Markets

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. says both its fourth quarter (Q4) and full year (FY) financials reflect the “challenging” market environment it encountered in 2011. While the company believes it is well positioned for the future following its production and staff cutbacks, it forecasts another difficult year.

IMS Research has found that while annualized photovoltaic module price declines have slowed, Chinese Tier 2 manufacturers are implementing “highly competitive” pricing strategies.

In its bid to become an “international knowledge hub and solar technology exporter”, Uzbekistan has unveiled its new International Solar Energy Institute (ISEI).

AU Optronics has said it will market its solar products under the brand name BenQ Solar. The move is in line with its “Global Operation, Local Delivery” business strategy.

Just months after suspending its manufacturing operations and announcing significant job cuts, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) and a number of its subsidiaries, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A new research project at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is aiming to get photovoltaics applied in brave new ways and many more places. The project, at the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Low-Carbon Living at UNSW, will focus on a range of techniques, applications and potential impediments relating to photovoltaic technology.

Having released his Fiscal Year 2013 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) budget request to Congress, President Barack Obama has requested US$2.27 billion be set aside from a total of $27.2 billion for the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

In a political pile-on, it is a rarity when only rumors, and egos, get quashed. However, following months of allegations by Republican Congressional leaders that U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loans had been granted recklessly, in a backroom bargaining process, a 60-day independent audit of the DOE loan portfolio released on February 10 found that no excessive risks had been taken on President Barack Obama’s watch.

It appears likely that the Italian government will remove the retroactive action from its Decreto Monti. While the decision means that incentives shall still be halted for photovoltaic systems larger than one megawatt (MW) on agricultural land, the deadline by which such systems must fulfill the feed-in tariff (FIT) requirements, will be moved back to March.

A three-year multilateral and multinational research project has been launched, aimed at bringing efficiency, output and utilization gains right across the photovoltaic system. From cell to smart grid, the ERG project will involve research and development businesses, and bodies from eight European countries.