Silicon Investor - Solar Power

[Eric] MARKETS & POLICY 24 GW of new electrification load demand has regional implicat...

Eric — 6/5/2026 8:58:05 PM

MARKETS & POLICY

24 GW of new electrification load demand has regional implications and opportunities for solar

Enverus report says growth through 2035 heavily influenced by heat pump adoption in Northeast.

By
Michael Puttré

Jun 05 2026

Markets & Policy
Midwest
Northeast

Image: Jonathan Hanna on Unsplash
Energy load growth in the U.S. is distributed across many sectors beyond data center requirements, EV charging and onshoring manufacturing. A recent report from Alberta-based Enverus Intelligence Research projects that the transitions from fuel-based technologies for many industrial and residential applications, such as space heating, will add 24 GW of load in the continental U.S. and 78 GW by 2050.

According to Enverus, electrification will account for about 4.1% of the total domestic load in the lower 48 states by 2035, however this will not be evenly distributed. About 69% of new loads will fall in the PJM, MISO and NYISO service areas.

Industrial electrification represents the largest share of new demand, the report said, accounting for 11.4 GW (47%) of total load growth. Commercial and residential sectors are expected to add 6.8 GW (29%) and 5.7 GW (24%), respectively.

Kevin Kang, report author and senior analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research, told pv magazine USA that key drivers of electrification load increase are a combination of new heat pump technologies and state policy directives mandating their adoption, such as the NY State All-Electric Buildings Act. His report projects load growth of 27% in ISO New England and 21% in New York ISO by 2035.

“With the adoption of heat pumps in the next five years, you could see loads change significantly,” Kang said. “When you have a really cold winter and all these heat pumps come on at the same time will spike that winter peak much higher than the grid is prepared for today.”

Ideally, the load increases from electrification could be met my increasing installations of solar and storage. Kang points out that many grid operators in the Northeast, such as PJM, NYISO and New England ISO, have a lot of solar in their queues being built right now. Moreover, there are a number of well-funded state solar incentive programs throughout the region.

Source: Enverus Intelligence Research

At the same time, Kang cautions that without significant planning, winter load spikes could undermine future electrification efforts. State-level electrification mandates, particularly in colder regions, are expected to drive significant relative load increases, he said. These are likely to increase winter weather sensitivity and contribute to greater market volatility.
“It’s actually ironic because when you run the economics for how heat pumps work – they move heat, they don’t generate heat – they become much less efficient in the winter while they’re very efficient in the summer,” Kang said. “Solar, particularly in the Northeast, is also less efficient in the winter, when you will be seeing the seasonal spike in load demand.”

Extreme cold weather events in the region, such as Winter Storm Fern in January, can cause widespread disruption of solar generation leading to temporarily increased reliance on fossil fuels. Given regional constraints on natural gas supplies, this has meant more oil burning.

“All types of electrification, not just heating, are time sensitive,” Kang said. “You have things like electric vehicles that need to charge overnight, you have data centers coming online, and now you add the heating and electrification portions, so it becomes a very challenging policy-driven task to plan for this.”

Retail power prices will increase depending on the infrastructure that’s being built by these utilities, he concluded. Solar generation could help address load demand and price volatility if projects proceed along with electrification trends. Otherwise, grid operating will be scrambling to meet projected load increases.

The Enverus report includes the following takeaways:

Electrification will add 24 GW of incremental U.S. load by 2035, and 78 GW by 2050;
PJM, MISO and NYISO account for 69% of 2035 load growth;
The industrial sector leads with 11.4 GW (47%), followed by commercial (6.8 GW) and residential (5.7 GW);
Electrification represents 4.1% of total load in the lower 48 states by 2035; and
Regional dynamics vary, with some areas seeing net load declines due to efficiency gains (e.g., heat pump adoption reducing electricity use).

pv-magazine-usa.com

[Wharf Rat] Germany: The world's first vertical solar plant on water | Watch Solar panels r...

Wharf Rat — 6/5/2026 11:52:28 AM

Germany: The world's first vertical solar plant on water | Watch

Solar panels rising vertically from Bavarian quarry lakes. Floating PV saves space, cuts costs, and powers gravel plants right where energy is needed. A pioneering idea with global potential

[Eric] MARKETS & POLICY How Britain became Europe’s solar sink The interconnector flo...

Eric — 6/5/2026 11:51:23 AM

MARKETS & POLICY

How Britain became Europe’s solar sink

The interconnector flows reshaping UK electricity prices

By
Ricardo PLC

03 Jun 2026

Markets & Policy
Opinion
UK
Utility-scale

Image: pv magazine / AI generated

Since 2019, the intraday structure of the GB power market has changed materially. Midday gas generation has fallen sharply, while three north-west European interconnectors now import into Britain during solar hours before reversing direction overnight. The result is a persistent £22 ($29.5)/MWh spread between midday and evening power prices that current interconnector flow patterns do not fully arbitrage.

For most of the past two decades, gas-fired generation acted as the balancing fuel of Britain’s power system. Combined-cycle gas turbines ramped through the day and eased back overnight when demand was lowest. Between 2019 and 2025, UK gas generation fell by a third and coal generation disappeared entirely. Wind and solar now generate more electricity than gas. Midday has become the cheapest period of the trading day and the most likely to clear at negative prices, while evening prices continue to reflect thermal generation costs roughly £22/MWh higher. Britain has become a daytime sink for surplus continental solar, importing power through north-west European interconnectors during daylight hours and exporting wind-driven surplus back overnight. Britain’s wind fleet supplies the discharge half of that cycle. The combination is reshaping wholesale price formation in Britain and recalibrating the economics of assets that must clear in the market.

The fossil mix is breaking

Between 2019 and 2025, the UK generation mix changed materially. Gas generation fell 33%, from 115 to 77 TWh. Coal generation fell from 5.9 TWh to zero following the closure of the UK’s last coal station in September 2024. Nuclear generation fell 35% to 34 TWh as AGR retirements accelerated. Over the same period, wind generation increased 47% to 86 TWh, solar generation rose 62% to 18.7 TWh, and net imports across the eight measurable interconnectors more than doubled to 22 TWh. Total generation remained broadly stable, falling only from 292 to 289 TWh.

At 50% LHV CCGT efficiency, the 37 TWh reduction in gas-fired generation represents approximately 7.1 bcm of natural gas displaced from the UK power sector. With underlying electricity demand broadly flat across the period, the reduction reflects supply-side substitution rather than demand contraction. The CCGT fleet has also shifted away from baseload operation toward deeper intraday cycling. Capacity factors across the UK’s 30 GW CCGT fleet fell from 44% to 29%. Half-hourly minimum gas burn declined from 2.5 GW in 2019 to 1.2 GW in 2025, with the first sub-1 GW half-hours appearing in 2024. Half-hours with less than 3 GW of gas generation increased from 46 in 2019 to 2,349 in 2025, equivalent to 13% of settlement periods.

January to April 2026: The trend has accelerated

Gas generation in January to April 2026 fell to 26.2 TWh, down 20% year on year and only 0.5 TWh above the January-to-April low recorded in 2024. Wind generation increased 34% to 36 TWh, with instantaneous output reaching a record 23.88 GW on 25 March 2026. Solar output peaked at 16.3 GW on 23 April. Whilst it may appear that the market is swinging in wind and solar’s favour, there was a clear increase in negative priced periods – meaning zero payouts from the Contracts for Differences (CfDs) that support many wind and solar projects. Negative day-ahead prices occurred in 16.9% of midday half-hours during April, up from 11.3% in summer 2025 and 7.7% in summer 2024.

02. Two operating regimes across the GB interconnector fleet

Aggregate net-flow figures obscure two distinct operating regimes across the GB interconnector fleet that only become visible at half-hourly resolution. Three cables operate as quasi-baseload importers, with two primarily carrying French nuclear-linked flows and the third reflecting Norwegian hydro dispatch under current market conditions. Three others cycle several gigawatts within the day, importing during continental solar hours and exporting overnight. Two additional cables operate as a relatively steady westward flow into Ireland. The resulting flow patterns correspond closely to the underlying supply structures of neighbouring power markets.

French interconnectors: structurally importing

IFA2 (1 GW) and ElecLink (1 GW) flowed into GB in 86% of summer 2025 half-hours, with annual churn ratios of 0.05 and 0.02 respectively. The churn ratio measures how often a cable reverses direction, with values near zero indicating near-unidirectional flow. Together the two cables delivered 11.6 TWh of net imports into GB in 2025. IFA1, the original 2 GW France interconnector, returned to full capacity in 2024. Although absent from the half-hourly dataset used here, residual import volumes suggest it also carried substantial inflows.

The flow profile reflects a structural change in French reactor dispatch. Hourly ENTSO-E data show EDF flexing its nuclear fleet by roughly 4.4 GW between midday and evening during summer 2025, compared with limited intraday modulation in 2019. The remaining midday surplus is exported into neighbouring markets, with some volume reaching GB directly through the French interconnectors and the remainder lowering continental prices coupled into the GB market. France remained a net exporter in 98.5% of hours during 2025, with total net exports of 92.3 TWh. The export profile is increasingly concentrated outside the continental midday solar peak.

Norway Link: hydro dispatch under current price conditions

NSL (1.4 GW) connects GB to the Norwegian hydro system. The cable flowed into GB in 86% of summer 2025 half-hours, with a churn ratio of 0.05 and annual net imports of 9 TWh. On annual metrics the cable resembles the French interconnectors, but the underlying dispatch logic differs. Norwegian hydro output is optimised against reservoir constraints and cross-border price spreads. Under current market conditions, GB prices continue to support southbound flows during most hours of the day. NSL already exhibits a modest intraday profile, with average flow rising from 783 MW at 14:00 to 1,184 MW around 20:00. The shape reflects the underlying optimisation incentives within the Norwegian hydro system.

Early 2026 data suggest this pattern is beginning to change. Between January and April 2026, NSL registered five aggregate export hours, with the deepest occurring at 04:00 and averaging -156 MW. This is the first quarter on record in which the Norway interconnector has shown aggregate export hours. The underlying mechanism mirrors developments already visible elsewhere in continental Europe. As midday price floors weaken further across Iberia and Benelux, the opportunity cost of holding reservoir water through GB solar hours increases, gradually changing dispatch incentives. If this pattern strengthens, NSL is likely to join the broader intraday cycling behaviour already visible on the continental-facing cables. In that scenario, the effective GB midday absorption ceiling would rise from roughly 3.4 GW across BritNed, Nemo and Viking to approximately 4.8 GW including NSL.

The cycling group: continental solar overflow

BritNed (1 GW), Nemo (1 GW) and Viking (1.4 GW) exhibit a markedly different intraday flow profile. During summer 2025, their combined hourly mean flow ranged from -1,469 MW at 05:00 to +2,135 MW at 10:00, representing an intraday swing of roughly 3.6 GW. Each cable flowed into GB during 79% to 92% of noon half-hours and exported from GB during 64% to 87% of pre-dawn half-hours. BritNed alone recorded 2.9 TWh of gross imports and 2.5 TWh of gross exports during 2025. The flow pattern is driven by continental supply conditions, with German solar generation sitting upstream of all three interconnectors.

Germany has no direct interconnection with GB, so excess midday solar generation first moves into neighbouring continental markets. As flows saturate the France-Germany corridor, the French nuclear fleet increases intraday modulation to absorb part of the surplus. Additional excess generation then spreads north through the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark before reaching GB through BritNed, Nemo and Viking. The three cables therefore reverse direction within the day, importing continental solar-linked surplus during daylight hours and exporting GB wind-linked surplus overnight.

Ireland and the discharge half of the cycle

Moyle (0.5 GW, Northern Ireland) and East-West (0.5 GW, Ireland) operate as persistent net exporters from GB into the Irish market, delivering 3.9 TWh westward during 2025. The all-island Irish system remains heavily wind exposed and uses GB as a balancing sink during low-demand periods. The largest exports occur overnight when GB wind output is strongest and Irish demand is weakest. Combined with the overnight reversal of the cycling interconnectors, these flows return power to neighbouring markets during periods of elevated GB wind generation. Between 22:00 and 06:00 the cycling cables collectively export from GB, reaching roughly -1,469 MW around 05:00. At that hour, GB wind generation contributes approximately 7.4 GW, equivalent to 33% of transmission system demand. These overnight reversals complete the daily import-export cycle created by continental solar inflows during the day and GB wind surplus overnight.

03. Midday compression and interconnector spreads

GB wholesale prices now exhibit pronounced intraday compression around midday solar hours. Summer baseload prices rose from £19/MWh in 2019 to £36.50/MWh in 2025 following the 2022 gas shock, but the more significant structural change has occurred within the trading day. In summer 2019, midday and evening prices were broadly aligned, with CCGTs setting marginal prices through most hours. By summer 2025, the spread between midday and evening prices had widened to roughly £22/MWh. Midday prices averaged near £28/MWh, while evening prices continued to reflect thermal generation costs closer to £50/MWh. Negative midday prices, largely absent before 2020, occurred in 11.3% of summer midday half-hours during 2025 and in 16.9% of midday half-hours during April 2026. The April monthly low reached -£29.27/MWh.

The resulting capture-rate compression is most visible in solar generation. UK wind capture rates declined from 96% of baseload prices in 2019 to 90% in 2025, while solar capture rates fell from 97% to 83% over the same period. The compression is structural rather than cyclical. Solar generation remains concentrated in the same hours in which prices now clear lowest and increasingly below zero. Projects bidding into the AR8 CfD auction in summer 2026 will need to seriously consider the risk of sustained exposure to negative priced periods in their bids.

The cycling interconnectors are arbitraging a different intraday spread. The cables reverse direction around dawn, approximately twelve hours before the GB evening peak. Combined flows shift from peak imports of 2,135 MW at 10:00 to peak exports of 1,469 MW at 05:00. During 2025, the volume-weighted GB price associated with imports across the cycling trio averaged £41.69/MWh, while the export-weighted GB price averaged £38.54/MWh. On the GB side, the cables therefore captured a slightly negative average spread. The wider £22/MWh midday-to-evening spread sits largely outside the hours in which the cables reverse direction. In practice, the interconnectors are arbitraging GB midday prices against the continental pre-dawn ramp rather than the GB evening peak. The deeper intraday spread driving solar capture-rate compression therefore remains largely uncaptured within the GB market.

CCGT operators face the same structural shift from the opposite side of the curve. A 29% capacity factor across a 30 GW fleet implies that energy-market revenues no longer dominate fleet economics. Capacity Market revenues and balancing services are becoming increasingly central to asset viability, raising questions around the economics of hydrogen-ready conversion relative to staged retirement against a rapidly expanding BESS pipeline.

Interconnector saturation and the battery response

The next phase of market evolution is likely to be driven by the same intraday dynamics already visible today. Continued solar expansion across Iberia and Benelux is expected to place further downward pressure on continental midday prices, increasing the incentive for additional imports into GB through the cycling interconnectors and deepening midday price compression within the GB market. Early 2026 data already show NSL beginning to register aggregate export hours. If this behaviour becomes established, the effective GB midday import absorption ceiling would increase from roughly 3.4 GW to approximately 4.8 GW. Under current market conditions, this would temporarily expand the system’s ability to absorb additional continental midday surplus.

Beyond that point, two countervailing pressures begin to emerge. First, continued solar growth across continental Europe is likely to increase intraday nuclear modulation within France, reducing the volume of exportable midday surplus available to neighbouring systems. Second, NESO Future Energy Scenarios project sustained GB electricity-demand growth associated with electrification, firming GB midday prices and narrowing the spread that currently draws low-cost imports into the GB market.

Current regulatory structures were designed around a different interconnector flow profile. Ofgem’s cap-and-floor framework continues to assess projects largely around directional merchant flows, while current cable revenues increasingly depend on intraday spread capture. Similarly, NESO trading-cap structures were developed for a system dominated by persistent one-way flows rather than repeated intraday reversals.

In both scenarios, the market signal points toward the same outcome: additional intraday storage capacity within GB. The £22/MWh spread between midday and evening prices strongly favours assets capable of charging during solar hours and discharging into the evening peak within the same market. The spread persists because the relevant arbitrage window occurs largely outside the hours in which the cycling interconnectors reverse direction. At current spreads, a 1 GW four-hour battery cycling once per day captures gross arbitrage revenues of roughly £32 million per gigawatt-year before Capacity Market or balancing-service revenues.

The 23 GW to 27 GW battery target set in the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Plan reenforces the market’s signals that additional storage is required. However, as additional storage capacity enters the market, it is likely to compress the midday-to-evening spread and replace part of the balancing role currently performed through cross-border cycling. WSP’s Electricity Market Outlook projections suggest declining TB1-4 spreads and lower operating hours for storage over the 2030s as storage cannibalizes its arbitrage opportunities.

How WSP’s Electricity Market Outlook can help

How quickly will continued continental solar expansion push the GB cycling interconnectors toward their effective absorption limit? At what point does additional GB BESS deployment begin to materially compress the midday-to-evening spread currently visible in the GB market? These questions are increasingly central to CfD bid strategy, interconnector economics and storage investment decisions.

WSP’s Electricity Market Outlook (EMO) is designed to analyse these market dynamics. The underlying PRIMES model has supported European Commission energy-policy analysis for more than two decades and simulates all major European electricity markets simultaneously through to 2050. Cross-border flows are derived using a replication of the EUPHEMIA market-coupling algorithm used by ENTSO-E. Model outputs include hourly wholesale prices, capture rates, negative-price frequency and depth, curtailment exposure, interconnector utilisation and BESS profitability projections at both country and asset level. These outputs provide the quantitative basis for CfD bid assessment, Window 3 interconnector business-case analysis and long-term storage revenue modelling.

Author: Safa Sen, Market Engagement Lead For CWE at Ricardo, Member of WSP.

Ricardo is a member of professional service firm WSP Group, uniting engineering, advisory and science-based expertise to shape communities to advance humanity. ? ?From local beginnings to a globe-spanning presence today, it operates in over 50 countries and provides solutions and delivers innovative projects across sectors: Transport & Infrastructure, Property & Buildings, Earth & Environment, Water, Power & Energy and Mining & Metals.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] MARKETS & POLICY Africa: A Quiet PV Revolution with Global Implications A hidd...

Eric — 6/4/2026 4:50:28 PM

MARKETS & POLICY

Africa: A Quiet PV Revolution with Global Implications

A hidden solar boom is now spreading across Africa

By
Toby Couture and David Jacobs

03 Jun 2026

Markets & Policy
Africa
Opinion

On-site solar and storage ensures reliable electricity supply for businesses at the Midway Square Industrial Park in South Africa. | Image: Renen Energy Solutions

Anyone looking at the official figures for solar energy expansion in Africa is likely to massively underestimate the actual pace of development. While international databases continue to focus primarily on large, publicly announced solar parks and mini-grid projects, a much more dynamic reality is emerging in the background: a decentralized, privately financed, and economically driven solar boom that is spreading across the continent.

A look at import/export data from China tells the story: according to analyses by the African Solar Industry Association (AfSIA), annual expansion figures nearly quadruple once these data are taken into account. There is little evidence of large inventories so far—so there is strong reason to believe that the modules being shipped to countries across the continent are largely being bought and installed in-country.

This has far-reaching consequences: the actual solar boom in Africa is taking place not primarily in state-planned large-scale projects, but on thousands of homes and businesses across the continent: on factory roofs, at shopping centers, hotels, cell towers, farms, and in residential complexes. It is a market that is developing largely outside the radar of traditional energy planning processes.

Solar does not compete with grid power—but with diesel power

The logic of the African solar market differs fundamentally from that of European or North American markets. In countries like Nigeria, solar energy does not primarily compete with cheap grid power. It competes with gasoline or diesel generators.

In many African countries, power outages are a daily occurrence. The result is that for years, businesses, hospitals, hotels, and manufacturing plants have had to purchase (and service) expensive back-up generators—often at enormous cost. Diesel power is expensive, noisy, maintenance-intensive, and dependent on volatile import prices.

Against this backdrop, solar-plus-storage systems are fundamentally changing the economic equation.

With pay-back times of one to two years in certain parts of the continent, a market is emerging that is not reliant on subsidies but instead that is driven by commercial self-interest

This also explains the market’s remarkable structure: According to AfSIA, around 85 percent of newly installed solar capacity is in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. Private households have so far played only a minor role. The driving forces are companies whose business models depend on a reliable power supply. For such companies, solar is increasingly becoming a matter of competitiveness and operational reliability.

Mini-grids, battery storage, and private solar systems can scale much faster and more cost-effectively than traditional power plants and grid expansion plans. This does not mean that central grids will become obsolete.

However, their role is likely to change: away from being the sole backbone of the supply system, toward becoming part of an increasingly hybrid energy system.

China’s Key Role

China plays a key role in this context. Chinese manufacturers not only dominate the global solar market but are also redefining energy relations with Africa. Falling module and battery storage prices are what make solar power economically attractive in the first place. At the same time, China’s recent decision to allow duty-free imports of African goods points to a deepening economic partnership that extends beyond purely energy-related issues.

It is also noteworthy how broadly this growth is now spreading. While South Africa remains the continent’s largest solar market, import analyses show that around 82 percent of solar modules were recently shipped to other African countries. This suggests that the momentum is now spreading far beyond individual pioneer markets—particularly to West and East Africa.

The open question: What will happen to the energy supply companies?

As with all profound shifts, this development also raises difficult questions.

Many state-owned energy utilities on the continent are already operating at a loss. Electricity rates are often kept low for political reasons and generally do not cover actual costs. Investments in grid expansion is trailing the growth in demand, while technical losses and payment defaults remain high. If the most financially profitable customers—businesses, commercial entities, and wealthier households—increasingly set up their own solar power systems, utilities face the threat of spiralling revenue losses.

This creates a potentially dangerous cycle: as the more profitable customers start to defect from the grid, the more difficult it becomes to finance power system infrastructure, particularly grid expansion and reliability improvements. And as power quality suffers, the more attractive decentralized solar solutions become.

How governments and energy suppliers will respond to this development remains to be seen. Possible solutions include financing the energy infrastructure through public funds and subsidies, new grid fees, regulatory interventions, or import restrictions. Equally possible, however, is a strategic shift in which energy suppliers themselves increasingly become platforms for decentralized energy supply.

Opportunities for rapid, cost-effective development:

The narrow focus on the negative consequences for energy utilities obscures the enormous opportunities for economic development.

In many African countries, the lack of access to energy and electricity has been the reason for stagnant economic development. The solar+storage revolution is now enabling rapid and cost-effective access to energy—one of the key drivers of economic development and rising living standards.

A quiet PV revolution with global significance

One thing is certain: Africa’s solar boom is no longer a vision of the future. It is already happening—and since this transformation is predominantly driven by market forces, decentralization, and pragmatism, it could prove more sustainable (both financially and environmentally) than many state-planned expansion programs.

The crucial question is therefore no longer whether solar energy will grow massively in Africa. The crucial question is how quickly political, regulatory, and infrastructural systems can adapt to this new reality.

About the authors: Toby Couture is the founder and director of E3 Analytics, an independent renewable energy consultancy in Berlin, Germany. He has 15 years’ experience in the sector and has advised dozens of national and state governments throughout the world on renewable energy policy, strategy, and finance.

David Jacobs is the managing director and founder of International Energy Transition GmbH (IET). He has 20 years’ experience in energy policy design, authoring more than 100 publications. He has advised policymakers in more than 40 countries.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] MARKETS & POLICY UK hits 22.3 GW solar capacity as cost per kW falls Latest go...

Eric — 6/4/2026 4:47:10 PM

MARKETS & POLICY

UK hits 22.3 GW solar capacity as cost per kW falls

Latest government data records 2,026,000 installations totaling 22.3 GW of capacity. Total installed capacity grew by 11.2% over the 12 months to the end of April 2026.

By
Matthew Lynas

04 Jun 2026

Markets & Policy
Europe
UK

Carbon emission rules in new building regulations for England are expected to result in significant rooftop PV deployment in the years ahead. | MCS

There are now more than 2 million solar installations in the United Kingdom, according to government data, with total capacity reaching 22.3 GW at the end of April 2026.

UK solar deployment is on an upward trajectory with 2.3 GW added in the 12-months to the end of April 2026, representing 11.2% growth in total installed capacity. Deployment data reveal nine of the top ten months on record for solar installations fell within the past 12 months.

There were 22,733 solar installations in April 2026, accounting for 107 MW of capacity. This was below the 194 MW of new capacity recorded for April 2025, however deployment data compiled by the UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) is provisional and subject to revision as more information becomes available.

Utility-scale solar installations still account for the majority of UK solar in capacity terms, but deployment volume in the residential segment drove total installations beyond 2 million in March, with further growth anticipated.

Projects with capacity of 50 kW or greater are responsible for the majority of UK solar capacity, but interest in residential solar has pushed the total number of installations beyond 2 million.
Source: UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Factors supporting residential growth include falling prices, with the cost of installing solar decreasing across all market segments in the 2025/26 financial year after accounting for inflation, according to UK government data. The median cost of 0 kW to 4 kW installations was down 9%, 4 kW to 10 kW was down by 8%, and 10 kW to 50 kW were down 3% compared to 2024/2025, according to DESNZ data.

Policies in place to support further deployment include new regulations to allow plug-in solar, energy efficiency regulations for England and Wales that will effectively mandates solar for new homes, and support for home upgrades through the UK government’s Warm Homes Plan expected later in 2026.

Summer 2026 will also bring the eighth allocation round for the UK government’s contracts for difference (CfD) scheme, and a strong auction for solar is key to achieving 2030 clean power targets. The UK government wants to see solar capacity reach at least 45 GW by 2030. The next CfD action is scheduled for July.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] APPLICATIONS & INSTALLATIONS Vietnam’s first direct power purchase agreement en...

Eric — 6/4/2026 4:46:11 PM

APPLICATIONS & INSTALLATIONS

Vietnam’s first direct power purchase agreement enters operation

Energy analyst Lam Pham tells pv magazine direct power purchase agreements will be a significant catalyst for solar deployment in Vietnam after the first such agreement, tied to a 49 MW solar plant, begins operating.

By
Patrick Jowett

03 Jun 2026

Applications & Installations
Asia-Pacific
Commercial & industrial
Highlights

Duc Hue 2 solar power plant | Image: Samsung Electronics

Vietnam’s first grid-connected direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) is now live.

The DPPA is between Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SVET) and TTC Duc Hue–Long An Power, developer of the 49 MW Duc Hue 2 solar power plant in Tây Ninh province, southern Vietnam.

Under the terms of the agreement, SVET’s smartphone factory, located in the Yen Binh Industrial Park in northern Vietnam, will receive approximately 70 GWh of solar electricity each year, equivalent to the annual power consumption of roughly 17,000 Vietnamese households.

SEVT’s factory manufactures Samsung products. Image: Samsung Electronics“

Through this first DPPA contract, we hope to contribute to promoting the development of Vietnam’s renewable energy market, while actively supporting global efforts to address the climate change crisis,” commented Na Ki Hong, General Director of Samsung Vietnam.
Lam Pham, Energy Analyst, Asia, at Ember told pv magazine Vietnam’s first operational DPPA marks a pivotal moment for the country’s energy transition.

“For years, multinational corporations operating in Vietnam have faced structural bottlenecks in meeting their global RE100 commitments,” he said. “The project is proof that the regulatory framework is now viable in practice and will significantly enhance Vietnam’s attractiveness to green foreign direct investment.”

The legal framework for DPPAs in Vietnam first came into effect in July 2024, Pham said, initially with rigid eligibility conditions limited to large electricity users for production purposes. He explained this was replaced with an updated decree in March 2025, relaxing these conditions and introducing more detailed guidance on both physical private DPPAs and grid-connected DPPA contracts.

Pham added that he expects DPPAs to be a significant catalyst for solar deployment in Vietnam, particularly in the commercial and industrial sector. He said there are many multinational manufacturers operating in the country carrying corporate renewable energy commitments, including 159 with 100% renewable energy targets.

“The DPPA mechanism now gives them and future investors with green commitments a direct, bankable route to fulfil the target,” Pham explained. “This will unlock massive private investment into solar development that was previously constrained by the state utility model.”

Pham also said that looking ahead, Vietnam’s revised time-of-use tariff framework, which removes the morning peak and concentrates high tariffs in the evening, is likely to reshape how DPPAs are structured.

“As midday solar generation no longer aligns with peak pricing, future deals will increasingly need to pair generation with storage or renewables that perform better in the evening such as wind power,” he told pv magazine. “This is likely to push the market toward more flexible, integrated energy sources.”

Vietnam’s solar capacity surpassed 19 GW by the end of 2025, with around 586 MW of solar added last year.

pv-magazine.com

[Wharf Rat] Solar panel farms in Tibet are having an unexpected effect on local residents St...

Wharf Rat — 6/4/2026 12:31:44 PM

Solar panel farms in Tibet are having an unexpected effect on local residents
Story by Noelle Corbett
Jun 02

Solar panels covering a large green field© Tpg/Getty Images

While China is responsible for over half of the world's annual coal use, it's also been investing heavily in solar energy projects. The biggest is the Gonghe Photovoltaic Park, which covers 162 square miles of the Tibetan Plateau, an area seven times the size of Manhattan. The solar farm has been quietly changing the desert around it, as the panels create the right conditions for the soil below to encourage plant growth. Another solar farm in the area, Talatan Solar Park, has made an agreement with local farmers that allows sheep to graze in the area, which shows how green energy facilities can have a positive but unexpected impact on residents.

Solar grazing, as it's been called, involves sheep serving as a natural landscaping crew. The grass beneath solar farms can grow so high that it blocks sunlight or becomes a fire risk, but the sheep enjoy the shade of the panels and will happily graze. They're even more efficient than lawnmowers, too, as they can fit into small spaces between poles and panels — not to mention they're more environmentally friendly. These solar grazing deals also provide an additional (often much needed) source of income for local farmers.

Talatan's solar panels were even adjusted with the sheep in mind. The first ones installed in 2012 were too short for animals to graze beneath, so they're now mounted higher. Tibet isn't the only place using sheep to keep the area beneath solar panels clean. Since 2018, the American Solar Grazing Association (ASGA) has worked to bring farmers and solar companies together in a mutually beneficial way.

Solar projects can do more than supply clean energy

Sheep grazing between solar panels at a massive solar farm in Tibet© Xinhua/Zhang Long

Though the primary goal of solar projects is obviously to provide clean energy and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, they can have additional environmental and economic benefits. Separate studies have found that the soil below solar installations was healthier, in turn encouraging biodiversity, and that solar panels have already saved lives by reducing air pollution. Investing in solar can also bring down energy costs and create jobs.

That's not to say the unintentional effects of solar farms are all positive. Solar panels can pose a threat to wildlife, particularly birds, who can't tell the difference between solar farms and lakes. They also need to cover a lot of space to generate enough energy to put a dent in our power needs; to put it in perspective, it would take millions of solar panels to equal one nuclear reactor. Building large enough facilities can mean having to disturb wildlife or displace residents. That often impacts low-income and minority communities, as well as farmers.

While many arguments against solar and other forms of renewable energy are not made in good faith, there are legitimate social, economic, and environmental concerns that need to be addressed. Still, practices like solar grazing show that the consequences of solar farms aren't always negative. Transitioning to green energy sources is an important piece of fighting man-made climate change, and if we can do it in a way that has further benefits for the local ecosystem and economy, that's even better.

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[Eric] The Kardashev Scale: Australia’s staggering energy transition and its untapped ...

Eric — 6/3/2026 2:12:52 PM

The Kardashev Scale: Australia’s staggering energy transition and its untapped opportunity

Source: Freepik

Josef Tadich

Jun 3, 2026

COMMENTARY

Australia stands at the threshold of one of the world’s most profound energy transformations: shifting from thermal dominance– primarily coal and gas– to a renewables and storage-led system powered by abundant, free solar.

Electrification is expected to roughly double electricity demand to 500 TWh a year by 2050, equivalent to the electricity consumption of major industrial countries such as Germany, France, and South Korea, while coal plants retire faster.

The numbers are staggering and the pace is accelerating. The question is not whether the system can adapt, but how quickly it can harness storage to manage intermittency without compromising reliability, paving the way for Australia to become a renewable energy superpower.

The Kardashev Scale: Where humanity stands and where we are headed

In the 1960s, Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev proposed a method for measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement based on their ability to harness energy, which provided a useful basis in scanning the stars for signs of life.

Broadly speaking, a Type I civilization controls all of the energy received by its local star at the planet’s surface, a Type II civilization harnesses the total energy output of the parent star (often visualised as a Dyson sphere) and a Type III civilization: commands the energy of an entire galaxy, something even the boldest futurists have difficulty in describing.

Carl Sagan, visionary astronomer and communicator, further developed and popularised this concept in 1973 as a logarithmic formula based on the total power use (P) of a civilisation.

Our local star, the Sun, generates an incredible 3.8 x 1024 W, or 380 trillion Terawatts (TW) of power. After travelling 150 million kilometres to Earth in a little over 8 minutes, roughly 120,000 TW reaches Earth’s surface as solar insolation. The sun powers life on our planet, and every form of fossil fuel via photosynthesis over millions of years. Renewables capture that energy directly.

According to the latest International Energy Association (IEA) data, humanity’s total primary energy consumption is approximately 650 exajoules (EJ) of energy per year, that’s energy from all sources from fossil fuels and nuclear, through to renewables and everything in between. An exajoule is 1018 J, and to make it a meaningful comparison we can convert this to the average power over a year, which equate to 20 Terawatts (TW).

Looking into electrification, only around 15% (2.8 TW) of this power is used in the electrical power system globally, with the rest being used directly via combustion thermally.

On the Kardashev scale, humanity is at 0.73, meaning we are only using roughly one ten-thousandth of the energy arriving from our local star, less than half an hour of solar generation per year to power the planet. There is no shortage of energy available to the system, in fact there is an abundance.

In Australia, the scale of this opportunity is immediately evident. The country receives an average of 1,800 TW of solar power – 100 times the entire primary energy consumption of the planet.

In 2024, Australia’s total primary energy consumption was 5997 PJ, roughly 186 GW of average power, excluding exports. Australia therefore receives 10,000 times more energy than what is needed domestically. Less than 20 minutes of peak solar generation would fulfill all of Australia’s primary energy needs for a year, and less than 3 minutes to power the entire electrical grid.

Australia is an energy superpower, exporting almost 1500 PJ (black coal and Liquified Natural Gas predominantly) per year (472 GW), 2.5 times our total primary consumption, an enormous amount though dwarfed by the renewable potential.

However, for transport we consume 1604 PJ (480TWh) of liquid fuels (petrol/diesel), with 90% of these imported and subject to economic and security impacts outside of our sovereign control.

Electrifying the transport sector is well underway, comparing the average Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle consumption of 12.8L/100km, this equates to 1250Wh/km, compared to the average EV consumption of 150 Wh/km showing the remarkable energy efficiency of EVs, as well as the remarkable inefficiency of ICE vehicles.

Illustrating this point: one million EVs would require just 2 TWh of electricity per year to run – less than 1% of annual demand. Yet this displaces 1500 ML (58 PJ) of imported fuel consumption, equivalent to about 10 days of consumption or roughly a third of Australia’s fuel reserves.

In terms of impact to consumers, 1500ML of fuel costs $3.75b (at $2.50/L), as opposed to 2 TWh at $160m (at commonly available 8c/kWh overnight charging rates), a more than 95% saving of $3.59 and commensurate

From thermal dominance to renewable displacement

To illustrate the Kardashev scale’s vision of solar abundance in action, consider Australia’s grids, where renewables are steadily displacing thermal sources. Fifteen years ago, the National Electricity Market (NEM) generation mix was dominated by coal at approximately 80%.

Today, coal’s share of total generation has fallen below 50% and continues to fall each year. In 2025, gross electricity generation in the NEM, including behind-the-meter rooftop solar, was roughly 220 TWh, with 30 TWh (13% of generation) from rooftop solar alone.

This is a staggering transition in less than 10 years and is expected to continue at pace. Utility-scale batteries now shift around 1% of generation (1.7 TWh), tripling since 2024. Residential home batteries are ramping up solar self-consumption behind the meter and will increasingly shape net grid demand.

Rooftop solar now routinely exceeds 10 GW during the day, while utility-scale renewables have displaced thermal generation to an extraordinary degree.

Coal and Combined Cycle Gas Turbines that once operated as baseload are now routinely ramped down to 50% or lower during the day, with individual units bidding out of the market — behaviour that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

The classic “duck curve” is becoming deeper and more pronounced, with midday net loads collapsing and evening ramps becoming ever steeper. Gas-powered generation has also declined sharply, from around 10% of NEM energy 10 years ago to approximately 4% in 2025, although there is still a live debate about its role during periods of regional low-renewable generation.

May 2026 average generation profile for the NEM ( Open Elecricity)

In Western Australia, the smaller South West Interconnected System (SWIS) has had a much more dramatic transition: In 2015, SWIS gross generation was 17 TWh (50% coal, 40% gas, 10% wind, negligible solar); by 2025, the mix is 28% coal and 28% gas, with extraordinary rooftop-solar generation of over 20%. Battery generation hit 3% of gross generation and is expected to almost double in 2026.

These shifts from thermal reliance to solar and battery displacement show Australia’s accelerating path to energy plenty, where intermittent renewables are rapidly becoming the grid’s reliable backbone and setting the stage for exponential scaling in the years ahead.

Open Electricity – Annual SWIS Energy ( Open Electricity)

A positive and inevitable transition

Australia is not facing an energy shortage; we are surrounded by abundance. The challenge is one of timing, location, and system management. Yet at the same time, renewable curtailment is continually rising, hitting 7,200 GWh in 2025 (almost double the previous year’s figure).

Utility-scale batteries, deployed at scale and integrated intelligently, can resolve this by converting intermittent renewable generation into firm, dispatchable, low-emissions energy, enabling the retirement of the last coal plants without compromising reliability.

The transition is not a question of if, but of how quickly and how smoothly. By clearing paths for more solar and storage today, we secure our place in the AI/data centre boom and unlock sovereign manufacturing potential.

We’ve been building this ecosystem for decades – the technology is here. Australia can seize it to emerge as a true renewable energy superpower. The economics make sense for powering our economy on the lowest-cost energy on Earth, advancing us further along the Kardashev scale.

Josef Tadich is regional director, APAC, for Tesla Energy.

reneweconomy.com.au

My comments:

I was convinced of this inevitable transition over fifty years ago.

I had the pleasure of personally meeting Dr. Carl Sagan back in the late 1970's on the campus at the University of Washington while he cut some promo videos for his upcoming science series Cosmos on PBS in our studios at KCTS-9.

Eric

[Eric] Svea Solar Utility raises €185 million to develop 220MW Swedish solar-plus-stora...

Eric — 6/2/2026 5:14:17 PM

Svea Solar Utility raises €185 million to develop 220MW Swedish solar-plus-storage pipeline

By JP Casey

June 2, 2026

Markets & Finance, Financial & Legal

Europe

‘Our successful path towards profitability and increased customer satisfaction has put in place the conditions for stable and long-term growth,’ said Svea Solar CEO Mattias Ringqvist, left. Image: Svea Solar.

Swedish independent power producer (IPP) Svea Solar Utility has secured €185 million (USS$215.4 million) in finance from the Eiffel Investment Group and Arkéa Asset Management to support the development of Sweden’s largest solar PV project.
The holding company financing facility will be used to support the “development, construction and operations” of solar PV and battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Sweden, according to Svea Solar Utility.

While the company did not specify how this financing would be deployed in particular, it noted that it already has 220MW of solar PV capacity in operation or under construction in Sweden, including a 120MW project that, upon the start of commercial operations, will be the largest in the country, with a slightly larger capacity than Alight’s 100MW Hultsfred project that started commercial operations last year.

“In today’s market environment, institutional capital concentrates behind platforms with proven execution and scale,” said Svea Solar Utility managing director Pieter Godderis. “This financing is a critical building block to grow our operational portfolio past 2GW over the next five years, while reinforcing our financial strength and long-term reliability our power purchase agreement (PPA) partners expect.”

Private financing mechanisms for European renewables were a key topic of discussion at last month’s Renewables Procurement & Revenue summit, hosted by PV Tech publisher Solar Media in London.

Experts discussed the importance of more “sophisticated” investment and trading mechanisms to get the most out of an increasingly complex array of renewable energy projects in Europe. These projects are now more likely than ever to include co-located technologies, such as solar and storage, and this is reflected in the technology mix of Svea Solar Utility’s own portfolio.

Altor to take direct control of Svea Solar UtilitySvea Solar Utility is also the utility-scale subsidiary of Svea Solar, which has been operating “largely independently” from the wider Svea Solar group, according to the group on LinkedIn. Svea Solar also announced that its majority owner, Swedish private equity firm Altor, would spin out Svea Solar Utility into a “wholly separate entity” that operates “directly under Altor”, with a new company name to be announced later this year.

“Our successful path towards profitability and increased customer satisfaction has put in place the conditions for stable and long-term growth with our energy solution, Sunbeam, at the core,” said Svea Solar CEO Mattias Ringqvist, referring to the company’s virtual power plant programme Sunbeam. “In this situation, it is logical to continue to simplify and streamline our business.”

pv-tech.org

[Eric] Avaada secures US$950 million financing for FDRE and solar PV projects in India ...

Eric — 6/2/2026 5:12:11 PM

Avaada secures US$950 million financing for FDRE and solar PV projects in India

By Shreeyashi Ojha

June 2, 2026

Markets & Finance, Financial & Legal

Asia & Oceania, Southeast Asia & Oceania

The financing covers a firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) project in Bikaner, Rajasthan, alongside two 300MW solar PV projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Image: Avaada Group.

Indian renewable energy developer Avaada Group has secured nearly US$950 million in debt financing across three utility-scale renewable energy projects.
The financing covers a firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE) project in Bikaner, Rajasthan, alongside two 300MW solar PV projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat. According to the firm, this is the country’s largest financing transaction for an FDRE project.

The Bikaner FDRE project is being developed under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with SJVN, while the Rajasthan solar project has secured a PPA with NTPC and the Gujarat project has an offtake agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI).

Debt financing was provided through separate banking consortiums comprising Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India, HSBC, DBS, SMBC, MUFG and BNP Paribas.

All three projects are currently under construction and are scheduled to be commissioned during fiscal years 2027 and 2028.

“This landmark financing is not just a milestone for Avaada, but a defining moment for India’s renewable energy evolution. The successful closure of India’s largest FDRE financing transaction demonstrates growing confidence in advanced clean energy solutions capable of delivering reliable, round-the-clock green power at scale. As India’s energy demand rises, the future will belong to integrated clean energy platforms that can combine sustainability, reliability and energy security,” said Vineet Mittal, Chairman, Avaada Group.

The financing highlights growing lender appetite for India’s renewable energy sector, particularly FDRE projects, which combine renewable generation with dispatchable power delivery to support grid reliability and round-the-clock clean energy supply.

Last October, Avaada signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to develop 5GW of solar PV, 1GW of wind and 5GWh of battery energy storage across the state’s Kutch, Banaskantha and Surendranagar districts. The projects, backed by an investment of INR360 billion (US$4.05 billion), are scheduled to be developed between 2027 and 2030.

That same month, the company also announced the start of construction on a 2,500MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) paired with a 1,560MWp solar PV project in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district. The project is expected to provide dispatchable renewable power and enhance grid reliability once operational.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] PNM seeks approval for 240MW solar and 610MW storage in New Mexico resource plan...

Eric — 6/2/2026 5:09:39 PM

PNM seeks approval for 240MW solar and 610MW storage in New Mexico resource plan

By Shreeyashi Ojha

June 2, 2026

Markets & Finance, Companies

Americas

The proposal includes 800MW of wind, 240MW of solar PV, 610MW of battery energy storage and 40MW of natural gas generation. Image: Unsplash.

US utility PNM has filed a resource plan with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NMPRC) seeking approval for 1.69GW of new generation and energy storage capacity to support growing electricity demand and the state’s clean energy targets.

The proposal includes 800MW of wind, 240MW of solar PV, 610MW of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and 40MW of natural gas generation.

The resources are intended to replace capacity from the Four Corners Power Plant ahead of PNM’s planned coal exit in 2031, while supporting projected demand growth of 40% by 2032.

PNM said the portfolio would advance its transition towards carbon-free electricity under New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act. The utility is also seeking an additional 50-250MW of capacity through a separate procurement process, with a further filing expected in 2026.

The proposed projects form part of PNM’s US$4.9 billion five-year investment plan. The utility added that the solar, wind and BESS assets would be procured from third-party developers.

PNM said customers could also benefit from federal tax incentives available under the Inflation Reduction Act if the projects are approved and deployed before the incentives expire.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), New Mexico has 4.27GWdc of installed solar capacity, backed by approximately US$6.8 billion in investment. The industry body forecasts the state will add a further 3.39GW of solar capacity over the next five years.

Last year, the NMPRC approved a 300MW expansion of the state’s community solar programme, more than doubling the 200MW capacity originally authorised under the Community Solar Act. The initial allocation included 125MW for PNM, 45MW for Southwestern Public Service Company and 30MW for El Paso Electric.

During the same period, New Mexico lawmakers approved up to US$942 million in taxable industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) to support the development of Ebon Solar’s proposed Apollo solar cell manufacturing facility in Bernalillo County. The project is planned for the Mesa del Sol industrial development area near Albuquerque.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] Ember: Chinese import figures presage ‘major acceleration’ in Philippines roofto...

Eric — 6/2/2026 5:07:26 PM

Ember: Chinese import figures presage ‘major acceleration’ in Philippines rooftop solar

By Will Norman

June 1, 2026

Power Plants, Projects

Asia & Oceania, Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia & Oceania

4.133 GW of Chinese solar modules arrived at ports in the Philippines so far in 2026. Image: Guillherme Schneider on Unsplash.

The Philippines has become the second-largest market for Chinese solar panel exports, which are likely to power a surge in its rooftop solar market, according to a report from energy thinktank Ember.
In 2026, Chinese exports of solar modules to the Philippines hit new records. 4.133GW of Chinese solar modules arrived at ports in the Philippines so far in 2026. Over 2GW of Chinese panels were shipped in March 2026 alone, on top of 471MW in January, 729MW in February and 1GW in April.

The only country that has received more Chinese solar exports so far this year is the Netherlands, which acts as a hub for much of Northern and Western Europe via the port of Rotterdam.

The Philippines has overtaken Pakistan, Brazil, Spain and France as a destination for Chinese PV products, Ember said.

The record 2026 levels follow sustained growth in imports in 2025; according to United Nations data analysed by Ember, net solar panel imports into the country rose from US$365 million in 2024 to US$483 million in 2025, corresponding to 3,130MW to 5,068MW of solar products, respectively (taking into account the falling price of solar modules).

Ember said that the surge in imports presages a “major acceleration” in the Philippines rooftop solar market.

In recent years, imports of solar modules have been far in excess of utility-scale solar deployments—in 2025, imports reached more than five-times the amount of deployed utility-scale solar reported by the country’s Department of Energy (DOE). Only a small fraction of the modules in the Philippines were later shipped to another country.

That huge stockpiling is “likely” to imply a major expansion of rooftop solar, Ember said. The DOE does not track residential or other rooftop solar installations, but through analysis of satellite images, electricity generation rates and power prices, as well as module import levels, the think tank said it expects the Philippines’ rooftop solar market to grow significantly, and that it may already have begun to do so.

Tracking rooftop solar installationsSatellite data from the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities estimated that there was 721MW of rooftop solar in the Philippines as of early 2025. Ember said this gives “little” information about the last 12 months. But by analysing power generation data from the electricity market operator, it estimates that 600MW of untracked rooftop solar capacity has been added since April 2025.

“Grid generation was much lower year-on-year at midday, when solar generation is at its peak, strongly suggesting growth in rooftop solar,” the report said.

The Philippines also has the highest electricity prices in Southeast Asia, which naturally incentivises rooftop solar installations.

Meralco, the largest power utility in the Philippines, has increased its retail electricity prices “substantially” in the last 12 months—up 17% for retail customers, 18% for commercial customers and 14% for industrial customers since May 2025. Ember said this has shortened the payback time for installing solar PV in the Philippines, taking almost a year off the payback time for residential and industrial installations and over half a year for commercial systems.

“The economics of rooftop solar are more attractive than ever, and its rapid rise is inevitable. The government has an opportunity to carve its own path on rooftop solar, to pull the Philippines out of fossil dependency, and onto a path of cheap, abundant electricity,” said Dave Jones, chief analyst at Ember.

In light of the global energy crisis emanating from the Strait of Hormuz, Ember expects rooftop solar to be embraced as a mitigation against rising prices and insecurity. The Philippines government has already declared an energy emergency and announced plans to fast-track 1.4GW of renewable energy as a result of the shock of the Iran war.

Ember said that direct support for rooftop solar is the “missing piece that can help pull the Philippines out of the energy emergency even faster and better.” It said that 3,500 MW of rooftop solar additions in 24 months is “more than possible”.

You can read Ember’s full report here.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCTS Trina Solar announces 907 W tandem solar module with 29.2...

Eric — 6/2/2026 4:20:33 PM

TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCTS

Trina Solar announces 907 W tandem solar module with 29.2% efficiency

The module achieved a full-panel conversion efficiency of 29.2% in testing by Germany’s TÜV SÜD and is designed for mass production rather than laboratory-scale use.

By
Vincent Shaw

01 Jun 2026

Technology & Products
Modules
Utility-scale

Imagen: Trina Solar

Chinese PV manufacturer Trina Solar has unveiled a 907 W n-type TOPCon-perovskite tandem solar module.

According to the company, the module achieved a full-panel conversion efficiency of 29.2% in testing by Germany’s TÜV SÜD. The product is reportedly designed for mass production, rather than a laboratory-scale sample.

The module uses a two-terminal tandem cell architecture combining an n-type TOPCon crystalline silicon bottom device with a perovskite top cell. The design is intended to absorb a broader part of the solar spectrum than conventional single-junction silicon modules.

The module measures 2,384 mm by 1,303 mm and is based on 210 mm wafer technology. It incorporates large-area perovskite film deposition, tunnel recombination contact technology, and high-reliability encapsulation.

The company said its slot-die coating and vapor-assisted crystallization process improved film uniformity in large-area perovskite layers, while a composite indium tin oxide (ITO) tunneling layer wass used to reduce recombination losses between the top and bottom cells.

The panel also utilizes dual-layer co-extruded polyolefin elastomer (POE) encapsulation and a low water-vapor transmission backsheet, along with perovskite-specific sealing materials. According to Trinasolar, the product has passed International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61215 and IEC 61730 reliability testing, including potential-induced degradation (PID), damp heat, thermal cycling, and ultraviolet (UV) aging tests.

Trinasolar said it plans to accelerate production of its perovskite-silicon tandem module line in 2026, though large-scale commercial shipments are expected to begin in 2028–2029, according to a recent investor communication.

In December, the manufacturer announced that an industrial-scale tandem solar cell using a 210 mm half-cut format achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 32.6%, while a standard-size tandem module integrating the cells delivered a peak power output of 865 W. It said both results have been independently verified by European testing bodies and represent world-record performance for industrially relevant formats.

Trina Solar said the latest results build on a series of tandem milestones reported over the past two years, including certified tandem modules exceeding 800 W and tandem cell efficiencies above 31% on industrial wafer formats. The company claimed it has now created or broken global benchmarks in solar cell efficiency or module power output 37 times.

pv-magazine.com

My comments;

My business pretty much only installs Trina's PV's.

Years ago used to also install SunPower's modules but they became too expensive.

The Chinese are really kick butt today.

Power, efficiency, cost point and especially warrantee.

Eric

[Eric] [graphic] Power from the sun to fill the batteries. Photo courtesy Majella Water...

Eric — 6/2/2026 12:33:36 PM

Power from the sun to fill the batteries. Photo courtesy Majella Waterworth.

Electricity Prices Fall Across Australia As Renewables Build Momentum

4 hours

David Waterworth

4 Comments

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

As bulk power costs reduce in Australia’s eastern states due to high renewable energy inputs, the price reductions are finally reaching the household and small business consumer. As well as grid-scale wind and solar, we have the highest penetration of rooftop solar, and now home batteries are being added to that at a record rate. The downwards pressure on prices is welcome by everyone but the still persistent naysayers. Are they blind and deaf as well as stupid?

NEM screenshot. Thanks to RenewEconomy. This is winter!

Legend.

As the Australian Broadcasting Commission points out, “Occasionally, the conflict becomes so entrenched, and the protagonists so wedded to their positions, that logic is thrown out the window, particularly when the clash involves money.”

On behalf of my CleanTechnica readers, I have been following this debate for years.

Australian home owners are becoming gentailers — producing and consuming their own power. Over 400,000 small-scale storage systems have been added on Australian homes. These home batteries are not just having a stabilising influence on the grid — reducing the amount of solar power flooding the system in the middle of the day and forcing coal generators to sell at a loss — but are also providing an income stream for the battery owner who is able to sell excess power into the system at night from their batteries when prices are higher. No longer is gas determining the price of power — it is now renewables firmed by batteries.

From July 1st — yes, next month — the Australian Energy Regulator is predicting a fall of at least 10% in costs for households and small businesses on “benchmark plans.” As a safety net, the AER sets a Default Market Offer. This offer is set to decrease across all of Australia’s eastern states (where the bulk of the Australian population live). In practical terms, that means a drop of 7.2% to 10.7% in South East Queensland, where I sit writing this. South East Qld electricity users can expect to save about AU$155 per year. Households in New South Wales will save up to $137 per year from a drop in the rates of about 3.4% to 7.7%. South Australian decreases will sit at 1.4%, and Victoria 5%.

Small businesses, currently suffering from increasing energy costs due to the US war on Iran and its attendant inflation, are getting even more of a reduction. Businesses in New South Wales should be able to save up to AU$1303 per annum. There will be even more reductions in regional areas of almost 21%. South Australian businesses can save up to $673 and Queensland $601. Victorian businesses will save about 6% or $241.

Western Australia is separate from the Eastern grid, but is pushing ahead with renewables and reaping the benefits. Below is a great video from ABC news. Isn’t it great to see those smoke stacks tumble down as coal-fired power plants are replaced by massive batteries.

A global battery boom is underway and Australia is charging ahead | The Business | ABC NEWS

ABC News (Australia)

2.56M subscribers

May 28, 2026 #ABCBusiness #ABCNEWS #ABCNEWSAustralia

Around the world, battery installations are growing at a meteoric rate, and Australia is a world leader.

One state in particular shows how the technology has become a major player in the grid. Across Western Australia's main electricity system, battery capacity has been added at a breathtaking speed and scale. Soon there will be about 14,000MWh of batteries coming online - enough to meet about three quarters of the typical demand for electricity from the state's main grid at any one time.

WA energy minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said in the last quarter of 2025, there was more than 52 per cent of generation coming from renewables and storage and as a result, prices came down for industry. Batteries made solar power more valuable in the day and prices less extreme in the evening. The explosive growth of batteries is also playing out on the East Coast, including at the site of the old Liddell coal-fired power station, which is now under demolition. Australia is now the third biggest market in the world for batteries. The battery boom is helping to push benchmark power prices down from July. Roman Loosen from US storage giant Fluence says lessons learned from places like WA will be taught around the world. Synergy boss Kurt Baker says time will tell whether the state has installed enough battery capacity or whether more may yet be required. #ABCBusiness

youtube.com

I need to add that power prices went up over 20% last year and government rebates have ceased. So, while this price reduction is welcome, I would urge property owners to strive for energy independence.
From The Guardian: AER chair Clare Savage said the large entry of batteries into the grid, along with solar and increased output from wind, had reduced volatility, despite uncertainty created by conflict in the Middle East. “Batteries have been displacing more expensive gas and hydro in the evenings, and we’ve just seen flatter prices through the whole day. That’s really translated to lower forward electricity contract prices.” Remember the duck curve? It is getting smoothed out.

Of course, the smart money is on rooftop solar and a battery for those who have the roof space. I would love to have more solar on my roof, but it is full! Add to this the government’s offer of three free hours of power in the middle of the day:

“The new solar sharer offer is an opportunity to make further savings if households can shift some of their electricity usage, such as washing machines, air conditioning, or electric vehicle charging, into the middle of the day,” Savage said.

“We encourage consumers to speak to their retailer about how this new option works because for some households it could be a transformative way to reduce their electricity bills.”

The Australian consumer has a pathway to heavily reduced power bills. There is a way to pay nothing for electricity, gas, or petrol!

Further good news is that gas usage hit its lowest average share for a quarter in the first quarter of 2026. That’s the lowest since 1999. Clean energy generation accounted for 46% of electricity supply in quarter one. Utility-scale and home batteries are soaking up the sunshine in the middle of the day and dispatching it in evening peaks. Gas peaking plants are being displaced accordingly, grid demand is lowered, and wholesale costs are coming down.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen adds: “We know energy bills are still too high — because when coal breaks down, your bill goes up — but this news shows steady progress.” Don’t get too excited, because the trolls are keen to burst your bubble. My expectation is that soon it will be too late to do a Trump and try reverse the progress. Banging on about the value of fossil fuels and nuclear will not win the next election for the conservative parties.

I am looking forward to portable solar that can be used by renters and apartment dwellers. Balcony solar is a good start, but hasn’t really taken off in Australia, yet. Once again, Australia’s energy future looks bright and renewable, with energy independence a possibility for many.

cleantechnica.com

[Eric] [graphic] Screen shot of the Big Battery Storage map. Battery Storage Boom Brin...

Eric — 6/2/2026 12:32:31 PM

Screen shot of the Big Battery Storage map.

Battery Storage Boom Brings Free Electricity To Australia

7 seconds

Steve Hanley

20 Comments

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Writing in The Guardian last month, Adam Morton and Petra Stark reported that a large increase in the amount of battery energy storage systems in Australia will permit some residential and small business owners to pay about 10 percent less for electricity in the coming year.

Clare Savage, who heads the Australia Energy Regulator, said the addition of a large number of energy storage batteries, together with more solar and wind power, has reduced system volatility, even as the disruption in energy markets caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused severe economic dislocations elsewhere. “Batteries have been displacing more expensive gas and hydro in the evenings, and we’ve just seen flatter prices through the whole day. That’s really translated to lower forward electricity contract prices,” she told The Guardian.

In addition to the large number of new grid-scale BESS installations all across Australia, in the last year, more than 415,000 residential storage batteries have been added to Australian homes. That is roughly one battery for every 25 houses. “It’s amazing,” said Tristan Edis of Green Energy Markets. “It shows again that if you go big with a technology and you kick it off big from the start, you can make a really significant difference. If you’re a battery manufacturer focused on residential right now you really must be focused on Australia.”

“The role of gas used to be in the evening to meet the evening peak and that came at a cost, because gas is not a cheap fuel. But more and more every day, it is batteries that are surging into the market at 6 pm,” Tennant Reed, the climate change and energy director for the Australian Industry Group, told The Guardian. “Gas will still play a backup role, but on average, batteries are not as expensive as gas peakers and they are pushing those [gas plants] out even as electricity demand increases.”

Batteries are an essential component of renewable energy technology. They are what allow solar and wind power to be “dispatchable,” which, in the world of grid-scale electricity, means that when the need arises, electrons will be available. They give the lie to complaints by fossil fuel apologists that the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.

That much is true — up to a point. What that argument overlooks is that when the sun does shine and the wind does blow, solar panels and wind turbines generate more electricity than the grid needs and the excess gets stored in batteries for use later. This time shifting capability is a relatively new concept in the electrical power industry, so perhaps fossil fuel advocates and utility owners simply didn’t read the memo or chose to ignore it.

While solar panel prices fell rapidly a few years ago, it is only in recent years that batteries have become similarly affordable. The unprovoked US attack on Iran and the resulting increase in energy prices has highlighted the advantages of renewable technologies like this. The number of BESS installations around the world has moved from a trickle a few years ago to a growing tide. China is far ahead, spending more on energy storage than all other countries combined. But Australia, with its 27 million people, now ranks fourth in energy storage installations, surpassing many nations with much larger populations.

112 GW In 2025

In May, BloombergNEF announced the world added 112 GW of battery energy storage in 2025 — the first year in which additions topped 100 GW. It predicts the world will add 158 GW of new BESS installations in 2026 and that by a decade from now, battery storage additions will top 300 GW each year. “Deployment in Australia rose nearly sixfold from 2024, driven by favorable power market conditions and a new subsidy scheme for residential storage,” it said.

BNEF added that the war on Iran has had little effect on BESS prices, since China is the primary supplier of energy storage equipment. In fact, as the price of methane increases due to that conflict, the economic case for battery storage may actually improve. Bloomberg also foresees longer term energy storage of 6 hours or more being a small but growing component of the total energy storage picture in the years to come.

Dispatchability

Speaking of dispatchability, Bill McKibben last week told his Substack subscribers that South Australia conducted an auction last week seeking suppliers for “firm power” to the SA grid. “Firm power” is how you say “dispatchable” if you speak Australian. All the low bids came from those who plan to use battery storage to provide that electricity. Not a single low bid was from a thermal generation source.

According to Giles Parkinson of RenewEconomy, “It is yet another sign of the growing dominance of battery storage technology in Australia’s main grids (and off grid). Big batteries have dominated other long duration storage tenders, particularly in New South Wales, where it has sidelined pumped hydro projects, and battery storage has been steadily sending gas peakers to the sidelines, particularly in the demand peaks they used to dominate.”

The Guardian report said that the price of electricity in Australia used to spike every day as the methane-fired peaker plants were called into action, but batteries are increasingly taking over that role. “Total gas-fired generation in Australia was 24 percent lower across three months this summer compared with the year before.” [Emphasis added.]

Citing professor Mark Jacobson of Stanford, McKibben said California, the world’s fourth largest economy, is using 60 percent less methane to produce electricity than it did three years ago. “That changes on this scale are possible is precisely what terrifies the fossil fuel industry, and in turn the Trump administration,” he said.

Free Electricity

As of July 1, 2026, people in Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia, will get their electricity from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at no cost. Other Australian states are expected to join the Solar Sharer program one year later. “Australia’s rooftop solar story is staggering. Panels on about 4 million households and businesses across Australia are regularly the biggest source of power in the grid. That wave of solar energy floods the electricity grid during the day when the sun is shining, at times so much that the grid cannot handle it all, and some of it goes to waste,” the AER said.

Claire Savage of AER explained the focus was on choosing the hours when demand on the grid was at its lowest. “We’ve picked those hours after we did some quite extensive modelling. You can imagine — when is the minimum demand in the grid? When do we have the most sunshine? When do we have the lowest prices? When do we have the lowest wholesale prices? When do we have the lowest network prices?”

Savage said the Solar Sharer program has nothing to do with whether a customer does or does not have solar panels on the roof. It applies to everyone, even if they are not a homeowner. “Some people want to make out that Solar Sharer is only going to be beneficial to high wealth individuals who have EVs and batteries. There’s no doubt that they’ll have more load they can shift, but it’s also beneficial to everyone that those people are not charging their cars [during peak demand],” she said.

Like the US, Australia is in thrall to its fossil fuel industry. It is one of the largest exporters of coal in the world. Yet despite pressure from the industry, renewables and battery storage are surging. While Australia does encourage green energy, the key is — and always will be — that renewables cost less than thermal generation and much less than nuclear power. Adam Smith’s “unseen hand” is working its magic Down Under, which means it can do the same anywhere.

If you told Americans their electricity would be free for three hours in the middle of every day, do you think that would be of interest to them or would they demand to pay more for their electricity to support the shareholders of fossil fuel companies? Silly question. Only MAGA types would choose to pay, and pay, and pay. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

cleantechnica.com

[Wharf Rat] Scientists found a way to grow potatoes under solar panels without losing yield ...

Wharf Rat — 5/28/2026 11:53:59 PM

Scientists found a way to grow potatoes under solar panels without losing yield

Story by Mihai Andrei
• 1mo

Scientists Found a Way to Grow Potatoes Under Solar Panels Without Losing Yield© ZME Science

For years, one of the few worthy criticisms of solar power was that it can take up a lot of land. The solution was apparently simple: just put the solar panels higher and plant stuff under them.

But does it actually work?

Plants are living machines with hard limits. An agricultural field involves plowing, tractors, and fertilizers. Some plants don’t usually like the shade. This is what fueled the new four-year study conducted in Italy. Researchers grew potatoes from 2021 through 2024 under a commercial dual-axis tracking solar installation. The setup was tested in open-field full sun, a standard tracking setup with moderate shade, a heavier-shade setup, and, for one year, a clever “anti-tracking” maneuver that briefly rotated panels away during the crop’s most sensitive developmental window.

The main results are clear: potatoes can be grown under solar panels, but only if you manage the shade carefully.

Potatoes, Sun, and ElectricityPotatoes are one of the world’s great practical foods: cheap to grow, versatile to cook, and genuinely nutritious. They’re packed with healthy carbohydrates, potassium, vitamin C, fiber when eaten with the skin, and a surprising amount of useful protein. They’re also quite robust. It’s no accident that potatoes played such a central role in The Martian, and NASA is actually studying how to grow potatoes in space and on other planets.

But potatoes really don’t like the shade. They’re built to turn strong sunlight into the sugars that fill out tubers underground, so when light levels drop too much, the plant has less energy to bulk up the potatoes. However, the Italian team discovered a sweet spot for shading.

In 2021, marketable tuber yield reached 51.5 tonnes per hectare in full light. Then, under the standard agrivoltaic setup, it fell to 38.9. It’s a significant, but not a major drop. In a solar panel setup that produced heavier shade, it dropped to 28 tonnes. A similar trend was observed in 2022 and 2023.

Then came 2024, the year of the anti-tracking test. There, full light and the standard setup were statistically similar, and the anti-tracking treatment actually produced the highest yield at 32.7 tonnes per hectare, even above the full-light (“normal”) yield of 30.3. During the potato growing season, standard tracking reduced electricity production by around 15%.

Image generated using data from the study.© ZME Science

A Classic Win-Win?We are living through a climate transition that is putting immense pressure on our land. Unsurprisingly, agriculture is one of our biggest environmental challenges, with some studies estimating that it generates a third of our emissions. This could be a rare win-win scenario.

The system in Mantova was not tiny. It was a commercial agrivoltaic installation with dual-axis tracking panels, and the team even estimated the energy trade-off of the anti-tracking tweak. The agrivoltaics setup (mixing agriculture with photovoltaics) also withstood a scorching year, showing resilience. In fact, in this sense, the shade might actually be helpful sometimes.

We are living through a climate transition that is putting immense pressure on our land. In the Mediterranean, like in many parts of the world, heatwaves are becoming the new normal. While this study used irrigation to keep water stress at bay, the shade from the panels naturally lowers the temperature of the plants. In a future where water becomes even scarcer, the photovoltaics themselves could be slightly tweaked to prevent crops from getting fried.

Lastly, the study was conducted at an organic farming site. This is important because it shows that agrivoltaics can play nicely with sustainable, chemical-free agriculture.

There are limits here, and the authors are candid about them. But the main takeaway here is sharper than the usual “more research is needed”. Potatoes can live under solar panels. Sometimes they can even do surprisingly well, especially if the solar panels can be moved. But the margin is narrow. There’s real promise in agrivoltaics, but as this study suggests it works best when solar panels are responsive infrastructure, tuned to the biology below.

The good news is we already have the technology to incorporate that.

The study was published in the journal Smart Agricultural Technology.

This story originally appeared on ZME Science. Want to get smarter every day? Subscribe to our newsletter and stay ahead with the latest science news.

[Wharf Rat] This Tennessee solar farm is doing a lot more than just generating energy Story...

Wharf Rat — 5/28/2026 4:39:48 PM

This Tennessee solar farm is doing a lot more than just generating energy

Story by Marcus Mears III
• 2d

Cows grazing and eating grass between solar panels on a dual-use solar farm.© Silicon Ranch

"Agrivoltaics" is a term you may never have heard before. But thanks to Silicon Ranch, there's a good chance you'll be seeing it a lot more over the coming years. Agrivoltaics, also known as dual-use solar, is the practice of growing crops or raising livestock beneath or between solar panels — and it's the mission statement of Nashville-based Silicon Ranch to create healthier air, water, and soil by bringing agrivoltaics to the main stage. One of its dual-use solar farms in central Tennessee is a perfect example.

Rather than limiting land to solar power production, Silicon Ranch's 40-acre farm in Christiana, Tennessee, is also home to 10 mother cows and their calves. It's the first of its kind, having debuted in April 2026. Most agrivoltaics endeavors thus far feature crops or small sheep, and while we may be able to 3D print a wagyu steak, there are still eight times more cattle ranches than sheep ranches in the U.S — and Silicon Ranch believes larger livestock, like cattle, can and should coexist with solar panels.

It's not just a proof of concept, either. These solar panels provide a host of benefits to the soil, the environment, and even the cows that graze between them.

Dual-use solar: benefits for farm, cattle, and environment

Two brown cows eating grass between solar panels on a dual-use solar farm.© Silicon Ranch

Many farmers take great pride in their land — for some, it was passed down through generations, a sort of keepsake that needs constant care. For others, it's quite literally the fruits of their labor. So convincing farmers that solar grazing (the process of allowing livestock to roam between installed solar panels) is a boon, rather than an excuse to pillage perfectly good topsoil, can be difficult. But Silicon Ranch has already observed a number of benefits.

Solar panels soak up the sun and provide shade beneath them, which actually accomplishes a few important things in the context of farming and livestock upkeep. First, it shields the soil and crops from excessive sunlight, preventing the topsoil from drying out as quickly. This moisture retention could reduce the need for irrigation and the severity of droughts in more arid areas. Second, it gives the cattle a nice place to rest; think about being in the sun all day – spotting a tree (or in the cattle's case, a solar panel) with a shady underbelly is like an oasis in a desert. Like the land beneath them, this shade reduces the cattle's necessary water consumption, and it also cuts back on the livestock's heat stress.

As for the environment, you probably already know the benefits of solar power — it's one of the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and air pollution while still providing a steady stream of power.

How Silicon Ranch implemented agrivoltaics

A cow resting in the grass underneath solar panels.© Silicon Ranch

The dual-use solar farm in Christiana doesn't just have static solar panels installed in the typical rotating to near-vertical fashion, which would leave the cattle with almost no room to graze beneath them, defeating the purpose of the installations. And they're certainly quite different from the types of solar panels you'd install on your roof. Instead, it makes use of some pretty clever technology developed by Silicon Ranch called "CattleTracker."

When it's time for the cattle to graze near the solar panels, workers use software to shift the angle of the panels to nearly horizontal, creating space for the cows to roam. Because this reduces the efficiency of the solar panels to a degree, farmers rotate the herd between enclosures every couple of days to allow sections of solar panels to operate at optimal production (roughly 5 megawatts of electricity).

While it is still in the early stages of development and dispersion, Silicon Ranch is undoubtedly at the forefront of what could become a new – and lucrative – standard for farmers.

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Read the original article on SlashGear.

[Wharf Rat] Japanese researchers develop spin-flip material to increase solar panel efficien...

Wharf Rat — 5/28/2026 3:59:56 PM

Japanese researchers develop spin-flip material to increase solar panel efficiency by up to 130%

Story by Wayne Williams
• 3w

Spin-flip metal complexes capture duplicated excitons produced through singlet fission
Proof-of-concept experiments reached over 110% to about 130% quantum yield
Solid-state integration remains necessary before use in practical solar devices

Japanese researchers have found a way to capture extra energy from sunlight using a metal-based system that reduces heat losses during conversion.

The work centers on a chemical structure known as a spin-flip emitter, built from molybdenum, that captures multiplied energy created during a process called singlet fission.

The research was carried out by Kyushu University in Japan, in collaboration with Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) Mainz in Germany. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Energy easily ‘stolen’Solar cells already convert sunlight into electricity, but only part of the available energy ends up usable, leaving scientists hunting for ways to squeeze more output from the same incoming light.

One long-known ceiling comes from the mismatch between photon energies and how semiconductors respond, which means some photons fail to trigger electrons while others lose excess energy as heat.

This efficiency cap, known as the Shockley–Queisser limit, has pushed researchers to explore methods that reuse lost energy instead of letting it dissipate.

“We have two main strategies to break through this limit,” said Yoichi Sasaki, Associate Professor at Kyushu University’s Faculty of Engineering. “One is to convert lower-energy infrared photons into higher energy visible photons. The other, what we explore here, is to use SF to generate two excitons from a single exciton photon.”

Singlet fission, described by the researchers as a “dream technology” for light conversion, plays a central role in the experiment because it allows one high-energy excitation to split into two lower-energy ones, theoretically doubling the number of usable energy carriers.

Capturing those duplicated excitons has been the harder problem, since competing energy transfer processes can redirect energy before it becomes useful.

The team addressed that bottleneck by pairing singlet fission materials with a molybdenum-based near-infrared spin-flip emitter tuned to absorb specific triplet energy states.

“The energy can be easily ‘stolen’ by a mechanism called Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) before multiplication occurs,” said Sasaki. “We therefore needed an energy acceptor that selectively captures the multiplied triplet excitons after fission.”

Experiments using tetracene-based materials in solution produced quantum yields ranging from just over 110% to about 130%, meaning more energy carriers were generated than incoming photons absorbed under laboratory conditions.

Results remain limited to solution testing rather than full solar devices, meaning practical application still depends on translating the chemistry into solid materials compatible with working panels.

Future work will focus on combining these materials into solid-state systems where energy transfer efficiency can be tested under conditions closer to real solar cell operation.

The researchers point to possible applications beyond solar panels, including lighting technologies such as OLED, where managing exciton behavior plays a key role in performance.

Via Kyushu University

[Eric] Why This Mars Battery Could Beat Lithium-Ion [graphic] Undecided with Matt Fer...

Eric — 5/26/2026 4:29:49 PM

Why This Mars Battery Could Beat Lithium-Ion

Undecided with Matt Ferrell

1.79M subscribers

May 26, 2026

Most lithium-ion batteries tap out after a few hours. This one just hit 100. And the tech behind it didn't start in a battery lab … it started on Mars, with a NASA experiment designed to split CO2 into carbon and oxygen. Here's how the system works and how it stacks up against lithium-ion for grid-scale energy storage.

Could a battery born on Mars actually beat lithium-ion at grid-scale energy storage?

Watch How the Worst Oil Crisis in History is Backfiring • How the Worst Oil Crisis in History is Bac... Video script and citations: youtube.com

Corrections (clarifications): Lot of confusion in the comments about how this actually works, so here's the short version. Think photosynthesis, not battery-in-a-tank. Noon's system pulls CO2 from the air and splits it into solid carbon and oxygen using electricity.

The oxygen vents back to the atmosphere; the carbon is what stores the energy ... it's the fuel sitting in the tank. To discharge, the carbon is reoxidized inside a solid oxide fuel cell, recombining with oxygen back into CO2 and releasing electricity as it goes.

No net carbon released over a full cycle. The Mars connection isn't a metaphor: Chris Graves, Noon's co-founder, helped build NASA's MOXIE.

The box on Perseverance that made oxygen on Mars by splitting CO2. Same core chemistry, different job.

On "100 hours" — that's how long the system can keep delivering energy from a single charge, not a lifespan or degradation number. It's designed to fill the multi-day backup gap lithium-ion can't (the one we currently fill with natural gas peakers), not to replace lithium in EVs or hour-scale uses.

Noon themselves say it's meant to complement lithium, not replace it. What's still TBD publicly: round-trip efficiency is reported in the 60–80% range.

Definitely lower than lithium's 85–95%, but in line with pumped hydro and the reason the LCOS math still works ($0.05/kWh vs $1.20/kWh for lithium at 100-hour duration).

Real-world CapEx and cycle life will come from their 25 MW / 2.5 GWh pilot.

Full write-up with sources on the blog: youtube.com

youtube.com

[Savant] China's tandem solar cell hits 32.89% certified efficiency Record-setting effic...

Savant — 5/25/2026 2:21:27 PM

China's tandem solar cell hits 32.89% certified efficiency

Record-setting efficiency: A Chinese team achieved 33.33% power conversion efficiency, certified at 32.89%, in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells.

Leakage problem solved: Peak-selective passivation coats silicon pyramid peaks with aluminum oxide, reducing electrical leakage and boosting stability.

Commercial potential: The method is simple, scalable, and compatible with current industrial production, paving the way for market-ready high-efficiency panels.

China sets new solar efficiency record

Scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, alongside partner universities and industry, achieved a 33.33% power conversion efficiency in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, with a certified value of 32.89%. The active cell area measured about one square centimeter. This result is among the highest recorded for this technology and demonstrates strong potential for commercial viability

China's tandem solar cell hits 32.89% certified efficiency

[Eric] Fortescue starts construction of Australia’s biggest solar farm outside main gri...

Eric — 5/25/2026 1:57:12 PM

Fortescue starts construction of Australia’s biggest solar farm outside main grid, and giant eight-hour battery

Cloudbreak solar farm. Photo: Fortescue.

Giles Parkinson

May 25, 2026

BATTERY
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
RENEWABLES
SOLAR
WIND

Iron ore miner Fortescue says it has started construction of the biggest solar farm to be built outside of Australia’s main grid, as well as a giant battery as it continues its race to build a massive green grid and reach “real zero” emissions by 2030.

The 690 megawatt (MW) Turner River solar farm is its biggest project to date, the biggest in Western Australia, and in terms of capacity will only be beaten by Acen Renewables partially completed 720 MW New England solar farm in NSW.

Fortescue has also announced that construction has started on an eight hour battery – sized at 74 MW and 650 MWh big battery – that will be integrated with the existing 190 MW solar facility at its nearly complete Cloudbreak mine (pictured above).

Turner River will be the final piece in the company’s solar plans, taking its total solar capacity to more than 1.4 GW, and adding to the 440 MW Solomon Airport solar farm that is also under construction, the completed 190 MW Cloudbreak facility, and the 110 MW North Star Junction solar farm.

It also has the 60 MW Christmas Creek solar farm that was opened in 2021 and is now owned by APA Group, but which may also be expanded in the future.

The wind component – to total around 800 MW – is also taking shape, with initial works starting at the 119 MW Nullagine wind project that will feature the company’s unique “self lifting” turbines. A second stage is expected to be built at the nearby Bonney Downs.

Source: Fortescue.

Fortescue plans to complete its green grid by 2028, and then complete the electrification of all its mining equipment by 2030.
It is urging others to follow and has called for the capping of diesel fuel rebates for big miners to help accelerate their decision making.

“While others are still debating whether decarbonisation is possible, Fortescue is getting on with building what’s needed to do it,” CEO Dino Otranto said in a statement.

“The technology is here. The economics are improving every year. And anyone watching global fuel markets can see exactly why electrification and renewable power matter more than ever.

“Our solar farms, transmission lines, wind generation and batteries are being built right now across the Pilbara. We are moving first because the economics, the technology and the national interest are all pointing in the same direction.”

Fortescue says it has 16 electric excavators and an electric drill already operating across its iron ore operations, and expects around half of the company’s 70-srong excavator fleet will be electric by the end of 2026.

It also expects its first battery electric haul truck will be operational before the end of the year. It says it has commenced commissioning of its first in-house developed 6MW fast charger that it says will be capable of fully charging a haul truck in approximately 30 minutes.

It also says facility testing of XCMG’s prototype battery electric wheel loader, dozer, grader and water cart is now in the final stages, with the equipment preparing to make the journey from China to the Pilbara for site testing.

reneweconomy.com.au

[Eric] [graphic] A wind farm in Guangling County, Shanxi, China. Credit: Wikimedia Comm...

Eric — 5/24/2026 12:12:00 PM

A wind farm in Guangling County, Shanxi, China. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Earth.org Debunks Clean Energy Myths

22 hours

Steve Hanley

8 Comments

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Mark Twain liked to say, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you near as much as what you do know that ain’t true.” Unfortunately, large corporations take advantage of our innate ability to believe false information for their private gain. The tobacco companies perfected the art of the lie, but lots of others have learned from its lessons in perfidy to create attacks on renewable energy, electric vehicles, and political candidates who encourage progressive values.

The current head of the US government had made a career out of attacking renewable energy, because he is paid handsomely for doing so. He loves to tell rapturous admirers that the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, and therefore renewables are useless. Only good old-fashioned thermal generation powered by burning fossil fuels will do. Because he is paid to remain ignorant, he is unaware that the truth is quite a different story.

Myth 1: Renewable energy is too costly

In a blog post on May 11, 2026, Earth.org said, “One of the most persistent debates in energy policy has been the assertion that renewable energy cannot pass the commercial test without hefty state subsidies. However, a 2024 International Renewable Energy Agency report found that 91% of new renewable power projects commissioned globally were less expensive than the cheapest new fossil fuel option available.”

Every good lie rests on a kernel of truth. That’s what makes them so powerful. For instance, in 2010 the cost of solar was fives times more expensive than thermal generation. That’s what the lying liars want you to hear. What they don’t want you to hear is that today, solar is 41 percent cheaper and onshore wind is 53 percent cheaper. In 2024, the shift to renewables saved an estimated US$467 billion in global fuel expenditures, Earth.org said. Is that close to half a trillion dollars? Yes, it is, but still people — operating on 15-year-old data — continue to believe renewables are too expensive.

Today, thanks to the toady in the White House, the cost of fossil fuels is soaring, which illustrates that interruptions in the supply of fossil fuels can happen at any time. But the sun has been shining in the sky for billions of years and will likely do so for billions more. The cost of the “fuel” for solar and wind is zero and will be for all eternity. Why would we pay for something we can get for nothing? It makes no sense.

Myth 2: Renewable energy is not reliable

Only a fool would suggest that the sun always shines or that the wind always blows. But what the detractors of renewable energy refuse to recognize is that while solar and wind have been getting cheaper, energy storage systems have as well. New technologies are arriving every day that are orders of magnitude less expensive than they were a decade or more ago. In the news this month alone, CATL and Gotion have announced new sodium-ion batteries that will move the economics of energy storage even further forward.

According to IRENA, the cost of fully installed battery storage plummeted by 93% between 2010 and 2024. These grid-scale batteries act as a high-speed buffer that reacts to supply shifts in milliseconds, soaking up midday solar surges and discharging that power during the evening peak, Earth.org said.

“This technological shift has sparked a massive wave of industrial confidence. The US Energy Information Administration projects that 24 gigawatts of new utility scale storage will come online in the US in 2026 — shattering the record of 15 GW set just last year. Most tellingly, renewables combined with storage now account for 93 percent of all new utility scale capacity in the US, leaving natural gas with a meager 6.3 GW share.” It adds that wind and solar “cannot be targeted by export embargoes or commodity price shocks.”

Myth 3: Renewable energy infrastructure has a large environmental footprint

The extraction of the raw materials and production of all industrial products have environmental costs. “These are valid spheres of constant examination and enhancement,” Earth.org said. But the environmental footprint of renewables is far less than what critics say it is. Research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows that wind turbines emit just 13 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour. Solar comes in at 43 grams.

By contrast, natural gas produces 486 grams and coal generates a massive 1,001 grams. In other words, coal is nearly 80 times more carbon intensive than a wind turbine. “An average wind turbine or solar panel will pay back the carbon cost of its production in a few months of operation and operate with almost zero emissions over 25 to 30 years,” Earth.org said. Who wouldn’t want that?

Myth 4: Clean energy kills jobs

Credit: Eavpr“

The disruption the energy transition brings to workers in coal mining communities or oil and gas regions is real, and the policy response to that disruption has frequently been inadequate. What the employment data does not support is the broader claim that clean energy is a net destroyer of jobs across the energy economy,” Earth.org said.

In 2023, there were 35 million clean energy workers globally — up from 30 million in 2019 and surpassing fossil fuel employment for the first time. Under current policies, clean energy is projected to add 10 million more jobs by 2030, while fossil fuels are expected to shed roughly 3 million.

In the United States, clean energy jobs grew three times faster than the overall workforce in 2024, according to the Clean Jobs America 2024 report, which compares job growth during calendar year 2024 with growth in total US employment over the same period. The IEA estimates that about half of the fossil fuel employees who will be facing layoffs in the next decade have skills that can be directly applied to clean energy jobs. For instance, Canadian company Eavor is using techniques developed for the oil and gas industry for a new closed loop geothermal installation in Germany.

Myth 5: The transition is happening too slowly

Installation figures from recent years suggest that the technology rollout is proceeding faster than most forecasts anticipated, Earth.org said. In May 2025, China added 93 gigawatts of solar capacity in a single month, a rate equivalent to roughly 100 solar panels per second. Combined wind and solar capacity in the country surpassed total thermal power capacity for the first time in early 2025, and China hit its 2030 wind and solar target in 2024, six years ahead of schedule.

On a global level, the IEA projects that renewables will surpass coal as the world’s largest electricity source by mid-2026. Electricity output from renewables is forecast to reach 16,200 TWh in 2030, up 60 percent from 2024. “While global efforts still fall short of the Paris Agreement climate goals, the argument that renewable energy is too slow to reshape the world’s power systems has been overtaken by a massive surge in industrial momentum,” it said.

Countering DisinformationThe clean energy revolution is moving forward despite the naysayers. The recent grand carambalage in the Strait of Hormuz has brought home to more people how Ill advised it is to base the entire global economy on fossil fuels. But “Jane, you ignorant slut” is not an effective way to change people’s minds. A calm, rational presentation of the facts in non-judgmental language is far more likely to succeed.

The same techniques that are effective at debunking anti-EV myths work just as well at debunking anti-renewable energy myths. Information is power. If you are a CleanTechnicareader, you have all the information you need to counter such blithering, but you must use it wisely.

People are actually capable of changing their minds based on new information. Some people are afraid of airplanes, even though statistically they are safer than driving to the grocery store. People were leery of microwave ovens and cell phones at one point. Even radio had its detractors. We can change people’s minds with information — assuming they are willing to listen. In the end, economics will carry the day. Free fuel — no other source of energy can match that!

cleantechnica.com

[Eric] India has now 32.9 GW of operational PV capacity under private PPAs Mercom repo...

Eric — 5/23/2026 4:04:26 PM

India has now 32.9 GW of operational PV capacity under private PPAs

Mercom reports that the so-called “open-access” solar installations were up 170% year-over-year from 1 GW added in Q1 2025. As of March 2026, cumulative installed solar open access capacity stood at 32.9 GW.

MAY 22, 2026 UMA GUPTA

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From pv magazine India

India installed 2.7 GW of “open-access” solar capacity in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, marking 59% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) growth from 1.7 GW in Q4 2025 and the second-highest quarterly additions on record. Installations also rose 170% year-over-year (YoY) compared to 1 GW in Q1 2025, according to Mercom India’s newly released report, Q1 2026 India Solar Open Access Market.

Open-access solar in India is a regulatory framework that enables large commercial and industrial consumers, typically those with a sanctioned load above the state-prescribed threshold, to procure renewable electricity directly from an off-site solar power developer through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), without installing solar panels at their own facility. The electricity is transmitted through the grid under open-access regulations, allowing consumers to access lower-cost renewable power while paying applicable wheeling and transmission charges.

Mercom report said strong installation activity during the quarter was driven by a combination of regulatory and market factors. The upcoming transition to ALMM List-II-compliant solar cells and modules pushed developers to accelerate project execution to meet new requirement, amid concerns over supply shortages and rising procurement costs. Additional growth drivers included supportive state policies, shorter approval timelines, and stronger market outreach.

“Regulatory constraints across several states are gradually narrowing the savings from procuring green power through open access. While consumers may now have to accept comparatively lower savings, many still value the long-term price certainty offered under power purchase agreements. At the same time, supply-chain disruptions, rising component prices driven by geopolitical tensions, land availability challenges, transmission infrastructure constraints, and evolving regulations are increasing pressure on project costs,” commented Priya Sanjay, managing director at Mercom India.

In Q1 2026, Rajasthan led solar open access capacity additions, accounting for 39% of installations. The top five states accounted for 84% of the country’s total installations, highlighting the continued concentration of activity in a few high-demand markets.

As of March 2026, cumulative installed solar open access capacity stood at 32.9 GW. Karnataka retained its leading position, accounting for 23% of cumulative installed capacity as of March 2026. Maharashtra and Rajasthan ranked second and third, contributing 16% of cumulative installations each. The top five states accounted for 77% of India’s cumulative installed solar open access capacity. The top five states together account for 86% of projects in the pipeline.

In Q4 2025, Adani Green Energy was the leading seller in the Green Day-Ahead Market (G-DAM), accounting for 34% of electricity sold. Odisha was the leading procurer from G-DAM, followed by Damodar Valley Corporation and Gujarat.

The cleared volume of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) traded on the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) rose 285% QoQ.

The volume traded in the Green Term-Ahead Market (G-TAM) on IEX decreased 40% QoQ.

The Mercom report provides a detailed analysis of the solar open access market, retail electricity tariffs, PPA prices, and open access charges and costs across thirteen major states.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] Mexico launches call for renewable energy, storage projects linked to state util...

Eric — 5/23/2026 3:45:19 PM

Mexico launches call for renewable energy, storage projects linked to state utility CFE

The scheme targets projects of 0.7 MW and above, with a 935 MW indicative storage need, and is part of broader reforms to streamline investment while strengthening state-led planning of the electricity sector.

MAY 22, 2026 LUIS INI

MARKETS
POLICY
UTILITY SCALE PV
UTILITY SCALE STORAGE
MEXICO

Image: X-Elio

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From pv magazine Mexico

Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER) has published in the country's Official Gazette a callfor strategic electricity generation and storage projects, aimed at prioritizing permitting, interconnection studies, and connection contracts for projects aligned with national grid planning.

The scheme targets renewable generation projects of 0.7 MW and above, as well as standalone energy storage systems of similar size, while excluding distributed generation, self-consumption, cogeneration, and already-permitted plants. It includes projects developed in partnership with national utility CFE and requires demonstrated benefits to system reliability, efficiency, and regional balance.

The call runs its expression-of-interest and study request window from May 25 to August 25, with the National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) granted 30 business days for interconnection studies once payment is confirmed. For storage, SENER indicates a reference need of 935 MW across regions, with a three-hour duration, though the figures are indicative rather than binding.

Approved projects must secure financing documentation within eight months of permitting and obtain environmental and social approvals within six months, except where prior consultation is required. The initiative forms part of Mexico’s post-2024–2025 electricity sector reforms strengthening SENER’s planning role.

In recent months, the Mexican authorities have reported a growing number of PV projects submitted for approval since the publication of a new decree regulating private investments in the energy sector in mid-October.

Since President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, her administration has sought a more pragmatic relationship with foreign investors. “There will be room for private investment, but with certain rules,” Sheinbaum recently said, emphasizing the need for technical and operational stability in the power sector.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] EU understimating rooftop PV power generation SolarPower Europe estimates that ...

Eric — 5/23/2026 3:40:04 PM

EU understimating rooftop PV power generation

SolarPower Europe estimates that EU solar generation is significantly underreported, with actual PV output projected at 410 TWh in 2025 versus 275 TWh in official statistics. The group attributes the gap to incomplete rooftop PV registration, data transfer delays, and the difficulty of measuring self-consumed solar electricity.

MAY 23, 2026 SERGIO MATALUCCI

COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL PV
MARKETS
RESIDENTIAL PV
EUROPE

Image: SMA

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SolarPower Europe estimates that current rooftop PV generation is underestimated by UE authorities and member states.

“According to our analysis published in SolarPower Europe’s Solar+ report, solar power generation alone is systematically underestimated in EU and member state statistics,” Raffaele Rossi, head of market intelligence at SolarPower Europe, told pv magazine.

By the end of 2025, the EU’s total installed solar capacity is expected to reach 406 GW. Based on aggregated country-level data, SolarPower Europe estimates PV electricity generation at 410 TWh. However, official EU operator statistics report only 275 TWh, a gap of more than 135 TWh, or 33%.

“There are several reasons that explain this phenomenon,” Rossi said. “Rooftop PV systems must be registered with local grid operators, but the registration process often fails to capture all installations. The transfer of data to national energy statistics is delayed and incomplete. In addition, the very large number of distributed PV systems, especially in the residential segment, requires the aggregation of data from millions of installations. This can create data management challenges for local grid operators, which often lack the capacity to handle such large volumes of information.”

Rossi added that self-consumed electricity is particularly difficult for grid operators to measure because it does not pass through their networks.

“Conventional electricity statistics do not account for self-consumption, even though 80% of distributed generation is stored in batteries,” he said. “Although smart meters can partly overcome this issue and improve data availability, in most cases they provide only net consumption data, rather than total solar power generation.”

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] PRODUCTS & SERVICES Deye unveils 2.56 kWh hybrid battery for balcony, residenti...

Eric — 5/23/2026 3:37:31 PM

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Deye unveils 2.56 kWh hybrid battery for balcony, residential PV

The Chinese manufacturer said the system is designed for easy AC-coupled integration with existing PV systems and scalable expansion up to 7.5 kW three-phase output. The system purportedly delivers 800 W–2.5 kW AC output, supports up to 5.76 kW PV input with 96.5% efficiency.

By
Emiliano Bellini

May 22, 2026

Products
Products & Services

Image: Deye

Chinese inverter and storage system manufacturer Deye has released a new hybrid storage system for plug-and-play solar and residential PV applications.

“The system supports AC coupling, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with existing solar panels or microgrids without requiring major rewiring or replacement of inverters,” the company said in a statement. “Individual 2.56 kWh units can be connected in parallel to form a three-phase configuration, supporting a maximum output of 7.5 kW.”

The 2.56 kWh Micro Hybrid ESS system measures 560 mm × 330 mm × 210 mm, weighs 30 kg, and complies with international standards including VDE 4105, IEC 61727/62116, AS 4777.2, CEI 0-21, and EN 50549-1.

The new product offers a rated AC output from 800 W to 2.5 kW depending on model, with up to 200% overload capability for 10 seconds to handle high startup loads. On the PV side, it supports up to 5.76 kW input across four MPPT trackers, with a maximum input current of 18 A and a PV voltage range of 20–55 V.

The rated PV input voltage is 42.5 V, with a 25 Vdc start-up voltage enabling operation under low irradiance. Depending on the variant, models range from 800 W up to 2500 W, with higher configurations supporting up to 4400 W PV access power and input currents up to 10 A.

The system is paired with a 2.56 kWh LiFePO4 battery, operating within a 44.8–57.6 V range and supporting up to 50 A charge/discharge current. Designed for scalability, it can be expanded to five units per cluster and eight clusters in parallel, reaching up to 102.4 kWh total capacity. In off-grid mode, up to three inverters can operate in parallel, delivering up to 7.5 kW combined output and enabling three-phase configurations.

Deye said the units are rated for up to 10,000 cycles. Efficiency reportedly reaches 96.5%, while the IP65-rated enclosure ensures reliable operation in demanding environments, the company said. The system supports AC coupling for easy integration with existing PV systems and allows up to 30 A AC bypass current. Communication interfaces include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LoRa, enabling flexible monitoring and networking.

Smart energy management is handled via Deye Cloud, which provides real-time monitoring, load forecasting, and dynamic energy scheduling, along with time-of-use optimization and intelligent operation via Deye Copilot. Users can monitor and adjust system settings through mobile, tablet, or desktop devices, improving visibility and control over energy flows.

ess-news.com

[Eric] PROJECTS & APPLICATIONS Sungrow wins 7.5 GWh Masdar order for Abu Dhabi 24/7 so...

Eric — 5/23/2026 3:04:38 PM

PROJECTS & APPLICATIONS

Sungrow wins 7.5 GWh Masdar order for Abu Dhabi 24/7 solar-storage project

The deal covers PowerTitan 3.0 storage systems and 2.6 GW of PV inverter solutions.

By
Vincent Shaw

May 22, 2026

Grid-scale
Projects & Applications

Image: Sungrow

Sungrow has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi-based Masdar to supply 7.5 GWh of battery energy storage systems for the RTC 1 Plant (North) project in the United Arab Emirates, adding another large Middle East order to the Chinese inverter and storage supplier’s pipeline.

Under the agreement, Sungrow will provide PowerTitan 3.0 liquid-cooled energy storage systems, as well as 2.6 GW of PV inverter solutions. The equipment will support Masdar’s round-the-clock renewable energy project in Abu Dhabi, which combines 5.2 GW of solar PV capacity with 19 GWh of battery storage. The project is being developed by Masdar and Emirates Water and Electricity Co. (EWEC).

Masdar has described the project as the world’s first giga-scale 24/7 solar and battery storage project. It is designed to deliver up to 1 GW of baseload renewable power every day by using oversized solar generation and large-scale storage to smooth output. The project is expected to start operation in 2027.

Sungrow said the project will deploy more than 1,000 PowerTitan 3.0 systems, which are equipped with 684 Ah stacked battery cells, with a total deployment of 3.44 million cells. Each BESS is designed around an eight-hour charging and 16-hour discharging cycle to support continuous renewable power delivery. The system uses AC block design and cluster-level management, which Sungrow said are intended to improve safety, efficiency and operational availability.

The PowerTitan 3.0 platform incorporates a fully liquid-cooled silicon carbide power conversion system with maximum efficiency of 99.3% and system round-trip efficiency of 90%, according to Sungrow. The company said the system can operate at temperatures of up to 55 ? without derating, a key requirement for desert conditions in the UAE.

The order is also linked to Sungrow’s increasing efforts for larger-format storage technology. The company launched PowerTitan 3.0 in 2025, offering 10-foot, 20-foot and 30-foot configurations for two- to 12-hour storage applications. The 30-foot version supports up to 12.5 MW/50 MWh per AC block and uses up to 684 Ah stacked battery cells.

Masdar is one of the UAE’s major clean energy developers. The company says it has developed and partnered on more than 65 GW of clean energy projects across more than 40 countries and is targeting a 100 GW portfolio by 2030. Sungrow said it had installed more than 1,000 GW of power electronic converters worldwide by the end of 2025. The Abu Dhabi deal follows several large Middle East orders for Sungrow.

In July 2024, the company signed three storage contracts with Saudi Arabia’s Algihaz Holding totaling 7.8 GWh, covering projects in Najran, Madaya and Khamis Mushait. Sungrow also previously agreed to supply 536 MW/600 MWh of storage and 2.2 GW of PV inverter solutions for Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Green Hydrogen Project.

ess-news.com

[Eric] [graphic] More Utilities, Governments, and Private Citizens Are Adopting Solar ...

Eric — 5/22/2026 3:01:24 PM

More Utilities, Governments, and Private Citizens Are Adopting Solar Than Ever Before

Carolyn Fortuna

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Residential rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations have tripled over the past ten years. With so many organizations and individuals adopting solar, it is now growing faster than any power source in history — the industry is constructing a gigawatt’s worth of solar panels every 15 hours. That’s more or less what one coal-fired plant generates.

Thank you, solar!

Because of its mass acceptance as a viable energy solution, solar has helped global emissions to track below former worst-case assumptions.

In fact, experts say solar will become the world’s single largest source of electricity in the next six years.

We are very interested in solar energy here at CleanTechnica. Over the last year we asked readers to answer a series of survey questions; their responses became the foundation for a newly released report, which is now available for purchase. We decided to conduct the survey because we were aware that detailed data on consumer perceptions about rooftop solar installations and lifestyles were underreported, especially observations about rooftop solar attitudes and installation comfort levels.

Our results indicate that nearly all consumers who have installed rooftop solar PV systems have a high satisfaction rate with their systems. A minority of respondents, many of whom do not have rooftop solar installations, did express concerns about solar marketing. These individuals revealed a small but important pattern in which some solar companies offered mixed messages and a bit of unwarranted optimism about post-installation cost benefits.

The overall positive reactions to residential solar installations point to a continued rising rooftop solar adoption rate for home and business owners. There is also room to improve, as a continually evolving solar marketplace will be measured by statistically significant customer feedback — installers across all sizes and regions must provide reliable pre-installation advice that leads to a promised return on investment (ROI). Cutting solar costs through improved design tools, automation, and connected workflows can reduce expenses while creating a more reliable and transparent experience for customers, says Chris Hopper, co-founder of Aurora Solar.

Why does Solar have such a Positive Upward Trajectory?

One of the biggest myths about solar is that it isn’t reliable because the sun only shines during the daytime. Most people are blissfully unaware that, while the sun is shining, a lot of the electricity that is generated is stored in batteries. It’s called time shifting — solar installations can generate electricity at 1 pm, for example, and use it at 8 pm after the sun sets.

Solar is so reliable that the US energy storage industry installed 9.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of new capacity in the first quarter of 2026, the strongest first quarter in the sector’s history. According to the US Energy Storage Market Outlook Q2 2026 released this week by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, energy storage installations in Q1 were up 32% year-over-year — despite actions in Washington targeting clean energy. In Q1, 7.8 GWh of US utility-scale storage, 648 MWh of commercial and industrial (C&I) storage, and 515 MWh of residential storage were installed.

Take the example of Texas. Solar generation is expected to reach 78 billion kilowatthours (BkWh) in 2026 in the electricity grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) compared with 60 BkWh for coal.

Looking ahead to 2027, 11.8 BkWh of additional solar capacity is expected to come online. Researchers have reduced worst case scenarios for global emissions in part because of solar’s rising impact. They took into account the world’s future population, energy use, energy sources, investment in climate change adaptation and mitigation, climate policies, and collaboration between nations. Solar is a winning outcome.

Solar’s rising prominence is due to a major supply glut, technology advances, and falling prices, according to BloombergNEF. Solar is expected to become the world’s largest generator of electricity by 2032, driven by massive overcapacity and falling prices.

And there’s even more good news! As solar costs continue on a downward plunge, they position a fossil fuel power increasingly out of reach. Yay!

Moreover, with the US/ Israel war on Iran continuing to rage and to destabilize energy markets around the world, renewable energy is becoming more and more appealing. Far more so than in previous energy crises, the BloombergNEF press release states, “Many countries that are dependent on fossil fuels are able to reduce their economic exposure to energy commodity imports by adopting low-carbon technologies.” Yes, energy security concerns may prompt some coal-rich nations to re-emphasize coal use, but they add that “fuel cannot compete on cost over the long term, slipping to half of current levels of power generation use by 2050.”

Lots of progress is being made. As our intrepid CleanTechnica colleague Tina Casey reports, the loss of the federal tax credit has slowed the pace of solar adoption, but the momentum continues. Though some installers have fallen by the wayside, others are scrambling to adjust their business models. In fact, BloombergNEF predicts the transition to solar will occur due to financial reasons, and why not? Solar is the most cost effective energy solution of all.

Solar Innovations Keep Appearing and Give Us Even More Hope

Balcony solar in the US is slowly overcoming two hurdles: the absence of state-based enabling legislation for devices that inject electricity into a household system without the need for authorization from their utility company and property owner restrictions on tenants, and homeowner association restrictions on members. The Illinois state legislature, however, is moving part both barriers with a proposal to remove the state’s existing pre-authorization requirement and replace it with a simple form notifying the utility company of the installation. The bill would also prohibit any other fees or installation expenses, and it would prevent property owners and homeowner associations from raising unreasonable obstacles of their own.

Earlier this spring, CleanTechnica learned that a San Diego church installed a 55 kW solar system and realized substantial savings as a result. The installation was managed by Watthub, a commercial solar developer from Scottsdale, Arizona, that arranged a power purchase agreement for the Canyons Church. Now most of its electrical needs are provided by the solar system. As local utility rates continue their upward climb, the savings from the PPA are going further than originally estimated.

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have created a remarkable new material that works like a “rechargeable solar battery,” storing sunlight inside tiny molecules and releasing it later as heat — even long after the sun goes down. Inspired by reversible changes found in DNA and photochromic sunglasses, the system captures solar energy without relying on bulky batteries or the electrical grid. The molecule can hold energy for years and packs more energy per kilogram than lithium-ion batteries.

SolarEdge is actively reshoring critical manufacturing to the US, with production facilities in Florida, Texas, and Utah focused on key components such as inverters and circuit boards.

In Spain and Italy, developers have started building what are called “hybrid renewable power plants.” Solar panels are installed alongside batteries so that higher evening energy costs are tapped.

Domestic solar energy plays an important role in national economy and security. Accelerating solar manufacturing increases generating capacity and strengthens critical supply chains — the materials used in solar panels and projects are also used in other defense critical industries that need secure supply chains.

Photo by Carolyn Fortuna/ CleanTechnica

Resources

“Molecular solar thermal energy storage in Dewar pyrimidone beyond 1.6 megajoules per kilogram.” Han P. Q., et al. Science. February 12, 2026.

“NEF’s New Energy Outlook 2026: Transition to newer technologies, expanded electrification to strengthen nations’ energy security.” BloombergNEF. May 19, 2026.

“Report: US adds 10 GWh of new energy storage capacity in first quarter, marking largest Q1 on record.” Solar Energy Industry Association. May 21, 2026.

“Solar, storage, and securing America’s electric grid.” SEIA. May 21, 2026.

“Worst-case global warming projection cut by 1°C as cheap solar and wind slash emissions.” Angela Symons. EuroNews. May 19, 2026.

cleantechnica.com

[Eric] Australia’s biggest wind project and 8 battery hybrids among 19 winners of large...

Eric — 5/22/2026 12:27:21 PM

Australia’s biggest wind project and 8 battery hybrids among 19 winners of largest CIS renewable auction

Site of the Yanco Delta wind farm.

Giles Parkinson

May 23, 2026

BATTERY
RENEWABLES
SOLAR
WIND

Australia’s biggest wind project and eight wind and solar battery hybrids are among 19 winners of the latest and biggest auction under the federal government’s flagship Capacity Investment Scheme.

The results of tender 7, which sought 5 gigawatts of new capacity and ended up awarding 7.8 gigawatts (GW), were announced on Saturday morning by federal energy minister Chris Bowen and assistant minister Josh Wilson.

Ten of the winning projects were wind based, and nine were solar based. But wind dominated in capacity terms, with 4.8 GW versus 3 GW for solar.

The biggest winner was Origin Energy’s 1.45 GW Yanco Delta wind project in NSW, which has already won grid access rights in the south-west renewable energy zone. The most unusual winner was a major solar farm to be built on the central highlands in Tasmania.

Yanco Delta will be Origin Energy’s ‘s first new renewable project since announcing the “early closure” of the Eraring coal generator in 2022, and then twice deferring the shut down because of a lack of new capacity.

Two other gigawatt-scale wind projects in Queensland were also included among the winners, Windlab’s 1.15 GW Bungaban wind and battery project, and RWE’s 1 GW Theodore project, which the LNP state government had threatened to stop last year.

The Bungaban win is interesting as it already has a long term PPA with Rio Tinto to help power its giant smelters and refineries in Gladstone. The CIS win will presumably help it offer a competitive price, and the project – at least the part supported by the CIS – will include 1.45 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery storage.

Indeed, eight of the 19 winning projects were hybrids – two paired with proposed wind farms (Bungaban and Goldwind’s 346 megawatt Baldin wind project in NSW) and another six that combine solar and batteries.

Interestingly enough there were three solar project winners that did not include battery storage, although all three – European Energy’s Bullyard hybrid in Queensland and the Kayuga hybrid in NSW, and Gamuda’s Weasel solar farm in Tasmania – are likely to add battery storage anyway, but outside the parameters of the CIS.

So far, few of the 39 wind and solar projects announced as winners in the two previous national generation tenders have made it to financial close, or started construction, raising doubts about the government’s ability to reach its 82 per cent renewables target.

But more deals are starting to flow, including in this last week for the country’s biggest solar and battery hybrids to date, at Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap in Queensland which, like Bungaban, will help power the Rio Tinto smelters and refineries.

Results of CIS tender 7.“

The Capacity Investment Scheme is delivering what Australia needs: more cheap, clean energy, more jobs and more investment in our regions,” Bowen said in a statement.

“These projects will help keep the lights on, put downward pressure on power prices and cut emissions with the cheapest form of new energy, backed by storage.”

The tender had sought 5 GW of capacity and the awarding of contracts to 7.8 GW suggests the increased urgency for the government to reach its targets. The next tender – to be known as Tender 9 and also seeking an indicated 5 GW – will be launched on Monday, May 25.

The results of tender 8, seeking long duration battery storage, are expected soon.

It will be interesting to see if there are any tweaks to the CIS in tender 9, after Bowen’s comments in an interview on Renew Economy’s Energy Insiders podcast last month triggered speculation of some changes. See:

The next tender will exclude NSW, because it has already met its agreed quota and has just launched its own tender seeking 2.5 GW of new capacity, with a special emphasis on wind and solar hybrids that can deliver power outside of daylight hours.

Bowen and Wilson said the 19 winning bids would unlock $17 billion in private investment and create an estimated 19,000 construction jobs. the underwriting agreements essentially eliminate downside risk and are designed to make it easier to land finance and offer competitive prices to would-be customers.

The ministers noted that nearly $1.2 billion in social licence commitments had been made by the winning projects, including to local communities, ranger programs, mental health support programs, and First Nations communities, and $257 million worth of Australian steel will also be used.

“At a time when we’re all feeling the pinch from volatile fossil fuel markets, these investments are more important than ever, and, as demonstrated by the quality and volume of bids, the market is responding to the stability the CIS offers,” Wilson said in a statement.

“Coming off the back of the two best quarters for renewable energy, and as we see coal and gas generation in decline, these 19 projects will help drive even more investment in cleaner, cheaper energy across the NEM.”

The wins by Yanco Delta, Spark’s Dinawan solar battery hybrid and BayWa’s Bullewah wind project means that three of the four winners of grid access rights in the south west REZ in NSW have CIS deals.

That leaves the Pottinger wind and battery park, owned by Someva Renewables and AGL Energy , as the only project in that REZ without an underwriting agreement. Curiously, Goldwind’s Baldin wind project does get an underwriting agreement, but no grid access rights, although it may find a path in the local network.

Victoria, which asked for only wind projects, secured only two winners – Engie’s 338 MW Willatook wind project and ICA Partners’ small 70 MW Woolsthorpe wind project.

Tasmania has two winners – the Weasel solar project and the nearby Cellars Hill wind project, both owned by Gamuda – while South Australia has only one winner, the Whyte Yarcowie wind project owned by EdF.

NSW dominated with eight projects, which fills its quota under the CIS, while Queensland took five. The biggest solar hybrid is the Birriwa project in NSW owned by Acen Renewables, with 600 MW of solar capacity and 2,400 MWh of battery storage.

reneweconomy.com.au

[Eric] Solar PV to dominate ‘electricity-led era’ of the future – BloombergNEF By Wi...

Eric — 5/22/2026 10:19:27 AM

Solar PV to dominate ‘electricity-led era’ of the future – BloombergNEF

By Will Norman

May 22, 2026

Markets & Finance, Policy

Europe, Americas, Asia & Oceania

Electricity will account for two-thirds of new energy demand from now to 2050. Image: Wikimedia Commons

The world is entering an ‘electricity-led era’, with solar PV set to become the globe’s largest electricity generation technology by 2032, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BloombergNEF).
Electricity will account for two-thirds of new energy demand from now to 2050, driven by demand from electric vehicles, data centres and wider electrification across economies, BloombergNEF said in its New Energy Outlook 2026 report.

The report highlighted the growth of data centres in particular, which hit 84GW of capacity in 2025, a 20% increase year-on-year consuming 500TWh of electricity, or 1.9% of global total demand. BloombergNEF expects data centre demand to more than double by 2050, ultimately consuming one tenth of global electricity demand.

In the next six years, solar PV will become the largest single electricity generation technology in the world, the report says. This is because of the huge reductions in the cost of solar equipment and generation in recent years, and what BloombergNEF called “massive overcapacity” in the solar sector.

Global grids are also set to become more flexible over the next decade – something essential to expanding renewable energy capacity and managing demand. “A larger, more dynamic power system requires increased flexibility from both supply and demand,” said BloombergNEF. “By 2035, some 11% of megawatt-hours generated are shifted, up from 3% today.”

The report points out that there is currently no new viable low-cost energy technology set to take over from solar PV and battery energy storage, despite “billions” in government support and US$0.5 trillion in corporate equity for startups and other firms. “Hopes are high for new nuclear, geothermal or storage technologies, but none has been proven sufficiently at scale – yet,” the report said.

“As EVs, data centres, population growth and industrial activity spur electricity demand, the world is in a race to meet rising energy demand with the most efficient, least-cost technologies,” said Matthias Kimmel, head of energy economics at BloombergNEF. “[the New Energy Outlook] shows that solar becomes the world’s largest generator overall by 2032, while storage jumps 17-fold to 3.8 terawatts by 2050, underscoring how clean technologies are increasingly critical to energy security, system flexibility and meeting the world’s growing power needs.”

Global fossil fuel crisis

In the short term, BloombergNEF said that continued rapid deployment of clean energy technologies could allow nations across the world to “cut their reliance on imported fossil fuels and ultimately strengthen their energy security.”

The three major shocks to the energy economy in the last decade – COVID-19, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the current Iran-US-Israel war – have made the case for reducing structural reliance on fossil fuels and imported energy. BloombergNEF said that the current situation, “Far more so than in previous energy crises, many countries that are dependent on fossil fuels are able to reduce their economic exposure to energy commodity imports by adopting low-carbon technologies.”

Graph: BloombergNEF

The biggest importers, like Vietnam, Japan, India and Indonesia, stand to gain the most in GDP terms from reducing energy imports as each spent between 3% and 6% on energy imports in 2025. Europe and China – 2.3% and 2.7% of GDP spent, respectively – also stand to gain considerably, while net exporters like the US and Saudi Arabia will also “modestly” reduce their import spends, the report said.

“We’re living in another moment of crisis, but unlike in past decades, today there are real options for countries to react,” said David Hostert, chief economist at BloombergNEF. Data from SolarPower Europe this week showed that the continent’s existing solar PV fleet has saved around €10 billion in avoided gas imports since the outbreak of the Iran war in March.

“We now have viable technologies that can be deployed at scale and fast, at an overall lower cost to the system than the fossil fuel technologies that used to be the primary choice. Through clean power and electrification we can strengthen energy security and reduce harmful emissions along the way,” Hostert said.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] Solar PV helped Europe avoid €10 billion in gas imports since Iran war started ...

Eric — 5/21/2026 4:28:27 PM

Solar PV helped Europe avoid €10 billion in gas imports since Iran war started

By Will Norman

May 21, 2026

Markets & Finance, Policy

Europe

“The full costs of the energy crisis are still to be measured but it is a price Europe shouldn’t have to pay,” said SolarPower Europe’s CEO. Image: Unsplash/Andreas Gücklhorn.

Europe has avoided €10 billion in gas imports since the start of the Iran war thanks to power generated from its solar PV fleet, according to research from SolarPower Europe.
The research said that in March, avoided imports reached €110 million (US$128 million) per day, with a cumulative saving of €3.76 billion over the course of March.

Gas prices have skyrocketed since the outbreak of the US/Israeli war with Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. European gas futures peaked at €60/MWh in March, double the average of the prior months.

SolarPower Europe said that with €10 billion, the EU could build another 8GW of solar PV capacity or more than 44GWh of utility-scale battery energy storage capacity, “more than three times” the capacity installed across the continent last year.

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “The full costs of the energy crisis are still to be measured, but it is a price Europe shouldn’t have to pay. Solar is showing the benefits of a renewable-first energy system. The savings since 1 March are equivalent to Belgium’s recent annual defence budgets.

“This is just a sample of what is possible. The energy crisis following the invasion of Ukraine is estimated to have cost 1.7 trillion EUR as bills spiked and governments looked to shield billpayers. Cutting the impact of gas on wholesale power prices must now be a priority.”

graph: SolarPower Europe

The group said that increasing grid system flexibility through measures like energy storage, thus allowing for greater renewable energy deployment and electrification, is a “strategic necessity” to reduce Europe’s vulnerability to international energy shocks. It said that over the course of 2026, power from Europe’s renewable energy fleet would avoid “tens of billions” in gas imports, depending on how prices evolve.
“By adding more non-fossil flexibility in our system we can reduce the impact gas has on setting electricity prices. [the grid flexibility package] AccelerateEU is the first step, but we need concrete measures that can rapidly encourage higher levels of deployment and deeper electrification of our society and economy,” added Hemetsberger.

While the case for renewables in light of increased volatility is clear on paper, there are growing structural challenges to the sector. A report from energy think tank Ember last month found that grid constraints could put up to 120GW of renewable energy projects at risk by 2030. We have also heard that the appetite for standalone solar projects has faded (subscription required) across the continent, pushing developers towards more complex and challenging hybrid and energy storage projects.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] Enbridge to build 365MW/1.6GWh solar-plus-storage project in Wyoming for Meta da...

Eric — 5/21/2026 4:24:14 PM

Enbridge to build 365MW/1.6GWh solar-plus-storage project in Wyoming for Meta data centre

By Will Norman

May 20, 2026

Power Plants, Projects, Storage

Americas

Meta’s largest data centre development will be the US$200 billion ‘Hyperion’ construction in Louisiana, Image: Meta.

Canadian energy firm Enbridge will develop a 365MW/1,600MWh solar-plus-storage project in Wyoming, US, as part of an ongoing partnership with tech and data giant Meta.
The first phase of the Cowboy project, near Cheyenne, Wyoming, will supply power to Meta for its growing data centre operations in the US. The partnership between Meta and Enbridge now totals approximately 1.6GW of contracted energy capacity across North America.

Enbridge did not provide a timeline for the project’s construction or operations.

“The first phase of the Cowboy Project builds on our strong and growing relationship with Meta and reflects Enbridge’s disciplined approach to expanding our power portfolio,” said Allen Capps, Enbridge’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and President of Power business. “By integrating utility-scale solar with battery storage, we’re delivering reliable, scalable energy solutions that support Meta’s data centre operations while strengthening grid performance.”

Meta’s largest data centre development will be the US$200 billion ‘Hyperion’ construction in Louisiana, reportedly to be accompanied by 10 gas-fired power plants. The similarly grandiosely named ‘Prometheus’ cluster of data centres in Ohio forms part of the company’s commitment to spend US$600 billion on AI data centre infrastructure by 2028.

Alongside massive water, land and gas-fired energy consumption, Meta has invested significantly in US solar energy to power its operations. Last week, it announced 850MW worth of solar and energy storage power purchase agreements (PPAs) with DE Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI), and at the start of this month, it inked another offtake deal with EDP for a 250MW solar PV project in Arkansas.

Not content with land-based energy resources, the company has also signed a speculative deal with US startup Overview Energy for early access to space-based solar power, harvested with satellites that beam solar energy from space to land-based PV farms, theoretically allowing for 24/7 generation.

The US data centre boom has sparked fierce debate, pitting the economic and tax benefits that these huge developments can bring to local regions against the impacts they have on power grid stability, water tables and local communities.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] CAISO approves transmission plan enabling 45GW of new solar PV By Jonathan To...

Eric — 5/21/2026 10:20:02 AM

CAISO approves transmission plan enabling 45GW of new solar PV

By Jonathan Touriño Jacobo

May 20, 2026

Grids, Power Plants

Americas

Co-located battery storage and standalone BESS will also benefit from the approved transmission plan. Image: California ISO.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) Board of Governors has approved the ISO’s 2025-2026 transmission plan, which accommodates 45GW of new solar PV.
In total, 38 projects were recommended to meet growing demand over the next ten years, with half of the projects driven by forecasted load growth. This represents more than half of the US$6.7 billion estimated cost – which was reduced from the previously projected US$7 billion a month earlier – over the next decade.

The approved transmission plan will allow for the addition of 45GW of new solar PV capacity in the Westlands areas in the Central Valley, Tehachapi, the Kramer area in San Bernardino County, Riverside County, as well as southern Nevada and western Arizona.

Solar PV is the technology which will see the most benefit from this approved plan, while co-located battery storage projects will also get access across the state. Standalone storage will also benefit from the approved plan for locations closer to major load centres in the LA Basin, the greater Bay Area and San Diego.

In the 2025-2026 plan, CAISO’s analysis of grid congestion also identified the need for a new 500-kilovolt line to relieve congestion along the Path 15 corridor, a major north-south transmission corridor. The recommended alternative will be refined in next year’s planning as it requires additional engineering prior to a final recommendation.

According to the ISO, this upgrade will support renewables development in southern California, in Fresno and Kings counties.

If all the additional capacity for solar PV ends up being installed over the next ten years, it would bring California to the 100GW milestone. Currently, the state has 55GW of installed solar PV as of the end of March 2026, according to data from trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The transmission plan, which is based on projections from the California Energy Commission (CEC) that expect California’s load to grow by 15GW by 2035 and 20GW by 2040. At the same time, the installed resources capacity will need to increase by over 74GW and 107GW, respectively.

Load growth driven by electrification and data centres

According to the CEC, the load growth in the coming years will be driven by building and transportation electrification, manufacturing and large loads such as data centres.

“We are constantly striving to find ways to meet system needs in the most affordable way possible,” Neil Millar, the ISO’s vice president, transmission planning and infrastructure development, said. “This year’s plan does that in a number of different ways while also making sure we have the right infrastructure in place to accommodate all of the new resources that are being added to the system.”

Moreover, 12 of the reconductoring projects included in this year’s plan will increase transmission capacity without the need to build new transmission lines.

The revised draft for CAISO’s 2025-2026 Transmission Plan can be accessed here.

pv-tech.org

[Eric] NSW opens tenders for 2.5 GW of solar and wind alongside 12.5 GWh of storage Ne...

Eric — 5/20/2026 1:10:47 PM

NSW opens tenders for 2.5 GW of solar and wind alongside 12.5 GWh of storage

New South Wales is rolling out two of the biggest renewable energy tenders in the state’s history, seeking 2.5 GW of new generation capacity in addition to 12.5 GWh of long-duration energy storage.

MAY 20, 2026 DAVID CARROLL

Image: ASL

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The New South Wales (NSW) government has launched the latest of its planned tenders seeking new solar and wind generation and energy storage projects as it prepares for the exit of coal and the shift to a renewables-dominated grid.

AusEnergy Services Limited (ASL, formerly AEMO Services), serving as the NSW Consumer Trustee, has opened registrations for tenders 8 and 9 under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.

Tender 8 is seeking 2.5 GW of renewable energy generation – the state’s largest generation Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) tender yet. In another milestone, this tender introduces a new hybrid generation LTESA, designed to cater for the growing presence of combined solar or wind generation and battery storage projects in the pipeline.

ASL said the tender is open to projects with a minimum capacity of 30 MW and those that are on track to commence operations before the end of 2029 are expected to be considered more favourably.

At the same time, ASL is conducting Tender 9, seeking up to 12 GWh of long-duration storage projects.

This tender is expected to deliver about 1.5 GW of large-scale batteries or pumped hydro projects, with successful projects featuring at least 5 MW of power capacity and a minimum eight hours of energy storage capacity. Projects are expected to be operational by 2034.

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the tenders demonstrate how serious the government is about delivering on its renewable energy targets as coal exits the system.

“Tender 8 alone will deliver enough energy to power about one-third of homes in NSW, marking a major step forward in our plan to future-proof NSW’s electricity system,” she said.

“Tender 9 ensures we can store renewable energy, so it can be released on demand when needed, making our grid more stable and reliable.”

NSW has announced stretch targets of 16 GW of new generation by 2030, significantly above the legislated 12 GW minimum objective, and 42 GWh of new long-duration storage infrastructure by 2034, well above the 28 GWh minimum target.

Sharpe said when delivered, tenders 8 and 9 will significantly boost NSW’s generation and storage capacity with Tender 8 to pave the way for the state to achieve up to 90% of its 2030 renewable energy generation target.

NSW is already on track to exceed its long-duration storage targets for 2030 and 2034 with Sharpe saying the state is now seeking to unlock 50% more capacity beyond those minimum benchmarks,

“This is about keeping the lights on when ageing coal-fired power stations retire and doing it in a way that puts downward pressure on electricity bills for NSW families,” she said.

Tenders 8 and 9 will be run separately and through a single-stage process, offering projects the ability to secure a LTESA.

Proponents participating in Tender 8 will be able to bid for either a generation or a hybrid generation LTESA while those taking part in Tender 9 will submit bids for long-duration storage LTESAs.

ASL said these revenue support mechanisms are designed to improve project bankability and support projects reaching final investment decision and financial close.

Registrations for both tenders are set to close towards the end of next month with the announcement of successful bids expected by late 2026.

pv-magazine-australia.com

[Eric] Pakistan’s operational PV capacity estimated a 51 GW Latest report from Renewab...

Eric — 5/20/2026 1:08:40 PM

Pakistan’s operational PV capacity estimated a 51 GW

Latest report from Renewables First finds that Pakistan’s solarization continues to grow with households, farms and businesses turning to distributed solar to reduce their reliance on the grid.

MAY 19, 2026 PATRICK JOWETT

Image: Abuzar Xheikh/Unsplash

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Pakistan had deployed an estimated 51 GW of solar as of March 2026, according to a new report from Renewables First, with solar module imports reaching 54 GW by the end of the same month.

Pakistan's estimated solar deployment mapped against solar module imports Image: Renewables First

The latest edition of the think tank’s flagship report, Pakistan Electricity Review 2026, finds that electrification in Pakistan is accelerating through distributed solar installations despite grid-based indicators suggesting stagnation.

Figures in the report highlight that electricity generated by utility-scale power sources in Pakistan reached 135 TWh in the period from July 2024 to June 2025, known as fiscal year 2025 (FY25), representing a 2% year-on-year decline. This is the fourth consecutive decline in reliance on utility-scale electricity generation, which peaked at 154 TWh in fiscal year 2022 (FY22).

Away from these figures, distributed solar, consisting of net-metering, behind-the-meter and off-grid solar deployment, generated 51 TWh in FY25, taking Pakistan's total electricity generation to a record 186 TWh. Renewables First’s report says the 51 TWh generated last fiscal year is equivalent to roughly 46% of grid-supplied electricity over the same time period.

Electricity generation by energy source in Pakistan Image: Renewables First

Speaking during a webinar launching the report earlier today, Renewables First Associate – Energy Insights, Nabiya Imran, explained that new growth in electricity is increasingly being met by distributed solar. “It is being met outside the grid,” Imran said. “Or in other words, the demand that was first entirely on the grid has migrated to behind the meter and net metered distributed solar.”

The report adds that grid sales, defined as the electricity purchased by consumers from the state-owned central utility network, reached 111 TWh in FY25, a 1.7% increase year-on-year but down on a FY22 peak. “This does not reflect falling electricity demand,” the report explains. “Instead, a growing share of consumption is being met through distributed solar, indicating that underlying electricity use continues to rise but is increasingly bypassing the grid.”

Grid sales compared to distributed solar generation in Pakistan Image: Renewables First

Renewables First latest report follows previous research that highlighted the scale of Pakistan’s solar market is underrepresented in official statistics. In today’s webinar, Imran explained that there are two parallel systems currently operating in Pakistan.

“On one side, we have the centralized grid, which is structured around unidirectional power flows, thermal plants and thermal dependence. At the same time, we have consumers investing increasingly in distributed solar, driven by high electricity tariffs and cheaper solar panel costs,” Imran told attendees. “So, there's a mismatch between these two systems. The goal is to bridge that mismatch, because that will help us reduce our fossil fuel dependence and improve macroeconomic resilience.”

Imran added that clean technologies such as solar, batteries and electric vehicles are also an opportunity to localize manufacturing. “And in turn, it supports the broader economic development of the country,” she said.

In the report’s forward, Sohaib Malik, Senior Fellow – Energy Transitions at Renewables First, wrote that while policymakers are starting to recognize the challenges facing the country’s centralized model of power generation and supply, the full extent of the shift is yet to be appreciated by most stakeholders because of the incomplete and imprecise datasets available to them.

The report adds that with distributed solar eroding utility revenues faster than thermal capacity can be rationalized, the sector is moving towards an inflection point with insufficient policy frameworks to navigate it.”

“The sector’s inflection point will depend on how quickly planning and policy frameworks adapt to decentralized, bi-directional electricity flows,” the report says. “A shift in focus from capacity expansion to system optimization (flexibility, storage and demand side management) will be critical to improving efficiency and reducing costs.”

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] Data shows solar development on farmland avoids driving up food prices A county...

Eric — 5/20/2026 1:06:53 PM

Data shows solar development on farmland avoids driving up food prices

A county-level agricultural economic model demonstrates that utility-scale solar expansion has a negligible impact on national commodity markets.

MAY 19, 2026 RYAN KENNEDY

SUSTAINABILITY
UNITED STATES

Image: Mark Stebnicki - Pexels

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Land-use conflicts between renewable energy developers and agricultural communities have fueled intense local debates over food security and energy independence.

Peer-reviewed research authored by Jerome Dumortier and Rafael M. Almeida quantifies the actual market implications of converting agricultural fields into utility-scale solar installations. The findings indicate that public fears regarding national food affordability are largely unsubstantiated by underlying economic fundamentals.

Under a baseline expansion scenario where 40% of future solar projects sit on cropland, prices for maize, soybeans, and wheat increase by less than 5.6%. Such an increase represents just one-third of the long-term price pressures associated with historical U.S. biofuel production mandates.

Aggressive modeling shows that even if a highly unlikely 80% of new solar deployment occurs on cropland, commodity price spikes remain capped below 18.4%. Wheat experiences slightly higher relative price pressures than corn or soybeans due to a greater geographic overlap between solar potential and traditional wheat-growing regions.

Total land required for projected U.S. solar infrastructure through 2050 ranges between 3.8 million and 6.1 million hectares. Outpacing this entire projected footprint, the normal interannual variation for U.S. field crop area alone fluctuated by 10 million hectares between 2014 and 2023. Continuous improvements in crop yields also mean that agricultural output rises even as total farmed acreage contracts.

Localized policy restrictions often emerge because solar developers outbid traditional farmers in local rental markets, but the researchers note that microeconomic land competition does not impact macroeconomic food prices. Landowner returns actually benefit significantly from clean energy diversification, especially since 57.1% of the nation’s 1.9 million farms report net financial losses.

National survey data reveals that solar lease offers regularly exceed $2,470 per hectare, heavily outperforming peak non-irrigated farmland cash rents of $813 per hectare. Photovoltaic systems deliver substantially higher energy output per unit of land than liquid transportation fuels like corn ethanol, positioning solar as a highly efficient tool for long-term energy security.

pv-magazine-usa.com

My comments:

Growing corn for ethanol production is nuts.

The series efficiency is pathetic

PV generation beats the pants off of corn ethanol!

Farmers could actually make many more $$$.

Eric

[Eric] Industry data showcases Australia’s residential solar boom Australia’s resident...

Eric — 5/20/2026 1:04:49 PM

Industry data showcases Australia’s residential solar boom

Australia’s residential solar market continues to expand at pace, supported by high household adoption and growing integration of battery storage systems. The latest data shows approximately 217,000 new rooftop solar systems have been installed over the past 12 months with an estimated 42% of Australian homes now fitted with solar. The country maintains its position as the No.1 globally ranked market for rooftop solar adoption, with an average residential system size of 6.6 kW.

MAY 18, 2026 PRINCE RAJPUT

OPINION & ANALYSIS
AUSTRALIA

Image: pv magazine Australia

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Cumulative installation figures further illustrate the scale of the sector’s growth, with a total 4,368,164 rooftop solar systems totaling more than 28.3 GW capacity installed across Australia, alongside 284,580 small-scale battery energy storage systems. (Note: 2025 solar battery data is only available from 1 July 2025, when solar batteries became eligible under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme according to Clean Energy Regulator).

The figures showcase the continued expansion of distributed energy resources and the increasing role of residential solar in Australia’s broader energy transition.

The historical data highlights the upward trajectory of the country’s adoption of rooftop solar. Early-stage deployment remained relatively limited, with less than 65,000 installations recorded in 2009. The market however accelerated significantly in the following years, driven by policy incentives, declining installation costs, and increasing consumer awareness.

Installer-level data provides additional insight into recent activity. According to the Solar 365 May 2026 Report, the company installed 600 solar systems in the first four months of this year with an annual target of more than 4,000. This compares with the 2,500 systems installed in 2025 and 1,200 installed in 2024.

While this dataset reflects a single installation company, it highlights continued strong growth in the residential solar segment, reflecting ongoing market expansion and increasing customer adoption.

The growth of rooftop solar sector is now being mirrored by the small-scale battery storage market with energy storage emerging as a key technology in Australia’s clean energy transition with the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries rebate program, introduced in July 2025, having a significant effect on the market.

In the first six months following the launch of the rebate scheme, 165,979 batteries were installed and 28.4% of all new rooftop solar installs included an energy storage system.

The total number of batteries installed under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program has now climbed to more than 380,000 installations, delivering more than 10 GWh of capacity.

Those figures showcase the shift toward integrated solar and storage systems, with households increasingly adopting batteries to improve energy self-consumption and reduce reliance on the grid.

Long-term installation data provides a detailed view of Australia’s solar growth trajectory, showing a transition from early adoption to large-scale deployment.

The data shows strong growth between 2009 and 2012, followed by stabilisation and another growth phase from 2018 onward. The inclusion of battery systems from 2025 onwards marks a structural shift in the market.

Role of solar platforms in Australia’s solar growth

Various digital platforms have contributed to the expansion of Australia’s residential solar market by improving access to information, pricing transparency, and installer comparisons. These platforms typically act as intermediaries between customers and installers.

A key function of these platforms is customer education. By breaking down technical aspects such as system sizing, panel efficiency, warranties, and battery integration, they reduce complexity and support more informed purchasing decisions.

Platforms such as Solar Quotes and Solar Panels and Battery Package, along with bundled solution offerings like solar packages, illustrate how the market has evolved to become more transparent and user-focused. Collectively, these platforms have played a supporting role in increasing consumer confidence and accelerating the adoption of residential solar systems across Australia.

Financial performance remains a primary factor influencing residential solar adoption.

Based on a standard 6.6 kW system, consumers can expect to save about $1,500 per year on their energy bill with a payback period of three to four years after applying the rebate. Those who install a battery can expect savings of about $3,000 per annum.

The figures reinforce the economic viability of installing solar, particularly when combined with battery storage.

Future projections suggest continued expansion of rooftop solar capacity across Australia with key outlook figures including 36 GW rooftop solar installation target and 82% of electricity from renewables by 2030.

Long-term projections indicate 53 GW to 71 GW of rooftop solar capacity by 2050, depending on adoption trends.

These projections, combined with strong financial returns and ambitious national targets, indicate that residential solar – and increasingly battery energy storage – a will continue to play a critical role in Australia’s energy landscape in the coming decades.

Author: Prince Rajput, Team Leader, Solar 365

pv-magazine-australia.com

[Eric] Australia’s biggest solar battery hybrid projects lock in finance in landmark de...

Eric — 5/20/2026 12:40:34 PM

Australia’s biggest solar battery hybrid projects lock in finance in landmark deal to power heavy industry

Artist impression of Smoky Creek solar and battery project. Image: Edify Energy.

Giles Parkinson

May 20, 2026

RENEWABLES
SOLAR

The biggest solar and battery hybrid projects in Australia have reached financial close, locking in a landmark deal that will help power giant aluminium smelters and refineries and help change the debate around the future of the grid.

Edify Energy, now owned by Canadian giant La Caisse, says 14 Australian and international lenders have come together to back the Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap projects in central Queensland, which will combine 600 megawatts (MW) of solar (720 MW dc) and 600 MW and 2,400 MWh of battery storage.

The two neighbouring projects are a key part of mining giant Rio Tinto’s plans to close the ageing Gladstone coal fired power station in 2029 and turn to green energy and storage, from Smoky and Guthrie’s Gap, as well as the Upper Calliope solar farm, the Bungaban wind project, and other projects yet to be announced.

“Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap are critical projects in the energy transition, generating cost-effective, reliable and dispatchable renewable energy,” Edify Energy CEO Ben Warne said in a statement.

“These are the first projects to reach financial close under La Caisse ownership and reflect the scale of Edify’s and La Caisse’s ambition in making a meaningful contribution to the energy transition.”

The two projects have locked in a 20-year off take deal with Rio Tinto – for 90 per cent of their output to help power the Boyne Island smelter in Gladstone and two refineries – and they are also supported by underwriting agreements with the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme.

The deal is an important one for the federal government’s ambitions to reach its target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030, which has been made more difficult by the actions of the LNP state government in Queensland, which has scrapped the state’s own renewable targets and erected barriers to new projects.

Indeed, the LNP’s energy roadmap makes clear that the only wind and solar projects that it wants to see go ahead in its state are those that support the transition of the Gladstone smelters and refineries, which are the biggest energy users in the state.

It has “called in” a number of other wind and battery projects, and some of them remain in limbo after more than a year of uncertainty.

Ironically, the Smoky Creek and Guthrie Gap projects represent one of the nation’s largest renewable energy off-take deals for the industrial sector, and one of the most advanced examples of firmed solar energy powering heavy industry.

“The Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap Solar power stations will deliver utility-scale solar generation integrated with battery energy storage and advanced grid-forming inverters, purpose-designed to provide low cost, reliable dispatchable renewable power,” Edify Energy said.

“Together, the projects will strengthen Queensland’s energy system, support industrial demand and contribute to improved reliability as aging thermal generation retires.”

Edify has already begun early works on the sites and Malaysia-based DT Infrastructure has won the $1.1 billion EPC contract to build the projects. DTI is also building the Carmody’s Hill wind farm in South Australia and the Jinbi solar farm in Western Australia.

Edify says the project has strong backing from landholders, the local community in the Banana Shire, and the Gaangalu Nation people. The project will create up to 800 jobs at peak construction and support local apprenticeships and skills training.

“The projects will maximise local procurement, supporting local suppliers and the Australian domestic steel industry. Supported by a community benefits program spanning more than 35 years, the projects are designed to leave a lasting, positive legacy for the region,” the company said.

It also describes the “greenfield renewable energy portfolio financing package” as a first for Australia and will provide a scalable foundation for future projects.

reneweconomy.com.au

[Eric] From coal to solar: A stable jobs transition for Poland Research from Poland fi...

Eric — 5/20/2026 12:38:56 PM

From coal to solar: A stable jobs transition for Poland

Research from Poland finds the development of the country’s solar industry will likely result in stable economic stimulus over the next 15 years, supporting between 20,000 and 40,000 direct full time contracts until 2040 depending on the level of investment and operations and maintenance of PV installations.

MAY 20, 2026 PATRICK JOWETT

Image: pv magazine / AI generated

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The development of Poland’s solar market will allow for a constant level of employment to be maintained in the country over the next 15 years, according to new research.

A research team from the AGH University of Krakow utilized data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland and the Energy Transition Observatory to analyze the development of Poland’s PV industry between 2026 and 2040. The findings are available in the research paper On economic and environmental effects of expanding PV deployment in Poland, available in the journal Scientific Reports.

Corresponding author Lukasz Lach told pv magazine that the paper is the first attempt to assess quantitatively the size and development potential of the photovoltaic market in Poland under different installation capacities and market scenarios.

“Poland official strategic plans in the energy sector, including its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), lack any data on socio-economic effects of new energy-related investments. In the absence of such national indicators, some measures taken from studies on other countries are used in the NECP as a starting point for discussion on socio-economic effects of energy transition in Poland,” Lach said. “It is obvious, however, that relying on foreign-economies-based estimates is more like guessing than conducting meaningful analyses and leads to a situation where painting a full picture of energy transition in Poland based on official country’s NECP is almost impossible. The goal of the paper is to present a general method of solving this problem.”

The research paper covers three possible market scenarios over the next 15 years. The first, a baseline scenario, assumes further development of Poland's solar industry based on currently existing legislative and market conditions. A second scenario, referred to PEP2040, is based on the legal and market conditions outlined in the Polish Energy Policy until 2040, while a third, referred to as the optimal scenario for the industry (OPT), assumes further development will take place at a pace optimal to the strategic considerations and growth of the solar industry’s actors.

Findings in the paper state that the total number of jobs will remain stable but at different levels depending on the scenario. “It may amount to approximately 20,000 for the baseline variant, to approximately 25,000 for PEP2040, and to between 35,000 and 40,000 for the OPT scenario” the research paper says. “This justifies the pursuit of the OPT scenario for the industry.”

Total number of jobs generated by the solar installations in the study's development scenarios Image: Lach et al

Lach explained that in the earlier years of the timespan, there are likely to be more jobs related to prosumer installations but the importance of large installations will grow over time. “In parallel, the number of permanent jobs related to the maintenance of the deployed infrastructure will be on the rise, which will compensate for the likely decline in construction-related jobs,” he said.

The research paper adds that employment projects often include jobs associated with induced effects but this analysis does not include them as such effects were not directly traceable given the current state of economic data on Poland. “It is worth mentioning that the literature estimates that the number of induced jobs may constitute from 33% to even 100% of jobs related to direct and indirect effects,” Lach explained. “In other words, induced effects related to the development of PV infrastructure may significantly add to the associated direct discussed above.”

Lach also noted that despite Poland's ongoing energy transition, the number of coal-related jobs continues to be high as coal remains the largest source of electricity in the country. “The development of the PV industry in Poland provides obvious opportunities for laid-off coal workers,” he added.

When asked by pv magazine how he assesses the outlook for solar in Poland, Lach said the long-term potential remains strong due to high power prices, robust industrial demand for power purchase agreements and the need to reduce coal dependence.

But he warned that significant action is required to address key barriers such as curtailments, negative pricing and insufficient investment returns, adding that the most pressing challenge is the overloaded electricity grid which is causing delays and refusals for new project connections.

“Substantial investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure will also be essential to support further integration of renewable energy,” Lach explained. “Simply installing additional solar panels will no longer be sufficient; instead, the market must shift toward an integrated model that combines solar generation with energy storage, flexibility solutions and efficient local consumption to ease pressure on the grid.”

Poland’s cumulative solar capacity reached 24.8 GW by the end of last year, after the country added around 3.6 GW in 2025.

pv-magazine.com

[Eric] Very low cost rooftop solar and batteries slashes domestic energy cost Rooftop ...

Eric — 5/20/2026 12:38:07 PM

Very low cost rooftop solar and batteries slashes domestic energy cost

Rooftop solar in Australia provides the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable domestic energy in history.

MAY 20, 2026 INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ENERGY SOCIETY

OPINION & ANALYSIS
AUSTRALIA

Image: Endeavour Energy

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About 40% of Australian dwellings have rooftop PV, which is the highest rate in the world. Australia generates more solar electricity per person than any other country, from rooftop PV and solar farms.

A fully installed 10 kW system in Australia costs about $10,000 and lasts about 20 years. For many homeowners, the required rate of return on investing in rooftop PV is the house mortgage rate (6%), which equates to a tax-free real interest rate of about 2% after subtracting inflation. Real world annual output is approximately 1,300 kWh/kW per year.

These numbers translate to $0.05/kWh, which is far below retail tariffs.

Australian rooftop PV is much cheaper than in most countries. Reasons include the large scale of the industry, high skill levels, the absence of tariffs on Chinese solar panels, and government regulations that are highly standardised and very smooth. Solar companies spend very little on advertising – rooftop PV is visible everywhere, which is its own advertisement.

The fraction of dwellings with rooftop PV is increasing by about 3% (absolute) per year. Many older systems are being upgraded. New rooftop PV systems have an average size of 11 kW. Many years ago, rooftop PV was kick-started by subsidies and attractive feed-in tariffs. Now it is driven by its compelling economic advantage.

In South Australia, the number of dwellings with rooftop PV has passed 50%, which means that half the population enjoys low electricity prices. Rooftop PV provides one quarter of annual electricity demand. It exceeds 100% of demand on sunny days, with the balance being exported eastwards. The grid remains very stable. South Australia is tracking towards 100% of its electricity from solar and wind on average in 2027. The wholesale spot market prices (corrected for inflation) is unchanged in the past decade.

Rooftop PV unlocks private money to produce vast amounts of clean electricity for houses, businesses and the grid. Government support is not required once the industry gets going. The grid remains highly stable even with high fractions of rooftop PV. Other countries can study Australian deployment methods and low-friction regulations.

An all-electric home has zero bill for natural gas or vehicle fuel. Energy storage is available in heat-pump hot water storage tanks (10-15 kWh), home batteries (10-40 kWh), and EV batteries (40-80 kWh). Simple timers can move operation of storage-charging, dishwashers, clothes washing and drying and house pre-heating and pre-cooling (via heat pumps) to daytime.

Rooftop solar combined with storage allows high energy resilience. If grid power fails, then the homeowner can carry on indefinitely with nearly normal house operation.

Uptake of EVs and heat pumps for water & space heating/cooling is starting to take off, strongly driven by the latest war in the Middle East.

Recently, the Australian government implemented a very successful program to encourage the uptake of large (10-40 kWh) home batteries, usually coupled with new or expanded rooftop PV. Although the installed cost is quite high (around $350/kWh) and the payback period is long, many people enjoy the feeling of energy independence, and resilience if the grid goes down. Currently, about 3% (absolute) per year of Australian dwellings are installing home batteries.

Rooftop solar in Australia provides the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable domestic energy in history.

Authors: Prof. Ricardo Rüther (UFSC), rruther@gmail.com; Prof Andrew Blakers, ANU, Andrew.blakers@anu.edu.au

ISES, the International Solar Energy Society is a UN-accredited membership NGO founded in 1954 working towards a world with 100% renewable energy for all, used efficiently and wisely.

pv-magazine-australia.com

[Eric] U.S. PV manufacturing capex could reach $7 billion in 2027 in breakout year for ...

Eric — 5/20/2026 11:52:02 AM

U.S. PV manufacturing capex could reach $7 billion in 2027 in breakout year for domestic supply-chain

Driven by multi-billion-dollar investments from the likes of Tesla and Corning, U.S. solar manufacturing capital expenditure is forecast to skyrocket 150% year-on-year to $7 billion in 2027, marking a massive breakout year as silicon-based technology eclipses thin-film spending and cements a domestic supply chain.

MAY 20, 2026 FINLAY COLVILLE

MARKETS
MODULES & UPSTREAM MANUFACTURING
UNITED STATES

Image: pv magazine / AI generated

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From pv magazine USA

Investments into PV capital expenditure (capex) across the United States are set to grow significantly in 2027, in what is likely to be a breakout year for the domestic crystalline-silicon (c-Si) industry.

Capex is forecast to reach as much as $7 billion in 2027, representing a year-on-year growth of about 150%, with investments into the c-Si value-chain potentially accounting for more than 90% of spending, compared to about 10% from thin-film (First Solar).

This article provides the first detailed analysis of U.S.-specific PV manufacturing capex, created bottom-up by analysing the investments, effective capacities and production levels of more than 35 domestic producers in the United States; by year back to 2020 and by quarter out to the end of 2027.

The details behind this new analysis form the backdrop to the content that will be presented on-stage at Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 in Austin, Texas on 22-23 September 2026 – the first event to be held in the United States dedicated exclusively to domestic PV production, equipment supply, technologies deployed and materials supply-chains.

Capex and opex the new metrics for domestic production

Since details regarding the Inflation Reduction Act were revealed back in 2022, manufacturing capacity in the United States has evolved in a somewhat lumpy fashion, characterized by First Solar’s new thin-film factories across various states in the Southeast and a spread of c-Si module factories across the country, with Texas taking the lead from a production standpoint.

While a massive step forward for a country that was for years being supplied by factories in Southeast Asia, financed and operated mostly by Chinese PV manufacturers, the investment climate for full value-chain c-Si capital spending has been largely subdued in the United States in the past few years.

This was due to uncertainty. Would the United States continue to be supplied by upstream components produced overseas as foreign companies moved capacity from one country to another to avoid the latest round of AD/CVD tariffs? Or would the requirements on foreign-ownership and control create a void in expansion plans that domestic entities were unable to fill?

However, over the past 6 months, it appears that these uncertainties have been overcome. Legacy issues with foreign ownership appear to be getting addressed now and plans have emerged from companies such as Canadian Solar, Corning and Tesla that suggest a new landscape for domestic PV manufacturing in the United States is imminent.

In short, it appears that the build-out of a domestic manufacturing ecosystem is now an accepted reality; not just for upstream cells, wafers and ingots, but the accompanying raw materials supply-chains feeding into manufacturing activity through the value-chain.

At last, the United States is moving from tracking ambitious capacity announcement plans to analysing capex and operating expenditure (opex); the key metrics associated with a credible and sustainable manufacturing segment.

First Solar’s US expansions to be eclipsed by silicon-based competitors

Since 2023, First Solar was the leading company investing in new manufacturing capacity in the United States, with over $2.5 billion committed between 2023 and 2025 to new greenfield sites in Alabama and Louisiana, in addition to upgrades in Ohio. This level of spending accounted for about one third of all PV capex in the United States during this period.

It now appears that 2027 will be the breakout year for c-Si capex in the United States, driven partly by new capacity additions at the cell stage from existing module producers. However, the major additions in 2027 are coming from the anticipated start of capex by Tesla and an expected round of ingot/wafer and module capacity investments from Corning.

First Solar’s new thin-film factories in Alabama and Louisiana were major contributors to the uptick in U.S. PV capex during 2023 and 2024, with c-Si based PV capex now dominating investments.

Spending on deposition tools from 2027 could be a pivotal moment

Until now, c-Si spending has largely been focused on new module assembly lines, with most of the deposition equipment capex coming from First Solar’s new thin-film investments. However, this is set to change as cell capacity is prioritized from 2027.

Across both c-Si and thin-film value-chains, deposition equipment is probably the most important aspect of any technology roadmap and in-house technical competence. This was recognized by the China PV ecosystem back in 2017-2018 as the country set out to own deposition tool development and production as the engine for its leading cell producers to move from p-type mono PERC structures to more advanced cell architectures.

While having a strong accumulated capacity for polysilicon production, ingot pulling, wafer slicing and module assembly is necessary to build out a self-contained PV manufacturing ecosystem, technical competence and leadership on critical tools and process flow arrangements for cell fabrication is essential for the United States to become a key player in the PV manufacturing space.

US PV capex in 2027 is forecast to see the first major spending in c-Si cell build-out, with the domestic sector moving from module assembly capability to cell fabrication knowledge and ownership.

Southeast hubs emerge while Texas still the frontrunner in module production

No different to the bidding wars that tend to exist elsewhere globally when new factory investments are first muted, PV capex in the United States has gravitated to locations where incentives are on offer.

This has created a hub of activity across states in the Southeast including Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas. All of First Solar’s expansions outside Ohio have been in the Southeast; Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina.

Texas dominates PV capex in the Southwest, including Canadian Solar, Elin Elektrik, Waaree Energies, VSun, T1 Energy, SEG Solar and Imperial Star.

Outside First Solar’s thin-film capex in Ohio, states in the Midwest have also been the subject of capex, most notably Canadian Solar’s cell build out in Indiana and Corning’s new ingot and wafer lines in Michigan.

However, a large contribution from the capex forecast in 2027 is coming from Tesla’s plans that have yet to reveal a specific location, either as a stand-alone integrated hub or through geographically disperse capacity additions.

States across the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest dominate new PV manufacturing capex today in the United States, with Tesla’s factory location(s) yet to be revealed.

While the spending of the 35-40 companies driving the expansion of PV manufacturing today in the United States can be assigned to specific areas, the largest swing factor in forecasting capex (and the associated additional c-Si production volumes in the United States from 2028 onwards) is coming from Tesla’s plans to establish one of the largest PV manufacturing entities seen in the PV industry.

Forecasting domestic capex is now essential to understanding the growth of US PV manufacturing

Capex is the most important metric for any manufacturing analyst; scrutiny here cannot be underestimated. Granularity on capex at the quarterly level (value-chain and technology / process-flow specific) allows production ramp-up and phasing to be established in a far more credible and useful way than the legacy focus in the United States on unsubstantiated and speculative media announcements.

Capex provides a means of forecasting productivity 12-18 months in advance, but not any longer. In this context, the forecasting to the end of 2027 shown in this article is at the limits and is required to pre-empt firm details on some of the 2028-2030 production activity that could see major changes in the overall U.S. PV production landscape.

This includes expected capex allocations from Corning in 2027 to meet the company’s 2030 solar targets.

But the largest impact to 2027 capex is coming from Tesla’s plans. The scale and ambition of building out 100 GW of c-Si capacity (ingot-to-module, or just cell / module) seems to have spooked the U.S. PV sector, with few outlets factoring in the potential impact of this huge volume of new capacity on the domestic scene.

On the balance of probability, I have included this as a key part of the circa. $7 billion PV capex forecast for 2027, albeit yet to be assigned at any state level.

The question from my side is not debating whether a large portion of the plans will come to fruition, but how to phase the spending at various parts of the c-Si value-chain. The scope for market disruption here is so profound that all stakeholders in the U.S. PV industry need to be taking notice and reviewing what impact Tesla’s plans could have on the overall industry trajectory out to 2035.

The new Solar Manufacturing USA 2026 conference in Austin, Texas on 22-23 September 2026 has been created to understand and map out exactly how the domestic manufacturing landscape in the United States will unfold in the coming years.

If you want to be part of this special gathering and share your views on the domestic manufacturing space, you can get in touch through the contact links on the event portal here.

pv-magazine.com

My comments:

Sorry Donald,

You are gonna be buried by PV's.

And that includes the entire World.

Unstoppable

Just too damn cheap to ignore anymore.

Still paying your expensive, polluting fossil fuel bill?

You need to get with the 21st Century!

Eric

[Eric] Solar will be largest power generator in “much changed” world by 2032, but batte...

Eric — 5/20/2026 11:46:18 AM

Solar will be largest power generator in “much changed” world by 2032, but battery storage is the big mover

Image courtesy of Nextracker

Sophie Vorrath

May 20, 2026

RENEWABLES

Solar is on track to become the world’s largest generator of electricity by 2032, a major new forecast reveals, riding the wave of falling prices and manufacturing oversupply, and bolstered by a booming battery storage market and the third global energy shock in a decade.

The BloombergNEF (BNEF) New Energy Outlook for 2026, published on Tuesday, finds the global market “much changed” since last year’s edition, as the transition to renewable energy, battery storage and electrification has a rocket put under it by the latest Middle East conflict.

“Whether the global economic order is fracturing or merely shuddering remains to be seen. That said, the fragility of today’s fossil energy-delivery system is not in doubt,” the report says.

“In March 2026, countries heavily reliant on Persian Gulf fuels saw energy costs surge and the risk of physical shortages rise, setting off energy security alarm bells in capitals across the globe.”

The immediate and longer-term effects of this are reflected in BNEF’s updated Economic Transition Scenario (ETS), which maps out how the global energy system is most likely to evolve over the next decade and through 2050.

NEO 2026 also includes BNEF’s first update in two years to its Net Zero Scenario (NZS), which explores how energy supply and demand would evolve if nations collectively adjusted policies to align with a “well below 2°C climate scenario” of net-zero by 2050.

BNEF says the updated ETS “signals the start of an electricity-led era,” in which electricity grows to supply two-thirds of new energy demand over the next 24 years, while natural gas supplies another 25 per cent.

According to NEO 2026, electricity accounted for 21 per cent of final energy – energy delivered to end users for consumption – in 2025, second only to oil products at 38 per cent.

BNEF says it its base case, electricity becomes the dominant source of final energy by 2047 – or a decade earlier in 2037 under the NZS. Notably, China hit that electrification milestone back in 2023, according to the report.

BNEF’s electrification forecast assumes that – as the report’s executive summary puts it – “many, many things get electrified,” lead by the shift to electric vehicles and bolstered by new loads like data centers.
The report says data centres consumed 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2025, or 1.9% of global total demand. And BNEF expects demand from these energy guzzlers to more than double to 1,114TWh (3.6% of total demand) by 2050, representing a 10th of electricity consumed worldwide.

And if electrification is the main vehicle of future supply and demand, solar is the main fuel. BNEF says the surge in PV deployment over the past decade has been “nothing short of remarkable,” with annual capacity installations rising nearly nine-fold from 75 gigawatts in 2016 to 655 gigawatts in 2025.

“Solar is now neck-and-neck with nuclear and wind as the world’s second biggest source of zero-carbon power generation,” the report says.

“It is also being deployed in ever widening applications, from micro-systems providing citizens in least-developed countries with their first energy access, to large-scale plants that power the world’s most advanced AI data centers.

Under its ETS scenario, BNEF forecasts that at the current build rate, solar will become the largest zero-carbon source by the end of the decade and by 2032 it emerges as the single largest source of power generation of any kind.

Batteries, meanwhile, are having their own moment, with BNEF conceding that falling costs have prompted a substantial increase in the outlook for battery deployment over the next 10 and 25 years.

“Battery products are increasingly commoditised, and this is driving down prices faster than BNEF previously expected,” the NEO says. According to the BNEF’s modelling, storage jumps 17-fold to 3.8 terawatts by 2050 from 223 gigawatts in 2025.

“As EVs, data centers, population growth and industrial activity spur electricity demand, the world is in a race to meet rising energy demand with the most efficient, least-cost technologies,” says BNEF head of energy economics, Matthias Kimmel.

“NEO shows that solar becomes the world’s largest generator overall by 2032, while storage jumps 17-fold to 3.8 terawatts by 2050, underscoring how clean technologies are increasingly critical to energy security, system flexibility and meeting the world’s growing power needs.”

But the report notes that battery adoption rates vary substantially by country and region – the report points to California, where it says more than 260,000 residential battery systems have been installed since 2020 to improve resilience.

In the charts below, Australia sits somewhere in the middle in the battery stakes. But given the installation of more than 400,000 home batteries – and counting – since July 2025, it seems likely that BNEF might have to revise up its outlook again.

On fossil fuels, the report notes that while the energy crisis might have spurred a minor renaissance for coal in some nations, the BNEF’s ETS shows it cannot compete on cost over the long term, slipping to half of current levels of power generation use by 2050.

Oil and gas, meanwhile – demand for which have historically moved in tandem – have “arrived at a crossroads,” according to the NEO 2026, and part ways in the coming decade under the ETS as global oil demand plateaus into the mid-2030s, driven largely by electrification in road transport.

“By 2050, oil demand falls from its peak around 2029 to levels last seen in the early 2000s,” the report says. By contrast, BNEF is forecasting a “dash to gas” under the ETS, to meet demand including “rapidly rising data center load, as well as industry and transport.”

Under the NZS, however, the outlook for gas weakens significantly as the world rises to the global climate challenge. On this score, at least, the outlook remains the same.

“The best prospects for clean energy technology deployment continue to come from electric vehicles, wind, solar and batteries,” BNEF says. “Despite the current political headwinds, we broadly hold our outlook from the previous iteration.

“Under the NZS, annual low-carbon investment averages $US4.8 trillion 2026-2030 – more than double 2025 levels – and rises to $US7.7 trillion between
2031 and 2035,” the report says.

“Global energy transition investment reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2025. Yet investment required to achieve the NZS is $235 trillion by 2050,” says BNEF chief economist, David Hostert.

“This means investing 24% more than under the ETS scenario delivers a fundamentally different and cleaner energy system where 84% is directed toward low-carbon technologies.

“We’re living in another moment of crisis, but unlike in past decades, today there are real options for countries to react,” Hostert says.

“We now have viable technologies that can be deployed at scale and fast, at an overall lower cost to the system than the fossil fuel technologies that used to be the primary choice. Through clean power and electrification we can strengthen energy security and reduce harmful emissions along the way.”

reneweconomy.com.au

[Eric] European Energy starts module install at Winton North solar project Danish rene...

Eric — 5/18/2026 12:38:54 PM

European Energy starts module install at Winton North solar project

Danish renewables developer European Energy says the first of almost 200,000 PV modules have been installed at the 100 MW Winton North solar plant being constructed in northeast Victoria with the project on track to begin operations next year.

MAY 18, 2026 DAVID CARROLL

Image: Justin Webb/European Energy Australia

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The Australian arm of European Energy has announced that construction of the 100 MW Winton North Solar Farm being built in Victoria is well ahead of schedule with the project advancing to the PV module installation phase.

The Winton North hybrid project, being built across a 256-hectare site near the town of Wangaratta, includes a 100 MW solar farm with a 100 MW, two-hour battery energy storage system to follow in a second phase. Once operational, the facility is expected to generate 227 GWh of clean energy annually.

European Energy Australia said the project is tracking ahead of schedule with operations expected to commence in 2027.

Winton North Solar Farm is one of three European Energy projects backed by a power purchase agreement (PPA) with global technology provider Amazon Web Services.

The developer last year signed a deal to supply Amazon’s Australian division with more than 170 MW of capacity. The agreement covers the Winton North project and the nearby 58 MW Mokoan Solar Farm that came online earlier this year. It also includes the 97 MW Bullyard PV project being developed near Bundaberg on the central Queensland coast.

Amazon earlier this month signed another suite of PPAs, including for a 40 MW / 80 MWh battery energy storage system being added to the Mokoan solar farm project.

The projects are part of European Energy’s expanding Australian renewables portfolio that includes the 108 MW Lancaster Solar Farm in northern Victoria and the 31 MW Mulwala Solar Farm in southern New South Wales.

The Lancaster project, which commenced operations in March, supplies global tech giant Apple with renewable energy under a long-term PPA, while the Mulwala Solar Farm, which is currently in commissioning with energisation imminent, is supported by a PPA with Australian gen-tailer Zen Energy.

Other projects in European Energy’s pipeline include the 1.1 GW Upper Calliope, the 1 GW Sawpit, and the 500 MW Leichardt solar farms in Queensland.

pv-magazine-australia.com

[Eric] Yeah, Just brought up their website. My old high school friend in Tucson said ...

Eric — 5/18/2026 12:32:40 PM

Yeah,

Just brought up their website. My old high school friend in Tucson said it was really windy there downwind of you guys.

[Wharf Rat] I can see a noticeable increase from wind on CAISO.

Wharf Rat — 5/18/2026 12:23:11 PM

[Eric] Construction to start on solar and battery project at site of former coal mine ...

Eric — 5/18/2026 12:01:55 PM

Construction to start on solar and battery project at site of former coal mine

Image: Screenshot taken from drone footage of Muswellbrook project site. Source: OX2

Sophie Vorrath

May 18, 2026

BATTERY
COAL
RENEWABLES
SOLAR

Construction will begin “immediately” on a solar farm and battery proposed for the site of a former coal mine in the New South Wales Hunter region, after the project reached financial close.

Swedish developer OX2 announced the major milestone for the Muswellbrook Solar Farm and Battery project on Monday, kicking off its first owner-operator project in Australia.

The 135 megawatt (MW) solar farm and 100 MW up to two-hour battery energy storage system was one of nine Australian renewables projects to be signed up to power purchase agreements with web giant Amazon last month, as part of a 430 megawatt (MW), $A2.8 billion buy-up.

Amazon has contracted 94.5 MW of PV and 70 MW of battery capacity from OX2’s Muswellbrook project, which is being built adjacent to the coal mine of the same name, which ceased operations in 2022, on land owned by mine operator and project co-developer Idemitsu Australia.

In a statement, the two companies said Idemitsu remains a long-term landholder of the site, as it starts its transition from the oldest open cut mine in the Hunter Valley to a renewable energy precinct that may also include green hydrogen.

“I’m proud of the work that has brought this project to life and of our contribution to strengthening the energy supply in New South Wales,” OX2 CEO Matthias Taft said on LinkedIn on Monday.

“The investment highlights our long-term commitment to Australia and supports our growth as an independent power producer.”

The project secured state development approval roughly one year ago from the NSW Independent Planning Commission, having been referred for fresh assessment after attracting more than 50 public objections.

A submissions report showed that the majority of objections had not come from locals, with 60 per cent coming from more than 100 km away from the proposed solar farm, including half a dozen from Queensland.

The Commission Panel concluded that the site of the former coal mine was suitable for the solar and battery project, which it deemed to be in the public interest and in line with NSW renewable energy and emissions targets.

But the IPC also imposed specific conditions, including a road safety audit, a waste management plan, a biodiversity management plan, and an accommodation and employment strategy, along with a comprehensive decommissioning and rehabilitation plan.

OX2 says it is committed to “genuine community engagement” and to creating long term tangible benefits for locals, through jobs, economic development, skills and training.

The project will contribute around $115,000 a year to a Community Benefit Sharing Program, as outlined in a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with Muswellbrook Shire Council.

“OX2 is extremely proud to reach financial close on the Muswellbrook project and deliver a project that illustrates Australia’s renewable energy opportunity,” OX2 Australia vice president Stephen Symons said.

“We are delivering on our long-term commitment to Australia’s energy future and real benefits for regional communities.”

Construction will begin immediately, the companies say, led by an EPC joint venture between Bouygues Construction Australia and Equans Solar and Storage Australia (BYESSA).

reneweconomy.com.au

[Eric] [graphic] Image Credit: YEF Neighborhood Battery Combined With Solar & EV Charg...

Eric — 5/18/2026 11:55:57 AM

Image Credit: YEF

Neighborhood Battery Combined With Solar & EV Chargers

2 hours

Jake Richardson

2 Comments

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

As frequent readers of clean energy news, we all know what community solar power is, and it’s a great source of clean electricity for people who may not be able to afford their own home solar power. Not all people have their own homes to install rooftop or ground-mounted solar panels even though solar panels are quite affordable now. A local community solar project could supply a portion of a renter’s electricity to reduce utility costs.

Similarly, a neighborhood or community battery can be used to provide benefits to people living in a small area who don’t have their own home batteries. In this particular case, the Yarra Energy Foundation is trying out a battery system in Clifton Hill, near Melbourne, Australia.

“Public EV charging infrastructure should be accessible for everyone, and especially in suburbs where many people can’t charge at home – public infrastructure like this can be critical to switching to an EV,” said YEF CEO Dean Kline.

Here are some community battery benefits, according to the foundation:

Allowing those without solar, including renters and apartment dwellers, to access more renewable energy,
Reducing strain on the electricity network caused by high demand or surplus solar exports (‘overvoltage’),
Avoiding curtailment of new and existing solar installations, increasing the amount of renewable energy available,
Enabling EV charging stations for local residents, especially those who cannot charge their EV at home,
Enabling greater solar installation uptake in the local area,
Fostering new social connections by bringing the community together towards a common goal,
Minimizing the costs of network augmentation services by the Distribution Network Service Provider, and
Putting downward pressure on power prices by enabling more renewable energy and reducing network costs.

The community battery is also connected to EV chargers to support EV drivers in the local area. A portion of the electricity used to charge comes from solar power.

Increasingly, public EV chargers use solar power or other clean, renewable sources to charge electric vehicles. One of the advantages electric vehicles have is that they can be run on electricity from solar power, wind power, hydropower and geothermal power. These are all clean, renewable sources. Internal combustion engine vehicles can not be run on clean, renewable fuels — they only run on dirty fuels. The combustion of dirty fuels generates toxic air pollution that harms human health and fossil fuels are the primary contributor to climate change. They are also connected to geopolitical instability, silly wars, and corrupt politicians who try to lie about clean renewable energy, electric vehicles, and climate change.

Electric vehicles are “batteries on wheels,” so they can store electricity that can be used to back up homes and grids.

cleantechnica.com

[Eric] [graphic] NEW! Solar Survey Report 2026 9 hours Zachary Shahan 10 Comments ...

Eric — 5/18/2026 11:52:54 AM

NEW! Solar Survey Report 2026

9 hours

Zachary Shahan

10 Comments

Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Solar power is being installed faster than any other power source in the world. That’s the case in the United States, and that’s the case globally. Solar power is booming.

But not all is perfect in the solar industry, not all is sunshine and rainbows. (Sorry for the weak puns.) There are various obstacles to faster growth, especially in the rooftop solar power sector, and certain solar energy myths prevail year after year. There are also some ways certain sketchy solar power companies have soured people to the idea of going solar. Overall, though, solar panel owners are exceptionally happy with their solar systems, so fears and concerns seem overblown.

In our newest report, Carolyn Fortuna, PhD, explores the data we’ve collected from surveys of rooftop solar owners as well as people who don’t own rooftop solar systems. You can quickly and easily buy the report here.

As a teaser, here are a couple of general takeaways:

“Results indicate that nearly all consumers who have installed rooftop solar PV systems have a high satisfaction rate with their systems.”
“A minority of respondents, many of whom do not have rooftop solar installations, however, expressed concerns about solar marketing, stating that mixed messages about lower cost structures were overly optimistic.”

More detail can be found in the report, so please go ahead and buy the report today to learn more!

cleantechnica.com

[Eric] Impressive!

Eric — 5/18/2026 11:52:39 AM

[Wharf Rat] [X] Even if you are tired of seeing these plots, you want to see this. WindWat...

Wharf Rat — 5/17/2026 6:49:51 PM

[X]

Even if you are tired of seeing these plots, you want to see this.

WindWaterSolar breaks two more records on May 16, supplying 80.75% of 24-hour demand and >100% of demand for 10.25 hours on the @CaliforniaISO grid

Fossil gas also drops to yet another record low of meeting only… pic.twitter.com/1qX4DzAkSG
— Mark Z. Jacobson (@mzjacobson) May 17, 2026

[/X][X]

Fossil gas sputters to a record low, meeting only 2.88% of demand (16.1 GWh) as record new nighttime wind on the @California_ISO grid complementing daytime solar and batteries kicks it to the curb.

New wind record 8.29 GW at 1:40 AM on May 15, 2026 due to the SunZia line from… pic.twitter.com/VcZI0X9LQw
— Mark Z. Jacobson (@mzjacobson) May 16, 2026

[/X]