Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

With bankruptcies an unwanted but increasingly common feature of the photovoltaic landscape, questions abound as to what to expect from 2012. Lux Research’s Matt Feinstein investigates and picks a list of winners from the up and downstream markets. Innovation it seems, and not just when it comes to technology, is the key.

Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America Inc. responds to Jigar Shah’s recent opinion article, which stated that if SolarWorld’s trade petition against China is successful, the company's survival will come at the expense of the U.S. solar industry.

Jigar Shah, co-founder of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy and the founder of SunEdison, argues that if successful, SolarWorld’s survival will come at the expense of the U.S. solar industry.

Solar parity is fast becoming a reality, thanks to the decreasing costs associated with producing power from solar panels. Mohinder Sawhney from GBI Research writes that delaying it is just like postponing the inevitable. Therefore, rather than ignoring it, he says utilities must rise up to the challenge.

"Please, sir, I want some more." When Oliver Twist diffidently asked for more gruel in the eponymously named Charles Dickens novel, was he being hugely greedy or driven by hunger?

Lux Research analyst, Matt Feinstein poses the question: "Does grid parity matter?" He argues that while it may be a useful gauge to measure competitiveness, it would be "foolish" to wait for parity before declaring the viability of solar.

While recent International Energy Agency predictions for renewables as a part of the world's future energy outlook remain conservative, Ray Wills, from Australia’s Sustainable Energy Association, argues that technological change happens more quickly than is often predicted.