Author: solarenergy

The “Battery Atlas 2026” report shows consolidation in the European battery market. More than 2,000 GWh of cell production capacity was announced in 2023, but the realistic forecast for early 2026 is around 1,190 GWh, of which around 673 GWh will be led by Asian companies. March 9, 2026 Pilar Sanchez Molina Image: RWTH Aachen University By ESS news RWTH Aachen University has published the third edition of the “Battery Atlas 2026”, produced by the Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) chair. The free online report maps the European value chain of lithium-ion batteries. Titled ‘Mapping the European Lithium-Ion Battery…

The new product line includes 124–644 kW for heating and 128–632 kW for cooling, operates down to -15 C and supports various configurations with R454B or R410a refrigerants. March 9, 2026 Lior Kahana Italian heating and cooling specialist Thermocold has unveiled a new range of air-to-water heat pumps with axial fans and scroll compressors. The new system, called AWA HP SEA/XEA, is available in different versions and capacities. “High energy efficiency is ensured by extra-large heat exchangers and fans with high energy performance,” the company said in a statement. “Thanks to the innovative profile, the EC fans ensure high efficiency…

Importantly, the Energy Transition Expo held last week in Rimini, Italy, recorded a 10% increase in total visitors and a 9% increase in foreign visitors, according to organizers. “With 160 high-quality and rigorously scientific conferences, Key 2026 confirmed its status as one of Europe’s most important energy events, standing out for the comprehensiveness of the exhibition and content,” said the event’s organizer, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG). According to the organization, 530 buyers and delegations from 59 countries attended the conference, spread over 125,000 m² of exhibition space and 24 halls. The 2026 edition featured 1,065 exhibiting brands, approximately 30% of…

Global demand for lithium could exceed 13 million tons by 2050 under an accelerated energy transition, which is projected to be more than double the base case. Wood Mackenzies latest energy transition prospects for lithium. Without significant new investments, supply shortages could emerge as early as 2028. Even under Wood Mackenzie’s baseline scenario, existing supply projects are unlikely to meet demand beyond the mid-2030s, underscoring the need for sustainable investment across the value chain. “The lithium market is heading towards a supply shortage much faster than many industry players expect,” said Allan Pedersen, research director at Wood Mackenzie. “Under ambitious…

Researchers at TU Berlin say early demand for 24-hour carbon-free electricity could help bring advanced energy technologies to market faster through technology learning effects. The grant for the research was provided by Google, which has since announced plans to build the world’s largest iron-air battery. March 9, 2026 Matthew Lynas Early adoption of 24/7 carbon-free energy purchasing could quickly reduce the costs of new energy generation and storage technologies, potentially accelerating deployment and making 24-hour clean energy commercially viable, according to researchers from TU Berlin and Princeton University. The research suggests that a virtuous circle of innovation can be activated…

Despite the promise of good conversion efficiency and relatively low costs, copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) photovoltaic technology has never been able to compete with crystalline silicon and has been largely limited to the niche market for building-integrated solar photovoltaics (BIPV). High-efficiency laboratory processes for CIGS have thus far failed to scale economically to high-throughput industrial production. For example, record CIGS cells are achieved under tightly optimized growth conditions with narrow compositional and thermal windows. Such precision is manageable on small laboratory substrates, but becomes increasingly difficult on large areas where maintaining uniform stoichiometry, phase purity, and defect control requires complex vacuum infrastructure…

The National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) one-year Capacity Market (CM) auction has concluded, securing 7,192 MW of commitments, of which approximately 8% was battery storage.The T1 auction applies to delivery year 2026/2027 and saw 80% of the capacity obligations fulfilled by gas and nuclear energy, as shown in the table below. The CM pays operators for their availability during specific stress periods, predicted based on NESO models on when capacity shortages in the electricity system may occur. The clearance price was £5/kw/year, three quarters lower than last year. Battery energy storage system (BESS) projects have generated 576 MW of commitments,…

The electric grid is a real bottleneck for energy supply in the United States, and it’s not just utilities and grid operators that are struggling. Grid congestion also puts pressure on the owners of renewable energy projects and is both a business and technical problem, writes Alon Mashkovich, CEO of energy management software provider enSights. March 9, 2026 Alon Mashkovitch From pv magazine 26/2 Congestion on the electricity grid limits the value that renewable energy sources can deliver. This is especially painful for projects that are technically complete, fully permitted and funded, yet unable to bring in the targeted revenues.…

A research team from the Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics and the School of Optical and Electronic Information of Huazhong University of Science and Technology has reported a new advance in all-perovskite tandem solar cells, solving a major bottleneck in tunnel crossing design. All perovskite tandem solar cells are considered a high-potential photovoltaic technology, with a theoretical energy conversion efficiency approaching 45 percent. In practice, however, device performance has fallen short of these limits, partly due to losses and resistance at the tunnel junction connecting the upper high bandgap cell to the lower low bandgap cell. In the work reported…

Green Lancera national solar energy contractor, carries this out SolarGrade Software to support its residential and commercial solar field services. GreenLancer commissions SolarGrade to support its fieldwork activities. “We chose SolarGrade because their team’s deep understanding of solar quality is embedded in their intuitive software platform,” said Pat McCabe, COO of GreenLancer. “Unlike every other app we tested, SolarGrade is purpose-built for solar technicians and office teams to complete service calls correctly.” Since launching its nationwide home solar repair services in August 2025, GreenLancer has built a network of nearly 200 field service partners to support solar projects whose original…