Author: solarenergy

By Martin McConnell March 16, 2026 This week on Projects Weekly, Creekstone Energy is setting records in Utah and Origis Energy is beefing up its solar and storage portfolio nationwide. In the funding world, PowerBank Corporation, Primergy, and Arevon are making major moves stateside, and Aypa and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation have secured financing in Ontario, Canada. Cypress Creek and Aspen Power have both made moves in the project M&A realm, and ECA Solar has surpassed the 150 MW mark for its portfolio. Finally, the city of Oceanside, California has been rewarded for its efforts in…

The Minister of Energy confirms the plan to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources, including support for residential solar energy in response to the conflict in Iran. The Summer Contracts for Difference Auction (CfD) follows quickly on the heels of the record solar allocation round in February 2026. March 16, 2026 Matthew Lynas A plug-in PV system deployed on a balcony. Image: Verbraucherzentrale NRW/Jörg Sutter The UK government has committed to legalizing plug-in balcony solar, while bringing forward its annual auction of utility-scale renewables in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Energy Minister Ed Miliband announced…

Austrian researchers conducted a techno-economic analysis of agrivoltaic systems and found that 5% to 16% of the country’s agricultural land would be needed to meet solar energy targets. March 16, 2026 Lior Kahana A research group led by Austria University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna conducted a techno-economic analysis of the potential of the country’s agrivoltaic installations, combining assessments of profitability for both solar energy generation and agricultural production. “Our paper presents, to our knowledge, the first integrated framework that combines the simulation of both PV electricity generation and agricultural production for agrivoltaic systems at the level of…

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has released the results of its T-4 Capacity Market (CM) auction, with battery storage gaining 3% of liabilities and gas and interconnectors gaining the largest share. The T-4 auction for delivery in 2029/30 concluded last week (March 10) with 40,108,608 MW of commitments, above the target of 39,400 MW. The clearing price was £27.10/q/yr, down more than 50% from last year’s £60/q/yr.Gas projects won 58.5% of the allocated capacity and interconnectors won 19.5%. Battery energy storage system (BESS) projects gained 1,224 MW of commitments, 3.05% of total capacity, while pumped hydro storage gained 1,352…

A European research consortium is investigating a new nanostructured silicon approach that could help crystalline silicon solar cells overcome efficiency limitations. The initiative, known as Low-Energy Electron Multiplication on Nanostructured Solar Cells (LEEMONS), aims to exploit a mechanism called low-energy electron multiplication (LEEM), which allows a single high-energy photon to generate multiple low-energy electrons, reducing energy losses that typically occur when excess photon energy is dissipated as heat. LEEM is a form of carrier multiplication (CM), a promising process that, if applied successfully, can dramatically increase the efficiency of PV devices. The process occurs when the absorption of a single…

The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project will be developed under a public-private partnership on a build-own-operate basis. March 13, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Image: Ondrej Bocek, Unsplash The Bahrain Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) has announced the shortlist of bidders for the development and construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in Bilaj Al Jazayer, on the country’s south-west coast. The selected bidders are Saudi energy giant ACWA Power and UAE-based independent power producer Yellow Door Energy (YDE). The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project (BAJ Solar IPP) will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) on a build-own-operate…

GlobalData says global renewable capacity will more than double to 8.4 TW by 2031, with PV reaching nearly 6 TW, a compound annual growth rate of 13% from the 2025 level of 4.1 TW. The report ‘Renewable Energy: Strategic Intelligence’ says solar energy has become the main driver of global renewable energy expansion due to falling costs and supportive energy transition policies. PV generation reached 2,800 TWh in 2025, surpassing wind generation of 2,770 TWh. In terms of capacity, solar energy accounted for approximately 56.1% of global renewable capacity in 2025, with more than 2.5 TW installed. Wind represented 33.5%…

In a new weekly update for pv magazineSolcast, a DNV company, reports that there was a sharp gap in solar conditions in Europe in February. The northeastern regions experienced clear, cold weather with radiation levels 20% above average, while western and southern Europe experienced persistent storms and widespread radiation shortages. March 13, 2026 Solcast February saw a continuation of January’s contrasting weather patterns across Europe, with stratospheric warming disrupting the polar vortex, shaping cloud cover and radiation patterns across the continent. Northeastern regions experienced colder, brighter conditions that pushed irradiance well above seasonal norms, while much of western and southern…

Throughout my career I have encountered a lot of prejudice and skepticism, especially around the fact that I am a woman. A woman in energy. A woman in banking. A woman who understands financial language. A woman who walks into a room full of men and unexpectedly is the one who actually moves the discussion forward and closes the deal. But bias is like background noise: you can turn it off or let it drown out your signal. I chose to postpone it. Even when I felt prejudice, I focused on my work. For me, the most effective way to…

In a new weekly update for pv magazineOPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a brief overview of the major price trends in the global PV industry. March 13, 2026 OPIS The China Mono Premium – OPIS’ rating for mono-grade polysilicon used in the production of n-type ingots – fell 5.79% week on week to CNY46.083 ($6.71)/kg, or CNY0.097/W, according to the OPIS Global Solar Markets Report published on March 10. Since the beginning of the year, the China Mono Premium has fallen by more than 13%. According to industry insiders, the polysilicon market is negotiating orders for delivery in late…