Photovoltaic industry forecasts have indicated that German manufacturers must look to markets outside of Europe for future growth as industry data suggests a strong Asian focus.

Canadian Solar announced today that it will build a 600 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic cell production factory in China, only one day after announcing its intention to build a 600 MW wafer manufacturing plant in the country.

An 8.3 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power generation installation, which was connected to the grid in October 2010, was opened in a ceremony on Friday May 27.

IMS Research’s latest photovoltaic demand report raises its outlook for installations in 2011 from 18 gigawatts (GW) to more than 21 GW, as a result of falling prices across the industry supply chain.

German photovoltaic company expects solar sales potential in the “high double-digit million range” as it approaches 20 megawatts (MW) of installation in Italy.

Solar Power Partners (SPP) and JCM Capital (JCM) have signed an agreement with Rumble Energy to provide six megawatts (MW) of commercial-scale photovoltaic installations in the state of Ontario, Canada.

Construction begins on seven new industrial sized photovoltaic plants as a two megawatt (MW) plant opens in the Italian municipality of Umbria.

SEMI PV Group and the German Engineering Federation’s (VDMA) research into the global photovoltaic manufacturing industry has found that the industry’s book-to-bill ratio stands at 1:13, indicating it is still in expansion mode.

Chinese solar panel manufacturer Suntech has announced a deal to supply German photovoltaic power plant project developer solarhybrid AG for the majority of its projects in 2011.

Market uncertainty and high levels of unsold inverters in countries such as Germany, Italy and France have been cited as contributing factors behind the global drop in inverter shipments, says IMS Research.