Friday, 30 October 2026

The US Department of Energy (DOE) runs the Geothermal Data Repository (GDR), an open-access platform holding data from geothermal research, development, and operations, according to Oil & Gas Journal.

As of mid-2026, the repository had logged about 60 million total downloads, 1,400 datasets, and 145 data providers, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

The platform supports US district geothermal pilots and holds a data lake covering all DOE-funded geothermal projects, according to the outlet. It also provides analyses of all US geothermal play fairways and facilitates an enhanced geothermal system (EGS) collaboration.

Data curators review the metadata submitted with each dataset for accuracy, completeness, and relevance, Oil & Gas Journal reported.

SEG Solar signed a land agreement for a planned heterojunction (HJT) solar cell production plant in Texas, according to Solar Builder.

The facility will form part of the company's Tomball Industrial Campus in the greater Houston area, Solar Builder reported.

Solar Builder put the anticipated cost at USD 950 million, with annual capacity of up to 4 GW of HJT panels and other products.

SEG Solar expects the module plant to start commercial operation in two phases, targeted for 2028 and 2029, according to Solar Builder.

Researchers in China tested gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO) as an indium-free transparent conductive oxide (TCO) for silicon heterojunction (HJT) solar cells, according to pv magazine.

Applied as TCO electrodes in the HJT cells, the optimized GZO films delivered a conversion efficiency of 24.92%, pv magazine reported.

That result trailed a reference HJT cell built with double-sided indium-based transparent electrodes by 0.68%, according to pv magazine.

First Solar opened a 1.7 GW thin-film module plant in South Carolina, bringing the final production steps for its Series 6 Plus modules onto US soil after initial manufacturing at international facilities.

The Gaffney facility completes production of modules initiated at the company's overseas sites, according to pv magazine. Annual capacity at the plant is set to rise from 1.7 GW to 3.4 GW by mid-2027.

First Solar expects the two-phase plant to support 700 jobs once at full operation, according to solar builder.