Rising silver prices drive China’s Longi shift to copper-metallised solar cells
China’s Longi says it will begin mass production of base-metal PV modules in the second quarter of 2026 as rising silver prices intensify pressure to reduce metallisation costs.
New process achieves 97% silver recovery from end-of-life solar panels
University of Newcastle researchers have developed a new separation technique that employs the same crushing and flotation principles used in mineral processing to recover more than 97% of silver from end-of-life solar panels.
Trina Solar posts new milestones for tandem efficiency, module power
Trina Solar says new certified results in perovskite-crystalline silicon tandem cells and modules demonstrate progress toward industrial-scale next-generation PV.
China commissions world’s largest open-sea offshore solar project
China has brought a 1 GW offshore solar power plant online off the coast of Dongying, Shandong province, combining PV with energy storage and aquaculture in what is now the world’s largest open-sea solar project in commercial operation.
Carmaker uses repurposed EV batteries to help power production plant
Repurposed electric vehicle batteries have been used for the energy storage component of a solar and battery project that is now helping power operations at carmaker Nissan Australia’s aluminium casting plant in Victoria
Machine-learning models identify hidden physical defects in solar arrays
The software tool uses self-supervised learning to detect long-term defects in solar assets weeks or years before conventional inspections, potentially reducing operations and maintenance costs.
Neoen to tap new Telsa tech for South Australian battery project
Neoen Australia has launched construction of its third big battery in less than 90 days, helping accelerate the nation’s energy transition with 20 GW of utility scale solar, wind, gas, batteries and pumped hydro now either commissioning or under construction across the National Electricity Market.
Aiko achieves 24.8% efficiency in commercial solar module production
The result relates to the company’s Comet 3N modules and has been confirmed by independent testing agency TÜV Nord in Germany.
GoodWe launches new hybrid inverters for C&I solar
The Chinese manufacturer has launched a new series of three-phase hybrid inverters ranging from 80 kW to 100 kW. The new products feature eight MPPTs with up to 42 A input current.
All solar cell efficiencies at a glance – delayed
The research group led by Professor Martin Green has not published yet Version 67 of the solar cell efficiency tables, due to production delays. Green, however, has agreed to comment on some of the results to be added in the upcoming edition.
