China is targeting 3 gigawatts (GW) of roof-mounted solar power generating capacity by 2015 and 25GW by 2020, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing a government renewable energy development plan that is likely to be unveiled soon.

Wracked by debt but blessed with abundant sunshine, Greece plans to develop some 20,000 hectares of solar power parks in a bid to export renewable energy to Germany, a report said on Saturday.

Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited floats RFP for 80 Mw hybrid solar power projects.

A study sponsored by the solar power industry has concluded that the United States ran a trade surplus of $1.88 billion in solar technologies last year, as exports of raw material and factory equipment for the solar sector outpaced imports of finished solar panels.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer were among the six central bankers to receive the top grade from the Global Finance magazine. The others were Lebanon's Riad Salameh, Malaysia's Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Amando Tetangco of the Philippines and Taiwan's Fai-Nan Perng.

Political leaders anywhere in the world, however great they are, often do not have the luxury of actually making choices; choices are usually forced upon them by economic or political circumstances.

The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said Friday that the economy is recovering and the nation's long-term prospects remained strong, an upbeat assessment that offered little indication of any plans for additional measures to boost short-term growth.

Schott Solar advised that it had achieved 20.2% efficiency on its monocrystalline screen-printed solar PV cell; a feat that was confirmed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).

Renewable Energy Corp. ASA, a Norwegian maker of solar-power components, extended a shutdown of plants in Norway until the end of the year because demand for wafers and cells has failed to pick up.

Japan approved a bill today to subsidize electricity from renewable sources, joining European nations in shifting away from nuclear power after the Fukushima reactor meltdowns in March.

The price of gold has plunged 9.3%, after hitting a record US$1,913.50 an ounce on August 23, as markets became more upbeat about the economy.

Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter told analysts on a conference call that he is now expecting chipmakers to spend US$1 billion less on new equipment than the company forecast in July. "We've seen demand from our foundry customers soften significantly in the past six weeks," Splitner said.

"Semiconductor companies now need to become much more systems-oriented," Freescale CEO Rich Beyer said during a technology forum. "We are into an era of connected intelligence where data is ubiquitous, and these devices [such as tablets] will conform to us and not have us conform to them, as in the case of the personal computer."