The objective of Task 18 is to identify the innovations that drive PV off-grid technology and impact the market. The scope covers the whole supply- and value chain including planning, financing, design, construction, operations, and maintenance of off-grid and edge-of-grid systems. The most important areas of innovation are addressed, including the technology change coming from lithium-ion battery systems, LED lighting, price reduction of solar modules and the whole area of digitalisation. The Task focuses especially on challenges that are common across nations, markets, and system scales. It aims to provide solutions, tools, guidelines, and technical reports for free dissemination to those who might benefit from them.
Task 18 is currently focused on its second Work Plan, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2026. There are several key activities that dominate the collaboration work of the Task 18 Expert group in this period.
Innovations in Li-Ion battery based PV off-grid systems are an important topic, with key attention being given to collecting best practise case studies among the member countries. Special focus is given to systems that are not only equipped with professional monitoring systems but also a connection to the operators who can provide real life annual monitoring data to Task 18. Such systems have been identified in Australia, Malaysia, Morocco, Canada, Madagascar and Haiti. All systems have been analysed and categorized according to their suitability to the Task 18 scope in terms of size, application focus and solar fraction. The performance indicators and overall system round-trip efficiencies can be calculated and compared among the systems. Specifically the systems from Australia and Malaysia have been selected for further investigations as best practice systems.
Thirteen islands around the globe have been identified that are already powered by 100% renewable PV off-grid electricity systems. Contacts to those islands have been established and key success factors are being analysed. The focus of work is to identify political and framework conditions that enable and support the successful and sustainable operation of these systems incorporating distributed generation, storage and consumption.
With a special focus on Africa, innovative mobility solutions are being analysed by Task 18. Small electrical mobility solutions like scooters, small motor bikes, e-bikes and many other applications allow people in remote areas to offer all kinds of mobility and postal services. Such appliances can be recharged by PV off-grid systems or during hub operation in the city.
In particular, we are focusing on examples from Tanzania, where a lot of small PV off-grid systems have been installed in the last decades. In order to operate these systems sustainably and reliably, several organisations have established training frameworks and courses for people living in remote PV off-grid driven areas, to enable them to perform the first-level maintenance of the system. The training frameworks are being analysed to identify and evaluate the key success factors.
During 2025, Task 18 made significant progress on the work plan, not only related to the technical topics, but especially in analysing and understanding boundary conditions that lead to successful operation of systems. Innovations such as lithium-ion battery systems and small electrical mobility solutions play a key role in this context.
The Task 18 working group was led by teams of Experts from Germany, Australia and the Netherlands and strengthened by additional valuable support from Canada, Morocco and Malaysia which reflect the world-wide application range of PV off-grid systems Task 18 is dealing with.
Two new reports were published by IEA PVPS Task 18 in 2025:
In June 2025 an international Task 18 physical meeting was realized in conjunction with the Intersolar and Smarter-E exhibition in Munich in Germany.
Task 18 will dedicate the majority of its efforts to larger and more complex off-grid and edge-of-grid system issues. IEA PVPS Task 11 addressed many of the issues arising at the time for smaller off-grid systems, however the industry has moved significantly since the closure of Task 11:
The issues that will be focused on with regard to off-grid and edge-of-grid photovoltaic system will centre on:
This activity will broadly research and summarise the significant innovation and increased sophistication of off-grid and edge-of-grid systems over the past 8 years (since the closing of Task 11). A particular focus will be given to:
The goal of this subtask is to reach a maximum level of task work product dissemination, to cooperate with Industry Associations, Consultancies, Academia and other industry participants and to tailor the workings of Task 18 in order to limit any redundancy with other groups and/or increase the value of Task 18 work output for other groups. Key groups for collaboration are other IEA PVPS Tasks, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Mission Innovation (a European Union initiative borne out of COP21)
This activity will distribute reports, models and tools through partner newsletters, workshops, webinars and presentations. The Task will also make use of social media group work platforms and communication platforms to achieve deliverables and foster engagement. The Task also has its own website which will be used as a repository for all meeting minutes, agendas, progress updates, etc. The IEA PVPS will, of course, be treated as the official repository of all finalised Task 18 work output
