With the global market in flux, the photovoltaic industry could benefit from innovative approaches to demand side management and consumer-focussed solutions. Next week’s Ecosummit in Düsseldorf, on November 14 and 15, will be showcasing such solutions. Host Jan-Michael Hess discusses.

New residential solar market research in Australia was released yesterday, challenging the oft-repeated claim that photovoltaic support programs like FITs are “middle class welfare,” and are taken up by middle or upper income households.

Figures released today by the Solar Foundation show that while job growth remains slow in much of the U.S. economy, the solar industry continues to shine – with 13.2% annual growth in the last year. The figures were measured in a census measuring employment growth in solar between September 2011 and September 2012.

The acquisition of one of the world’s pioneering photovoltaic companies, Q.Cells, was completed today, with the launch of Hanwha Q.Cells GmbH. The new company’s leadership was unveiled at its headquarters, R&D center and German manufacturing operations, in Germany’s Sachsen-Anhalt this morning.

Photovoltaic activity in the MENA region continues to pick up, with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) awarding the 13 MW first stage of its 1 GW Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum project to First Solar.

As FITs and support mechanisms for photovoltaics change and hence uncertainty for consumers increases, so too does their willingness to invest in storage. This is one of the results of EuPD’s latest research into consumer behavior, called “Endcustomers in Focus,” released this week.

Last week, Australia’s first utility-scale photovoltaic installation went online. Located in the Midwest of Western Australia, it will sell the generated electricity from its 10 MW of First Solar modules to a nearby desalination plant. Although Australia’s residential market continues to boom, Jack Curtis, VP of business development and sales at First Solar discusses the market prospects for big photovoltaic applications Down Under.

As a part of its plan to facilitate better demand-side management of electricity usage, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has launched its Green Button Connect system. The software aims at providing electricity usage data to customers and to solar installers, to allow for more integrated photovoltaic and demand-side electricity solutions.

A deal that will see the 30 MW Spectrum Solar project, in Clark County, Nevada, sold to the Southern Company and Turner Renewable Energy has been announced by SunEdison. Construction will begin on the project in October and is scheduled to be completed by Q2 2013.

Like the grey clouds sitting heavily in the skies overhead, the dampened mood in the photovoltaic industry has continued to dominate talks during the third day of the EU PVSEC trade show in Frankfurt today. Despite this, varied side events have presented opportunities to provide a note of optimism, and to introduce new business models for equipment and material suppliers.