5B’s Maverick system has the ‘potential to drastically speed up and scale up the roll out of solar farms, reducing the cost and labour intensity of current methods’, reports the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which is managing the Solar Sunshot Programme on behalf of the Australian government. The initiative was launched in March 2024 and is designed to support Australia’s solar manufacturing industry and accelerate the country’s renewable energy transition.

5B’s Maverick system aims to simplify solar farm construction by using a pre-fabricated, pre-wired 48–50 kW ground mount array that deploys at high speed, reducing on-site labour requirements.  

All module assembly, cabling, connections and testing are done in the factory rather than in the field. ‘This is a complete step change from the way in which conventional solar technologies are designed, assembled, procured and constructed,’ says 5B.  

The pre-fabricated, pre-wired ‘plug-and-play’ array is reported to be easy to ship, with multiple units fitting in a 40-foot shipping container or flatbed truck. The system’s shallow ground penetration means no cable trenching is required.  

The company claims a team of just 10 people is capable of deploying 1 MWp+ in one day.

‘[Maverick] represents the best of homegrown Australian technology and innovation in solar, and we are proud to support 5B’s goals of making solar deployment faster, cheaper, safer and more efficient,’ says ARENA CEO Darren Miller. ‘ARENA has a vision of reaching 1 TW of installed solar PV in Australia by 2050 to achieve our renewable energy ambitions. Projects like this are what we need to get there.’

The Solar Sunshot funding is expected to drive down 5B’s Australian production costs by 25%, according to CEO David Griffin. The company is looking to expand manufacturing capacity at its Adelaide facility to produce at least 200 MW of Maverick units over the next three years.  

China’s rooftop solar installations hit record 36 GW in 1Q2025 as new guidelines kick in

In other news, Rystad Energy reports that China installed a record 60 GW of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 1Q2025 – the highest ever recorded in a first quarter in the country’s history. Rooftop PV accounted for 60%, or 36 GW, of that total, marking the largest quarterly capacity addition for distributed PV in China’s history.  

The surge was largely driven by the urgency to meet policy deadlines set by the National Energy Administration’s (NEA) new guidelines, which were released in October last year and put into effect this May. They encouraged self-consumption of distributed solar projects to ease grid congestion issues, improve grid stability and cut reliance on centralised power plants, explains Rystad.

‘These changes, aimed at supporting China’s dual carbon targets – peaking emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 – are guiding the distributed PV market at a more market-oriented and sustainable development pace,’ it says. ‘Limitations on grid access for distributed PV projects can bring uncertainties for developers’ revenue streams, but they can also accelerate carbon trading and green certificate developments, thus creating new revenue options for developers. Looking ahead, steady growth in China’s annual solar PV capacity is expected until 2030.’

The market analyst predicts that the surge in rooftop PV installations will continue into the second quarter of the year. It forecasts total distributed solar capacity additions for 2025 of 130 GW, comprising 92 GW from commercial and industrial (C&I) projects and 38 GW from residential projects. Rystad also notes that while the impact on the installation rush for utility-scale PV is expected to be lower, this year is still on track to set a new record, with 167 GW of new utility projects expected. ‘This growth is primarily driven by the large-scale project pipeline and accelerated efforts of provincial governments to meet targets under China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which concludes this year,’ it says.

As distributed PV gains momentum under the new guidelines, it will have significant repercussions for the C&I sector in China, adds Rystad. Full grid access has been cancelled for C&I projects, but standard projects up to 6 MW can still self-consume and partially sell excess power to the grid. Meanwhile, large-scale C&I projects – defined as projects with a capacity larger than 6 MW – will be required to fully utilise power generation and will no longer be allowed to sell power to the grid.

‘While these new guidelines are pushing China forward, they’re having a dual impact on the C&I sector that typically has limited or no grid connection. On one hand, increased self-consumption in C&I rooftop PV projects is easing grid-connection challenges and helping ease grid congestion across the country. The rules are also helping to accelerate progress in carbon trading and green certificate markets, with storage installations expected to rise. However, the added complexity in purchase agreements may introduce new uncertainty and potentially weigh on project economics, which could dissuade developers, investors and financiers,’ comments Yicong Zhu, Vice President, Renewables & Power Research, Rystad Energy.