We commonly think of this globalized economy of ours in terms of American companies shifting production overseas. It turns out the reverse occurs, too, even if at a much smaller scale. Suntech Power, a leading China-based manufacturer of solar panels, said it has hired 30 workers at its Arizona plant in a push to expand [...]

It’s a sign of the times: the site of a former General Motors vehicle testing facility will soon house a manufacturing plant dedicated to making clean-energy-producing solar panels. First Solar, the Tempe, Arizona-based maker of advanced thin-film solar modules, today announced it will build a its new U.S. manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona. The company [...]

In an effort to upgrade maufacturing equipment at solar photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturing centers in California, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has used $13.4 million in federal stimulus funds to give low-interest loans to four manufacturers within the state – Morgan Solar, Inc., Solar Power, Inc., Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worlwide, Inc., and Solaria Corporation.

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.

Power-One, the California-based company that currently accounts for 11 percent of the global photovoltaic (PV) inverter market share, announced that it will begin making Aurora brand power inverters in Phoenix, Arizona as early as October.

At the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, September 6-10 in Valenia, Spain, Honeywell introduced its new PowerShield 270. The new model, like the older one, is also meant to support panels in harsh weather conditions. According to Marketwatch, the PowerShield 270 is 30 percent lighter than traditional backing systems for solar panels.

If you want to grow the solar industry here, you have to produce the equipment here, you have to use the equipment here, and you have to deploy the product here. And then you have to develop an export market.”

A solar panel plant in Harvard, MA is producing noise pollution in addition to photovoltaic components. The community is speaking out.