Author: solarenergy

Rondo Energy’s 100 MWh heat battery, powered by 20 MW of on-site solar energy, can store industrial heat or use cheap electricity from the grid generated during sunny and windy hours, the company said. October 21, 2025 William Driscoll By pv magazine USA Rondo Energy has announced that a 100 MWh thermal battery it installed in California, powered solely by 20 MW of on-site, off-grid solar energy, is operating automatically daily. The thermal battery will continuously supply high-pressure heat and steam to a Holmes Western oil plant and is the first large-scale commercial project of its kind, the company said.…

UK solar and storage developer Island Green Power (IGP) has made progress on its Lime Down Solar project after the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) accepted its application for a development consent (DCO).The Nationally Important Infrastructure Project (NSIP), located in Wiltshire, is moving into the pre-investigation phase, which could last up to three months. The solar plus storage project includes a 500 MW export connection, a 250 MW import connection and a 1 GWh battery energy storage system (BESS).IGP, which is 100% owned by Australian investor Macquarie Group, submitted the Lime Down Solar Park to PINS on September 19, 2025, with exploration…

The actual cost of powering a 1,500 square foot home with solar energy If you’re staring at rising energy bills, you’re not alone. Homeowners in Colorado Springs are asking the same question: How much does it really cost to install solar panels on a 1,500-square-foot home? The short answer is that the price depends on your energy consumption, the type of panels you choose and the incentives available. This guide explains everything in plain language, so you can see what solar energy costs, how many panels you are likely to need and what savings you can expect. What we cover…

The world is at a crossroads. Climate change demands urgent action, and the energy sector stands at the center of the solution. As fossil fuels continue to contribute to rising global temperatures, the search for clean energy sources has never been more critical. Two technologies consistently emerge in these discussions: nuclear energy and solar power. Both promise to reduce carbon emissions, but they take different approaches to generating electricity. For homeowners, businesses, and communities across North Carolina, understanding these energy sources matters. While nuclear energy operates at the utility scale, powering entire regions, solar energy offers something nuclear cannot—the ability…

Developers have until November 3 to respond to Ofgem’s ‘minded’ position to approve a Progression Commitment Fee (PCF) as part of the reformed grid connection process.The plans that Ofgem wants to approve will see projects that accept a Gate 2 offer but fail to meet Queue Management Milestone 1, namely initiating planning permission, pay the PCF. Treated as a cancellation fee, the PCF would start at £2,500/MW and increase by £2,500/MW for every six months that a project does not progress, up to a maximum of £10,000/MW. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has proposed an amendment to the Connection…

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its first car prototype with a silicon-free, 20% efficient nanoparticle solar coating that powers the car even when it is off and uses modules thinner than a human hair. October 21, 2025 Pilar Sanchez Molina Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic Image: Mercedes-Benz German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the Vision Iconic prototype, the first car with its “solar paintphotovoltaic solution, during Shanghai Fashion Week in China. The company said the coating consists of innovative modules just 5 micrometers thick that can be applied to the car body “as a wafer-thin paste” or to other substrates. The protective layer is described as…

A new documentary from the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) highlights a growing movement transforming both agriculture and renewable energy. ‘Pastures and Panels’ tells the story of farmers and ranchers who are revitalizing family farms by grazing sheep on solar sites, creating a resilient model that produces food, fiber and energy for the nation – all on the same land. The movie is now streaming on YouTube. A still from the documentary “Pastures and Panels” Sun grazing is the practice of raising livestock on land that also generates solar energy. It turns solar energy projects into productive farms that naturally…

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank have launched a $12.5 billion initiative to finance regional electricity interconnection in Southeast Asia under the ASEAN Power Grid program. October 21, 2025 Patrick Jowett The World Bank, ADB and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have announced a financing initiative to support the development of an ASEAN Power Grid (APG), a project aim for regional interconnection among Southeast Asian countries by 2045. The recently announced ASEAN Power Grid Financing Initiative (APGF) will mobilize large-scale financing for cross-border electricity interconnections over land and along the seabed, to develop a pipeline…

EirGrid, the transmission system operator (TSO) for the Republic of Ireland, has launched a consultation setting out how it will acquire its first long-term energy storage (LDES) capacity. October 20, 2025 Tristan Rayner Image: Polar night energy By ESS news EirGrid has opened a consultation on the proposed procurement model for LDES, which sets out how such storage assets will be financed, dispatched and connected to the national grid. The article, published last week, moves the country closer to a market framework for multi-hour storage. Firstly, EirGrid’s definition of long duration is set at a minimum of four hours, with…

Standardized testing can accelerate indoor solar power for smart devices Researchers from Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) School of Sustainable Energy Engineering (SEE) have introduced a new framework to standardize indoor solar testing – an advance that could accelerate the deployment of self-powered smart devices and increase confidence in performance data across the field. Led by SEE Professor Vincenzo Pecunia and his Sustainable Optoelectronics Research Group, the study sets a benchmark for accurate, reproducible measurement of indoor photovoltaic (IPV) efficiency under real lighting conditions. The work, recently published in the journal Joule, marks SFU’s first research article to appear in the…