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Solar System
Trends
- 1Hawaiʻi's Keck Observatory data reveals youngest known exoplanet●Data from Hawaiʻi’s W. M. Keck Observatory reveals youngest planet outside solar system
Data gathered by Hawaiʻi's W. M. Keck Observatory has led to the discovery of the youngest planet yet found outside our solar system. The finding, reported via observations made from the Maunakea facility, gives astronomers a rare glimpse of a planet in the earliest stages of formation and could reshape understanding of how planetary systems develop.
- 2German Greens Reject EEG Reform, Defend Rooftop Solar Support▼Germany: Greens Reject EEG Reform, Defend Rooftop Solar Support
Germany's Green party is rejecting proposed reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the country's core framework for funding renewable power. The party is standing firm on maintaining support for rooftop solar installations, which rely on feed-in payments under the EEG. The refusal signals growing political friction in Germany over how the country finances and structures its energy transition.
- 3Solar Storms Seen as Growing Threat to Power Grids▼Disasters from the Sun: Threats to Power-grids and Digital Infrastructure
Analysis of solar-driven disasters is drawing attention to the risk that space weather poses to electricity grids and digital infrastructure. Strong solar flares and geomagnetic storms could damage transformers, knock out satellite communications, GPS and internet systems, with recovery potentially taking months. The discussion highlights how modern economies remain deeply exposed to events originating on the Sun and calls for better forecasting and grid hardening.
- 4Solar System's First Planets Were Made of Fire, Not Ice▼The Solar System’s First Planets Were Made of Fire, Not Ice
A new account of the Solar System's origins says the first planetary bodies formed in molten, fire-like conditions rather than from ice and cold material, as long assumed. The claim challenges the standard picture of early planet formation, in which icy building blocks beyond the frost line were thought to dominate. Details of the research and the reasoning behind it remain limited, and reactions from other scientists are not yet clear.
- 5Solar Projects Too Complex for Standard Solutions●Solar projects are becoming too complex for standard solutions
Trade coverage in the solar sector argues that photovoltaic projects have outgrown off-the-shelf engineering approaches. Growing project scale, varied grid requirements, and site-specific conditions are making one-size-fits-all designs harder to apply, pushing developers and equipment makers toward more customised planning, equipment and system integration as the industry matures.
- 6Agrivoltaics boost winter wheat yields in Austrian trial●EWS reports 14% higher winter wheat yield at Austrian agrivoltaic site. You can integrate trees into livestock, horticul
EWS reports winter wheat yields 14% higher at its Austrian agrivoltaic site, where solar panels are installed over farmland. The findings are being cited as evidence that renewables and agriculture can work together, with similar integration possible for trees in livestock, horticulture and arable systems through agroforestry, so farming and energy generation need not compete for land.