Two of potentially the largest utility-scale PV projects so far planned in China will be supplied modules by Yingli Green Energy. A module supply agreement has been signed with Huanghe Hydropower Development Co for the supply of a total of 110 MW of PV modules for two ground mounted plants to be built in Wulan, Qinghai province and Golmud, Qinghai province. Yingli said the modules are expected to be delivered from June through August of this year.

Australia's renewable energy sector has reassured consumers about the safety of household solar power systems after NSW Government released a statement yesterday discussing the results of an audit conducted by the Office of Fair Trading.

The DOE is working with utilities and local governments to streamline U.S. solar permitting - a 'new frontier for solar cost decline,' says advocacy group

The U.S. Energy Department said it is offering to guarantee about $4.5 billion in loans for First Solar Inc. to finance three renewable energy projects in California that the solar-panel maker is developing.

An uncontrolled renewable power expansion in Germany could threaten the stability of energy grids, the head of energy agency Dena told Reuters on Wednesday.

After two quarters of declining shipments, photovoltaic module manufacturers are set to see strongly recovering demand through the second half of 2011.

Q-Cells SE of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany, which manufactures both silicon and thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, has introduced its Q.SMART CIGS PV modules in the North American market. Q.SMART is a high-yield and high-efficiency thin-film module designed to maximize power output and return-on-investment in distributed solar generation.

The production cost of solar power could be halved by 2013 given higher demand, improved technology and economies of scale, according to to Suntech Power Holdings Co, the world's largest thin-film solar cell manufacturer.

The sector is beginning to see a decline in sales and product prices after several years of fast growth.

LDK Solar is the world's second largest manufacturer of solar wafers - displaced from the top spot by its rapidly growing rival GCL-Poly Energy Holdings last year. The company is also a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products and competes with other solar energy players like First Solar, Suntech Power and Sunpower.

The solar power industry is facing a double threat from a Congress that may turn off the flow of federal subsidies and take a pass on mandating renewable-energy standards that would increase demand.

Suntech Power's Just-Roof building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) module has been approved by French certification body CEIAB (Comit矇 d'Evaluation de l'Int矇gration au B璽ti). CEIAB is France's official evaluation committee for all BIPV products, and its endorsement sees Just Roof gain eligibility for the country's highest available feed-in-tariff.

Ontario's Minister of Energy, Brad Duguid, was on site as Eclipsall Energy opened the doors of its solar PV panel manufacturing facility in Toronto, Canada. Full production is expected to occur later this summer at the 120,000 square foot facility, which accommodates all of Eclipsall's operations and has room for expansion.

Two China Sunergy subsidiaries are investing RMB1.8 billion (US$277 million) in a new 1GW solar cell manufacturing facility in Yangzhou, China. The joint venture will concentrate on the production of China Sunergy's newly-developed Quasar cells, with the first 500MW batch set to be delivered in the first half of 2012.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a leading vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products, today announced that its Board of Directors approved a share buyback program that authorizes LDK Solar to repurchase up to US$110 million of its American Depository Shares ("ADSs") in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The program does not obligate LDK Solar to acquire any particular amount of its ADSs and may be modified or suspended at any time at the sole discretion of LDK Solar.

Soaring silver prices are hampering the solar industry's ability to compete with fossil fuels.

Britain's biggest array of solar panels has begun generating in Oxfordshire. The first large ground system to feed into the national grid will benefit from the tariff scheme paying a premium for supplying clean electricity.

Solar is one of the power sources the government of the world's third-largest economy is focusing on after the March earthquake and tsunami shattered Tokyo's nuclear-dependent energy policy.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., one of China's biggest solar equipment makers, said it is prepared for an industry-wide capacity glut and that its narrowing profit margins are good for consumers.

Solar panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co. expects to double its market share in Japan to at least 10 percent in 2012, helped by the expected adoption of a feed-in-tariff scheme, the head of its Japan business said on Tuesday.

Californian Governor Jerry Brown, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and the Mayor of Blythe Joseph DeConnick have taken part in a ground breaking ceremony at the site of two vast solar-thermal power plants in Blythe, California.

A recent report into the silicon and ferrosilicon markets has found rebounding prices as demand for solar grade polysilicon continues to grow. The report also finds higher profit margins in photovoltaic industry supply than silicon production for other industries.