The solar industry in the U.S. has been holding its breath over a much-delayed review by the Commerce Department over allegedly unfair trade practices by Chinese solar panel makers.

President Obama touted solar energy as an "industry on the rise" and condemned Republican skeptics of this power source in his first stop on a nationwide energy tour.

Installations of solar panels will continue to increase strongly in Germany in the first six months of the year, government and industry sources told Reuters, dealing a blow to efforts by the ruling coalition to get the market under control.

Around 11,000 people gathered in Berlin on 5 March to protest against further cuts to the support for solar photovoltaics (PV) in Germany from April.

At 1pm local time Monday March 5, thousands, including employees from around 50 solar companies, will converge in Berlin at the Brandeburger Tor to protest against harsh cuts to the proposed feed-in tariff legislation.

SMA Solar, Germany's top solar company, forecast sales and operating margins will fall significantly in 2012, blaming the German government's March 9 decision to slash state-mandated incentives for photovoltaic electricity.

Germany, the world's biggest solar- power market, may delay a plan to cut subsidies in the industry by at least three weeks to allow developers to complete projects, a lawmaker said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet endorsed plans on Wednesday to cut state-mandated incentives for photovoltaic electricity in the world's largest market for solar power by up to 30% on March 9, coalition sources told Reuters.

GE Energy Financial Services has announced 2011 was a record year for its global solar power investments, with the company doubling its solar spending commitments in the past year to $1.4 billion, reaching a total of nearly $5 billion in projects.

BSW-Solar fears that, despite considerable opposition from the solar industry, the new legislation is likely to be passed in a meeting of the Federal Cabinet tomorrow.

China's first major solar tradeshow of the year, CIPV Expo 2012 in Beijing, ended this past weekend with continued optimism over the further development of China's solar industry, despite Germany's support cutbacks, announced during the show.

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.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., a solar firm based in China, recently announced the opening of its state-of-the-art PV module testing laboratory in Jiangxi, China. The facility has been awarded the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Witness Testing Data Program (WTDP) Certificate.

India is yet to utilise its solar potential; at present, solar power (photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power) contributes a mere 0.4 per cent of the total power generation.

One of the world's biggest green-energy public-policy experiments is coming to a bitter end in Germany, with important lessons for policymakers elsewhere.

One of the world's fastest-growing solar-panel manufacturers, Tokyo-based Solar Frontier, may soon increase production still more with help from its oil-company-funded parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu.

Plans by Trina Solar to build-out its next-generation cell technology, despite industry conditions have been secured with a structured term loan facility of up to US$100 million dollars with Standard Chartered Bank.

Pay-as-you-go products may be synonymous with mobile phones but a solar energy service in Africa is harnessing the popular business model to bring affordable electricity to the continent's remotest communities.

Renewable energy companies are losing their allure with top executives after profits and stock prices collapsed across the industry, making it more difficult for boards to replace underperforming managers.