IMS Research reported today that photovoltaic installations worldwide are expected to grow to between 27.8 gigawatts (GW) and 32.6 GW in 2012, up from 26.9 GW in 2011.

In remote parts of the vast state of Western Australia, photovoltaics are about to get more attractive for businesses and households. An electricity retailer in the state has launched an energy buyback scheme for photovoltaics where residents in remote areas will receive more for the photovoltaic electricity they feed back into the grid.

The third annual PV Power Plants conference in Vienna continued today with questions being raised about the hidden cost of falling module prices. Specifically, it was asked what kind of R&D will be able to be undertaken by photovoltaic module manufacturers in a price war?

U.S. cell and module manufacturer SunPower Corp. has announced that its 160 mm, 24 percent Maxeon solar cell is now in commercial production.

While much of the solar industry’s attention has been focused on legislative and trade moves in the U.S., floundering companies in Germany and the significant cuts to support programs there, Japan may provide the photovoltaic good news story that the industry is looking for.

U.S. manufacturer PowerFilm announced today that it has developed a SolarStream photovoltaic module, which will supply backup power for emergency vehicles. PowerFilm will manufacturer the module and lighting equipment firm Streamlight will be responsible for distribution and sales.

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) released its 2011 Annual Report today, in which it confirmed that 28 gigawatts (GW) of photovoltaic capacity was installed in 2011. In a trend that is turning around, 75 percent of this capacity was added in Europe and 60 percent in Italy and Germany alone.

In an apparent confirmation that photovoltaics have the potential to supply electricity demand peaks and therefore reduce the cost of peak power, a German utility has shut down a 55 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant.

In what has become an ongoing legal drama, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has been refused a right of appeal against a previous High Court finding that its cuts to the feed in tariffs (FIT) for photovoltaics were unlawful. The result being that installations with a reference date between December 12, 2011 and March will be eligible for the higher tariff rates.

In another sign of the tough times for photovoltaic manufacturers, SolarWorld has posted a loss of €299 million (US$393.65 million) loss for 2011. A “ruinous” price war within the industry and balance sheet write-downs has been blamed for the losses.