This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to Annemarie Schouten, Head of Solar Development Netherlands at Vattenfall. She says establishing herself in a male-dominated sector was not always easy and explains how finding mentors may offer good support in dealing with unequal treatments. “I would say to younger colleagues entering this industry to surround themselves with different people,” she stated. “People that are not just like you. We need this variety of views, insights and ways of working to tackle the challenges ahead.”

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.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that summer weather and a heat dome have brought increased irradiance to both US coasts. As a result, much of the continental United States saw irradiance moderately above average, 5-10% above historical June averages, with the increase most notable along the East Coast.

In addition to producing renewable electricity, solar energy can also enable the clean production of hydrogen. Its potential in different applications is being assessed by several teams of researchers around the world. Adrian Pennington reports on some of this R and D and how IEC Standards can help in the third of the IEC columns for pv magazine

The updated IEA PVPS Task 12 Fact Sheet provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts associated with PV systems. It highlights the significant advancements made in PV technology, emphasizing improved efficiencies and reduced environmental footprints.

Construction has begun on a solar and battery-based microgrid that is to provide the northeast Victoria town of Corryong with crucial energy resilience, helping keep the power on during emergencies such as bushfires and storms.

A report from Deloitte showed how distributed energy resources (DER) can help the U.S. meet its climate goals while improving the functionality of the grid.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) says that nationwide solar curtailment reached 3.3% in the January-May period, and 2.5% in May alone.

L’Energética, a regional energy company in Catalonia, Spain, has invested €10 million ($10.7 million) in solar plants with a combined capacity of at least 5 MW.

Twenty companies have signed a letter to the European Commission, calling for a shift in European industry policy and protections for the electrolyzer industry, while Germany and Morocco have signed a declaration to establish a joint climate and energy alliance.

NTPC has started accepting bids from developers to supply 1.2 GW of wind-solar hybrid projects throughout India. Solar Energy Corp. of India (SECI) is also accepting bids to develop 400 MW of wind-solar hybrid power projects on a build-own-operate basis.

Romania’s parliament has adopted a bill mandating prosumers with PV systems with capacities from 10.8 kW to 400 kW to install energy storage systems.

Researchers in Iran have investigated the operation of a real solar-powered greenhouse in the Alborz province and have found that only 4% of the greenhouse’s roof needs to be covered with PV modules to meet demand for lighting and pumping water.

Google has made a capital investment in Taiwan-based New Green Power, in a deal that grants the US company the rights to procure up to 300 MW of solar assets.

Renewables developer Lodestone Energy will build a 220 MW solar farm on one of New Zealand’s iconic high-country grazing properties, with the landowners targeting the PV facility to help rehabilitate redundant land.

Chinese in China have utilized two sulfone-based organic molecules known as diphenylsulfone (DPS) and 4,4′-dimethyldiphenylsulfone (DMPS) to passivate absorber defects in perovskite solar cells. The result is a device with a higher electron cloud density at the interface between the perovskite material and the passivation layer.

Scientists in the United Kingdom and Finland publish a new model for analyzing thin-film and other PV devices with low charge-carrier mobilities. It’s claimed the unified diode equation for thin-film PV provides insights into the mechanisms driving limiting charge collection and power-conversion efficiency in low-mobility PV devices.

Three Fraunhofer institutes in Germany have developed a tandem module for direct hydrogen production, as a modular, flexible alternative to large electrolyzers. PV is an additional power supply.

The Saudi research institute said its new four-terminal tandem device has achieved the highest efficiency ever reported for perovskite-based 4-T and triple-junction tandem solar cells to date. The key feature of the cell is the hole transport layer of the top perovskite cell, which was engineered with self-assembled monolayers.

Scientists from Australia’s national science agency and the electricity research and development arm of Google have developed a new ‘smart’ inverter they claim is almost twice as fast and about 50% more efficient than existing commercial inverters.

Belgian energy company Perpetum Energy has built a 40 MW solar carport at Pairi Daiza, a privately owned zoo and botanical garden in Hainaut, Belgium. It said the total investment reached €40 million ($43 million) investment.

Bluenergy is developing a 1.1 MW PV system on Udinese Calcio’s football stadium in Italy. The company said the project might include a 300 kW battery.

Ifrisol, a Tunisian PV module maker, is targeting the US market by producing solar panels with cells sourced from unspecified “non-Chinese” Asian manufacturers.

The new three-phase hybrid inverter series includes five versions with power ratings of 6 kW to 15 kW. They feature efficiencies of up to 98.2% and a maximum input voltage of 1,000 V.

Scientists in the Emirates have conceived a new space vector pulse width modulation method that reportedly reduces switching losses and increase efficiency in three-phase photovoltaic inverters. The proposed technique was found to have a higher efficiency, while providng lower common-mode voltage, leakage current and total harmonic distortion compared to traditional pulse width modulation approaches.

US storage and inverter specialist Yotta Energy says its new package has several advantages compared to conventional C&I solar storage solutions. For example, the design cuts out the need for a dedicated room or separate space for the battery racks and it reportedly keeps batteries cool, passively maintaining an ideal working temperature range, between 21 C and 38 C.

Chinese manufacturer Sigenergy has launched a new modular energy storage solution that combines a hybrid inverter and battery pack with a built-in energy management system. The inverter series offers a range of power options from 50 kW to 110 kW.

The latest test method addresses the fire propagation behavior of a residential battery energy storage system if a thermal runaway propagation event leading to an internal fire were to occur during the system’s lifetime.

Construction has commenced on a massive battery energy storage system (BESS) project at Cellarhead in the West Midlands, with 54 BESS containers installed in only 38 days.

In recent years, the Baltic countries have experienced a solar generation boom as the region seeks to kill two birds with one stone. These nations aim to break away from years-long energy dependence on Russia amid growing security concerns while also continuing to prioritize the green energy transition.