Author: solarenergy

Solar power has collaborated with REC Group to produce a solar panel for the US residential market. TJ Rodgers unveils the SunPower/REC solar panel. The all-black solar panel peaks at 470 W and weighs 20 kg. It’s a rebranding of REC’s Alpha Pure-RX 470-W panel. The joint development agreement between SunPower and REC aims to develop, engineer and commercialize high-wattage frameless double-sided solar panels for the residential and light commercial solar markets. The announced panel is not two-sided, but SunPower plans to change that soon. Despite the fact that the original SunPower went bankrupt, current SunPower chairman and CEO TJ…

2025 marked a radical economic shift for the US solar industry, with a shorter window for federal subsidies and a presidential administration that actively resist developments in the field of sustainable energy. Import tariffs, universal inflation and high interest rates for project financing have also dampened the recent solar boom. Credit: Swift Current Solar Bankruptcies, furloughs and layoffs accompanied this massive change in the marketplace, impacting installers, manufacturers and other groups within the U.S. solar industry. Environmental business group E2’s latest “Clean economy worksAn analysis found that by October 2025, almost 30,000 jobs that would have been created by new…

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States 66 international organizationsincluding twelve dedicated to energy, renewable energy, climate change and environmental causes. This fruitful exit comes after the government launched an investigation into participating international organizations in February 2025. The United States will stop funding or cooperating with the United Nations agencies named in a presidential memorandum published Wednesday. This includes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an organization founded in 1992 and in which the United States joined shortly after its founding. The United States joined the UNFCCC during the former Republican period The term of President…

India is estimated to add 40 GW of solar capacity in the calendar year 2025, driven by utility-scale projects and rooftop growth. Tenders for energy storage also gained momentum. January 9, 2026 Uma Gupta By pv magazine India India added a “record” 40 GW of new solar power generation capacity in the calendar year 2025, according to a new report from SBICAPS, supported by steady utility-scale execution and sharp acceleration of rooftop installations under Prime Minister Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. Despite the capacity growth, the report said the average utilization rate of solar power plants fell to about 16.5%…

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a semi-transparent, flexible perovskite solar cell that generates electricity while providing control over both light transmission and perceived color for use in windows, building facades and curved surfaces. The research was led by Prof. Lioz Etgar and Prof. Shlomo Magdassi from the Institute of Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Hebrew University, with a team led by Dr. Vikas Sharma. Their group produced a device that works like an energy-generating film, as designers adjust transparency and color to suit architectural requirements. At the heart of the design…

Relatively new recycling equipment Comstock metals has announced that it has received approval from Nevada environmental departments to process solar panels at its materials recovery facility in Silver Springs, Nevada. Comstock also received approval for an air quality control permit this week. A slide of Comstock’s Business Overview document. Comstock has been operating a solar panel recycling demonstration plant in Nevada since January 2024. These permits will allow the company to scale up to an industrial material recovery facility that would process more than 3 million panels annually. The equipment was delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025 and Comstock…

Polysilicon prices in China rose sharply this week as reduced production, higher costs and strong downstream demand pushed trades above CNY60,000 ($8,590) per tonne (MT). However, module prices remained stable, supported by strong tenders and a tight supply of wafers. January 9, 2026 Vincent Shaw The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) has reported a sharp increase in polysilicon prices, driven by lower operating rates at manufacturing facilities and stronger sourcing from downstream manufacturers. Average prices for n-type recharge polysilicon rose to CNY 59,200/MT, up 9.83% week on week, while n-type granular silicon rose 10.5% to CNY 55,800/MT. The CNMIA…

Australia recorded a sharp increase in electric vehicle sales in 2025, with new car sales data showing almost 157,000 electric vehicles purchased across the country, a 38% increase on the previous year. January 9, 2026 David Caroll By pv magazine Australia New figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) show a record 156,753 electric vehicles will be purchased across Australia in 2025. Last year, electric vehicles accounted for 13.1% of all new car sales, up from 9.6% in 2024. During the 2025 calendar year, Australian motorists purchased 103,269 battery electric vehicles (BEVs),…

The U.S. solar industry is in a period of transition. Now that the residential investment tax credit has expired and the 48E tax credit for large-scale projects is coming to an end, installations are expected to decline across all markets. Research groups say the U.S. solar industry will never again reach the 50 GW annual installation peak seen in 2024. To predict how the United States will fare in an era without stimulus, one might look at the past decade in Britain. That country changed its solar incentive programs around 2016, and installation habits have fallen sharply – from a…

Generating hydrogen from sunlight offers a route to low-carbon fuel production by converting solar energy into chemical energy stored in hydrogen. Researchers use photocatalysts to absorb light and split water into hydrogen and oxygen, but many existing systems harvest only part of the visible spectrum, leaving much of the incoming solar energy unused. To increase the efficiency of solar energy to hydrogen, researchers are investigating photocatalysts that respond to a wider range of visible wavelengths. A team led by Professor Kazuhiko Maeda and graduate student Haruka Yamamoto of the Institute of Science Tokyo has developed a dye-sensitive photocatalyst that absorbs…