S.A.G. Solarstrom AG has told pv magazine in a telephone conference that it is planning to expand its international operations, following strong foreign sales for the first half of the year.

Fort Recovery Construction & Equipment LLC has announced it is planning a USD$1.9 million expansion at its SolarAg division in Portland, the U.S. Under the plans, the company’s 60,000 square-foot facility for research, development and production of solar thermal collector panels will be renovated. It added that it expects to create up to 120 jobs by 2013.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd has said that due to “booming” demand, it will expand its crystalline silicon solar cell production capacity from 1.4 gigawatts (GW) to 1.8 GW by the end of the year. The company has also increased this year’s shipment target from 1.3 GW to 1.5 GW, which is “more than double total shipments for 2009”. The news comes as it announces its second quarter (Q2) results. ?

The largest single major polysilicon production facility in Taiwan is underway following a deal between Germany-based centrotherm photovoltaics AG and Taiwan PolySilicon Corp. (TPSI). With an annual capacity of 5,000 tons, and an upgrade option of 8,000 tons, centrotherm’s subsidiary, centrotherm SiTec designed the facility.

Solar inverter shipments reached 4.9 gigawatts (GW) in the second quarter of this year (Q2), says IMS Research, growing by 284 percent. More than half of these shipments were for installations in Germany, which grew by 388 percent in Q2 says the company. Consequently, total shipments hit more than eight GW for the first six months of the year – a three-fold increase over the same period last year.

Sky Solar Holdings Co., Ltd, and Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd, a cement engineering system integration service provider, have joined hands to establish a new photovoltaics (PV) company in Beijing, China.

Germany-based Solon SE has reached an agreement with British project developer, 35 Degrees Ltd, to build a 1.3 megawatt peak (MWp) photovoltaics (PV) solar power plant near Bissoe in Cornwall, the U.K. Pending the necessary planning permits for the energy park, the company says it could be the first ground-mounted solar power plant ever built in the country.

There is no single solution for meeting energy needs, Professor Vassilios G. Agelidis, director of the University New South Wales’ Center for Energy Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA) tells pv magazine.

Ford, Detroit Edison and Xtreme Power are teaming up to establish what they say is one of Michigan’s largest solar power generation systems and electric vehicle charging stations at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in the U.S. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

Germany-based aleo solar AG has reported a revenue of €277.0 million in the first six months of this year, leading to a 134.5 percent increase compared to the first six months of last year. The main driver of this increase, it said, is due to the amendment of the German Renewable Energy Act. York zu Putlitz, CEO and CFO of aleo solar AG additionally told pv magazine that the company is looking to increase its production capacity by this September.