Despite efforts by some Australian utility companies and industry groups to see Australia’s Renewable Energy Targets (RET) wound back, the government has decided to maintain them. Utilities are having an impact elsewhere, with fixed electricity prices set to increase to ensure solar households pay “their share” of electricity infrastructure costs.

Figures from a SEIA/GTM Research study released last week have confirmed that the state of New Jersey has hit the 1 GW installed photovoltaic capacity milestone. The state added 415 MW of capacity in 2012, an increase of one-third on 2011, when 313 MW was installed.

In a report released today, NPD Solarbuzz has predicted that photovoltaic demand from the Middle East and Africa (MEA) will total 1 GW in 2013. This represents a 625% increase on the 136 MW of demand in 2012.

Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer ReneSola announced today that it has hit the milestone of 100 MW of modules shipped to the Greek market. The company partially attributes the achievement to its partnership with Greek distributor Big Solar.

A US$65 million fund created to make solar arrays more affordable for Honda customers in the U.S. has been launched today. The fund is the result of a partnership between the carmaker and solar lease provider SolarCity.

Japanese thin film manufacturer Solar Frontier is capitalizing on the country’s solar boom and is focusing on becoming a downstream business leader and provider of “full turnkey solutions” in the country. The company has also begun to reduce the losses of the business unit of which it is a part.

Vodacom and Fenix International have launched the ReadySet mobile phone charging system in Tanzania. The portable phone charger is powered either by a solar panel or a bicycle dynamo.

Tracking system developer and manufacturer Deger announced today that it will supply over 1,000 tracking systems to Spain. The systems are for several solar parks to be developed near the city of Lleida, in the Catalonia region of Spain.

A report produced by independent analysts Prognos and released today, has shown that employment in the solar sector in Europe would decrease on the back of tariffs being applied to Chinese-made solar cells and modules. The study sees tariffs shrinking the European PV market.

ProSun has rejected the findings of the AFASE-sponsored report on the Sino/EU PV trade case, which was presented today in Brussels. ProSun has argued that fair competition, “is beneficial to everybody.”