Author: solarenergy

Dutch utility Eneco is testing low-noise air-to-water heat pumps from startup Whspr in about twenty homes, with the aim of easing installation restrictions near property boundaries. The systems reportedly achieve coefficients of performance of up to 5 and show noise reductions of up to 80% in laboratory tests. January 30, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Dutch utility Eneco has started testing an ‘innovative’ type of air-to-water heat pump with low noise levels in residential buildings. The company says conventional heat pumps rely on outdoor units that emit a constant hum, requiring installations several meters away from property lines under Dutch building regulations…

During tests at the 100 MW Kiisa battery farm in Estonia, both EstLink 1 and EstLink 2 tripped, causing the most serious disruption to the regional electricity grid since desynchronization with the Russian electricity system. As a result, almost 1 GW of capacity was lost within seconds. The owner of the park has now publicly pointed out the battery manufacturer. January 29, 2026 Marija Maisch By ESS news An outage in Estonia’s electricity system on January 20 caused both EstLink interconnections between Estonia and Finland to go offline, cutting around 1,000 MW of capacity, equivalent to around 20% of the…

The Ariya demonstrator features 3.8 m² of custom solar panels from Lightyear, integrated across the hood, roof and tailgate. Tests showed that the car could generate 0.5 kWh of solar energy during a 2-hour, 80-kilometre drive, and deliver a range of up to 3 kilometers without additional costs or charging time. January 29, 2026 Blathnaid O’Dea Dutch startup Lightyear has developed and refined its solar car charging technology, working with a number of vehicle manufacturers to demonstrate the system. It announced a partnership with Nissan to integrate its solar charging system into a demonstration vehicle, which the startup says is…

The South Korean giant said its new EHS All-in-One provides air heating and cooling, underfloor heating and hot water from a single outdoor unit. It can provide hot water up to 65 C in sub-zero weather conditions. January 29, 2026 Lior Kahana The EHS all-in-one Image: Samsung South Korean technology giant Samsung has launched a new all-in-one heat pump for residential and commercial use. The system, called EHS All-in-One, provides air heating and cooling, underfloor heating and hot water from a single outdoor unit. It will initially be released for the European market, with a Korean rollout expected within a…

The Missouri Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the case last week Colleen Eikmeier, et al v. Granite Springs Homeowners Association case that strengthens protections passed by the Missouri Legislature for solar customers against restrictive and excessive land covenants. The non-profit organization Renew Missouri helped secure this victory, which not only protects Missourians’ right to enjoy solar energy, but also helps expand protections for property owners generally. Senate Bill 820, sponsored by then-Senator Eric Burlison, passed during the 2022 legislative session. The bill prohibited homeowners associations (HOAs) from prohibiting solar energy in their covenants. An amendment added by Senator…

Tigo energy announced today that the Tigo GO battery is now eligible to participate in select Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs across the country. The GO Battery has also been added to the EnergyHub And Overhead light distributed energy resource management platforms (DERM). The Tigo GO battery is fully compatible with the latest Tigo GO Optimized ESS and Tigo EI Residential Solution energy products in the US market. The Tigo GO battery is available in 5 kWh increments and expandable to a maximum of 30 kWh. The lightweight modules are stacked with plug-and-play wiring, reducing installation time, allowing owners to…

Silver hit a new all-time high of $117.66/oz and rose more than 40% in the past month and 275% in the past year, driven by dollar weakness, geopolitical tensions and gold’s strong momentum. Silver analyst Matthew Piggott explains pv magazine the metal could reach $130/oz in a few weeks. January 29, 2026 Emiliano Bellini The price of silver reached another record high today of $117.66 per ounce (oz). In the last three days alone, prices are up more than 8%, from $108.17/oz. “There are a few factors at play,” says Matthew Piggott, director of Gold & Silver at British market…

Investment manager Triple Point has acquired a 28MW solar PV project in Essex from a joint venture between London-based renewable energy platform IG Renewables and developer Anglo Renewables. The project received full planning approval in February 2025, covers approximately 26 hectares and includes environmental improvements aimed at delivering net benefits for biodiversity. A £25,000 community fund will also be set up to support local projects, the company said. Jonathan Hick, head of energy transition at Triple Point, said: “Securing ready-to-build sites, such as Toot Hill, with short-term connection dates, located close to centers with high energy demand, is part of…

Sungrow is launching its large-scale energy storage system, PowerTitan 3.0, in Europe, featuring networking capability, next-generation battery cells, DC coupling for co-located solar projects and streamlined commissioning to accelerate deployment. January 29, 2026 Marian Willuhn Sungrow introduces its large-scale energy storage system, PowerTitan 3.0to the European market. With the option to connect the battery to a central inverter on the DC side, the company is responding to the strong demand for co-located solar storage projects. The system was first presented at SNEC in Shanghai in June 2025 and has now been showcased to European developers at an event in Madrid.…

Construction has started on what Urbasolar says will be France’s largest rooftop solar installation, as the developer builds a 17.5 MW system on the Delta 3 multimodal logistics platform in northern France. The project is being developed in the Omega building on the Delta 3 platform in Dourges, in the Hauts-de-France region, near Lille. The logistics hub, run mainly by local authorities, has long planned to integrate rooftop solar and is partly occupied by PepsiCo, which employs around 450 people at the site. Following a tender concluded in 2024, French independent energy producer Urbasolar was selected to finance, design, supply,…