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.

German solar company Q-Cells unveiled its thin film modules in the United States on Wednesday as it seeks to cash in on growing demand in North America while lessening its reliance on the European market, where government support for solar is declining.

Japan's industrial production rose for a second straight month in May, after falling sharply in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but the increase in factory output was lower than the government had forecast.

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

Online search giant Google has launched a new social networking website in its latest attempt to take on Facebook, which now claims more than 500m users.

Spansion has announced a collaboration with Freescale on a memory expansion module for the Freescale Tower System that provides design engineers more flexibility in prototyping a growing range of embedded applications.

LG Electronics (LG) today introduces its next generation DM50D monitor, which includes all the advantages found on LG's game-changing CINEMA 3D TVs in a form factor that fits easily on a desktop. The flicker-free, bright images and lightweight 3D glasses that customers have come to associate with CINEMA 3D can all be found on the DM50D, including Full HDTV. The DM50D is the perfect platform for 3D gaming and movie watching.

Vizio, a leading supplier of LED-backlit LCD HDTVs, announced it will enter the LED lighting market with a series of replacement lamps using LEDs supplied by Epistar and Seoul Semiconductor.

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.

TSMC may first appear, in the fourth quarter, as a second-source supplier of the A5 processor, according to Gus Richard, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, who wrote about this in a research note last month and still maintains this outlook. Then TSMC would take on the next-gen A6.

Rubicon Technology is beginning volume production of 6-inch and 8-inch sapphire wafers at its state-of-the-art facility in Penang, Malasia, while GT Solar is investing $27 million to triple its sapphire production capacity in Salem, Mass.

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.

3M has announced the opening of the company's application laboratory in Yangmei, Taiwan, for 200mm and 300mm temporary wafer bonding. The addition expands 3M's existing wafer support applications labs in Japan and the US to meet customer demand.

It was "probably inevitable" that highly indebted economies would be given a way to quit the single currency, said financier George Soros.

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.

The government also added that it is in the process of developing a policy to give preference to domestically-produced electronics goods in purchases by the government and government-linked projects.

Micron executives' comments about limited visibility of consumer PC demand and higher-than-ideal inventories of DRAM chips sparked a Friday sell-off in stocks linked to personal computers.

Micron Technology has announced net profits for the quarter ended June 2 were US$75 million, down from the US$939 million posted a year ago.

Nokia said the staff reductions will happen in phases until the end of 2012 and all the employees concerned can remain with the company until the end of 2011. Nokia previously said it plans to reduce its Finnish workforce by 1,400 people.