This is a bubble, Maeda told Reuters in an interview, referring to the estimated 200 solar power firms now in the sector and their plans to ramp up capacity. The prices of solar panels need to fall to less than half of what they are now (for their use to spread without subsidies), and current technology doesn't make that commercially viable. The industry is in for large price falls, he said, adding that it was dangerous to invest prematurely in inefficient technologies. "Eighty percent of solar sector makers will fail."

Spain's Cabinet has ratified proposals to set a new limit on subsidised solar power at a capacity level of 500 megawatts, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said on Friday. The approval ends weeks of wrangling over the new subsidy cap, which is far below the 1,200MW fixed in a current subsidy scheme expiring on Monday that helped make Spain the world's third-largest solar market after Germany and the United States.

Solar companies' success in ramping up new production lines and factories could leave the fast-growing renewable energy market awash in solar panels next year, driving down prices and profit margins in the nascent industry. The recent move by this year's hottest solar market, Spain, to cut its cap on subsidies for new solar panels has sparked fears that big producers may see their selling prices drop by as much as 20% as they scramble to sell out their production.

Solar power, with its promise of emissions-free renewable energy, boasts a growing number of fans. Some of them, it turns out, are thieves. Just ask Glenda Hoffman, whose fury has not abated since 16 solar panels vanished from her roof in this sun-baked town in three separate burglaries in May, sometimes as she slept. She is ready if the criminals turn up again. “I have a shotgun right next to the bed and a .22 under my pillow,” Ms. Hoffman said.

Homeowners also would get a 30%tax credit for eight additional years for the cost of installing solar equipment. Homeowners could claim a tax credit of up to 10% of the cost of all qualified energy efficiency improvements, such as insulation, replacement windows, water heaters and heating and cooling equipment. To reduce demand for petroleum, the bill creates a tax credit for plug-in electric cars, whose buyers will get a tax break of from US$2,500-$7,500, depending on battery capacity of the vehicle.

Moser Baer's solar photovoltaic subsidiary has raised approximately US$93 million from an international group of investment houses in its bid to expand production of both crystalline solar wafer and thin film operations. Moser Baer is currently establishing a thin film PV plant near Chennai with a proposed 500MW annualized capacity, using Applied Materials ‘SunFab’ turnkey amorphous silicon production technology.

...Even India's government ministries responsible for facilitating the belated start of semiconductor manufacturing in India seem to have focused solely on the financial aspects (e.g., subsidies), and at the same time, underestimated the overwhelming importance of securing scarce technical knowhow that still dominates the viability of this most high tech of industries. The fact that nanoscale devices are already in production at the latest wafer fabs seems to have escaped them as well...

A New York-based law firm has named MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. the target of a class action suit, alleging that the company and its CEO failed to disclose production problems that adversely impacted its financial results for the quarter ended June 30.

The US$227-million deal with Tianwei New Energy Wafer, a manufacturer of silicon wafers and photovoltaic cells, calls for the sale and delivery of polysilicon to Tianwei over a 10-year period beginning in mid-2010. The contract adds to an existing US$284-million supply contract signed in August, bringing Tianwei's total orders to US$511 million over the next decade.

LDK Solar, a manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, has signed an 11-year processing service agreement to process upgraded metallurgical grade solar-grade silicon provided by Germany-based Q-Cells into wafers. Under the terms of the agreement, LDK Solar will process a minimum of 20,000 metric tons of upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) solar-grade silicon in the years 2008-2018, with an option to process an additional 21,000 metric tons during the same period.

Shares in solar panel maker Evergreen Solar plunged nearly 28% Monday on investor concerns related to a convertible offering underwritten by now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers. The stock dive followed the largest-ever bankruptcy filing ever by Lehman Brothers Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 protection after being felled by the credit crisis and lower real estate values.

The inverted metamorphic triple-junction solar cell was designed, fabricated and independently measured at NREL. The 40.8% efficiency was measured under concentrated light of 326 suns. One sun is about the amount of light that typically hits Earth on a sunny day. The new cell is a natural candidate for the space satellite market and for terrestrial concentrated photovoltaic arrays, which use lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight onto the solar cells.

Glass maker Schott AG plans to double its investments into its R&D and manufacturing facility based in Alzenau, Germany. The company has announced to move the headquarters of its solar business from Alzenau to the Schott group headquarters in Mainz. The move aims at freeing up space for expansion in Alzenau, said Marting Hemig, general manager of Schott AG subsidiary Schott Solar.

In a sign that solar industry and its political allies are starting to flex some real power, the federal government reversed course and announced it would continue to accept new applications to build solar power plants on government land while developing an environmental policy for assessing the projects.

Sharp it seems, has the answer to at least some of the worlds carbon emission problems with its solar-powered LCD TV.

Japan, the world's biggest supplier of solar cells, has watched domestic solar power demand dry up after it pulled the plug on subsidies in March 2006, hurting solar equipment firms' ability to invest in research and expansion abroad. The METI panel on new energy sources estimated that it now costs 2.3 million yen (US$21,330) to install a 3 kilowatt solar power system for a home. In the year that ended in March 2006, a household with such a system would have received 60,000 yen from the state.

Applied Materials' belief of non-infringement is based in part on differences between the SunFab tandem junction technology (as verified by scientific analyses such as Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy) and the claims of the Neuchatel patent.

Start-up d.light design, which aims for no less than to eliminate kerosene around the world within a decade, is launching three off-grid lighting products for developing regions.

Intel is spinning off its solar-energy operations, which were birthed inside Intel's research labs, to form a company called SpectraWatt.

Carmanah Technologies Corporation is providing solar-powered LED airfield lights for a United States Air Force installation in the Middle East.

OC Oerlikon, the world's biggest maker of thin-film solar panel equipment, filed a complaint against Sunfilm AG in a Dusseldorf court alleging the German rival infringed on its patents.