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.

Falling solar equipment prices, bulk module orders, and an expansion in domestic solar manufacturing capacity are driving a solar boom in India. The government can add further impetus if it tweaks domestic content rules.

If demand picks up again toward the end of the year due to the current price situation, the downward trend for PV module prices could be stopped, according to pvXchange’s Martin Schachinger.

With metropolitan-borough and city councils in England and Wales already driving decarbonization initiatives, local government bodies could do so much more if given adequate powers and funding.

The IEA PVPS Trends Report for 2023 discloses a historic milestone in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, surpassing 1 TW of cumulative capacity. The PV industry registered significant global growth in 2022, with China and Europe leading in charge. PV competitiveness in the market was strong, despite some regions facing problems due to supply issues, grid capacity constraints or labor shortages. The report shows that global collaboration, innovation and strategic planning remain key to a sustainable energy transition.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) project pipeline data shows that solar could feasibly push out natural gas as the No. 1 electricity source by 2030.

Kenya recently hosted the solar-focused Powerelec Kenya event, alongside the Renewable Energy Forum Africa 2023, in Nairobi. AFSIA and SolarPower Europe organized the event with the support of Get-Invest.

As Czechia reaches its solar potential, with impending changes to the country’s legislative landscape ushering in greater utility-scale solar array rollouts, over 5,000 attendees – government ministers, industry experts, and key business stakeholders – descended on Prague this week for the 2023 Smart Energy Forum.

Fischer Commercial, a UK-based heat pump supplier, has unveiled new air source heat pumps for residential use. It is making them at its factory in Guadalajara, Spain. It claims that they offer a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of up to 4.85.

The Siemens Energy-led Hyflexpower consortium has conducted a series of tests on a gas turbine located on the premises of Smurfit Kappa, a paper-based packaging supplier.

US-based Creighton University has equipped a new student residence with solar heat collectors generating an annual peak capacity of 69.9 kW thermal energy. The VirtuHOT HD system, conceived for rooftop applications, includes an absorber plate, a borosilicate glass tube, and an integrated mounting system.

South Korea’s Rural Development Administration has created an energy system for greenhouses that combines photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) panels with a ground-source heat pump. It is said to compensate, via the PVT panels, the typical shortcomings of geothermal energy and to be able to reduce heating and cooling costs in greenhouses by up to 78%.

Scientists from Spain have outlined several scenarios for developing building-integrated PV solutions in a case study building in Palma de Mallorca. Their economic analysis stressed the importance of electricity pricing schemes for the viability of BIPV projects in the Mediterranean area.

LG Energy Solution will start selling its new enblock S batteries on the US market in November.

Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has harnessed sub-millimeter ceramic particles to store energy in a concentrated solar thermal system. Its pilot plant in the state of New South Wales has successfully reached temperatures of 803 C through this method.

To perform a wide range of tests on new types of PV modules under realistic conditions, EKO Instruments has introduced PV Blocks, an expandable all-in-one type of system  with capacity for up to 32 modules. It is targeted at research labs, module manufacturers, and testing organizations. 

Singapore-based PV module manufacturer REC Group has launched in Australia a new series of rooftop solar panels with power ratings ranging from 450 W to 470 W and efficiencies of up to 22.6%.

Detroit-based Grounded has introduced a new all-electric recreational vehicle (RV) built on a GM platform.

Sweden-based Epishine has launched a developer kit based on its 6-cell 50 mm x 50 mm organic PV module for prototyping and testing its use in battery-free indoor sensing and monitoring devices.

Dracula Technologies has built an organic photovoltaic (OPV) module factory in France to make OPV devices with digital printing technology for connected objects. The facility can produce up to 150 million cm² of OPV modules per year, with the first shipments scheduled to start in 2024.

Axitec Energy India has announced the establishment of 600 MW of pilot solar module lines in India. CEO Tanmoy Duari told pv magazine that 300 MW of the planned capacity in Gujarat and another 300 MW in Tamil Nadu will produce n-type TOPCon solar modules. Production will start in the first quarter of 2024.

Technaxx, a German startup, has developed a 400 W solar table that combines the functionality of an outdoor table with a power generation unit, using PERC technology for its solar modules.

Researchers in Oman have investigated the effects of soiling on solar module performance and have found that between 8 and 12 cleaning cycles may be enough to ensure higher energy yields.

TCL Zhonghuan has raised funds to build a polysilicon and cell factory, while Haitai Solar has changed the location of its 10 GW TOPCon factory from Yancheng, Jiangsu province, to Chuzhou, Anhui province.

Solax claims its new hybrid inverters can oversize PV systems by 200%, making them an ideal solution for commercial rooftop installations. There are five versions, featuring rated power outputs ranging from 15 kW to 30 kW.

Construction has started on two solar projects in the Canadian province of Alberta, including one with a flow battery energy storage system.

The 5 kWh battery solution uses Ecoflow’s PV-coupling technology that reportedly ensures an easy connection to existing solar arrays. The new product features an output voltage range of 150-800 V.

The US Department of Energy has allocated $7 billion for seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) to deploy commercial-scale clean hydrogen, while the Mission Possible Partnership, RMI, Systemiq, Power2X, and industry leaders have set up the Transatlantic Clean Hydrogen Trade Coalition (H2TC) to ship US clean hydrogen to Europe by 2026.

Monash University researchers in Australia have developed a new lithium-sulphur battery design. They claim that it requires less lithium, with more energy per unit volume. It purportedly lasts longer and can be produced for half the price of the dominant lithium-ion technology.

Spanish company nTeaser recently launched a new platform that connects developers and investors to buy and sell renewable energy projects without intermediaries.