China is putting a competitive squeeze on some of its partners that still use the mainland as a source of low-cost design and manufacturing. Good Will Instrument, a 700-person test and measurement company in Taiwan, is just one of the companies feeling the pinch.

Centrotherm Photovoltaics AG (CTN), a German maker of production equipment for the solar industry, rose the most in almost three years, buoyed by surging sales in Asia.

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.

LED Roadway Lighting will supply 2580 SSL street lights to Edmonton, Canada, Kingsun Optoelectronic completes LED highway lighting project in Shenzhen, China, and Las Vegas and UK SSL updates.

China's strategic development of new energy resources over the next five years will focus on four sectors -- nuclear, wind, solar and biomass power, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials.

China's LED industry has seen significant development after the initiation of the National Semiconductor Illuminating Project in 2003, says Beijing-based CCID Consulting Co Ltd.

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.

A $1.2 billion write-down by solar equipment maker REC on Tuesday highlighted the pain being inflicted by aggressive Chinese competition and may herald wider consolidation in the sector and flattening of prices.

Silicon Valley is one of the world's cleantech big-idea centers but so far it's been Chinese manufacturers -- not valley entrepreneurs -- who are dominating the global solar industry. The Chinese are winning by driving down production costs through incremental innovation, said Zhengrong Shi, founder and CEO of China-based Suntech Power, the world's largest producer of solar panels.

Chinese manufactures of photovoltaic crystalline silicon cells and modules, China Sunergy, has opened its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco.

"This means our content is getting stronger, while our supervision is getting more strict and more regulated," a state-run think tank said.

Shares of solar LDK Solar Co. jumped 4 percent Wednesday after it signed contracts to supply solar modules to two electric power companies in China.

Analysts covering the solar energy technology industry have been reviewing the wares this week at the Intersolar North America industry conference in San Francisco, which started yesterday and ends tomorrow.

Aixtron and SINANO signed an agreement to open a training center in Suzhou Industrial Park, China, while Aixtron has also introduced its largest MOCVD reactor to date.

Phase II of Geosolar's workshop has gone into production. The potential for over 200 new jobs has been created and an extra 180 megawatts (MW) of annual production capacity added.

Drops in solar cell prices and surging interest in developing nations led to a 32% increase in investments in renewable energy globally in 2010, a United Nations report finds.

China's state-run media denied recent reports that the former President and Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin had died. Citing what it called "authoritative sources," Xinhua news agency labeled the reports as "pure rumor".

Tough market conditions have forced polysilicon producer Daqo to lower its second-quarter financial outlook for revenue and shipments. The move came after Daqo was hit hard by weak demand and declining prices for its products

Analysts say the Pacific discovery could challenge China's dominance, if recovering the minerals from the seabed proves commercially viable. At present, China produces 97% of the world's rare earth metals.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Suntech Power ousted its biggest competitor in the solar industry, FirstSolar, to become the largest supplier of photovoltaic (PV) modules in the world last year. The company shipped 1,522 megawatt ( MW ) of PV modules in 2010, comfortably ahead of the 1,411 MW First Solar shipped across the globe.

China will relax a decades-old ban on travel to Taiwan by individuals under a pilot scheme starting June 28, the government said Sunday, responding to growing demand amid a thaw between the two sides.

The 20th Intersolar Europe has opened its doors today in Munich. While the trade show floors are still quite empty, word on the street is that, spurred on by China's progress, India is getting ready to significantly ramp up its photovoltaic market. Automation is the watchword.