Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is allocating up to JPY192 billion (US$1.29 billion) in subsidies for US chipmaker Micron Technology's work in Hiroshima prefecture, Nikkei has learned, in a move to bolster domestic semiconductor supply chains.

ABI Research reports that the average US implied subsidy for Samsung devices is 84% as compared to Apple 74% and HTC 80%.

Subsidy limit of EUR6.7 billion (US$8.7 billion) has been passed triggering a halt to future feed-in-tariff (FIT) payments from a point one month after the limit was reached in Italy.

Los Angeles is moving forward with two major new projects that will offer California's sprawling metropolis a combined 350MW of solar power utilizing a combination of feed-in-tariff (FIT) and request for proposal (RFP) pricing systems as it transitions from coal power to green energy.

China, forecast to become the largest solar-power market this year, may abolish subsidy programs for some of its largest projects and target the money instead to smaller ones, an industry official said.

China's government has ruled that US government support to six American solar and wind power projects violates free trade rules, adding to strains between Beijing and its trading partners over renewable energy.

The German Federal Council has determined that that the bill earlier adopted by the German Parliament for the reduction of solar subsidies will be going a the mediation committee, which will allow for the federal and state governments to negotiate finding a comprise.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's effort to create jobs in renewable energy is faltering as subsidy cuts and competition from Chinese manufacturers forces the industry to stop hiring for the first time in eight years.

Germany, the world's biggest market for solar power, plans record reductions in subsidies for the industry as part of a program to rein in a boom in installations.

Fears Germany will cap or cut green energy subsidies is boosting demand for solar panels, and uncertainty about the shape of the measures could give the country's battered solar sector an advantage against Chinese rivals.

Germany's Environment Ministry on Friday dismissed a proposal from the Economy Ministry to reduce the growth of new photovoltaic installations to 1,000 megawatt (MW) a year, saying a 15-percent cut for 2012 was enough for now.

Executives of the failed solar- panel maker Solyndra LLC are refusing to answer questions at a congressional hearing today, a sign that the first serious financial scandal of the Obama administration has arrived.

The Ontario government has negotiated a 75-per-cent cut in its controversial subsidy to a Korean consortium that is building new wind and solar farms in the province.

On Friday, representatives from the individual federal states approved the energy law, which was decided on by the German federal government over a week ago.

Germany's solar industry is to be subjected to four subsidy cuts over the next 12 months, according to the revised draft of the country's Renewable Energy Act [EEG]. The final two of these reductions had not been included in the original amendment to the bill and their addition is a major blow to the country's solar industry.

Germany's planned cuts to subsidies for photovoltaic solar energy installations could take effect as early as July, people familiar with the matter have said.

Germany's solar energy industry is open to accelerating part of a reduction in subsidies should installations grow too quickly, a lobby group said.

Germany's upper house of parliament backed reductions in solar-power subsidies of as much as 16 percent after offering the industry an extra three months to adjust to the cuts.

ASIF chairman Javier Anta said the government proposed limiting the hours of output for which a solar plant could receive subsidies, instead of cutting the subsidies for plants themselves.

Anyone who buys an electric car will be able to take advantage of a subsidy of up to 5,000 pounds (US$7,684) under plans to be set out by the government.

The potential impact of lesser subsidies has been an anchor on First Solar in recent sessions, after the company said last week that such cuts could pressure earnings in the second half of 2010.

"My ministry will provide financial assistance amounting to 12 rupees (30 cents) per kilowatt hour in case of solar photovoltaic and 10 rupees per kilowatt hour in case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid," Vilas Muttemwar said in a press conference.