Author: solarenergy
The Supreme Court of the United States has struck President Donald Trump’s 2025 tariff policy, which his administration justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 national security law that allows the president to “regulate” imports in an emergency. In one 6-3 decisionAccording to the Supreme Court, IEEPA does not give the president permission to impose tariffs. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented. “The Administration is reading IEEPA to give the President the power to unilaterally impose unlimited tariffs and change them at will,” Roberts…
Germany-based solar tracker developer Sunoyster Systems has developed a lightweight 440W solar panel with a tempered glass cover for low-load commercial and industrial roofs. February 20, 2026 Valerie Thompson Image: Holger Laschka, SKF Germany-based solar tracker developer Sunoyster Systems has developed a lightweight tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar panel with a 2mm tempered glass cover for low-load roofs and facades in the commercial and industrial segments. The Sunoyster G440 is a 440 W solar panel, weighs 12 kg and has an efficiency of 22.2%. It is based on 108 TOPCon monocrystalline half-cut solar cells and measures 1,756 mm x…
Panasonic has launched a new fuel cell system for detached houses, designed to boost solar self-consumption through HEMS-based smart planning. The unit generates electricity and heat from gas, supports demand response and can provide emergency power during disruptions. February 20, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Japanese industrial group Panasonic has unveiled a new fuel cell cogeneration system under the long-standing Ene-farm brand, aimed at detached homes and designed to increase on-site solar self-consumption. The system integrates with a home energy management system (HEMS) that can predict excess electricity from solar or the grid. Based on these predictions, the HEMS schedules fuel cell…
UK solar panel distributor Bimble Solar has signed a module distribution agreement with TCL SunPower Global to distribute up to 10MW of the latter’s solar panels in the UK.The agreement covers TCL’s T-Class and S-Class tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) modules, which have an energy efficiency of 23.1% and 22.7% respectively, and the n-type back contact (BC) E-Class modules, which have an efficiency of 23.5%. All three module series are designed for use in the distributed sector – T-Class for commercial applications, S-Class and E-Class for the residential sector – and TCL managing director Steven Zhang said the partnership would…
The German SolarEnvelopeCenter project has launched a web-based planning guide for building-integrated solar photovoltaics (BIPV), providing standardized design solutions for roofs and facades that comply with building regulations and industry standards. February 20, 2026 Jochen Siemer By pv magazine Germany The German SolarEnvelopeCenter consortium has a online planning guide to support the integration of BIPV in roofs and facades. The project brings together research institutes, architects, facade planners and solar energy companies. Participants include the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Fraunhofer ISE), the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Drees & Sommer SE, Wulf Architekten, IBC Solar…
In a new weekly update for pv magazineSolcast, a DNV company, reports that January 2026 was Europe’s coldest month since 2010, with Eastern Europe and Scandinavia enjoying above-average solar radiation under stable, dry air, while Britain, Spain and Portugal experienced record cloud cover and rainfall that sharply reduced PV production. February 20, 2026 Solcast January 2026 delivered Europe’s coldest January since 2010, an exception to warm global temperatures. At the same time, record warm sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean contributed to the formation of a succession of powerful storm systems. The result was a month of sharp…
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. February 20, 2026 OPIS Waffle prices continued to fall, marking a fourth straight week of declines and highlighting manufacturers’ increasing reliance on price concessions to boost sales and ease mounting inventory and cash flow pressures, market participants said. Free-On-Board (FOB) prices in China for n-type M10 and n-type G12 wafers fell 2.38% and 4.98% week on week, to $0.164/pc and $0.191/pc, respectively, according to the OPIS Global Solar Markets Report published on February 16.…
Solar energy developer and independent power producer (IPP) Ampyr Solar Europe (ASE) has announced the acquisition of a 400 MW solar power plant.ASE will acquire the East Yorkshire Solar Farm (EYSF) from BOOM Power, which obtained development consent (DCO) for the project in 2011. May 2025. It will be connected to the electricity grid via a substation at the Drax Power Station.The solar power plant will be located between the hamlet of Gribthorpe, the villages of Spaldington and Wressle and the town of Howden, covering a total area of 1,445 hectares.Buffer zones and screen vegetation reduce the visual impact, while…
An Australian research team has developed a five-step rules-based method that detects and classifies underperformance in PV systems using only AC-side inverter data. The approach has been validated on more than 1,000 systems and provides a low-cost, low-intervention solution for improving the reliability, fault response and performance of PV systems. February 20, 2026 Lior Kahana A research group from Australia has developed a new rules-based method for detecting and classifying underperformance in PV systems using only inverter data from the alternating current (AC) side. The method has been validated using more than 1,000 PV systems across Australia, with more than…
General Motors has announced that it will offer this GM energy home energy management systems and home PowerBank batteries in leasing programs. Homeowners can lease GM Energy products, similar to leasing a vehicle. “We built GM Energy to unlock new benefits unique to electric vehicles. How incredible is it that a GM EV can power your well-equipped home, help manage your energy costs and work with the grid in the future?” said Wade Sheffer, vice president of GM Energy. “With leasing, we’re breaking down a barrier and trying to make this technology available to every homeowner, not just GM EV…