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A team of researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), funded by the U.S Department of Energy’s solar technologies program, has released a 144-page renewable energy feed-in tariff (FIT) guide, aimed at helping to “improve future policy design”.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has stopped manufacturing amorphous silicon thin film solar panels, in order to focus on crystalline silicon solar cells at its Shanghai, China facility. The “rapid cost reduction and improving competitiveness” of crystalline silicon solar panels was cited as the main reason. The company says that, as a result, it expects to incur a thin film equipment non-cash impairment charge of approximately USD$50 million to USD$55 million in the second quarter of this year.

In response to the growing U.S. photovoltaics (PV) market, China-based silicon ingots, wafers, and cells and modules manufacturer Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. has said it plans to double shipment volumes to the U.S. next year to between 100 to 150 megawatts (MW).

SunPower Corp. has announced that Etrion Corporation, an independent solar power producer, has signed a €48 million definitive sale and purchase agreement to acquire the equity in the first two phases of the Montalto di Castro solar photovoltaic (PV) power park, which it says is the largest in Italy at 28 megawatts (MW). It hopes to increase this to 72 MWs by the end of the year.

Astronergy is to increase its production capacity from 30 megawatts (MW) to 75 MW this year. The announcement comes as the company signs a follow-up purchase agreement for Oerlikon Solar’s thin film equipment. The company says the order will help it to reach its goal of producing 400 MW of thin film solar photovoltaics (PV) modules “within the near future”.

Under the development project ‘Access to Modern Energy Services Ethiopia’, realized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, SMA Solar Technology AG has said it will deliver 100 battery power inverters to supply medical clinics with solar-generated alternating current (AC) in the country: 50 have already been delivered.

U.S.-based China manufacturing company, Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing USA, Inc. has opened a 129,000-square-foot, 100 megawatt (MW) photovoltaics (PV) solar module production facility and research and development center in Nantong, China. Initial operations are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year, with 120 employees.

UK power company HomeSun has announced its plans to install £1 billion worth of free solar panels on 100,000 British homes over the next three years. The news comes as recent reports reveal that the U.K is the fastest growing country for photovoltaics (PV) installations this year.

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia has announced that construction has started on its new AUD$125 million Tyree Energy Technologies Building (TETB) following planning approval from the New South Wales government. The new facility – scheduled to be completed by 2012 – will house all the energy-related research and teaching groups within the university, including photovoltaics.

An inauguration ceremony is being held today to mark the completion of Q-Cells SE’s 5.3-megawatt (MW) solar power station, located close to Spremberg in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. The project, which covers a 19-hectare brownfield site, cost around €16 million. Construction began in mid-June.