Author: solarenergy

By Martin McConnell February 12, 2026 Energy storage in the citythe first utility-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) center project in the state of Maine came online on February 11. Located on approximately five acres of land in the small town of Gorham in southern Maine, the 175 MW and 350 MWh is the largest of its kind in the region, narrowly beating the Cranberry Point Energy Storage center in Massachusetts. Texan energy company and BESS specialist Plus power will operate the battery center. According to Maine Governor Janet Mills, the project hopes to smooth out peaks in energy grid…

The Ministry of Commerce has announced this final determinations in its anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations into active anode material (AAM) from China. The final AD rates remained the same as in the preliminary decision, while the overall CVD rates increased. Final dumping margins Exporters AD rate Tesla, Panasonic, Hunan Zhongke Shinzoom, Jiangxi Zichen Technology, Resonac, Shanghai Shanshan New Material 93.5% All other/China-wide entity 102.72% Final subsidy rates Exporter/producer CVD rate Huzhou Kaijin new energy technology, Shanghai Shaosheng knitted sweat, BTR new material 66.82% Panasonic 66.86% Everyone else 66.86% The AD/CVD study was requested in December 2024 by…

An interlaboratory comparison between the CalLab PV modules from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt shows that the two organizations differ by less than 0.15% when measuring the performance of photovoltaic modules. The Fraunhofer team says this is one of the key indications of whether their analysis is on the right track. February 12, 2026 Patrick Jowett The CalLab PV modules from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the leading German authority on various measurement variables, have found that their power measurements of photovoltaic modules deviate on average…

Israel-based solar inverter manufacturer SolarEdge has started shipping single-phase residential inverter products from its manufacturing facility in Texas, US, to the United Kingdom.The company’s first exports to the United Kingdom, along with Italy, France and the Netherlands, were shipped in late 2025, the company said, adding that shipments of commercial and industrial (C&I) products manufactured at the Florida facility are “on track” to begin early this year.The first international export of its residential inverters from the Austin factory went to Australia in September last year. SolarEdge’s MultiRange Concept, used in the residential inverters shipped to Europe, uses a single SKU…

The world’s largest reinsurer recently introduced stricter requirements for PV warranty insurance to further reduce the risks of insured PV farms and set a higher benchmark for reliability and production quality across the industry. February 12, 2026 MUNICH RE PV technology has advanced rapidly in recent years, with new solar cell architectures such as tunnel oxide passivated contacts (TOPCon) jumping straight from early development to gigawatt-scale mass production, surpassing traditional risk management frameworks. In 2024, after a substantial implementation of TOPCon, UVID was reported in several modules, surprising the industry as manufacturers had not fully anticipated this degradation. Furthermore, the…

Renewable energy developer ib vogt has divested three large-scale solar PV projects in Ireland, totaling 272 MWp, for €230 million (£200 million). The portfolio includes the 94.7 MWp Gaskinstown project in County Meath, the 107.7 MWp Rathnaskilloge project in County Waterford and the 69.4 MWp Clonkeen project in County Offaly. The three solar projects generate approximately 275 GWh of clean electricity annually. All three assets were developed by Highfield Solar, a joint venture in which ib vogt is a partner. Rathnaskilloge was wholly owned by ib vogt, while Gaskinstown and Clonin North were owned by Highfield Solar. All three transactions…

The latest report from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Photovoltaic Power Systems Program (PVPS) says that second-life PV modules have the potential to reduce waste and increase the value of solar energy, but their market today remains underdeveloped and requires advances in technical qualifications, scalable reuse infrastructure and supporting policy frameworks. February 12, 2026 Patrick Jowett The photovoltaic industry must introduce supportive policy frameworks for second-hand PV modules to prevent the market from remaining niche and underdeveloped, according to a new report from IEA-PVPS. The Task 13 report explains that while repairing PV modules, by addressing issues such as defective…

Cambodia this year set a 30 MW allocation window for rooftop solar, with major electricity consumers required to seek approval for installations from the country’s electricity authority. February 12, 2026 Patrick Jowett Image: Thoeun Ratana/Unsplash CambodiaThe Ministry of Mines and Energy this year approved a quota of 30 MW for new rooftop solar energy systems. The new limit, which will mainly impact large-scale commercial and industrial consumers, is part of efforts to manage grid integration. Large-scale electricity consumers wanting to install rooftop solar systems must obtain permission from the Electricity Authority of Cambodia, the ministry said. A statement on the…

Researchers from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported a new interface engineering strategy that significantly increases the efficiency and stability of three-dimensional perovskite solar cells. Working with international partners, the team formed a thin two-dimensional perovskite phase at the buried interface of the perovskite absorber, a location that has been difficult to selectively target with previous approaches. The work, published in Nature Energy on February 6, shows that the method improves the crystallization quality of the perovskite films and reduces defect concentrations at buried interfaces by more than 90…

Researchers in Spain surveyed 238 wine tourists in the Murcia region and found widespread support for trellis-integrated agrivoltaic systems in vineyards, with 94% supporting solar energy integration and most respondents seeing no landscape conflicts. February 12, 2026 Emiliano Bellini A group of researchers in Spain conducted a survey among wine tourists to assess their perception and social acceptance of agrivoltaic installations in vineyards. The results show that a large majority of respondents do not consider solar panels to be in conflict with the wine-growing landscape. “Our findings are particularly compelling for vineyards, but the trends can be extrapolated to other…