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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.

Ready to roll – the cabinets comply with international fire safety standards including NFPA 855

AlphaESS targets large-scale storage with modular cabinet

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The Storion-LC 836 delivers 835.9 kWh per cabinet and scales to 6.7 MWh when eight units are connected in parallel, with front-side cabling and standardised transport reducing installation complexity.

Where solar meets wind: co-located renewables are on the rise

The industrialisation of solar construction has begun

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Solar park construction is picking up pace worldwide. The bottleneck isn't materials or components, but land, grid connection points and people. Our next newsletter for investors will be published on August 12, 2026.

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

Smartfox: complete energy management for self-consumption

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CEO Talk: the most efficient kilowatt-hour of solar power is the one used on site. That calls for clever ways of integrating a wide range of components as flexibly as possible: heat pumps, EV charging, air conditioning and more. How can buildings make maximum use of the solar energy on their roofs? Find out in the video. (German with English subtitles)

Our guest author Harry Wolkenfelt, CEO and founder of Solarif Group

Risk management, not insurance, will decide the future of solar and BESS

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As solar and battery storage projects scale up, the industry's exposure to fire, serial defects and unmanaged risk is outpacing its reliance on insurance alone, argues Harry Wolkenfelt of Solarif Group.

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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 rooftopsfaçadesopen 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 waterroom 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)