Germany, the world's biggest solar panel market, added 664MW of the devices in June, a 69% drop from the same period last year, according to preliminary figures from the German power grid regulator.

Solar manufacturers including a unit of SolarWorld AG are preparing a U.S. trade complaint against China, as they seek to counter low-cost, subsidized imports, according to people familiar with the matter.

Two days before a looming deadline, the U.S. Department of Energy finalized two loan guarantees Wednesday from the same economic-stimulus program that backed Solyndra LLC.

Some may think of the solar energy industry as new and even in need of government help, but those who have worked in it for decades say plenty of privately funded solar power companies are thriving.

The renewable energy sector and in particular, solar is becoming increasingly popular at Google, having now invested more than $850 million in the renewable energy sector. The latest US$75 million investment is in Clean Power Finance's ?？hite label' financing solution for the US residential market for solar PV installations.

A project to install solar panels on military housing across the US, creating thousands of jobs, has been cut back sharply after SolarCity, the company behind it, failed to secure approval for a government loan guarantee before a September 30 deadline.

Recent comments made by SolarWorld's Frank Asbeck claiming that the Chinese solar companies are selling their wares at dumping prices, driving others out of the market has created some ripples, with Suntech refuting the comment. And amidst the continuing growth in China, some US companies are seeing a slump, post-Solyndra meltdown.

SunEdison's 53.5MW multi-site solar PV project in New Mexico looks set for completion by the end of this year, and has been buoyed by the news that it has secured financing of over US$200 million from financier Wells Fargo.

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.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e43569d4-e30f-11e0-bb55-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1YYPv5fmw The US solar power industry employs more than 100,000 people, twice as many as it did two years ago and more than the steel industry or coal mining, the industry's trade group has said.

Solar Frontier will be starting to put its Kunitomi plant to serious work as it recently closed a deal to supply over 30MW of its CIS solar modules to solar projects in India by the end of 2011.

SMA Solar Technology AG, the world's biggest maker of solar inverters, slashed full-year targets only days after its chief executive called the outlook challenging, confirming fears the industry bellwether was not immune to falling demand.

Developers installed 69% more US solar power capacity in the second quarter than a year earlier, led by commercial and government projects.