Weekly Review

PV Market News This Week:

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unfreezes $7 billion Solar for All grant program

The $7 billion Solar For All program has been unfrozen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a White House mandate to review of Biden-era climate spending.

Solar for All was in the process of distributing the grants when EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in a video last month that he sought to instantly terminate roughly $20 billion in clean energy grant programs.

The Solar for All program is one of three grant programs under the Biden Administration’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF)?created by the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Solar for All program awarded funds to 60 grant recipients, including states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities and eligible nonprofit recipients to expand the number of low-income and disadvantaged communities primed for distributed solar investment. The funds are expected to enable millions of low-income households to access affordable, resilient and clean solar energy.

2. Chinese PV Industry Brief: Solar glass prices on the rise

The CNMIA‘s silicon branch said photovoltaic glass prices rose again this week. The average price of 2.0 mm solar glass increased CNY1 to CNY 13.5 per square meter, up 8% from last week. Meanwhile, 3.2 mm solar glass climbed CNY 2 to CNY 22.5 per square meter, a 9.8% rise.

Xinyi Solar has reported CNY 21.92 billion of full-year revenue for 2024, down 9% year on year. Profit attributable to shareholders fell 74% to CNY 1.01 billion. The company said it faced intensifying competition in the 2024 solar market, in addition to supply-demand imbalances, falling component prices, industry consolidation, and rising trade protectionism. It said it expects supply and demand to stabilize in 2025 but not in the early part of the year.

Lead Intelligent Equipment (LEAD) said it has delivered a large-scale perovskite cell coating machine to an undisclosed perovskite cell manufacturer. The wide-format slot-die coating system is designed for perovskite production lines, applying perovskite layers, modification layers, and other functional coatings. Its proprietary dual-drive gantry motion system, air isolation system, and high-precision feeding system ensure uniform large-area coating while maintaining a stable environment through advanced vibration isolation. The machine can achieve coating speeds above 50 mm/s.

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3. India’s solar additions could double to 30 GW in fiscal 2025

A new report by SBICAPS projects India’s annual solar capacity addition to double to 30 GW in fiscal 2025 against 15 GW in fiscal 2024.

The report states the deployment pace will further improve in fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027, leading to significant spike in module demand. It projects PV deployment for fiscal 2026 at 42 GW and for fiscal 2027 at 46 GW, with residential rooftop solar driving expansion.

Annual module demand is forecast to increase from 50-55 GW in fiscal 2025 to 105 GW in fiscal 2027. [The calculation assumes DC/AC overloading of 1.2-1.4, effective utilization to nameplate capacity ratio of 55% to 65%.]

The report says PV installation projections are likely to be met with moderate PPA-PSA gap reduction, PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana (PM-SGMBY) completion by FY28, and enhanced RPO [renewable energy purchase obligation] compliance. Timely scheme (especially PM-KUSUM) and project execution could further augment demand. On the other hand, land constraints, ALCM [Approved List of Cell Manufacturers] implementation, and restrictive state net metering policies pose as deterrents.

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4. Australian venture switches on 6.5 MW solar-plus-storage project

South Australia’s Vibe Energy and Victoria’s GWMWater have energized their joint venture, the NREF. The facility, located 380 km northwest of Melbourne, includes a 6.5 MW solar farm with 9,000 panels and a 2.75 MW/6.7 MWh battery storage system, connected to the local grid in Nhill, Victoria.

GWMWater said project will offset 70% of its energy use across 330 sites, supporting its goals of 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and net-zero emissions by 2035. Next Generation Electrical is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

The first stage of construction at the NREF began in 2024 and is GWMWater’s first venture into largescale energy generation with direct connection into the local electricity grid.?The NREF, along with solar generation installed at 59 other GWMWater sites, will enable GWMWater to become more self-sufficient by generating the energy needed to operate its services with less reliance on electricity from the grid.

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5. Eastern Europe sees solar gains as Western regions experience setbacks

February saw a stark contrast in solar conditions across Europe, with eastern regions benefiting from strong irradiance while western and southern areas faced setbacks due to storms and persistent cloud cover, according to analysis using the Solcast API. High pressure over Eastern Europe meant clear skies and boosted PV generation, while Storm Coral and a series of Atlantic low-pressure systems reduced irradiance in the Mediterranean and parts of Western Europe.

Solar irradiance in Eastern Europe was significantly above average, particularly in Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and southern Poland. With irradiance levels up to one-third higher than usual, rising from the typical 1.7 kWh/day to around 2.3 kWh/day, these regions experienced unseasonably clear conditions ideal for PV generation. The primary driver was a dominant high-pressure system that established itself over Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, limiting cloud cover and promoting stable, sunny conditions. However, the prolonged dry weather also exacerbated drought conditions, especially in Ukraine. While southern Norway and Sweden also saw above-average irradiance, their northern latitudes meant overall PV production remained low despite the clear conditions.

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6. In France, future of small-scale solar power producers in limbo

France's?Group of Individual Photovoltaic Electricity Producers (GPPEP), an association that defends the interests of small-scale solar producers, is warning of the consequences of recent announcements concerning self-consumption PV installations.?PV?magazine?France?spoke to Jo?l Mercy, president of the association, to discuss the repercussions to be expected for small-scale installations, particularly residential (3-9 kWp).

For several years now, GPPEP has been supporting local authorities wishing to offer their residents efficient, economical and, above all, secure solar energy solutions. The system is based on group purchasing of equipment and working with trusted installers verified by the association. But this model is faltering in the face of the new situation.

Trade unions and professional organizations have long been alerting insurance companies to the need to create a dedicated breakdown service. To date, no viable solution has emerged. And yet, the issue is becoming urgent: some installations are now 15 to 20 years old, some of them integrated, a technique now largely abandoned. Of the 400,000 installations of this type still in service, how many will find an installer ready to intervene in the event of a breakdown or leak?

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7. Renewables accounted for 54.1% of total energy in Spain in February, while demand fell by 3.4%

In February, renewables generated 11,543 GWh in Spain and reached a share of 54.1% of total energy, while 76.3% of electricity was produced without emitting equivalent CO2.

The main source of production for the month was nuclear, with a share of 22.1%, followed by hydroelectric power, which grew by 41.6% and reached a share of 20.2%. These were followed by wind power (17.3%), solar photovoltaics (14%) and combined cycle, responsible for 13.8% of the total.

In addition, of the total energy, 237 GWh was supplied to storage facilities and 1,214 GWh were scheduled for export to neighbouring countries. In December, Spanish grid operator REE began to include storage capacity in the transport network in its monthly report.

In February, national electricity demand fell by 3.4% year on year after taking into account the effects of temperature and working hours. In the first two months of 2025, in gross terms, electricity demand was 42,779 GWh, 0.2% higher than in the same period of 2024.

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8. Ghana plans renewable energy investment fund

Ghana’s Ministry of Energy and Green Transition is establishing a renewable energy investment and green transition fund.

According to reports from the state news agency, the fund will support investments in renewable energy and local deployment of green technologies, while reducing the burden of electricity tariffs on state-owned institutions.

Minister of Energy John Abdulai Jinapor said at the Sustainable Energy Policy Dialogue in Accra that a bill to establish a Renewable Energy Agency, which would oversee the fund, is undergoing technical review and will be submitted to the cabinet “very soon.”Jinapor said the government plans to invest fossil fuel revenue into renewable energy, including residential solar installations and solar-powered streetlights.

Figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) show that Ghana deployed 169 MW of solar by the end of 2023.

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9. Sungrow unveils 5 kWh home battery system

Chinese power electronics and battery storage heavyweight Sungrow, which is best known for its utility-scale products and system integration, has released a new residential battery energy storage system (BESS).

The 5.12 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) system comes with a compact 182 mm design. It allows for expansion from one to four units in parallel, providing a maximum capacity of 20.48 kWh.?The SBS050 system is paired with Sungrow’s SHRS-20 inverter series and capable of handling a charge/discharge current of up to 50 A.

“This enables quick power delivery during grid fluctuations or peak demand, efficiently supporting high-power household appliances and lowering energy costs,” said the manufacturer.

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10. Corning, Suniva, Heliene to produce first fully US-made solar module

The announced deal between Suniva, Corning and Heliene aims to alleviate the challenge of finding domestically produced solar modules, as the Heliene modules will have domestic content of 66%.

Key provisions for the US solar industry in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 are the clean energy manufacturing and production tax credits, along with the domestic content bonus. For projects that meet domestic content requirements, developers can combine the three credits to cover as much as 50% of installed system costs.

While the domestic content bonus is important impetus for building out the US solar supply chain, manufacturing has been slow to ramp up, leaving solar developers hard pressed to find completely US.-made solar products.

The wafers will be produced by Corning using polysilicon from Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC). A year ago, Corning announced it was beginning construction of a $900 million manufacturing facility in Saginaw County, Michigan where its subsidiary, Solar Technology LLC, would reportedly produce polysilicon ingots and wafers for the solar industry.

In 2023, Suniva announced plans to restart its idled factory in Norcross, Georgia, which operated at around 450 MW of production capacity at the time of its closure in 2017. The company closed due to bankruptcy, saying at the time that it could not compete with low-cost Chinese imports. Suniva now credits the subsidies contained within the IRA with its ability to restart the idle plant, which the company said had a planned capacity of 1 GW and will eventually scale up to 2.5 GW per year.

Heliene has been manufacturing solar modules in Ontario, Canada since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota since 2018. In October 2024, the company announced the closing of a strategic equity investment up to $54 million to support the expansion.

“This partnership is a significant milestone for the U.S. solar industry,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. “By combining our strengths, we are able to deliver not only a high-performance module but also support the domestic economy and American job creation.”