Interview

Robotic Terafab system and integration of PlantPredict with PowerUQ lean into new technologies.

The combined community solar platform aims to insulate 16 states from rising retail electricity rates and fossil fuel price spikes through automated subscriber management and expanded project pipelines.

The race for more computing power per square meter has put solid-state transformers (SST) high on the agenda for AI data center developers, who see full-DC as the system architecture that will maximize efficiency. Dafna Granot, senior manager strategy and innovation at SolarEdge, explains what the switch means and why it matters, as the inverter and energy storage manufacturer prepares to launch its own transformer product in time for the next generation of AI chips.

In an interview with pv magazine, Jay Johnson, the CTO of US-based cybersecurity firm DERSec, explains that PV systems face cybersecurity risks that extend far beyond inverters, as demonstrated by a December attack on Polish solar plants where wiper malware targeted substation equipment rather than the inverters themselves. Vulnerabilities often lie in backhaul communication channels like APIs and mobile apps, making layered defenses, network segmentation, and vigilant monitoring essential to safeguard distributed energy resources.

GameChange CEO Phillip Vynahek says the acquisition will allow his teams to integrate eBOS in a way that simplifies installation and improves overall build efficiency for EPCs.

After nine years at the helm of U.S. solar’s main trade body, Abigail Ross Hopper announced she would step down as president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), effective Feb. 1, 2026. pv magazine spoke with Hopper about her tenure and the sector’s rapid growth since 2017.

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.

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.

By joining Nextpower, formerly Nextracker, Meydbray intends to help the solar industry mature by integrating components that make up today’s PV power plants.

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.