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.

The US Department of Commerce said Monday that a late-2011 surge in Chinese solar-panel imports could affect the agency's pending decision on a dumping complaint filed by SolarWorld AG .

First Solar Inc., the maker of thin-film solar panels that cut jobs and lowered its profit forecast this month, has won government aid while cultivating political relationships from California to the White House.

German solar-power developer Solar Millennium AG said Wednesday it has filed for insolvency after it was unable to sell four US solar-power projects, in the second such filing by a German solar firm in a week.

BP has taken the axe to its solar power business, saying it "can't make any money" from selling panels at a time when it continues to spend US$20bn annually on oil and gas developments.

Installations of solar panels worldwide this year are likely to rise more than one-third over 2010, according to a study released Tuesday.

For established manufacturers of solar panels, this has proved a difficult year, in the face of falling demand and a wave of cheap imports from China.

China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) swung to a third-quarter loss despite a jump in sales as the Chinese solar-products maker saw its margins plunge into negative territory amid falling solar panel prices.

Germany's largest module manufacturer, SolarWorld reported weakening financial conditions in the third quarter. Shipments and revenue remained flat with the second quarter but margins declined as weak demand and declining prices impacted results.

The cost of solar cells and microchips has nowhere to go but down because of a supply glut for the commodity they're made from, a brittle charcoal-colored semiconductor baked in ovens at 600 degrees centigrade.

SPI Solar said it has sold $42 million worth of solar panels to a New Jersey solar energy developer.

Energy Conversion Devices Inc on Tuesday said it temporarily suspended manufacturing of its lightweight solar products, is cutting 500 jobs and has hired an advisory firm to help attract additional investment as it struggles to compete in the cutthroat solar power industry.

California is on track to meet an ambitious goal of putting solar panels on up to 3 million Golden State homes by 2016, according to a new report by an environmental group.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday it would investigate whether Chinese companies sell solar panels in the United States at unfair discounts and receive illegal government subsidies.

REC modules were selected for a 5MW module solar power plant developed by Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Limited ("KCI") which is among the first projects to benefit from the Renewable Energy Certificate Mechanism in India.

ReneSola Ltd. reined in its guidance for third-quarter revenue and shipments, while noting it expects to post a loss for the period due to continued weak demand and industry oversupply.

Chinese solar-equipment makers said tariffs sought by US competitors would make it harder to expand the use of renewable energy.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. and Renesola Ltd., two Chinese solar companies, reduced their forecasts for shipments and cut the estimated values of their inventories.

SunPower Corp. and First Solar Inc., the two largest US solar manufacturers, will reorganize as falling prices and increased competition from China drive down sales.

The solar power system Facebook Inc. plans for its new Menlo Park headquarters won't just supply electricity. It'll heat water for the showers, too. And maybe help clean dishes in the cafe.

The UK government has launched a consultation paper, which is proposing further, significant photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) cuts for systems registered on or after December 12, 2011.

A massive new Westford solar-power plant heavily subsidized by state and federal aid is using the same kind of cut-rate Chinese solar panels that drove publicly backed Evergreen Solar and Solyndra out of business, drawing the ire of Massachusetts labor and business groups.