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/daily ·31 OCT 2026 ·SATURDAY ·3 MIN READ ·8 STORIES

October 31, 2026

eVTOL took flight over Tampa Bay under federal sanction, Samsung's battery revenues surged 53%, and US solar cell manufacturing notched a second gigafactory announcement in one week — the energy economy's scaffold keeps rising.

01 / The Day

SATURDAY 31 OCT 2026, ranked

08

Joby and BETA fly first FAA-sanctioned multi-aircraft eVTOL route

Joby Aviation and BETA Technologies flew their electric aircraft across Tampa Bay on October 30 under the FAA and US DOT eVTOL Integration Pilot Program — Joby's S4 from St. Petersburg to Tampa International, BETA's Alia CX300 alongside — generating the airspace integration data regulators need before commercial certification.

  • Joby S4 and BETA Alia CX300 flew simultaneously under active FAA, NASA, and local ATC oversight
  • Route retraces the 1914 St. Pete--Tampa service, the world's first commercial airline flight
  • Florida Aerial Highway Network Phase 1 mapping continues through Tampa, Orlando, and Kennedy Space Center this week
Why it mattersThe first federally-sanctioned multi-aircraft eVTOL city-pair operation in the US generates real-world airspace data regulators need before commercial certification can proceed.
01 jobyaviation.com↗

Samsung SDI books 60 GWh of ESS orders in 2026, revenue up 53%

Samsung SDI disclosed 60 GWh of energy storage system battery orders in 2026 year-to-date alongside a roughly 53% year-on-year Q3 revenue surge and a return to profitability, making it the third of the big three battery manufacturers to report record grid-storage demand this quarter after CATL and LG Energy Solution.

  • 60 GWh ESS orders YTD 2026 -- order-book scale now comparable to grid-storage market leaders
  • Q3 revenue up ~52.6% YoY; Samsung SDI returned to profitability
  • Third major battery maker to report record grid-storage demand in Q3 2026, after CATL and LG
Why it mattersThree of the world's four largest battery manufacturers reporting simultaneous record grid-storage quarters confirms that demand has structurally repriced the sector.
02 energy-storage.news↗

POSCO Future M commits 720,000 t of battery materials to LG through 2033

POSCO Future M signed a seven-year supply agreement with LG Energy Solution covering 720,000 metric tons of cathode and anode materials spanning LFP, high-nickel NCM, silicon anodes, and sodium-ion -- one of the largest battery materials deals on record.

  • 720,000 t of materials committed from 2027 to 2033 across LFP, high-nickel, silicon, and sodium-ion
  • Deal hedges LG Energy Solution across all competitive battery chemistries simultaneously
  • Announced the same week LG confirmed the $4.3B Tesla Megapack 3 LFP cell supply deal in Michigan
Why it mattersLocking in 720,000 t of multi-chemistry materials in one agreement insulates LG Energy Solution's cost curve from spot-market volatility across the full battery technology transition.
03 kedglobal.com↗

EIA: 16% of new US utility solar in 2026 ships with storage co-located

The US EIA published Form 860M data showing over 16% of new utility-scale solar capacity added in 2026 is paired with co-located battery storage at installation -- up from 2% in 2017 -- with interconnection queue data showing that ratio will exceed 30% for 2027-2028 projects.

  • 16% co-location rate in 2026, up from 2% in 2017 -- a nine-fold increase in nine years
  • 2027-2028 interconnection queue exceeds 30% paired rate, suggesting the default is shifting
  • Four-hour BESS attached at generation manages wholesale price cannibalization during peak solar hours
Why it mattersWhen nearly a third of queued solar capacity is pre-bundled with storage, solar-plus-storage has crossed from niche to standard design -- a durable structural shift in how generation gets built.
04 eia.gov↗

T1 Energy locks in 4 GW of 2027 TOPCon offtake as Rockdale cell fab nears

US solar manufacturer T1 Energy signed new offtake contracts totaling 1.58 GW of TOPCon modules, pushing its total 2027 contracted volume above 4 GW -- all to be assembled at its Dallas facility from domestic cells produced at its Rockdale, Texas G2_Austin fab, targeted for Phase 1 start in Q1 2027.

  • New 1.58 GW offtakes with Avantus; total 2027 contracted volume now above 4 GW
  • Rockdale cells qualify buyers for >60% domestic content IRA bonus credits from Q1 2027
  • TOPCon cells deliver higher efficiency than PERC at comparable manufacturing cost per watt
Why it mattersT1 Energy is the live test of whether IRA domestic-content incentives can pull solar cell manufacturing back to the US; 4 GW contracted before the factory opens suggests buyers believe they can.
05 t1energy.com↗

SEG Solar plans a $950M, 4 GW heterojunction cell fab near Houston

SEG Solar secured land near Houston for a $950 million heterojunction solar cell manufacturing facility targeting 4 GW of annual capacity in two 2 GW phases from 2028 -- the second US solar cell fab announcement this week after T1 Energy's Rockdale TOPCon plant.

  • $950M, 4 GW HJT facility near Houston; Phase 1 and 2 each at 2 GW, starting 2028
  • HJT achieves higher efficiency than PERC without silver-paste contacts -- different process from TOPCon
  • Second US solar cell fab announced in Texas in one week; IRA domestic-content race is intensifying
Why it mattersTwo competing next-generation cell fab announcements in Texas in the same week confirm the IRA domestic-content race has moved from planning to site selection, with HJT and TOPCon vying for the winning chemistry position.
06 pv-magazine.com↗

First Solar cuts 2026 outlook as tariff uncertainty freezes buyer orders

First Solar reported Q3 2026 sales down 23% year-on-year and lowered its full-year guidance, attributing the shortfall to buyers pausing commitments while awaiting tariff clarity -- an ironic outcome for the largest US-headquartered solar manufacturer, whose domestically-made modules sit unsold while customers wait.

  • Q3 revenue down 23% YoY; 2026 full-year shipment and revenue guidance both cut
  • CEO cited demand-side hesitation, not supply constraints -- First Solar's US fabs are unaffected by tariffs
  • Industrial policy uncertainty is suppressing orders for domestic manufacturers as much as for importers
Why it mattersFirst Solar's tariff-induced demand freeze illustrates a specific failure mode of industrial policy uncertainty: capacity built with public incentives sitting idle because customers cannot price their projects.
07 pv-magazine.com↗

EHang opens Southeast Asia hub with 25 EH216-S passenger eVTOL aircraft

EHang Holdings opened a regional eVTOL operational hub in Thailand deploying 25 EH216-S pilotless passenger aircraft, establishing cross-border maintenance infrastructure across Southeast Asia -- the first overseas regional deployment since the EH216-S received CAAC type certification.

  • 25 EH216-S at launch; hub covers Thailand with broader SE Asia expansion planned
  • EH216-S holds CAAC type certification and has logged thousands of commercial passenger flights in China
  • Positions EHang as the only eVTOL operator with a commercial multi-country footprint ahead of FAA certification
Why it mattersEHang converting a domestic Chinese certification win into a Southeast Asian commercial network is the eVTOL industry's first multi-country deployment case study -- one Western regulators will have to reckon with.
08 ehang.com↗
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The Daily Archive

/SAT 31 OCTOctober 31, 2026/FRI 30 OCTLG and Tesla; Sodium Goes National; BYD Goes European/THU 29 OCTCATL goes big, sodium-ion finds its data centre customer, and China owns electrolysers/WED 28 OCTWednesday: Virtual Gigawatts, Weird Reactors, One Surrender/TUE 27 OCTSolar Tops Nuclear, and the Grid Keeps Moving/MON 26 OCT2026-10-26/SUN 25 OCTWhen the data centres blink/SAT 24 OCTKorea's grid flipped, Google's running a power plant/FRI 23 OCTSonnen Falls, Waratah Scales, BNEF Calls 2026 Peak Storage/THU 22 OCTGigawatts of intent, from Kentucky to the outback/WED 21 OCTWednesday: 400 Wh/kg, Anode-Free Sodium, New York Goes Thermal/TUE 20 OCTSolid-state graduates, seafloor sparks/MON 19 OCTSolar Records, AI Batteries, and a Geothermal First/SUN 18 OCTGrid Foundations/SAT 17 OCTTechnology War Saturday/FRI 16 OCTThe Build vs. the Setback/THU 15 OCTThe Energy Brief — October 15, 2026/WED 14 OCTCells and Gigafactories/TUE 13 OCTTuesday dispatch/MON 12 OCTThe residential battery surge and the storage giant stirring/SUN 11 OCTThe chemistry and the credibility