The future leaves
signals in time.

A Canadian-Swiss-German collaboration has developed semi-transparent organic solar cells with efficiencies up to 12.04%, while fully printed modules reach 10.2%. The technology combines Brilliant Matters' BM10 OPV platform with HeiQ's silver nanowire electrodes, with commercial availability targeted for 2028.

Researchers in Italy developed an air-source steam-generating heat pump integrating PV, battery storage and the grid, with the electricity supply optimized to minimize heat-production costs. Results show higher electricity prices favor greater PV-BESS integration, while strong solar resources significantly improve self-sufficiency and economic performance.

Toyo company officers and government officials celebrated the 2 GW expansion of Toyo's solar module facility in Humble, Texas. They looked forward to planned heterojunction cell production at the site in 2028.

US energy holding company and project developer-owner NextEra Energy has suspended operations at two energy storage facilities on Long Island, New York, over drinking water contamination concerns. The available context provides no further details beyond the suspension.

In UK energy storage news, shareholders of listed fund Gore Street took a key vote that maintained the status quo, while CIP and BW ESS are progressing 4-hour duration battery storage assets at significant scale.

AuroraCell has launched a 48 V residential energy storage battery using sodium-ion NCO (chromium oxide) chemistry with 9.7 kWh of rated energy. The company claims a cycle life of 20,000 cycles at 100% depth of discharge and backs the battery with a 20-year warranty.

Dutch firm Modat and the Netherlands' cybersecurity agency identified 8,547 exposed systems at solar and wind sites across 35 European countries, with Spain accounting for more than one-third of the exposed solar total, according to pv magazine.

Hithium has launched its sodium-ion battery and BESS product, the ∞Cell N785Ah, the latest in a long line of announcements suggesting an inflection point for the battery chemistry. The article compares it with sodium-ion systems from CATL and HiNa, and with Hithium's own LFP offering.

Researchers surveying a 55 MW solar plant built on a former golf course in central Japan found that plant diversity under the panels was statistically indistinguishable from open grassland after five years of only twice-yearly mowing, with the plant communities resembling forest edges.

South African utility Eskom says it is removing registration-related costs for grid-connected solar installations up to 50 kVA in size until further notice, extending the fee waiver indefinitely.

TagEnergy has inaugurated a 240 MW/480 MWh battery storage facility in northeastern France, the country's largest operational BESS. The Tesla Megapack-based project provides grid-balancing services and is jointly owned by TagEnergy and Banque des Territoires.

After Chinese manufacturer Hithium launched its new 4 MWh sodium-ion BESS alongside a new 785Ah energy storage cell, senior product manager Leb Lan spoke with ESS News about the technology developments, where and when a sodium-ion BESS cabinet may better suit the market than LFP-based cell technology, and the path to bankability.

Chinese researchers developed a biomass lignin-based silver paste for heterojunction (HJT) solar cells that reduces reliance on petroleum-based resins. The optimized paste raised cell efficiency from 25.01% to 25.96% while improving printability, adhesion, and conductivity.

Sodium-ion batteries are reportedly moving quickly from promising alternative to commercial reality in the U.S. energy storage market, but developers seeking scalable, bankable projects must still navigate federal domestic content policies, complex FEOC sourcing rules, and stringent UL 9540A safety testing.

As Australia's power grids transition from centralised fossil-based generation to decentralised renewable sources, system stability has become a critical challenge, and synchronous condensers have reportedly emerged as a key solution for ensuring grid reliability.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales report a new world efficiency record for large-scale perovskite solar submodules, achieving 23.5% power conversion efficiency on a 676 cm2 submodule.

Analysis in the new Solar Manufacturing USA Quarterly report argues that building quality domestic U.S. solar cell fabs matters more than technology choice today. It highlights steady progress in c-Si cell production during 2026, with strong upside to the 2027 forecast if existing lines ramp effectively and some 2027 plans are brought forward by a few months.