Solar energy news and discussion

[wjfox]

India installs record 29.5 GW of solar in first nine months of 2025

October 14, 2025

India installed 29.5 GW of solar and 4.96 GW of wind capacity in the first nine months of 2025, according to JMK Research.

Utility-scale solar accounted for about 22.5 GW of the total, marking a 70.3% increase from the same period in 2024. Roughly half of that capacity, 11.1 GW, was commissioned in the third quarter alone.

Rooftop solar installations reached 5.8 GW during the period, up 81.6% year on year, with 46% completed in the third quarter. The off-grid and distributed solar segment added 1.17 GW, representing a 12.7% annual increase.

Data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy show India’s total renewable capacity stood at around 247.3 GW as of September 2025. Solar accounts for about 52% of that total, followed by wind at 21%, large hydro at 20%, bioenergy at 5%, and small hydro at 2%.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/10/14/ ... s-of-2025/

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Another form of solar energy. But I do wonder what it would do with the energy balance of the earth if it is over vast areas.

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

bruh

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Indonesia starts construction of 92 megawatt floating solar plant

07.10.2025 18:57 (UTC+04:00)

Indonesia's state utility firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has started constructing a 92-megawatt-peak floating solar power plant in the West Java province as part of the country's renewable energy drive.

Indonesia plans to add 42.6 gigawatts of renewable energy, almost 61% of the additional power it plans to raise, to its grid by 2034. Solar power's contribution is expected to be 17.1 GW of the additional capacity.

The upcoming PLN plant on the Saguling reservoir, about 180 kilometres from the capital Jakarta, aims to begin commercial operations in November 2026.

The plant will generate more than 130 gigawatt-hour of electricity every year, PLN said, adding it could reduce carbon emissions by 104,000 tons.

"The Saguling floating plant will be an important marker of Indonesia's clean energy transformation," PLN chief executive Darmawan Prasodjo said in a statement.

https://renewables.az/en/news/indonesia ... olar-plant

[Yuli Ban]

China Just Added More Solar Power in 6 Months Than the U.S. Has Ever Built in its Entire History

China has added 256 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in just six months — more than the entire solar infrastructure ever built by the United States of America.

That’s enough clean energy to power over 40 million homes, marking the fastest renewable expansion in human history.

This rapid growth is part of China’s ambitious plan to dominate the global clean energy race. Experts estimate that by 2026, renewables will surpass coal as China’s main source of electricity — a monumental shift for the world’s largest energy consumer.

Massive solar farms stretching across deserts like Tengger and Qinghai are reshaping the global energy map.

Meanwhile, as U.S. investments in renewables face political and regulatory slowdowns, China’s momentum underscores a new reality: the future of energy leadership may already have changed hands.

[Yuli Ban]

This is actually a horrifically pessimistic projection by the way

China’s Solar Capacity Forecast To Reach Up To 6.5 TW By 2060

• According to CETO 2025, China may install 5.5 TW to 6.5 TW solar PV by 2060 under 2 carbon neutrality scenarios
• Distributed PV projected to supply about half of total installed solar capacity through 2060
• Combined solar and wind could account for roughly 77% of China’s electricity generation capacity by 2060

At their current growth rate, they should hit this by 2035. Mark my words on that. It could even be faster than that.
In fact, I fully anticipate that China will achieve an energy abundance this half century, leaving the West in a state of stupor and bewilderment (except not even the West, actually, more just America; Australia's already on the verge of an energy surplus as we speak thanks to solar, it's only a matter of time before Europe finally catches up, but China will just be too far ahead, and the USA will look like some half-functioning failing state in comparison)

[wjfox]

LONGi sets new 33.4% solar efficiency record

29th November 2025

In yet another breakthrough for solar photovoltaic technology, a new flexible perovskite–silicon tandem has achieved a certified world record efficiency of 33.4%.

[...]

Rigid perovskite–silicon tandems have been steadily improving for nearly a decade, but their flexible counterparts have progressed even faster – rising from the low-20% range to now 33.4% efficiency in barely 18 months.

Read more: https://www.futuretimeline.net/blog/202 ... record.htm

[weatheriscool]

Tuneable perovskite: A breakthrough in low-cost solar and laser materials
By Malcolm Azania
November 30, 2025
https://newatlas.com/energy/nanoscopic- ... lar-cells/

Perovskites may sound like perogies or piroshkis, but no high-carb-cheese-and-potato-flavor-pocket can do what they do. They’re minerals that can do the same party trick as many of your favorite childhood toys and models (such as the classic AMT Interplanetary UFO Mystery Ship; oh, how I miss you) and teenage trinkets such as glowsticks and “neon” rave necklaces: that is, they absorb and emit light.

But perovskites emit more of the solar spectrum than does silicon. So much so that scientists at the University of Cambridge have reported that they can now make ultra-thin, stable layers of halide perovskites, thus allowing new ways to create low-cost, high-efficiency lasers, LEDs, solar cells, and even quantum technologies, all without using expensive silicon, the current go-to element for such purposes. Take that, perogies – all you can do is increase my risk of heart attacks.

"The hope was we could grow a perfect perovskite crystal where we change the chemical composition layer by layer, and that's what we did," said co-first author Dr. Yang Lu from Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Cavendish Laboratory.

[wjfox]

Bangladesh approves 220 MW solar project, its largest to date

December 2, 2025

Bangladesh’s government on Monday approved plans for a 220 MW solar power plant in Sonagazi, in the country’s southeast.

Once completed, the project will become the nation’s largest photovoltaic installation.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), the country’s highest decision-making body, chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, cleared the project with a total budget of Tk 18.88 billion ($154.4 million).

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will provide $143.28 million in loan financing. The remaining funds will be covered by the government and the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), which will develop the project on approximately 634 acres (256.5 hectares).

The new plant will be located next to EGCB’s existing 75 MW solar facility, which has been supplying electricity to the grid since March last year.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/02/ ... t-to-date/

[wjfox]

US solar installations jump 49% in third quarter, report says

December 9, 2025

The U.S. solar industry installed 11.7 gigawatts of new solar capacity in the third quarter, a jump of 49% sequentially, a study by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie showed on Tuesday.

The report said solar accounted for 58% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the U.S. grid through the third quarter, with more than 30 GW installed.

The rise follows a period of industry-wide disruption caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), with most of the gains driven by utility-scale solar projects that were largely completed in the second quarter, the report added.

The OBBBA requires projects to begin construction by July next year or enter service by the end of 2027 to qualify for a 30% tax credit and bonuses that can push the subsidy even higher, creating uncertainty for the solar and storage industries.

The pace of solar installations, however, did slow down in the quarter owing to industry constraints and supply chain bottlenecks. The residential segment was the most impacted with a 4% decline in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 025-12-09/