World

Global electricity demand is set to rise more than 3% per year through 2026, driven by growth in Asia and greater use across industry, data centres, and transport, with renewables, gas, and nuclear meeting most of the increase, says the International Energy Agency.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest report finds little change in the global average levelised cost of electricity for utility-scale solar plants year-on-year, while the global average total installed cost of utility-scale solar projects fell by 11%.

The European Patent Office says China has overtaken other countries in photovoltaic patent filings over the past 15 years, while European startups and universities retain a lead in agrivoltaics and niche solar applications.

New data from Rho Motion shows that more than half of June’s battery energy storage installations were concentrated in China, maintaining the country’s dominance in the global energy storage market.

Solcast, a DNV company, reports that the first half of 2025 has delivered favourable solar conditions across several key solar generation regions around the globe, with many population centres experiencing above-average irradiance.

Chinese companies made up nine of the 10 largest global inverter suppliers in 2024, with total inverter shipments reaching 589 GW (AC), according to Wood Mackenzie.

In grids increasingly dominated by renewables, grid-forming technology is emerging as critical tool for maintaining stability and ensuring reliable power system operation. In this interview with ESS News, Rui Sun, Sungrow’s Deputy General Manager-Grid Technology Center, explains how grid-forming works, why it matters, and where the technology is already proving its value. He elaborates on technical challenges, regulatory gaps, and why grid-forming could soon become the new industry standard.

IEA PVPS Task 16 recently introduced SolarStations.org, a global catalogue of solar irradiance monitoring stations designed for researchers, developers, and policymakers. This openly available resource catalogues more than 800 multi-component stations – of which more than 400 are currently active – offering a comprehensive view of high-quality ground-based solar data.

Yang Bao, Trinasolar’s president of global sales and marketing, recently spoke with pv magazine about the company’s strategy for the solar and energy storage business.

Solar manufacturers are pursuing the next-generation crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV cell technology. Back-contact (xBC) technologies including TOPCon back-contact (TBC), HJT back-contact (HBC), and HJT TOPCon back-contact (HTBC) have emerged as leading candidates, attracting attention for their superior conversion efficiency and aesthetic module designs.