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A new survey conducted by Applied Materials, Inc. reveals that two-thirds of Americans believe solar technology should play a greater role in meeting the country’s energy needs.

A team of University of Minnesota-led researchers has said it has cleared a “major hurdle” in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels, which rarely exceed 30 percent. New solar cell designs are needed however.

LG Electronics (LG) has announced plans to significantly expand its solar business by investing USD$820 million (KRW one trillion) over the next five years toward its solar cell manufacturing facility in Gumi, southeast of Seoul.

Following the construction of its P3 polysilicon plant, which has a production capacity of 10,000 metric tons (MT) and is due to be completed at the end of this year, OCI has said it is looking to further expand production by another 5,000 metric tons at its facility in Gunsan, Jeollabukdo, South Korea.

NRG Energy, Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary, NRG Solar, has entered into a definitive agreement with US Solar Ventures Holdings to acquire a portfolio of solar development projects on nine sites in California and Arizona for an undisclosed sum of money.

Sunpower has been selected to install a high-efficiency solar power system totaling 4.1 megawatts (MW) at Dow Jones’ corporate offices in central New Jersey, the U.S.

A call for U.S. companies to develop a feasibility study for a 50 megawatt (MW) Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in Lebanon has been made by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and Lebanon’s Zeenni’s Trading Agency, in light of continued energy shortages in the country.

The next two and a half years are shaping up to be one of significant transformation for the Europe photovoltaics (PV) industry, according to a new report from IHS Emerging Energy Research. European PV markets are forecast to add as much as 15.5 gigawatts (GW) from 2010 to 2012 at an average of five GW per year.

Despite the turbulence in Spanish solar policy, Yingli solar is expanding its presence in Spain, partly as a base from which to reach other markets. By the end of the year, the Chinese module manufacturer plans to expand its service center in Madrid.

A 30 percent reduction for photovoltaics applications would signal “the end”, according to Javier Anta, president of the Spanish photovoltaics association (ASIF). In an interview with pv magazine, he also said that current plant owners would be ruined. Furthermore, he stated that between 600 and 1,000 megawatts (MW) in Spain are currently “with a leaglly uncertain status”.