World

As many PV plants approach the midpoint in their typical lifespan of 25 to 35 years, the industry faces crucial decisions about what comes next. Much of the focus so far has been on managing modules, particularly on recovering their silicon and other materials. But the conversation must also extend to mounting structures. As the backbone of all solar plants, these structures represent a significant share of material use and a plant’s embodied carbon footprint.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s annual review into employment finds solar held more than 43% of global jobs in the renewable energy sector in 2024.

Wood Mackenzie’s 2026 market outlook for hydrogen expects non-biological origin hydrogen to gain momentum and ammonia crackers to reach commercial scale but predicts the Middle Eastern market to retreat and the European Union to abandon its industrial hydrogen mandates.

A new Perspectives research study on the future of the global PV supply chain outlines how module prices, performance, and lifetimes could evolve over the next 25 years. The work reflects a collaboration among leading solar research institutions worldwide. One of the study’s authors, the director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, told pv magazine that solar module and cell efficiencies could exceed 35% by 2050, with panel prices expected to drop by a factor of two.

Wood Mackenzie’s first-half 2025 solar inverter ranking finds the top 10 leading inverter manufacturers have a 71% global market share.

In a new update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that early 2026 will bring mixed solar conditions globally, with strong prospects in eastern Australia and eastern China, but cloudier-than-normal outlooks for much of Europe, Asia, and parts of the United States early in the year.

BloombergNEF projects a slight year-on-year dip in global solar additions in 2026 as China’s growth eases, even as installations elsewhere continue to rise.

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.

Post-COP30 analysis has centred on the contentious debate over fossil-fuel phase-out wording. Yet the most significant development for the solar sector was not part of the negotiating text at all.

Excellence was on display across all eight categories in the pv magazine Awards 2025 with plenty of innovation in both established and new market segments. From world-firsts to second-life solutions, this year’s winners brought cutting edge solutions to challenges facing solar and storage. The time has come to reveal the winners and highly commended finalists…