Author: solarenergy

Households in Vietnam could receive up to VND3 million ($113.9) in investment capital for solar plus home storage systems installed for their own use, or a preferential loan of up to VND40 million, based on proposals from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. October 16, 2025 Patrick Jowett Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade is proposing a series of financial mechanisms to support the deployment of residential solar and storage installations designed for self-consumption. The ministry’s draft amendment includes plans to provide households with VDN1 million ($37.97) to VDN1.5 million in investment capital for home solar energy systems without…

Segen is expanding into Ireland and Northern Ireland with an exclusive distribution agreement for the Tesla Powerwall home energy storage system. The new facility will also stock a wide selection of energy storage solutions from Anker Solix, Fox ESS, Dyness, Sunsynk and Solis, in addition to solar panels and related equipment. The company said the Dublin warehouse will offer the widest range of solar and storage products available in the Irish market. The new warehouse in Dublin will be managed by Crane Worldwide Logistics and is designed to increase product availability and speed delivery. Additionally, working with logistics partner JMC,…

Researchers from the University of Dortmund are testing a high-voltage battery system operating up to 20 kV to reduce energy losses and improve efficiency. October 16, 2025 Jochen Siemer Image: FH Dortmund, Benedikt Reichel By ESS news A research team from the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences is developing a battery storage system designed to operate at up to 20 kV, which is about 20 times higher than conventional systems, to reduce resistance and energy losses. The KV-Batt project, led by professor of renewable energy Martin Kiel, aims to increase voltage levels in large-scale battery modules to improve efficiency and…

The NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) has released its publication Edition Q3 2025 from “The 50 States of Solar Energy.” The quarterly series provides insight into the state’s regulatory and legislative discussions and actions on distributed solar policy, with an emphasis on net metering, distributed solar rating, interconnection rules, community solar, residential fixed charges, residential solar demand and loads, financial incentives and third-party ownership. The report shows that 45 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have taken some form of policy action on distributed solar by the third quarter of 2025, with the largest number of…

Solar lighting keeps sea turtles out of fishing nets Studies have shown that lighted nets can reduce bycatch of sea turtles and sharks, but the idea has faced many hurdles to adoption. The batteries have a short lifespan, are expensive to replace and pose disposal problems. The lamps are too heavy and can easily get caught on nets. Fishermen find it difficult to work with it. To overcome these hurdles, researchers at Arizona State University worked with a team of coastal gillnet fishermen to develop solar-powered lights that function as buoys, just like any other strung on the drift line…

Resilicon says the basic engineering phase of the planned polysilicon plant in the Netherlands is underway after the project secured a technology supplier and an engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Once completed, the plant will produce high-purity polysilicon for solar energy supply chains. October 16, 2025 Patrick Jowett Dutch startup Resilicon has taken a step towards developing Europe’s first polysilicon factory powered by renewable energy. Resilicon has attracted US silicon specialists Advanced Material Solutions (AMS) as technology supplier and US-based engineering and construction company Fluor as engineering partner, which Resilicon says paves the way for starting the fundamental engineering phase…

German researchers say shared use models and digital brokerage could increase the use and profitability of EV charging stations in supermarkets by up to 255%. October 16, 2025 Marian Willuhn By pv magazine Germany Supermarket parking lots are becoming important locations for charging infrastructure in urban areas. A recent study by the Reiner Lemoine Institute found that supermarket charging stations could reduce demand for public charging points in Berlin by up to 17%, provided they are used more efficiently – an area where large gaps remain. By 2045, around 1.4 million electric cars and light commercial vehicles are expected to…

Japanese researchers have proposed a method for future vehicle-integrated photovoltaic route planning. It integrates environmental shadow effects based on satellite and geographic information system data. October 16, 2025 Valerie Thompson A research team from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan has proposed a method to estimate shadow effects on vehicles equipped with integrated geographic information system (GIS) models and solar PV satellite data. The estimates for the study area in Fukushima city, Japan, were found to be consistent with real-world vehicle-integrated photovoltaic (VIPV) measurements. “While previous studies often rely on data from local weather…

Juliet Mason, partner at law firm TLT LLP explains how the National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) Sector Digitalisation Plan could see data form the backbone of the government’s Solar Roadmap.Britain’s clean energy ambitions depend not just on turbines and panels, but on something much less tangible: data.Energy data infrastructure is now recognized as the central nervous system of a carbon-free electricity grid. Without this, the goal of achieving a completely clean energy system by 2030 simply cannot succeed.The recently published NESO Sector Digitalization Plan 2025 places where reality is central. It describes how Britain can move from a patchwork of…

Researchers in India have developed an algorithm for swapping quadrants in PV arrays, allowing new quadrants to be created with both shaded and unshaded modules. The method was tested in ten shading scenarios with different irradiance levels and showed ‘superior’ performance compared to conventional approaches. October 16, 2025 Lior Kahana Researchers from India’s M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering have developed a new reconfiguration technique to improve the performance of partially shaded solar photovoltaic systems. The approach, known as the quadrant swap reconfiguration algorithm, creates new quadrants composed of shaded or unshaded modules to optimize power generation. “The output power of…