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Leon Zhang (right) is President of LONGi Solar Europe

LONGi Solar: modules and storage from a single source

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CEO Talk: The utility business in Europe is growing and increasingly challenging. Solar fields now come with large batteries, and suppliers must meet standards for grid compliance, safety and security. How is the business changing and what strategy will ultimately succeed? Leon Zhang, President of LONGi Europe, shares his view.

UK solar at scale: the Llanwern project in South Wales, as GBE moves to tie public funding to tighter supply chain standards

UK – Great British Energy ties community funding to SSI membership

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Local clean energy projects backed by Great British Energy, the UK’s publicly owned clean energy company, will now have to source solar components from Solar Stewardship Initiative members or suppliers with equivalent ESG assurance.

Best practice projects will be on show at Château Gassies near Bordeaux

Agrivoltaics Industry Forum 2026 heads to Bordeaux

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Providers, growers and researchers will convene at Château Gassies on 13 and 14 October 2026 to share the latest findings on combining crop production with solar generation across European conditions.

Hybrid sites are reshaping south-eastern Europe's grid

Romania – Dama Solar secures funding to generate 1.8 TWh a year

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Rezolv Energy has signed up to €561 million in loans from 14 lenders, anchored by the EIB, for a plant whose output would equal 36 percent of Romania's 2025 solar generation.

The shape of Europe's expanding solar fleet, one row of consequential decisions at a time

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.

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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)