Faced with the on-going nuclear crisis in Japan — the costs of which could make the March earthquake and subsequent tsnuami the most expensive natural disaster the world has ever seen — nearby China may be moving to double its target for solar photovoltaic (PV) power capacity over the next five years. Citing unnamed sources, China [...]

A military authorization law recently signed by President Obama could lead to a solar standoff between the U.S. and China — now the world’s largest producer of solar panels.

Late yesterday, China announced a new raft of energy subsidies meant to bolster the country’s growing solar energy sector. As reported by the Associated Press, Beijing will create 13 industry zones and pay up to half the price of equipment for solar power projects, the Finance Ministry said. It said other costs will be covered [...]

News of a major partnership came out of Thornton, Colorado today as Ascent Solar Technologies, a manufacturer of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules, announced that it has signed a deal with Radiant Holding Limited in which Radiant will begin distributing Ascent’s modules.

Look who’s investing in solar hot water technology. While the rest of us are worrying that solar thermal lacks the trendy appeal of other solar tech and wondering when people will realize how much sense it makes, China is quietly stepping up and installing more solar hot water capacity than anyone in the world. In [...]

Well ahead of the German solar subsidy cuts slated for July 1, German demand for solar modules from powerhouses Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd. and First Solar has been high—high enough to have prompted the former to add 1 gigawatt in production capacity in Shanghai over the following three years, and high enough to  have [...]

For some time now, we’ve seen American solar panel manufacturers struggle to keep costs low enough to compete with their Chinese and Japanese counterparts. Last year, Massachusetts-based Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) had to move solar panel assembly to China (though retaining its manufacturing facility not far from Boston) in order to cut back on costs [...]

Last we heard, First Solar was the only American solar company setting up massive shop in China. As of this past Friday, however, it appears as if the Arizona powerhouse will have to share the space with a compatriot—Californian concentrating solar power company eSolar Inc., which will build a number of solar thermal “power tower” plants [...]

Chinese thin film solar manufacturer Trony Solar is set to issue an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange.

When it comes to solar, Taiwan is shooting for the sun. The Asian semiconductor powerhouse, whose parliament passed in June a crucial renewable energy bill which seeks to add between 6,500 and 10,000 megawatts of installed renewable energy over the next 20 years, announced last week its goal to raise its solar panel capacity from [...]