First Solar Inc. has announced that it has set a new world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic solar cell efficiency, using commercial-scale equipment and materials. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed the result.

The German states of Brandenburg and Saxony will be home to 11 Parabel photovoltaic installations, which together will be worth six megawatts (MW).

German industrial group Bosch has continued its solar expansion by opening a new photovoltaic center in Arnstadt, Germany.

News agency Reuters have reported that BP Solar will close its Maryland facility as the company moves away from module sales and production.

Phoenix Solar has been selected to build two photovoltaic power plants in France, with a combined capacity of 24 megawatts (MW). Construction on the plants is scheduled to begin in a matter of weeks.

The latest quarterly report into the photovoltaic industry, by IMS Research, shows falling module prices and big reductions in gross margins for module suppliers.

As the July feed-in tariff (FIT) deadline for U.K. photovoltaic installations looms, the cathedral city of Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire 120 kilometers north of London, has gone ahead with a scheme to install 1.5 megawatts of capacity to council properties in the city.

The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the United States has announced two new loans for Indian photovoltaic projects totaling $25 million. This is in addition to $75 million in solar transactions in the financial year 2011 through June 30, brings the total of Indian solar transactions to $500 million, worth 315 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity.

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) will, for the first time, bring together industry leaders and the financial community for a Photovoltaic Investors Day on September 6.

As energy reduction and renewable electricity initiatives continue to capture the public’s imagination in Post-Fukushima Japan, Sekisui Jushi Corporation (SJC) and Kyocera Solar Corporation have announced the co-development of the Eco-Shell shelter.