Solar energy news and discussion

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Industrial solar cells achieve 26.09% efficiency with reduced silver use and better bifacial performance

by Chinese Academy of Sciences

A research team led by Prof. Ye Jichun from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with partners, has proposed a synergistic technical solution enabling industrial tunnel oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) solar cells to simultaneously achieve high efficiency, low cost, and excellent bifacial power generation performance.

The study is published in the journal Joule.

As a mainstream photovoltaic technology in the current crystalline silicon photovoltaic market, TOPCon solar cells account for over 70% of the global market share, driven by their high power conversion efficiency (PCE), cost competitiveness, and mass production feasibility.

However, their industrial advancement is hindered by pressing challenges, including high silver paste consumption, parasitic optical loss, and limited bifacial performance—all of which impede further efficiency improvements and cost reduction efforts.

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-ind ... ilver.html

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Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/clim ... dQKFXfZQt3

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China brings the world’s first 1-GW offshore solar farm online

Dec 30 2025 - 1:19 pm PT

China has brought a massive offshore solar farm online – a full 1 gigawatt of photovoltaic capacity built at sea.

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When operating at full capacity, the project is expected to generate approximately 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. That’s enough to cover the annual power needs of roughly 2.67 million urban residents and about 60% of Kenli District’s total electricity demand.

Each solar platform is enormous. At 60 meters by 35 meters – roughly the size of five basketball courts – the platforms use bifacial, double‑glass solar panels that can capture both direct sunlight and reflected light off the sea surface.

Keeping something this large standing in open water is no small feat of engineering. The project uses a fixed‑pile foundation made from large steel trusses in what developers call a “four‑pile foundation plus solar platform” design. The panels are tilted at a carefully calibrated 15 degrees, allowing the structure to withstand force‑11 gales and winter ice conditions while cutting steel use by more than 10%. There’s also a box transformer onsite that sits on a platform.

“The project provides valuable experience for future offshore solar farm construction,” said Zhang Bo, deputy manager of the Kenli project at Guohua Energy Investment (via CGTN).

https://electrek.co/2025/12/30/china-br ... rm-online/



Photo: China State Construction

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Solar met 61% of US electricity demand growth in 2025

16 Jan 2026

Solar generation met a large proportion of US electricity demand growth in 2025, including in regions where demand rose most. It met all the rise in daytime electricity demand and, supported by batteries, also met much of the rise in evening electricity demand.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insight ... h-in-2025/

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[Yuli Ban]

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Saudi Arabia to build $2 billion solar farms in Turkey, Turkish energy minister says

February 3, 20267:16 PM GMT

Saudi Arabia will invest $2 billion to build two solar farms with total capacity of 2,000 MW in Turkey, the Turkish energy minister said on Tuesday.

During Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Riyadh, Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed an agreement on renewable energy power plant projects, Bayraktar said in a post on X.

Under the agreement, Saudi companies will construct a solar power plant in the eastern province of Sivas and another in central province of Karaman with a total capacity of 2,000 MW in the first phase, Bayraktar said, adding that the total capacity of solar and wind power plants that the Saudi Arabian companies will construct will reach 5,000 MW.

"We view these investments as one of the most important examples of direct foreign investment in our energy sector, and they will be financed entirely through external financing. Credit will also be provided by international financial institutions," Bayraktar said.

The $2 billion solar power plants will meet the electricity needs of 2.1 million households in Turkey, Bayraktar also said.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/ ... 026-02-03/

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Britain secures record amount of solar in renewable power auction

February 11, 2026

Britain secured a record amount of solar power in an auction offering guaranteed electricity price contracts to renewable projects, the government said on Tuesday, as it seeks to meet its clean energy targets and drive down costs.

The country has a target to largely decarbonise its electricity sector by 2030, which will require a huge scale-up of renewable power, including wind and solar.

A total of 6.2 gigawatts of onshore wind, solar and tidal power projects won contracts with the bulk, some 4.9 GW, going to solar.

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The electricity price contracts, or strike prices, for onshore wind were 72.24 pounds per megawatt hour (MWh) in 2024 prices, while solar projects were awarded 65.23 pounds/MWh, which the government said was significantly cheaper than building new gas-fired power plants.

Some 157 solar projects secured contracts including EDF's Cressing Solar Farm and RWE's Clachaig Glen project.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 026-02-10/

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[Yuli Ban]

The Amount of New Solar Power Production Capacity China Is Manufacturing Is Legitimately Mind-Blowing

To put that in perspective, at that point the total electricity capacity of the planet— not just solar, but nuclear, coal, gas, and renewable energy, all added together — was about 10 terawatts. Now, as a Wired deep dive explains, China can pump out a full terawatt worth of solar panels each year. According to China Daily, the country’s solar capacity grew at a compound rate of 11.7 percent annually from 2020 to 2024. That’s nearly triple the global average of 4.24 percent over the same four-year period, a gap that points to something more like an industrial revolution than mere competitive advantage.

Completely unreal