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As the global solar industry develops, increased corporate transparency becomes a necessity on the back of growing consumer understanding and local market regulations. Subsequently, the services required by test laboratories and certification bodies have undergone a boom in recent times. Speaking to pv magazine, Ulrike Therhaag, director Solar/ Fuel cell Technology at TÜV Rheinland Shanghai discusses the current situation in China.

Spain-based Solaer has completed the installation of a 5.3 MW photovoltaic park in Cornwall, the U.K.

Germany’s Sovello AG is urgently searching for a new investor, in order to save at least part of its workforce. Company management is said to be optimistic.

First Solar Inc. will have to pay over €5 million back to Germany’s Brandenburg, following the announcement that it will stop manufacturing operations in Frankfurt (Oder) at the end of the year.

Cumulative, grid-connected photovoltaic capacity is forecast to reach 230 GW in 2017, in comparison to just 11 GW of CSP capacity. Deployment is expected to be led by China. However, while the competitiveness of photovoltaics is underscored, it is nevertheless predicted that manufacturing consolidation will continue for the next few years.

Solarcentury has reached the halfway point in its installation work on the Blackfriars rail bridge in London, the U.K. When complete, the installation is expected to be the largest of its kind in the capital and the world’s longest solar bridge.

The share of solar generated energy significantly increased in the first six months of 2012 in Germany. Around 14.7 billion kWh of electricity were said to have been produced from 1.2 million photovoltaic systems.

The final report submitted by the parliamentary panel on the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year has declared the catastrophe a “man-made disaster”. It states that the meltdown “could and should have been forseen and prevented”.

Scheuten Solar has announced its photovoltaic module production in Germany’s Gelsenkirchen will continue, following the takeover of the company by Aiko Solar Group. However, 160 jobs have been lost.

According to the CEO of Spain-based solar development company, Solarpack, finding demand for photovoltaic projects is one of the biggest challenges today. Regarding the U.S.-Sino trade case, he further believes that “everybody has to realize where their competitiveness lies.” In the following interview, Pablo Burgos discusses competitive strategies, bureaucratic hurdles, solar policies and project pipelines with pv magazine.