Jolywood starts mass production of low-silver TOPCon solar cells
The Chinese manufacturer said its novel TOPCon cell design enables partial replacement of silver with aluminum paste while maintaining TOPCon-level efficiency of over 27% and compatibility with existing production lines.
South Africa’s Eskom resorts to grid-scale gravity energy storage
Gravity storage gets a boost from South Africa’s state-owned utility Eskom.
ARTsolar challenges local content compliance in South African solar tenders
A High Court in South Africa ordered the country’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy to deliver full documentation relating to three solar tenders awarded in 2021 and 2022 to local solar manufacturer ARTsolar, after the company questioned if the preferred bidders had followed local content requirements for PV modules set out in the tenders. ARTsolar told pv magazine its legal team is currently reviewing the documentation it has received.
Germany allocates 2.3 GW in latest ground-mounted PV tender, lowest bid comes in at €0.039/kWh
The latest round of Germany’s PV tender scheme was largely oversubscibed.
SoftBank to make next-gen zinc-halogen battery cells in Japan for AI data centers
SoftBank’s mobile arm is gearing up to scale the intriguing zinc-halogen battery cell chemistry to 1 GWh annual production.
The impact of fly ash-induced soiling on PV panel performance
Scientists in Morocco have conceived an experimental–numerical model to quantify how fly ash soiling affects photovoltaic (PV) modules, capturing both optical losses and thermal effects. Their findings show that while dust layers can reduce panel temperature, fly ash significantly degrades efficiency in a non-linear way, highlighting the need for predictive models for real-world solar performance.
BloombergNEF confirms energy storage has reached the 100 GW era
A record year, and an incredibly strong outlook for the energy storage sector.
World’s smallest island nation advances 18 MW / 40 MWh solar-plus-storage project
In a bid to rid itself of diesel dependence, the world’s smallest island nation of Nauru has signed a landmark memorandum of understanding with Sydney-based Smart Commercial Energy to develop a clean energy solution.
China TOPCon solar cell prices stabilize as holiday lull slows trading
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.
Study finds PV plants reshape land surface conditions, reducing wind speed and increasing soil moisture
A China-based research team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 147 studies on how solar PV systems alter land surface processes, covering 609 installations worldwide and 11 key climate variables. The results show mixed but mostly significant environmental effects, including reduced wind speed, albedo, and land surface or soil temperatures, alongside increased soil moisture, while air temperature changes remained largely non-significant.
