Markets

Germany-based Wacker Chemie AG has said it will build a new, fully integrated polysilicon production site near the city of Cleveland in Tennessee, the U.S. The news comes as the company says it expects to see double digit annual growth in polysilicon demand by the solar industry.

The Renewable Energy Association (REA) has expressed its disappointment over the UK Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) failure to include solar power in its newly released fourth budget advice to government on climate change targets.

Suntech Power is determined to use some of the best tricks known to manufacturers in its bid to boost growth while elbowing competitors out of the way.

The French Government has announced that no new photovoltaics (PV) projects larger than three kilowatts will be approved for the next three months.

Since the introduction of its small power program in 2006, Thailand has signed contracts to develop 4,300 megawatts (MWs) of renewable generation. Nearly half of the contracts – 1,800 MWs – are for solar energy.

The announcement by the Australian Government to begin phasing out its solar credits for households has attracted criticism from the industry.

It is merely four weeks before 2010 draws to a close, and hopes for a renewal of a popular federal grant program in the United States are sinking fast.

The increase in photovoltaics (PV) installations in Germany turned out to be greater than expected by both analysts and the industry this year. If growth continues at the present level, then the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) has said it would be willing to support an additional cut in feed-in tariffs (FITs). However, it categorically rejected any cap on the PV market.

Sanyo Component Europe GmbH has achieved what it says is the world’s highest cell conversion efficiency at 21.6 percent.

According to a local media source, photovoltaics (PV) power generation in China is expected to grow at an annual rate of one gigawatt (GW) from 2012.