Author: solarenergy
During a pv magazine During the Week Europe 2025 webinar, panelists predict that the market share of back-contact (BC) solar cells will reach the same level as TOPCon by the end of the decade, before the tandem technology gains widespread popularity in the early 2030s. December 8, 2025 Patrick Jowett Back-contact (BC) solar cells are expected to reach the same level as the cost of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells before the end of the decade, an analysis by pv magazine Week Europe 2025. During a session on solar and cell module technology held as part of pv magazineDuring…
By Contributing Author December 8, 2025 By Mikey Heinz, CEO of Clear operations | In disaster-prone regions such as Puerto Rico, Florida and California, solar energy is often at the center of the debate. Despite rapid progress in distributed energy and storage, outdated assumptions continue to shape public opinion and even policy decisions. These misconceptions not only hold back progress, they also make communities more vulnerable during power outages, storms and grid failures. After years of deploying solar and storage systems in real-world disaster scenarios, I’ve seen firsthand what works, what doesn’t, and what could have made a difference if…
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) will issue grid connection bids for up to 283 GW of projects in Britain by 2035.Today (December 8), the operator published the first results of its reformed grid connection process. Before the new compounding methodology, the the queue of projects awaiting a bid was approximately 722 GWapproximately four times the capacity needed to meet the government’s renewable energy targets.Developers who putting forward projects for a grid connection will receive a Gate 1 or Gate 2 offer. Gate 2 projects, which will have a connection date until 2035, will be split into Phase 1 and…
The pv magazine Awards 2025 The winners have been announced and this year’s successful solar and storage champions have given a taste of what the future could bring. Judges were treated to everything from groundbreaking technologies that support grid stability to second life solutions that enhance sustainability. They have recognized activism in fast-growing PV markets, innovation in key emerging market segments and more. This year was a truly global competition, attracting entries from 40 countries and presenting our expert judges with the challenging task of choosing winners from a number of outstanding entries. One of the notable features of the…
In this contributed article, Alanna Loder-Symonds, sustainability director at consultancy EQONIC Sustainability, part of battery technology company EQONIC, weighs the case for installing renewable technologies on domestic and commercial properties, writing that the long-term benefits are now too substantial to ignore.Renewable energy in buildings was once seen as a green luxury, commendable but far from essential. Now it’s reshaping the fundamentals of real estate values. Solar PV, battery storage and other on-site renewable technologies have gone from optional additions to central components of a building’s long-term financial performance, resilience and viability. But for all their benefits, these systems often require…
Kanazawa University, in collaboration with Toshiba, has begun long-term outdoor testing of tandem perovskite solar cells. The research project is in line with Japan’s broader push to widely deploy perovskite PV technologies by 2040. December 8, 2025 Emiliano Bellini Japan’s Kanazawa University has begun testing perovskite solar cell technologies at a new test field area within the Kakuma Campus North Area solar farm, which has been in operation since April 2024. The tests are carried out by the university’s researchers in collaboration with experts from the Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, semiconductor manufacturer Choshu Industry and the University of Electro-Communications. The project…
Researchers in Italy simulated and optimized an agricultural-driven anaerobic digestion plant for biomethane production in eight scenarios, using vertically mounted panels with single-axis trackers in some cases and dual-axis trackers in others. December 8, 2025 Lior Kahana A group of scientists led by Italy’s Catholic University of the Sacred Heart has carried out a techno-economic optimization of an agricultural-driven anaerobic digestion (AD) plant for biomethane production. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) combined with a technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) ranking methodology was developed to simultaneously optimize economic performance and land use. “This study presents the…
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reports that the United States added 21.2 GW of solar capacity in the first nine months of 2025, accounting for the majority of the 28.2 GW of total energy capacity added to the grid. December 8, 2025 Ryan Kennedy Image: Pexels / Kelly CC SA 4.0 By pv magazine USA According to FERC, U.S. solar developers have added 21.2 GW of solar through September 2025. This is more than the 20 GW added through September 2024. Solar energy represents the majority of power capacity added to the grid until September 2025, which totaled…
A research team from Wuhan University of Technology led by Professor Tao Wang has developed a vacuum-assisted thermal annealing (VTA) process that addresses the associated challenges of efficiency and stability in organic solar cells. The method designs the internal structure of the photovoltaic active layer so that devices maintain strong performance over long operating times. The work focuses on controlling the arrangement of nanoscale donor and acceptor materials in the active film. The research team stated that “the VTA process accelerates solvent evaporation while promoting favorable molecular organization.” Under VTA, donor components accumulate toward the bottom of the film and…
Sicily has launched a significant financing window for companies to install photovoltaic systems and battery storage, with preliminary applications between December 15, 2025 and February 13, 2026. December 5, 2025 Massimiliano Tripodo The 5.4 MW Partanna project in Sicily. Meteocontrol reports that the installation, completed this year, is the first in Italy to combine thermodynamic and PV systems. It features monitoring of the three central inverters, zone monitoring for string current and a controller for the power plant. Image: weather control By pv magazine Italy The Italian island of Sicily has allocated 246 million euros to support the installation of…