Premier Energies unveils zero-busbar TOPCon solar cell
Premier Energies has unveiled India’s first zero-busbar TOPCon solar cell, a design that marks a structural shift from traditional 10 and 16 busbar architectures, replacing thick silver busbars with a dense matrix of ultra-fine silver lines to collect current.
JinkoSolar achieves record-breaking 26.66% efficiency for TOPCon solar cell based on M10-size wafer
The Chinese manufacturer claims the new efficiency result sets a world record for industrial-scale TOPCon solar cells on M10-size wafers. The achievement was verified by an undisclosed independent third-party organisation in China.
Regulator ramps up inspections as solar battery installations surge
Solar battery installers have been warned to “do it once and do it well” as the number of batteries installed across Australia under the federal government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program surges past the 250,000 milestone, delivering a combined 6.3 GWh of capacity.
Construction begins on Hunter REZ transmission project
Construction has officially commenced on a network upgrade in the New South Wales Upper Hunter that is to boost transfer capacity in the region by at least 1 GW by 2028 in support of the state’s renewable energy transition.
Growatt debuts high-voltage battery for residential, small C&I solar
The APX HV Battery 2.0 supports 5–30 kWh capacities and up to 15 kW of output. The IP66-rated system features a stacked, cable-free design.
Scientists build near-white HJT solar cell for BIPV applications
The lab-scale, near-white heterojunction solar cell uses nanoclay-based scattering layers combined with dielectric multilayer films to preserve power conversion efficiency while enhancing visual appeal. The researchers report optical losses of less than 1% at a 50% clay volume fraction, which are significantly lower than those observed with textured glass.
Printed solar manufacturer lands $2.15 million grant
Kardinia Energy has received a federal grant worth $2.15 million to help scale production of its Newcastle-based printed solar technology.
CER projects up to 12 GWh capacity from 520,000 home batteries in 2026
In 2026, the Clean Energy Regulator forecasts that up to 12 GWh of storage from a potential 520,000 residential battery installations will occur, and rooftop solar will rebound from 2.8 GW in 2025 to between 3-3.7 GW.
Software cuts C&I scale rooftop solar MV connection quotes to 15-minutes
An automated tool enables commercial and industrial scale rooftop solar owners to determine if their medium voltage connection requests can be approved online by their distributed network service providers in 15 minutes.
New solar tracking strategies aim to maximise crop yield in agrivoltaics
Swedish researchers developed two novel single-axis solar tracking strategies that dynamically adjust panel tilt based on crop light requirements, balancing photosynthesis and energy production. One strategy prioritises daily light integral targets before shifting to energy capture, while the other uses the light-response curve to optimise photosynthesis, offering improved dual-use efficiency compared with conventional tracking methods.
