Within 6 years, the Chinese solar thermal industry increased its export business 12-fold, from USD 20 million in 2005 to USD 250 million in 2010, Solrico (Bielefeld, Germany) reports. In 2011, the newly installed collector area in China has jumped up another 18% to 57.6 million m² (40.3 GWth). Putting the focus on solar technology has proven to be the right step: Nowadays, significantly more new solar water heaters are being installed per year than gas or electric water heaters. Read more...

2011 is being looked back on in the global solar industry for many negative qualities. Primarily, a collapse in profitability in solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing led to companies restructuring, layoffs, plant closures, and even a number of bankruptcies. Late in the year a vicious trade dispute sharply divided the U.S. PV industry, which also saw significant negative press, most notably the fabricated scandal of the Solyndra DOE loan guarantee. However, all of this obscures the fact that global PV, concentrating solar power (CSP) and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) industries continued to grow in 2011, at some times and in serveral regions dramatically. Read more...

From the roof of the convention center in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, one is surrounded by the irregular forms of the downtown buildings that comprise the city's center. On sunny days, long rows of solar thermal collectors on the St. Paul RiverCentre's roof supply water to those very buildings, in a system that encompasses the majority of the downtown area. Read more...

SAINT-GOBAIN SOLAR SOLUTIONS are intelligent, innovative and instant solutions for solar module manufacturing, offer cost-effectiveness, easy application and durability for perimeter sealing of the PV laminate to the aluminium frame and can be used as a process aid in securing and sealing all module components Read more...

Solar Server: Overall, what are your impressions of Governor Christie's Energy Master Plan for New Jersey? Jamie Hahn: Overall, I feel as though the EMP provides a roadmap for how New Jersey can promote a diverse portfolio of new, clean, cost-effective in-state electric generation. I think it recognizes the role that solar power can play in meeting the state’s RPS objective as well as its role as an engine for economic growth. The jobs, the economic growth and all of these small businesses created by the solar industry are most important. The numbers speak for themselves when looking at the number of jobs created in this sector in one of the worst economic climates of our lifetime. Read more...

It’s almost one year since the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and rumours are beginning to fly around the UK solar industry as to what the upcoming Comprehensive Consultation on the feed-in tariff (FiT) holds. I decided it was time to investigate what people are actually saying, and to find out how much of what is being said matches the facts around budgets, pricing and deployment. Read more...