G.E. invested $1.4 billion in solar power in 2011

GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of G.E., invested nearly $1.4 billion in solar power projects this past year, the company said. “We started last year with the goal of increasing our investments in solar power given improving solar technologies and decreasing costs, and have exceeded our own expectations by doubling our portfolio, investing in attractive projects across the globe,” said Alex Urquhart, president and CEO of GE Energy Financial Services.

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California-based CIGS thin-film company takes $18.7 million

Sunnyvale, California-based CIGS user AQT Solar Inc. took $18.7 million from investors as it prepares to double production capacity for its thin-film solar cells. The company will use the round proceeds to add a second production line at its headquarters and release 30 megawatts’ worth of thin-film solar cells a year from its current 15 MW.

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LDK Solar gets 33 percent of Sunways AG shares

New York Stock Exchange-listed Chinese solar cell manufacturer LDK Solar Co. Ltd., through its subsidiary LDK Solar Germany Holding GmbH, acquired approximately 33 percent or 5.79 million new shares of Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed German photovoltaic corporation Sunways AG, amounting to a total of 2.2 million euro ($2.9 million) and indirect ownership of a company based in China.

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Warren Buffet makes first solar move, buys First Solar’s Topaz farm

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has made his first move into sun power by buying First Solar, Inc.’s Topaz Solar Farm currently being built in San Luis Obispo County, California. mr. Buffet’s utility holding company, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, is making the acquisition which was announced yesterday.

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Organic solar cells achieve 9.8 percent efficiency in Germany

Dresden-based solar cell manufacturer Heliatek G.m.b.H. said it has set a world record of 9.8 percent efficiency for organic solar cells. Heliatek focuses on organic photovoltaics which use organic solar cells, a type of solar cell made with conductive organic polymers or molecules. Organic solar cells are said to be cost effective to produce and are more flexible than inorganic solar cells.

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Hensel Phelp, EnviroMission build 200-MW solar updraft tower

Australia’s EnviroMission Ltd. chose construction services contractor Hensel Phelps Construction Co. to build the world’s first solar thermal power plant using the company’s Solar Tower technology in the United States. Hensel Phelps will construct the first half of the proposed 400 megawatt Solar Tower power station in La Paz County, Arizona for EnviroMission for an undisclosed sum.

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General Electric takes next step in solar, buys into C.S.P. startup

General Electric Company made its latest move into the solar market by buying a minority stake in California-based solar thermal company ESolar to develop power plants that combine solar thermal energy and natural gas. The investment gives G.E. an exclusive license to combine ESolar’s tower-based solar thermal technology into its new 510-megawatt natural gas-powered power plant, the FlexEfficiency 50, which G.E. unveiled in May.

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Scientists develop flexible solar cell with record-breaking efficiency

Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have improved on their previous flexible solar cell and achieved a record-breaking efficiency of 18.7 percent. Flexible copper indium gallium selenide or C.I.G.S. solar cells are still an emerging field. But a team of scientists, led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, have worked through the years to improve the material’s efficiency.

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U.S. solar market posts record growth, shows signs of diversifying

The United States solar energy market grew a strong 67 percent in 2010, making it the fastest-growing power sector, based on the report of the Solar Energy Industries Association. The trade group’s U.S. Solar Market Insight report confirmed that solar’s market size ballooned from $3.6 billion in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010. Growth was driven by government incentives, stronger demand, and falling prices, according to its authors.

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Italy’s largest PV manufacturing plant obtains $ 197 million

International consortium secures $197.44 million to construct Italy’s largest photovoltaic panel factory

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