World

Brazilian scientists have developed a slope-based framework for agrivoltaics, finding that sites below 15% gradient offer the best balance between agricultural suitability and technical feasibility. Their review of 30 studies shows that steeper terrain can host PV systems with adapted designs, land-use limits, erosion risks, and rising installation costs.

High-resistivity silicon wafers offer superior efficiency potential but are highly sensitive to edge recombination and mechanical damage, limiting their commercial use compared to more robust standard wafers. Researchers from Longi and Sun Yat-sen University demonstrated that integrating in-situ edge passivation unlocks this potential, significantly boosting back-contact solar cell fill factor and efficiency.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

EVE Energy says a 200 MW/400 MWh battery energy storage project in China has entered operation, which it describes as the world’s first utility-scale deployment of 628 Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

German researchers found that agrivoltaics costs far exceed agricultural benefits, raising doubts about subsidies and highlighting the need for more cost-competitive system designs.

Hyderabad-based Bondada Engineering Ltd (BEL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai-headquartered Bryanston Renewables FZCO to jointly develop renewable energy-powered data centers in India and select international markets.

The world’s largest reinsurer has recently introduced stricter requirements for PV warranty insurance to further de-risk insured PV parks and set a higher benchmark for industry wide reliability and production quality.

Switzerland-based Energy Vault has secured an initial 1.5 GWh of sodium-ion battery supply from Peak Energy to develop integrated storage systems for artificial intelligence-focused data centers.

The Silver Institute has said the amount of silver used for manufacturing is set to fall this year, driven by developments in the solar sector. The institute also says the silver market will remain in deficit for the sixth consecutive year. Philip Newman, Managing Director of independent research consultancy Metals Focus, told pv magazine the fact prices have recovered quite well after the end-January correction demonstrates the underlying strength of investor interest in silver.

The Chinese manufacturer said it developed a new circuit-model–based method to accurately detect hot-spot risks in TOPCon back-contact modules, overcoming limitations of the IEC 61215 approach caused by low shunt resistance. Validated through indoor and outdoor tests, the method predicts temperature rise under shading and reportedly enables faster, more accurate hot-spot risk assessment.