Policy, systems, and the infrastructure around solar | Watt Matters by PVcase

S2E3 episode overview

Recorded live at Intersolar Europe 2026, this episode looks beyond solar technology to the infrastructure, policies, and market systems shaping how quickly the industry can scale. 

Host Conrado Lamas sits down with:

• Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council

• Antonio Arruebo Lacleta, Senior Market Analyst at SolarPower Europe

• Christina Maria Huber, Senior Policy Advisor on Sustainability at SolarPower Europe

Together, they explore global training standards, resilient supply chains, battery storage, grid reform, circularity, and the policies needed to turn deployment growth into a durable energy system.

Policy, systems, and the infrastructure around solar

As solar becomes a larger part of the global energy system, the constraints around it become more important. Grids need flexibility. Grids need flexibility. Storage needs viable markets. Workers need consistent training, while supply chains need greater resilience. And an industry built around sustainable energy also has to demonstrate sustainability across the full lifecycle of its products. 

Sonia Dunlop explores the global picture, from Agri-PV and rooftop deployment to skills, standards, and supply-chain resilience. Antonio Arruebo Lacleta explains why battery storage is becoming inseparable from solar growth — and how permitting, grid access, market design, and policy can still constrain deployment. Christina Maria Huber examines how Europe is approaching PV recycling, critical raw materials, and circularity as the first generations of large-scale solar assets reach end of life.

The common thread: solar’s next chapter depends not only on deploying more capacity, but on building the systems that allow that capacity to work at scale.

What you’ll learn in this episode

• Why resilient supply chains matter as solar scales globally 

• How battery storage addresses curtailment, flexibility, and the changing value of solar power

• Why grid access, permitting, and market design remain major barriers to storage deployment

• How global standards and workforce training support a maturing solar industry

• Why PV recycling and circularity are becoming industrial and strategic opportunities for Europe

Chapters

00:00 — Policy, systems, and the infrastructure around solar
01:20 — Sonia Dunlop: What solar needs to scale globally
03:00 — Electrification, Agri-PV, and new models for deployment
03:55 — Why a mature solar industry needs global standards
05:20 — Building resilient supply chains and a stronger workforce
09:26 — Antonio Arruebo: Why solar increasingly needs storage
12:45 — Europe’s battery storage market and what comes next
16:05 — Grid access, permitting, and the market rules holding storage back
19:20 — Policy, circularity, and building a European battery industry
23:50 — Christina Maria Huber: Solar’s lifecycle sustainability challenge
25:05 — Why PV recycling is still misunderstood
29:00 — From recycling targets to recovering critical materials
33:00 — Building a European circular economy for solar
37:00 — Sustainability, skills, and representation across the energy transition
40:40 — The systems that make solar growth durable