Technology and R&D

The California-based nonprofit, backed by a $28 million state energy commission grant, aims to provide an open-access pilot manufacturing line for battery startups to scale their technologies without the need to raise massive amounts of capital.

Researchers in Canada designed an air-source heat pump integrated with an air-based solar collector and radiant floor heating for cold climates, showing that the proposed system configuration could improve the coefficient of performance from 2–4 to 2–6 and reduce significantly annual energy consumption.

The announcement of the company’s latest module power electronics project came alongside Q1 2026 earnings that showed a 20.6% decrease in year-over-year revenue numbers amid a steep decline in domestic demand.

Human activities in space have been solar powered for more than 70 years. Now, as the space industry accelerates, new opportunities are emerging for specialized solar manufacturers, writes Jake Veloza of Eternal Sun Wavelabs. The extreme and unforgiving conditions of space demand a high level of performance and durability, and accurate testing methods will be needed to get these new solutions off the ground.

Solx’s Aurora hybrid module with Caelux’s perovskite glass aims to compete on performance beyond federal tax sunsets.

The two will develop XFRA, a distributed network of compute nodes connected to homes with smart panels, batteries and optional solar generation, in partnership with Nvidia and homebuilders like PulteGroup,

The public-private partnership plans a 2028 demonstration of its LEPTON technology designed to deliver photovoltaic power to the moon’s surface from low orbit.

An international study found that the specific power of commercial silicon solar modules increased from 8.5 W/kg in the early 2000s to 23.6 W/kg today, driven by advances in module design, bifaciality, and temperature management. The researchers highlighted that glass and framing dominate module weight, and considering operating conditions like nominal operating cell temperature and rear-side illumination is essential for accurate PV system design.

New York is facing a dual crisis of energy affordability and bottlenecks to new generation interconnection. The New York Public Service Commission can take action to make affordable technologies available to New Yorkers.

Scientists in Australia claim that TOPCon cells are rapidly closing the open-circuit voltage gap with heterojunction counterparts, now under 10 mV, while offering greater wafer tolerance and high industrial scalability. Despite slightly lower efficiency, TOPCon-based perovskite/silicon tandems can achieve a levelized cost of energy comparable to heterojunction-based tandems due to reduced fabrication costs, according to the researchers.