Phoenix Solar, through its Italian subsidiary Phoenix Solar Srl, has secured several contracts for the supply of solar modules for power plants in Italy.

Two weeks after Conergy was busy putting out fires surrounding the rumors that it was planning to close its manufacturing plant in Frankfurt, the company has advised that it will be halting production of its wafer and cell manufacturing lines at the German facility.

Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) developed a solar unit with "record" output, and Roth & Rau AG (R8R) and Day4 Energy Inc. (DFE) created a module with increased power efficiency as cell makers compete to produce greater energy at lower cost.

Solar power from Australian rooftops has become so cheap and efficient that photovoltaic cells now produce electricity for the same price that's charged by the electricity grid.

The solar industry stands at a point that renewable energy advocates have yearned for - and feared.

Although the photovoltaic module market has suffered setbacks this year, Asian manufacturers are keeping the competition on its toes.

The ITS Economy New polycrystalline solar modules from Norwegian company Innotech Solar now have certificates to prove their European origin.

A new report shows that China, considered the looming threat for competitors in the renewable energy business, may not stand a chance against the booming American solar sector.

Deutsche Bank has provided financing for two major PV projects in southern Europe. The bank's Asset Finance & Leasing (AFL) division help fund the construction of SAG Solarstrom's 48MW plant in Canaro, Italy and arranged the debt financing required for InfraClass Energie 5 to buy a 15.3MW system in Toledo, Spain.

Global Solar Energy Inc, which makes copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic cells and modules at its 40MW-capacity plant in Tucson, AZ, USA, has commissioned its new production facility in Berlin-Adlershof, Germany.

The price of polysilicon, the main raw material in photovoltaic panels, rose in August for the first time in five months, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said solar-equipment makers are poised for recovery.

IKEA's San Diego, California store has officially commenced operation of its 252kW rooftop solar power system; the tenth solar installation the company has completed at its stores nationwide.

First Solar has officially opened its new factory in Mesa, Arizona at a ceremony on Friday morning. Module production at Mesa is expected to begin by Q3 2012 and will employ approximately 600 full-time staff.

SoloPower has received a $197m loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the construction and operation of three solar module manufacturing facilities.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. has signed an agreement to supply approximately 21MW of solar products to Huanghe Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. by September 2011.

Shares of solar energy technology provider First Solar (FSLR) are down $5.55, or 5%,at $98.91 this morning after the company last night announced its former chief financial officer, Jens Meyerhoff, currently head of its division that sells projects to utilities, will leave the company at the end of September.

Schott Solar has received a PV module order to supply a pair of projects in Thailand with a cumulative capacity of 16.9MWp. The 9.7MW and 6.2MW sites, located north of Bangkok, are being built by Phoenix Solar Singapore and are scheduled to be completed and activated by the end of the year.

Flying in the face of the shaky market conditions seen in the first half of 2011, Chinese photovoltaic product manufacturer JinkoSolar has bucked the trend to post positive second quarter 2011 results.

Monday's announcement that China is to introduce a national photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme was received well by many in the industry, however analyst opinion is that the Chinese tier-one manufacturers stand to gain the most.

Not be outdone by rivals such as Yingli Green in the utility-scale PV power plant business in China, Trina Solar has secured a 30MW module supply agreement with Huanghe Hydropower Development Co. Huanghe Hydropower is planning two ground-mounted solar projects in China's Qinghai Province, of which delivery is expected to start from August and continue through October of this year.

Having cited weaker-than-expected financial results for the first quarter of 2011, due in part to the halt in PV installations in the key Italian market , Trina Solar has revised its second-quarter guidance, which points to the demand issues in Italy for the company's lower sales expectations.

Q-Cells SE, once the world's largest solar cell maker, said it's spending 17 million euros ($25 million) to expand output of higher-priced modules as a way to diversify away from its main products.

In what may come as a surprise to some, BP Solar has revealed its intention to apply the brakes to its distribution network and module expertise in order to concentrate on project development. In a statement sent to its partners, the company explained that it had made the strategic decision in order to profitably grow over the long term.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) products, today announced that its PV Module Lab located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China, has officially taken part in Intertek Group's Satellite Program.

Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) said its second-quarter shipments will beat its earlier expectations, but gross margins are expected at the lower end of its guidance.

The prices of solar panels are falling fast, and that's putting enormous pressure on manufacturers to cut costs and improve the amount of power solar cells can convert from sunlight.

Ten years to the day that Q-Cells manufactured its first solar cell, the company has revealed that it is independently launching production of its Q.Peak high-performance module at its Solar Valley Thalheim headquarters.

SunPower has updated its expected fiscal second-quarter financial results, joining a growing number of PV manufacturers adjusting to weaker-than-expected demand in the second quarter of 2011.

The Bosch Group has inaugurated its new EUR530 million photovoltaics competence center in Arnstadt, Germany. The facility includes the company's solar energy division headquarters as well as R&D, PV cell and module production, and a training center under one roof. Together with an adjacent ingot and wafer manufacturing plant, Bosch covers all the steps in the crystalline-silicon value chain at this location.

Solar panels on building roofs don't just provide clean energy they also cool the building, according to researchers at the University of California San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.