Author: solarenergy
French grid operator RTE says that almost 3 TWh of renewable energy will be curtailed by 2025 due to higher solar energy production and more frequent market periods with negative prices. March 2, 2026 Gwénaëlle Deboutte By pv magazine France New data from Réseau de Transport d’Électricité (RTE), the French transmission system operator, shows that renewable energy curtailed during periods of negative prices almost doubled compared to 2024, to almost 3 TWh. The increase reflects increasing integration challenges as solar and wind capacity increases. Rising renewable energy production and more hours of zero or negative wholesale prices forced operators to…
Solar engineer and ABC Solar founder Brad Bartz will deliver a keynote-style lecture titled “The Palos Verdes Landslide: Who Turned the Power Back On?” during an upcoming community event at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles on March 14, 2026. The presentation combines scientific storytelling with real-world engineering experience, exploring how fundamental physics principles translate into resilient energy solutions. Bartz, who founded ABC Solar more than 25 years ago, is known for emphasizing the practical use of solar and battery technologies under challenging conditions. His upcoming lecture starts with a surprising starting point: quantum mechanics. “Solar energy starts with…
Silver prices have resumed their climb, reaching $95 per ounce this morning. Silver analyst Philip Newman explains pv magazine that escalating tensions in the Middle East are expected to continue to drive investment demand for safe havens such as gold and silver. March 2, 2026 Emiliano Bellini After reaching an all-time high of $121.62 per ounce on January 29 and stabilizing between $70 and $90 per ounce over the past two weeks, silver prices have started to rise again, reaching $95.80 per ounce this morning. “Escalating tensions in the Middle East are expected to continue to drive investment demand for…
Osaki Electric says it has signed an agreement to formalize the joint development of its AI-based energy management system (EMS), integrating solar power generation and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery storage. The aim is to sign a final contract by December 2026. March 2, 2026 Brian Publicover Osaki Electric Co., a Tokyo-based EMS specialist, has signed an agreement with Kyocera Corp. and two subsidiaries of Taiwan Plastics Group to formalize a joint development structure for its AI-powered energy management system. The companies said they aim to conclude a final contract by the end of December 2026. The “SmaRe:C” system concept…
The four-terminal transparent perovskite solar cell uses an ion-modulated spiro-MeOTAD hole transport layer, which passivates interfacial defects, improves carrier dynamics, and enables a tunable work function in wide bandgap perovskites. When integrated into mechanically stacked 4T tandems with an n-TOPCon cell, the device achieved an overall efficiency of 28.4–30.2%, along with improved open-circuit voltage and fill factor. March 2, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have fabricated a four-terminal (4T) transparent perovskite solar cell based on a hole transport layer (HTL) that suppresses interfacial recombination while improving photoluminescence quantum yield and quasi-Fermi level splitting. “The…
This week, Women in Solar+ Europe gives the voice to Charmaine Coutinho, Director – EMEA Energy Transition at the British FTI Consulting. She says the energy transition requires inclusive systems that actively involve underrepresented groups, ensuring diversity and equality at all levels. Drawing from decades of industry experience, she emphasizes that intentional mentorship, sponsorship and transparent leadership are essential for meaningful change and career impact. February 27, 2026 Women in Solar+ Europe The energy transition is a global shift. It is connected geographically and geopolitically across borders – even if the networks we are trying to adapt are national legacies.…
Organic semiconductors are thin, flexible materials that already underlie many consumer displays, and researchers now report a strategy that allows these materials to both efficiently emit light and harvest energy in the same device. Their work focuses on multifunctional organic components that can act as both organic light-emitting diodes and organic photovoltaic elements without sacrificing performance in either role. In conventional designs, light emission and energy generation place conflicting demands on excitons, which are bonded pairs of electrons and positively charged holes. Efficient electroluminescence requires excitons to recombine robustly to produce photons, while efficient photovoltaics requires excitons to quickly dissociate…
Weidmuller USA has its WM4 C PV connectors for advanced solar energy applications. With rugged and reliable crimp contacts that support up to 1,500 V, these UL-approved PV connectors are compatible with residential, commercial and utility solar systems. Designed with an anti-tamper locking mechanism, the WM4 C PV connectors provide a durable solution for any PV connection. Weidmuller connectors have one crimp contact for 4 mm² and 6 mm² (12 AWG and 10 AWG) cables, are CSA approved and rated up to IP67. As an added benefit, Weidmuller offers two styles of PV connectors – coupling connectors for panels and…
The Department of Energy (DOE) order sets new rules for mandatory energy storage, including a minimum capacity of at least 20% of the installed power plant capacity. DOE also calls for energy storage system (ESS) installations to have grid support capabilities, such as grid-shaping inverters to help stabilize voltage and frequency. February 27, 2026 Matthew Lynas The 40 MW/60 MWh Alaminos Energy Storage system, developed by ACEN, is connected to the 120 MW Alaminos solar farm in the Philippines. Image: ACEN By ESS news Developers building intermittent renewable power plants in the Philippines with a capacity of 10 MW or…
Penn Engineers have proposed a solar-powered orbital data center architecture that can scale to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence without drawing electricity from terrestrial networks. The concept uses flexible, tether-based structures in orbit to house thousands of computing nodes for AI inference, relying on established space tether technology rather than massive rigid platforms or huge constellations of independent satellites. The design resembles a green plant, with multiple stems containing computer hardware and branching, leaf-like solar panels. Each trunk is essentially a long cable, populated with identical nodes containing computer chips, solar power systems and cooling hardware, forming a modular…