Author: solarenergy

Renewable energy sources contributed 38.7% of electricity to Ireland’s grid in the first month of 2026.According to the latest data from state transmission system operator (TSO) EirGrid, the figures are similar to last year, when renewable energy sources accounted for 40% of electricity generation.As usual in the winter months, wind energy contributed the most to the mix at 32.8%, while electricity generation from solar energy reached 0.8%. Despite this low level, solar energy showed the benefits of its contribution to the fuel mix on brighter days, EirGrid said.Grid-scale solar generation peaked at 371 MW at 12.45pm on Wednesday 28 January,…

New research shows how agrivoltaic systems can reshape soil by altering moisture, temperature and microbial activity, creating heterogeneous zones under and between panels. Good design and management can increase soil health and crop resilience, especially in degraded or arid areas, although long-term effects remain uncertain. February 17, 2026 Emiliano Bellini A team of researchers in Indonesia has conducted a comprehensive study on how agrivoltaic systems affect soil properties. It has been shown that these installations not only influence crops and microclimates, but also the fundamental processes that determine soil function and land productivity in the long term. “Our study resolves…

pv magazine spoke with Fan Bin, founder of GCL Optoelectronics, about how high-throughput experimentation and AI-driven optimization are accelerating perovskite development, and why stability, not efficiency, remains the key challenge on the path to mass production February 17, 2026 Michael Fuhs Over the past decade, perovskite solar technology has made remarkable progress, both in terms of stability and efficiency, but challenges remain on the path to commercialization. GCL Optoelectronics is now ramping up its first gigawatt-scale production line using the same technology, with an initial capacity of 500 MW. According to Fan Bin, founder of China’s GCL Optoelectronics, efficiency is…

As electric vehicles and networked storage expand globally, engineers are looking for better ways to track how lithium-ion batteries age under real-world driving and operating conditions. A new study supported by Jilin University and China FAW Group reports a deep learning-based method that monitors battery health with errors of less than 1 percent, even when current and voltage vary in complex patterns. The work appears in the journal ENGINEERING Energy and focuses on health status, a measure of how much usable capacity remains compared to a new cell. Conventional approaches often assume stable operating conditions and can struggle when confronted…

Access to the reduced French VAT rate of 5.5% for residential solar installations is conditional on the use of low-carbon panels and a home energy management system. Toulouse-based PvPilot said the fourth version of its software orchestrates household electrical appliances in real time based on solar energy production and consumption patterns. The system is offered under a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) model, aimed at photovoltaic installers and their customers. It is supplied via a USB device that can be connected to equipment such as set-top boxes or televisions and works using relay switches installed in the electrical panel. The platform simultaneously measures…

A pavilion dedicated to electric vehicles, a dominant Chinese presence and limited European representation made up the solar fair held from February 10 to 12 in Casablanca, Morocco. Local distributors warned of rising prices for Chinese solar equipment, while a booming commercial and industrial (C&I) segment, an emerging residential market, emerging storage demand and largely untapped solar potential underlined the sector’s direction. February 16, 2026 François Puthod The 14th edition of Solaire Expo Maroc, held under the banner of electric mobility, took place from February 10 to 12 at the Casablanca International Fair in Casablanca, Morocco. Hybrid and electric vehicle…

The silicon batteries developed by Spanish startup Silbat are the spearhead of the Research and Analysis of Long-Term Energy Storage for Operational Resilience in Critical Military Infrastructures (ARMIC) project, which covers Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 7 to 8. February 16, 2026 Pilar Sanchez Molina By ESS news Silbat is a Spanish startup developing a long-term energy storage (LDES) technology based on silicon. The company’s battery technology stores electricity as latent heat in molten silicon, using low-cost, widely available metal-grade silicon. Silicon has the second highest latent heat of fusion of all elements, after the much rarer boron. In Silbat’s design,…

Rising silver prices are putting pressure on solar manufacturers, prompting more attention to copper and other alternatives to reduce costs. Heraeus expects demand for silver from solar photovoltaics to decline this year, despite stable global installations. February 16, 2026 Sandra Enkhardt Silver metallization paste Image: Heraeus The rising price of silver is causing concern in much of the solar industry. In a recent report, Heraeus said that despite some recent declines, silver remains 187% higher than at the beginning of 2025. Silver paste accounts for as much as 30% of the total cost of solar cells, creating a difficult environment…

By Martin McConnell February 16, 2026 This week on Projects Weekly, Arctic Cold and REC Solar have partnered for a rooftop solar system on a cold storage facility. Also, El Paso Electric Company and Base Power have announced a home battery pilot program, looking to bring up to 10 MW of residential storage to western Texas. Hanwha Renewables and Chrysalis Energy have partnered for a massive solar and storage rollout across North America, with potential to move off the continent as well. WeaveGrid and SolarEdge have partnered for utility-scale solutions from residential batteries. In the northeast, Greenbacker secured funding for the…

Hydrogen bonds, best known for holding water and biomolecules together, now play a powerful role in solar energy conversion as part of a new supramolecular photocatalyst for water oxidation. Researchers from Inner Mongolia University and Tsinghua University report that carefully designed hydrogen bond interactions can reshape charge behavior in organic photocatalysts, opening a route to more efficient artificial photosynthesis. The team constructed a photocatalyst in which hydrogen bonds connect an electron donor, a perylene diimide supramolecule, to an electron acceptor, an aminated fullerene unit. These hydrogen bonds create a highly polarized local environment that improves dielectric shielding and weakens the…