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SunPower has announced that up to 1,000 local jobs are expected to be created after the company was selected to install a “minimum” of 20 megawatts (MW) worth of new solar projects at several U.S. government properties, including the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Navy and the Air Force.

Avancis has laid the foundation stone for its second solar module plant in Torgau, in the German state of Saxony. Construction work is expected to last for 18 months, said the company, with production at the 100 megawatt peak (MWp) factory set to commence in the first quarter of 2012.

Three key states will account for 48 percent of the U.S.’s total photovoltaics (PV) market, according to a new report issued by EuPD Research. Aimed at helping the industry understand the downstream PV market, it added that Arizona “could evolve into one of the most important markets in the coming years”.

Aggressive government incentives are set to trigger “booming” growth in solar installations in Ontario, Canada, this year, but regulations requiring the use of locally sourced photovoltaics (PV) products will cause the expansion to slow dramatically next year, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp.

Trina Solar (U.S.) Inc., has signed a sales agreement to supply around 35 megawatts (MW) of solar modules to SunEdison over the remainder of this year. The financial sum was not disclosed.

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) has expressed its support for Tucson Electric Power’s (TEP’s) plan to purchase 97 megawatts (MW) worth of solar power systems in Tucson, Arizona, the U.S.

Researchers at the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI) at the University of Wollongong in Australia have been awarded a new Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant of AUD$320,000 over three years. As such, they will work with Konarka Technologies in an effort to increase the efficiency of organic polymer solar cells.

First Solar may be looking to takeover SMA Solar Technology AG after saying it would be willing to purchase each SMA share for €110, according to several brokers. Following this, SMA’s shares significantly rose by around five percent today to almost €85 on the German TecDAX stock index.

Egypt is currently planning to connect its first solar energy station to the grid, according to the General Authority for Investment (GAFI).

Germany-based Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen has sold 50 percent of the stakes in its 50-megawatt (MW) parabolic trough solar thermal power plant – Ibersol – to Ferrostaal AG, Essen for an undisclosed amount. Located in the province of Extremadura, Spain, construction is expected to begin on the plant this autumn. It is hoped by spring 2013, it will be connected to the grid.