Monday, 14 September 2026

US-based Source Energy is offering space-ready photovoltaic modules built on commercial silicon cells, according to PV Magazine.

The company pairs those silicon cells with a range of module technologies aimed at space applications, PV Magazine reported. Source Energy can integrate the modules into rigid arrays as well as folding deployment structures, per the same report.

Silicon is an unusual choice for the segment. PV Magazine notes that high-powered space PV devices based on multijunction cells made from III-V materials such as gallium arsenide or indium gallium phosphide have supplied the space market as far back as the 1960s.

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy have proposed a package of bill credits and investments in Virginia weighted toward solar and storage projects, according to Solar Builder.

Residential bill credits would double in duration, moving from two years to four years under the plan, Solar Builder reported.

The two companies announced a USD 100 million investment in Virginia's workforce and a USD 1 billion annual, five-year Virginia Supplier Program, per Solar Builder.

NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum expects the program to generate 1,000 new direct jobs in the area, according to Solar Builder.

The companies pointed to the 610 MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center in St. Paul as a key element for grid reliability, Solar Builder reported.

RWE and Masdar are widening their offshore wind partnership into German waters, and separately RWE Supply & Trading has signed a letter of intent with ADNOC on long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital.

In Britain, the two partners run a joint offshore wind portfolio totaling 3.6 GW, anchored by the Dogger Bank South scheme. The South East and West phases of that scheme account for 3 GW of planned capacity and won Contracts for Difference earlier in 2026.

The LNG letter of intent builds on a Strategic Collaboration Agreement that RWE Supply & Trading and ADNOC concluded in February, and covers long-term supply arrangements. Under the LoI, the two sides plan to negotiate up to two sale and purchase agreements, with cargoes potentially flowing to Germany, other European markets and Asia from the early 2030s.

GH Power has signed a multi-year hydrogen supply agreement with Change Energy Engineering, acting for its subsidiary Hone, covering gaseous hydrogen produced at GH Power's facility in Hamilton, Ontario, according to a GlobeNewswire release.

The deal is GH Power's first executed commercial hydrogen offtake, the company said. Change Energy Engineering and Hone are described in the release as a Canadian hydrogen distribution and fueling operation.

The initial term runs for two years from the start of commercial operations at the Hamilton site, subject to earlier termination, per the announcement.

The Hamilton plant is GH Power's first commercial deployment of its aluminum-water reactor platform, which the company says processes recycled and industrial aluminum feedstock with water to co-produce hydrogen, high-purity alumina, aluminum hydroxide products, and clean thermal energy.

Researchers deployed lead halide perovskite solar cells 10 meters below the surface of the South China Sea, according to PV Magazine. The team integrated the cells with underwater robots and tested them off the Weizhou Islands, PV Magazine reported.

During two hours of underwater illumination, the submerged cells generated 324 mWh, enough to charge lithium-ion batteries, per PV Magazine.

Under simulated conditions at 10 meters depth, the perovskite delivered a power conversion efficiency of 34.71% and showed almost no degradation after 1,160 hours, according to PV Magazine. Accelerated testing outlined in the research paper predicts a lifetime of almost 5.5 years when the cells are submerged at 25°C at a depth of 10 m, the outlet reported.

Study author Wen-Hua Zhang of Yunnan University said the work is the first functional validation of submerged solar cells operating at a water depth of up to about 10 meters, per PV Magazine.

UGL has been awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning role for APA Group's Sybella solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Australia, according to ESS News.

APA committed about AUD 259 million (USD 185 million) to Sybella at final investment decision, ESS News reported. The project is underpinned by a long-term Energy Supply Agreement with Evolution Mining running until mid-2046.

Construction by UGL is anticipated to commence in late 2026, with completion expected in mid-2028, per ESS News. Sybella will be UGL's 16th solar farm and 12th BESS project.

Sybella is the second renewable project at Mount Isa in Queensland, following APA's Dugald River solar farm, an 88 MW installation completed in 2024.

SPIC Brasil and GE Vernova have completed the modernization of Generating Unit 3 at the São Simão hydroelectric plant on the border between Goiás and Minas Gerais, the third of six units slated for full renovation, according to a GE Vernova release.

The Unit 3 overhaul was finished in 10.3 months, faster than the previous units and inside the 12-month regulatory ceiling set by the National System Operator (ONS) and the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), per GE Vernova.

The plant has an installed capacity of 1,710 MW and supplies energy to approximately 6 million homes, GE Vernova said. The modernization program is backed by an investment exceeding R$1.2 billion spread over ten years, with the full six-unit project expected for completion in 2029.

A central element of the work is the switch of the plant's control systems from an analog architecture to a fully digital one, according to the company.

Nova Scotia is soliciting about 350 MW of fresh renewable capacity in the second round of its Green Choice Program, PV Magazine reported. The tranche is sized to deliver roughly 1,200 GWh of power each year.

Bids opened Sept. 10 and must be submitted by Jan. 14, 2027, with winners named in May 2027. Awarded projects will lock in 25-year pricing arrangements with Nova Scotia Power.

Round one, run in 2023, awarded 262 MW across two wind projects that are due online by the close of 2028. Those bids cleared at average prices between CAD 63.62/MWh and CAD 66.43/MWh.

The province's Clean Power Plan sets an 80% renewable electricity share and exits coal by 2030. To get there, the plan pencils in close to 2,000 MW of combined wind, solar and battery build by 2030, split between more than 300 MW of larger-scale solar and about 1,000 MW of new onshore wind.