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In an interview, Seethapathy Chander, from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) talks to pv magazine about the photovoltaic investment situation in Asia, falling project costs and emerging markets. Overall, he believes costs will, on average, sink to just US$0.09 per kilowatt hour (/kWh) across Asia, and that Uzbekistan will become a major market.

Capitalism prevailed over party politics this week, as the U.S. Congress moved swiftly to pass legislation that would enable the Department of Commerce to continue applying countervailing duty (CVD) law to non-market economies (NMEs), such as China and Vietnam.

At a time when Germany’s solar industry is suffering from weakened political support, the Technical Inspection Association, TÜV, has uncovered rusted radioactive waste barrels in the already inoperative Brunsbüttel nuclear plant in northern Germany.

The Sharp Corporation, in partnership with the Indonesia Government, will develop 100 megawatts (MW) worth of photovoltaic projects in Indonesia. It will also work on a 2.4 MW solar system in Japan.

Three solar companies have been declared to be leading the pack in terms of the environment, their communities and their employees. The B Lab, a nonprofit organization that assesses companies’ impact environmentally and socially, highlighted three solar installers yesterday as leaders across three areas of assessment.

Suntech expects to see “intense competition” in 2012, following a shaky 12 months for most solar companies. In the fourth quarter (Q4) and full year (FY) 2011, the Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer suffered significant losses. Meanwhile, this year, Q1 shipments are expected to decline.

Chinese photovoltaic module manufacturer, JinkoSolar, has posted a net loss of US$58.3 million for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2011. The company attributed the poor result to prices falling faster than anticipated. JinkoSolar did however manage to post full-year income of US$43.4 million, a decrease of 69 percent from 2010.

Solar hybrid AG has said it will suffer from loss of investments for its planned 150 megawatt peak (MWp) photovoltaic park, due to be online by the end of 2012. Meanwhile, Parabel AG has said it will push ahead with its 40 MW park, with the assumption that an appropriate transition period will be allowed.

A new program, called Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN), has been introduced in the city of Palo Alto, California, the U.S. Under it, locally-produced solar energy will receive a fixed rate of remuneration.

Having suffered significant losses in 2011, despite a successful start to the year, centrotherm photovoltaics AG has unveiled a new program designed to cut costs and refocus its business. The aim is to place more emphasis on crystalline silicon. 400 jobs will be cut.