Author: solarenergy
The Dutch research institute has presented what it describes as the world’s first perovskite-based roof tile, which achieves efficiency of up to 13.8% when used as self-contained modules and 12.4% when installed on a curved surface. The flexible modules were produced using TNO’s experimental roll-to-roll platform, April 2, 2026 Emiliano Bellini The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) today unveiled a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) tile based on perovskite solar cell technology. The new product is billed as the world’s first perovskite solar tiles. “This demonstrator is supported by the Province of North Brabant through the project ‘Solar Industry to…
Energy solutions company Rolls-Royce has started construction of a 43 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Falkirk, Scotland, under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract awarded by owner-operator Voltaria Helios Energy Storage. The facility will have a storage capacity of 86MWh and is expected to be connected to the grid in 2026, with commercial operations planned for 2027. This is Rolls-Royce’s first large-scale BESS project in the UK. In addition, the company will enter into a 15-year maintenance agreement for the system. The project will use battery technology supplied by Chinese battery OEM Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL).…
Lawmakers are trying to find solutions to the increasing economic weight of energy costs on utility customers. To address this, the Maine Legislature last year overhauled its Net Energy Billing (NEB) program for nonresidential participants, but in the process eliminated the state’s community solar market. Nautilus Solar built a community solar farm on a former sand quarry in North Berwick, Maine. Credit: Nautilus Solar “There’s not much the Legislature can do to change the price of natural gas when it’s being changed by wars abroad,” said Kate Daniel, Northeast regional director of the Coalition for Community Access to Solar Energy.…
Drax, a global renewable energy company, has announced the acquisition of UK flexibility energy optimizer Flexitricity.Flexitricity offers flexible energy asset owners route-to-market (RTM) and optimization services through its proprietary AI-based control platform. This allows owners to benefit from the wholesale markets for energy, balancing and ancillary services.According to the company’s announcement, Drax expects the Flexitricity platform to help the company develop a gigawatt-scale pipeline of battery energy storage system (BESS) infrastructure. The pipeline includes both physical assets and the ability to optimize third-party assets. This will be achieved through RTM, floor and toll structures. As it looks now, the Drax…
Corporate climate strategy has decisively shifted from a specialized sustainability function to a central pillar of enterprise risk management. Today, boards of directors and executive teams face intensifying pressure from investors, regulators, and customers to deliver defensible, science-aligned decarbonization plans. In this environment, vague sustainability marketing and weak carbon claims are no longer just ineffective—they are significant reputational and compliance liabilities. As you evaluate pathways to net zero, Nature Based Solutions are frequently presented as a crucial mechanism. But for executive decision-makers, navigating the noise around these solutions requires a clear, commercially grounded understanding of what they actually mean, how…
China-based solar manufacturer Longi is shifting from a multi-vendor system design to a unified solar and storage architecture built around in-house technologies. April 2, 2026 Vincent Shaw China’s Longi has unveiled ‘Longi One’, an integrated solar-plus-storage strategy that it says will replace conventional multi-vendor project architectures with a unified system design. The strategy, announced April 1 in Beijing, marks a shift from what the company described as fragmented, “assembled” systems to full integration. Longi said the approach combines its back-contact (BC) solar technology with its ‘5S’ storage technology into a single platform it calls a ‘Solar Generator’. The company summarized…
New research from the University of New South Wales shows that the degradation of PV modules varies widely depending on system design and location, influenced by UV exposure, temperature, humidity and atmospheric conditions. Tropical and desert regions face the highest stresses, highlighting the need for climate-specific testing and system design. April 2, 2026 Emiliano Bellini Utraviolet (UV) radiation has long been recognized as a major cause of PV module degradation. However, this factor is significantly underestimated in current testing standards, especially for modern system designs and areas of high irradiation. With this in mind, a group of researchers from the…
Midea has launched a compact indoor air heat pump for renovation homes and homes with limited space. The R290-based system offers power up to 4.45 kW, a coefficient of performance of 4.5 and smart PV-compatible controls. April 2, 2026 Emiliano Bellini China-based electrical appliance manufacturer Midea has introduced a new compact air heat pump designed for indoor installation, targeting residential applications with limited space and renovation projects across Europe. The new product deviates from conventional split heat pump designs by eliminating the need for an outdoor unit. Instead, it operates entirely indoors, using two ducts for air intake and exhaust…
SolarEdge has outlined a transition path to integrated 800 V (DC) infrastructure for data centers, arguing that older alternating current (AC) systems introduce inefficiencies that could limit the growth of AI workloads. It says rising demand for computers and next-generation NVIDIA GPUs increases the urgency, with data centers losing an estimated 10% to 30% of input power through multiple conversion phases. April 1, 2026 Blathnaid O’Dea SolarEdge has published a white paper laying out a definitive strategy to address a major electrification challenge that could limit the growth of AI data centers. The March 2026 report, “Powering the AI Revolution:…
By Martin McConnell March 23, 2026 Built to last since 1955, bringing security to tracker supply with nationwide manufacturing. We deliver! This week on Projects Weekly, it’s been a banner week for new project energizations. Projects across the U.S. came online, including Origis Energy’s Wheatland Solar Project in southern Indiana, Idemitsu’s Azalea project in California, and rPlus Energies’ Blacks Creek Energy Center in Idaho’s most populous county. Nofar USA closed its solar acquisition from Pine Gate Renewables and PowerBank has announced the advancement of more than 42 MW of solar in New York. Sunraycer also began construction on two large-scale…