Author: solarenergy

US-based Pii Energy has launched a plug-in solar-plus-storage kit designed for renters and apartment dwellers, priced around $2,400. March 16, 2026 Ben Zientara By ESS news New Mexico-based Pii Energy announced the launch of its Edge 2000 plug-in home energy system during a live demonstration on March 14, colloquially known as “Pi Day” for the US date style of 3/14. The Edge 2000 system is a kit that combines 1.2 kW of solar panels with an inverter, 2,000 watt-hour battery backup, 10 smart outlets, a Raspberry Pi-powered smart system controller, and all the necessary wiring to connect the components to…

TNO has launched Perovion Technologies to industrialize lightweight, flexible perovskite solar cells, aimed at niche applications for which conventional panels are not suitable. The company plans to build the first roll-to-roll production facility for perovskite solar cells in the Netherlands by 2030. March 16, 2026 Pilar Sanchez Molina The Dutch research institute Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) has announced the establishment of Perovion Technologiesa new company dedicated to the industrialization of solar cells based on lightweight and flexible perovskite materials. The spin-off aims to take the technology from laboratory-scale development to large-scale industrial production. According to Sjoerd Veenstra,…

The UK government has launched what it called the ‘biggest transformation of apprenticeships in a decade’, with £1 billion in funding to unlock 200,000 new jobs and apprenticeships for young people. In addition to several new reforms and plans, the program also includes the creation of new apprenticeships in the areas of ‘Installation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging points’ and ‘Installation and maintenance of solar PVs’. Apprenticeship units are a new training format introduced by the government that are shorter in duration than traditional apprenticeships and designed to fill skills gaps in the most urgent areas. There are huge…

By Martin McConnell March 16, 2026 This week on Projects Weekly, Creekstone Energy is setting records in Utah and Origis Energy is beefing up its solar and storage portfolio nationwide. In the funding world, PowerBank Corporation, Primergy, and Arevon are making major moves stateside, and Aypa and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation have secured financing in Ontario, Canada. Cypress Creek and Aspen Power have both made moves in the project M&A realm, and ECA Solar has surpassed the 150 MW mark for its portfolio. Finally, the city of Oceanside, California has been rewarded for its efforts in…

The Minister of Energy confirms the plan to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources, including support for residential solar energy in response to the conflict in Iran. The Summer Contracts for Difference Auction (CfD) follows quickly on the heels of the record solar allocation round in February 2026. March 16, 2026 Matthew Lynas A plug-in PV system deployed on a balcony. Image: Verbraucherzentrale NRW/Jörg Sutter The UK government has committed to legalizing plug-in balcony solar, while bringing forward its annual auction of utility-scale renewables in response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Energy Minister Ed Miliband announced…

Austrian researchers conducted a techno-economic analysis of agrivoltaic systems and found that 5% to 16% of the country’s agricultural land would be needed to meet solar energy targets. March 16, 2026 Lior Kahana A research group led by Austria University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna conducted a techno-economic analysis of the potential of the country’s agrivoltaic installations, combining assessments of profitability for both solar energy generation and agricultural production. “Our paper presents, to our knowledge, the first integrated framework that combines the simulation of both PV electricity generation and agricultural production for agrivoltaic systems at the level of…

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has released the results of its T-4 Capacity Market (CM) auction, with battery storage gaining 3% of liabilities and gas and interconnectors gaining the largest share. The T-4 auction for delivery in 2029/30 concluded last week (March 10) with 40,108,608 MW of commitments, above the target of 39,400 MW. The clearing price was £27.10/q/yr, down more than 50% from last year’s £60/q/yr.Gas projects won 58.5% of the allocated capacity and interconnectors won 19.5%. Battery energy storage system (BESS) projects gained 1,224 MW of commitments, 3.05% of total capacity, while pumped hydro storage gained 1,352…

A European research consortium is investigating a new nanostructured silicon approach that could help crystalline silicon solar cells overcome efficiency limitations. The initiative, known as Low-Energy Electron Multiplication on Nanostructured Solar Cells (LEEMONS), aims to exploit a mechanism called low-energy electron multiplication (LEEM), which allows a single high-energy photon to generate multiple low-energy electrons, reducing energy losses that typically occur when excess photon energy is dissipated as heat. LEEM is a form of carrier multiplication (CM), a promising process that, if applied successfully, can dramatically increase the efficiency of PV devices. The process occurs when the absorption of a single…

The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project will be developed under a public-private partnership on a build-own-operate basis. March 13, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Image: Ondrej Bocek, Unsplash The Bahrain Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) has announced the shortlist of bidders for the development and construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in Bilaj Al Jazayer, on the country’s south-west coast. The selected bidders are Saudi energy giant ACWA Power and UAE-based independent power producer Yellow Door Energy (YDE). The Bilaj Al Jazayer Independent Power Project (BAJ Solar IPP) will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) on a build-own-operate…

GlobalData says global renewable capacity will more than double to 8.4 TW by 2031, with PV reaching nearly 6 TW, a compound annual growth rate of 13% from the 2025 level of 4.1 TW. The report ‘Renewable Energy: Strategic Intelligence’ says solar energy has become the main driver of global renewable energy expansion due to falling costs and supportive energy transition policies. PV generation reached 2,800 TWh in 2025, surpassing wind generation of 2,770 TWh. In terms of capacity, solar energy accounted for approximately 56.1% of global renewable capacity in 2025, with more than 2.5 TW installed. Wind represented 33.5%…