Upcoming documentary explores the roots of the U.S. solar industry
Solar Roots, a documentary film to be released in the fall of 2026, tells the story of visionaries behind the launch of the solar industry, how it was propelled by the marijuana industry and how off-grid homesteaders attracted the attention of big industry.
“Germany is simply far ahead,” says solar executive
Why do photovoltaic customers in the US have different needs than those in Germany? And what does that mean for planning software that has already been very successful in one market and now aims to succeed in the other? Chris Hopper, co-founder of Aurora Solar, discusses AI-supported house models, lidar data, the One Big Beautiful Bill, the necessity of circuit diagrams, and why the German market is more advanced than the US market in an interview with pv magazine.
Jenya Meydbray: Forging a path through a maturing solar industry
By joining Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, Meydbray intends to help the solar industry mature by integrating components that make up today’s PV power plants.
Engineer spotlight: Kajal Sheth on data, design, and the future of solar + storage
Kajal Sheth, Staff Engineer at Reactivate, discusses how engineering, data science, and AI are converging to shape the future of community solar and enhance clean energy resilience in the U.S.
Transforming existing solar arrays to microgrids could generate revenue for many customers
SolMicroGrid’s Kirk Edelman says the technology is there to be utilized if the tariffs – and Washington – will allow.
Array Technologies commercial chief keeps an eye on U.S. capital
Chief commercial officer for 36-year-old solar tracker company has remained philosophical about policy changes amid her pivot into the solar industry’s commercial side.
Solar industry icon: ‘This group of people is not going to be thwarted’
Dick Swanson has left his fingerprints all over the modern solar industry. He is widely known for spreading the word on solar’s impressive learning curve with what has become known as Swanson’s Law, for developing the interdigitated back contact (IBC) cell, and for founding SunPower. In June, Swanson was named 2025 IEEE Photonics Society Aron Kressel Award Recipient and spoke with pv magazine to reflect on his work.
Translating clean energy insights into action
pv magazine USA interviews Sheri Givens, president and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), on
guiding developers, manufacturers, policymakers, and utilities through the accelerating energy transition.
Uncovering UV degradation risks in solar panels
An interview with Fraunhofer ISE on new discoveries of ultraviolet degradation risks.
Data center firms could buy utilities and add renewables, says trade group executive
Simon Mahan, executive director of the Southern Renewable Energy Association, has talked about the possibility that data center firms could buy electric utilities and then add the fastest, least-cost generators, namely renewables. The association he leads represents the wind, solar, storage and transmission industries. We interviewed him to learn more; here are his condensed remarks.
