U.S. President Barak Obama has dipped into the debate surrounding the SolarWorld-sponsored “trade case” it, along with an unnamed coalition of U.S. manufacturers, has filed against Chinese manufacturers.

Thin-film module manufacturer First Solar has inaugurated today its second plant (FF02) at its Frankfurt (Oder) site in Germany’s east. The plant will have a capacity of 250 megawatts (MW) a year, bringing the company’s capacity at the site to 500 MW.

Just days after the halving of photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) rates was announced by the U.K. Government, an installer has reported a rush on modules meaning that orders cannot be completed before the six-week FIT cutoff date.

In the wake of the leaked-and-then-announced U.K. photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) cuts, one installer says that it is the timeframe not the level of cuts that presents a problem for the industry.

In a sign that Greece’s plan for vast expansion of photovoltaic capacity is gaining support at the highest levels of government, the European Council has mentioned it in a communiqué regarding currency stability measures.

Manufacturing equipment supplier Manz has today revised down its earnings for 2011 on the back of weak demand for solar equipment. The company has a turnkey CIGS line and is a single machine supplier to select customers.

Industry analysts Jefferies have taken the reductions in Germany’s feed-in tariffs as an indication of approaching retail grid parity.

Integrator Belectric and Solar Frontier have announced today the completion of their 4.2 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plant in Bessan, France. It is the first such installation in France using copper, indium, gallium, (di)selenide (CIGS) thin-film modules. The project also represents the Japanese manufacturer’s entry into the French photovoltaic market.

The German Federal Network Agency (“Bundesnetzagentur” “BNA”) has announced the new photovoltaic feed-in tariffs (FIT) for 2012. They will be cut by 15 percent from 2011 rates.

Massachusetts-based laser technology developer SiOnyx has announced that its Black Silicon technology can achieve silicon photovoltaic cell efficiency increases from 17 percent to 17.3 percent.