A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a 3D solar module structure that can generate up to twenty times the electricity from a given area compared to normal solar panel layout.

President Obama traveled here to the Nevada desert Wednesday to highlight the future of solar energy - and ridicule Republicans for trimming back federal funding to develop it.

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.

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.

The federal government spent $24 billion on energy subsidies in 2011, with the vast majority going to renewable energy sources, according to a government report.

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.