Germany-based manufacturer Conergy announced today that it would construct a 50 megawatt (MW) project in Pakistan. The project is to assist in providing more stable electricity supply in the country.

California-based Solar Mosaic have moved a step towards rolling out its “crowdfunded” photovoltaic model, picking up a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE), as a part of its SunShot program.

The IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, has sent a message to the photovoltaic industry that it needs to collaborate in the global marketplace, in the highly-competitive current market.

While photovoltaic manufacturers struggle through difficult market conditions, two new reports have shown that solar attracted twice as much investment as wind in 2011. The reports have also shown that total renewable-energy investments – excluding hydro-electric – accounted for 44 percent of all new generating capacity worldwide.

The second day of the Intersolar Conference closed yesterday with the CEO panel displaying remarkable optimism in the face of extremely challenging conditions for manufacturers. The CEOs of Canadian Solar and JA Solar were upbeat about predictions for installed capacity in 2012.

Markets in which photovoltaics can be a true competitor with traditional energy sources was one of the themes emerging from the first day of the Intersolar Europe Convention, which began in Munich yesterday. German market integration measures, future developments in Spain and the importance and potential of storage technologies all emerged as themes.

With only days to go before Intersolar Europe opens its doors, talk of an EU trade case – similar to the U.S.-Sino one – is becoming more common on the photovoltaic rumor mill. Chinese manufacturer Trina Solar has made adjustments to cope with the provisional tariffs imposed and Ben Hill, President of Trina Solar Europe, spoke to pv magazine about its possible implications and more.

Lux Research released a statement today setting out that it was Konarka’s technology and strategy that was to blame in the firm’s failure, not the photovoltaic market itself.

Early summer weather has seen Germany’s photovoltaic power plants feed 22 gigawatts (GW) back into the grid in a 24-hour period. In fact, so high was production that on Saturday at midday, 40 percent of the country’s total energy demand was supplied by solar power.

Chinese photovoltaic manufacturer, Canadian Solar announced today that it has delivered eight megawatts (MW) of modules to a project, on a former landfill site, in the German state of Hesse.