one a week.
This is a common problem for communities at the edge of the grid. Electricity is often less reliable and more expensive . Transmitting power thousands of kilometres from where it is produced means up to 35% is lost along the way.
Many remote communities rely on diesel generators, either as a backup or permanently. Because these rely on expensive fuel trucked in, residents can end up paying much more for electricity than people in cities.
Three ways to power the end of the grid
For a long time, there was no real alternative to generators and unreliable power. Now there are several.
The three most advanced options are standalone power systems, renewable microgrids and community batteries. All represent a shift away from grid dependence, though they differ in the degree. Standalone systems operate without the grid, microgrids can work with or without it and community batteries remain connected to the network.
Why is Western Australia leading the way?
WA has two electricity grids – one in the southwest, where most people live, and another in the northwest mining hub. It also has 38 microgrids . Authorities want to have 1,000 standalone power systems dotting the state by 2030 .
Here are some examples of what’s being tested at the edge of the grid.
The town of Kalbarri sits at the end of a notoriously unreliable 130km power line from Geraldton, regularly lashed by storms. This is why it was chosen to host the state’s standout example of what’s possible – a 5 MW microgrid .
It combines local wind, rooftop solar and batteries and detects faults in milliseconds, switching to island mode so smoothly that residents may not even notice. It’s expected to eliminate 80 per cent of the town’s previous outages.
In towns such as Esperance, Exmouth and Carnarvon, 10 community batteries are being installed , while the gold mining hub of Kalgoorlie will soon host a large 50 MW battery.
Mining companies are looking to these methods to lower operating costs and cut emissions. The Agnew Gold Mine now gets 50-60% of its electricity from wind, solar and batteries with 99.99% reliability, which is essential for a mining operation.
Remote First Nations communities such as Blackstone are also looking to microgrids combining solar, batteries and a diesel backup. Reliable electricity is vital for family homes and healthcare.
From the edge of the grid to cutting edge
The innovation at the edge of the grid isn’t just vital for remote residents.
These real world trials of microgrids, batteries, smart software and standalone power systems will feed into how we manage bigger energy grids and make the best use of renewables and storage.
Authors: Asma Aziz, Senior Lecturer in Power Engineering, Edith Cowan University; Yasir Arafat, Senior Research Engineer in Electric Vehicle Batteries and Battery Storage, Edith Cowan University
This article was initially published in The Conversation and is republished here under a Creative Commons Licence.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those held by pv magazine.
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With less of the panel’s active area blocked, more of the module can be used to produce electricity.
Photo Credit: Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems has reached a new efficiency milestone. Its III-V germanium solar module achieved 34.4%, a step forward for a technology that could eventually squeeze more electricity and value from each panel.
According to CleanTechnica, this comes only a few months after Fraunhofer ISE set its previous mark of 34.2% earlier in 2026.
In announcing the result, Fraunhofer ISE credited partner companies involved in the module.
“The solar cells were developed by AZUR SPACE, while the anti-reflective coatings on the front glass were provided by temicon,” the company said in a news release.
The record was set with a III-V germanium solar PV module.
Unlike the 833-square-centimeter module that set the team’s earlier 2026 record, the new version uses shingled-matrix technology. That approach relies on narrow, overlapping solar-cell strips bonded with conductive adhesive instead of the usual soldered copper ribbons.
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With less of the panel’s active area blocked, more of the module can be used to produce electricity.
Fraunhofer ISE explained: “This architecture enables direct cell-to-cell contact, thereby eliminating the need for traditional solder-coated copper ribbons. The key advantage: By eliminating cell interconnects, no active cell area is shaded. The resulting exceptionally high area utilization was a key factor in achieving the record efficiency.”
Higher-efficiency solar modules can produce more electricity from the same amount of roof, land, or building space. That could be especially valuable in cities, on commercial rooftops, and in other space-limited settings where every square foot matters.
Advancements like this can help lower the cost of clean energy, cut pollution from dirty power sources, and improve air quality.
If you want to make the switch to solar, EnergySage can help save you up to $10,000 on your install and connect you with trusted local installers. If buying panels isn’t in your budget, Palmetto’s LightReach leasing program can lower your utility rate by up to 20% and has deals starting at $0 down. 
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Can large-scale photovoltaic plants offer attractive long-term electricity deals to industrial consumers whose load profiles fluctuate by tens of megawatts within minutes? The Applied Systems Engineering division of the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (Fraunhofer IOSB-AST) examined this question in an analysis for German steel manufacturer Stahlwerke Thüringen GmbH (SWT). The study aimed to identify the threshold price at which sourcing solar power via a long-term “pay-as-produced” power purchase agreement (PPA) becomes economically viable for an energy-intensive operator.
IOSB-AST points to volatile spot market prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and regulatory shifts as key factors complicating long-term cost planning for energy-intensive industries. In this context, long-term PPAs with renewable generators are seen as a “promising approach,” enabling predictable procurement costs over terms of 15 years or more and partially insulating industrial consumers from short-term price fluctuations.
However, aligning such contracts with the operational reality of a steelworks remains challenging. SWT’s load profile can vary by up to 60 MW within minutes, meaning a single 15-minute settlement interval may include both electricity consumption and feed-in. At the same time, long-term market uncertainty adds further complexity. According to Steffi Naumann, group leader at Fraunhofer IOSB-AST, this requires “a high-resolution, scenario-based methodology” to determine a reliable threshold price.
To capture short-term variability, photovoltaic generation was simulated at one-minute resolution. Standard global solar radiation datasets, typically available only at coarser intervals, were insufficient. While some large-scale projects rely on on-site irradiance measurements over extended periods, IOSB-AST instead used data from a remote solar radiation observatory. The institute derived minute-level stochastic patterns from 10-minute measurements and applied them to local weather conditions, enabling “realistic interpolation and robust simulation of actual feed-in profiles,” it said.
A sensitivity analysis was then carried out jointly with SWT across multiple scenarios, weighted by probability of occurrence. Depending on the assumptions, the marginal cost threshold for project viability ranged from €20 ($23.2)/MWh to €70/MWh (€0.02–0.07/kWh). IOSB-AST did not disclose the final threshold price determined for SWT.
The analysis identified negative electricity prices as the key economic risk for the steel producer. This could be mitigated through contractual provisions allowing photovoltaic curtailment without compensation during negative price periods.
For SWT, battery storage is considered a potentially viable option—assuming continued spot market volatility—though primarily for arbitrage rather than increasing solar self-consumption. From this perspective, storage operates independently of the PPA structure.
Stahlwerk Thüringen produces structural steel using an electric arc furnace route followed by hot rolling. The company aims to achieve climate-neutral steel production by 2040 and to increase the share of renewable energy in its operations.

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Gonvarri Solar Steel, a global company specialized in the design and supply of solar trackers and fixed structures for photovoltaic projects, introduces the new evolution of its TracSmarT+1P solar tracker, a solution developed to directly address the key needs identified in collaboration with major industry stakeholders, including EPC contractors, developers, and on-site construction teams.
This new version introduces a significant transformation in the tracker’s structural design, highlighted by the adoption of an octagonal torque tube geometry. This evolution represents an intermediate step between the circular and square configurations historically used by the company, leveraging Gonvarri’s expertise in steel transformation to enhance both structural behavior and manufacturing and assembly processes.
The system redesign incorporates a high percentage of pre-assembled components within the bill of materials, significantly optimizing installation times—with reductions of more than a 35%—and improving on-site logistics management, including material handling, storage, and spare parts availability. In addition, tube-to-tube connections are eliminated through the introduction of a torque tube swaging solution, reducing the total number of components and simplifying system assembly.
From a mechanical design perspective, the new TracSmarT+1P enables a relevant optimization of plant layout configuration. The system significantly reduces the number of piles, while expanding the operational range of row length and strings in multiple configurations. This evolution contributes to a direct reduction in mechanical costs both during the investment phase (CAPEX) and throughout long-term operations and maintenance.
The system maintains a high degree of terrain adaptability through the integration of SmarTSlope by Solar Steel technology, enabling the management of slopes greater than 1º between piles. This capability significantly reduces the need for earthworks and, in certain cases, can eliminate them within the layout design, improving the technical and economic feasibility of projects in complex terrains.
In terms of energy performance, the tracker can be integrated with Solar Steel’s TracBoost ecosystem, which includes certified proprietary backtracking technologies capable of improving annual plant production by up to 8%. It also incorporates the SmarTHail feature, designed to minimize component damage under adverse weather conditions such as hail.
The TracSmarT+1P is also designed to meet the growing demands of agrivoltaic applications, offering elevated configurations with up to 2.1 meters of ground clearance. This feature, combined with its proprietary tracking control system, enables the optimization of both agricultural and photovoltaic operations through advanced adjustments such as inter-tracker angle limitations and improved maintenance operations.
Designed for global deployment, the system offers strong applicability across regions such as EMEA, LATAM, and India, adapting to the specific requirements of each market. Its configuration flexibility enables deployment across diverse environments, from irregular terrains in Europe to agrivoltaic projects in countries such as Italy, France, and Germany, as well as installations in demanding conditions such as desert areas or corrosive coastal environments, where Gonvarri Solar Steel’s expertise in steel treatment plays a critical role.
The new TracSmarT+1P evolution will be officially presented at Intersolar Europe, where Gonvarri Solar Steel will showcase a scale model of the system at booth A6.370, offering a detailed view of its innovations and previewing additional developments currently in progress.
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Principality Stadium switches on UK’s largest sports venue solar installation  Energy Live News
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