Latest news

Inside a Fronius testing centre, the kind of European production base that is set to benefit from stricter inverter regulation
Fronius International

European inverter makers face a cybersecurity reckoning

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As the EU tightens cyber rules for networked inverters, manufacturers must navigate both a new compliance burden and a chance to make "made in Europe" count for more.
Markus Berger (right) and his son from Buchhofen in Bavaria are among the first to use the Forton storage system
Tesvolt, Hans Mitterer

Tesvolt brings energy trading to smaller businesses

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Commercial battery storage combined with trading software from Tesvolt Energy puts flexibility trading within reach of small and medium-sized companies.
The shape of Europe's expanding solar fleet, one row of consequential decisions at a time
ib vogt

How Europe is building a smarter, longer-lasting solar fleet

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Two new analyses examine Europe's evolving PV landscape: SolarEdge maps five trends reshaping distributed solar, and a SolarPower Europe webinar explores how quality decisions define 30 years of asset value.
Pascal de Boer is General Manager Europe at SolarEdge
SolarEdge

Pascal de Boer: "The most interesting driver is cybersecurity itself"

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SolarEdge's European chief explains why hyperscaler power demand and cybersecurity concerns around Chinese inverters are reshaping the company's strategy on the continent, alongside AI, US manufacturing and the new Nexis platform.
Polina Kolodiazhna, who works with Greenpeace on solar for hospitals; behind her, the remains of a hospital in Trostianets struck by Russian rockets
City of Trostianets

Russia steps up its terror campaign against Kyiv

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Ukrainians have lived with Russia’s full-scale invasion for years. Since September, attacks have grown more frequent and more brutal. With winter approaching, help is needed more than ever.
Tankers at anchor – a reminder of the fossil-fuel exposure tracked in the Power Barometer 2026
Eurelectric

Europe’s clean power passes a stress test, but flexibility gap widens

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Eurelectric’s Power Barometer 2026 finds that clean electricity cushioned Europe from a fresh fossil-fuel shock this year, yet storage build-out is still falling well short of the pace needed to keep the system stable through 2030.
The cradle of the Renaissance and host city for December's Integrated Photovoltaics Conference
Sabine Kallari

Italy – Florence to host conference on solar in the built environment

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The IPV Conference will gather architects, planners and researchers at the Chamber of Commerce on 3 and 4 December to examine how photovoltaics can be integrated into buildings, infrastructure and vehicles.
All latest news

Latest videos

Thomas Yuan is the chairman of AlphaESS
Vorsatz Media

AlphaESS: safer, smarter storage from rooftop to grid

Dieter Krebs presents the new Powerwall 3P
Vorsatz Media

Tesla: a networked energy ecosystem for the home

E-heat and mobility are two ways to optimise self-consumption
Vorsatz Video

Smartfox: complete energy management for self-consumption

More videos

PV on Tour PV Guided Tours


 

markets

Utility-scale solar at Rockbeare in Devon is lined up for the government’s support, while rooftops lose their VAT break
Red Zeppelin

UK – Burnham’s first budget ends VAT relief for home solar

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Rooftop systems and batteries will be taxed at 5 percent again from April, while cuts to the Warm Homes Plan mean less help for households investing in clean energy.
Plenty of foot traffic at the fair, with photovoltaics, storage and e-mobility on every side
Velka Botička

Green Energy Fair puts Zagreb on the region’s solar map

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In just its second year, the Croatian event drew more than 5,000 visitors and growing numbers of suppliers looking for partners across south-eastern Europe.
More about markets

financing

Intelligent electrification, combining solar, battery storage and AI, sits at the heart of this vision for industrial flexibility.
Solar Promotion GmbH

Industrial flexibility: a €300 billion opportunity for Europe

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A new whitepaper finds industrial flexibility could cut EU renewables curtailment by 61 percent and avoid 60 GW of peak capacity, while opening new revenue streams for energy-intensive sectors.
Jan Himken (right) is partner manager at Bees & Bears
Vorsatz Media

Bees & Bears: third-party financing and the installer opportunity

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CEO Talk: instalment purchasing made easy. With solid partners behind them, installers can offer customers loans for their solar setup alongside the build itself. What does this mean for installers? More work or more orders? Watch to find out.
More about financing

hybrid generators

Guest author Philipp Rasche, Managing Director, ENEO Gruppe
ENEO

Hybrid parks: why PV and wind rarely share a single connection

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Europe's grid queues hold 1,700 GW of stalled projects. Sharing connections between wind and PV could ease the bottleneck, but regulation, permitting and grid operators keep hybrid parks a rarity, explains Philipp Rasche of ENEO.
Wind and solar side by side, still the exception rather than the rule
ABB

Hybrid parks, smart aggregation: unlocking Europe's grid capacity

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From shared connection points to AI-driven trading: two very different perspectives on Europe's grid capacity problem, and how developers and operators can make better use of existing grid capacity, cut curtailment losses and lift returns on renewable assets.
More about hybrid generators

inverter

Dr Harald Scherleitner, Chief of Sales and board member at Fronius International
Fronius International

"A reasonable price for European security" – Fronius CSO on Made-in-Europe rules

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Harald Scherleitner discusses Fronius's return to growth, the strategic case for building in Europe and why cybersecurity has become a defining purchasing criterion for inverters.
Inverters made in Europe, with firmware and remote access to match
Fronius

Who really controls Europe's inverters?

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With 406 GW of solar online and a few cloud platforms steering much of the fleet, Brussels advisers want tighter rules on where inverters and firmware come from, and who supplies them.
More about inverter

mounting

Florian Achatz (right) is the CEO of mounting specialists Novafixx
Vorsatz Media

NovaFixx: making rooftop installation simpler and safer

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PV Guided Tours: Speed and simple handling are what installers demand of rooftop mounting. With versatile substructures and just a handful of tools, modules can go onto virtually any roof in record time. Sounds too good to be true? Watch the video.
Floating-PV is a trend in project business.
O&L Nexentury

Solar Investors Guide #4 – Mounting on tricky terrain

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Roofs and flat open spaces aren't the only options for solar power. Applications that pose particular challenges for project planning and installation technology are increasingly coming into focus.
More about mounting

What is photovoltaics?

Photovoltaics (PV) refers to the generation of electrical energy from sunlight. At the heart of this process are the solar-active semiconductors known as solar cells, which capture sunlight and convert it directly into electricity.

From a technical standpoint, a PV system or solar installation functions as a generator. Here, individual solar cells are combined into a solar module, which is protected from the elements. These modules are then assembled into a larger solar generator, which can be mounted on rooftops, façades, open ground or specially designed structures. The electricity generated is direct current (DC), which is converted into alternating current (AC) by an inverter. This AC power can be used directly on site or fed into the public grid via the building’s connection. The electricity is typically supplied to the local utility or grid operator.

Larger PV systems installed on open land are often called solar parks. These feed power into the grid via dedicated transformers and switchgear. In many countries special Acts and regulations govern remuneration for solar power, whether via feed-in tariffs or market premiums for direct sales to third parties.

Self-consumption can be increased by using solar power for heating water, room heating, air conditioning or refrigeration. Battery storage systems help by storing surplus solar electricity for later use. These so-called solar batteries improve system reliability, especially when solar output dips.

Not all incoming sunlight is converted into electricity. The conversion rate depends on the intensity and wavelength of the incoming light spectrum. This ratio between usable electrical output and the maximum available solar radiation is known as efficiency.

The performance of a solar generator or storage system is defined by its output. When multiplied by the number of sunshine hours, this gives the solar yield – the amount of electricity generated per day, month or year. In addition to charging and discharging power, solar batteries are also rated by their capacity, or the amount of energy they can store. Power is measured in kilowatts (kW) or megawatts (MW), while energy and yield are expressed in kilowatt-hours (kWh) or megawatt-hours (MWh). (HS)