Colexon Energy AG has secured a 7.2 megawatt (MW) solar energy system portfolio in the Czech Republic. EnerCap Power Fund is the investor for the €20 million project.??

Atlantic Green Power Holding Company has announced that the Land Use Board of Upper Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, New Jersey in the U.S. has granted final site plan approval for the development of the first of two tracts of land under evaluation by the Board for a 90-acre solar farm. Construction on the eastern site is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Researchers at Dow Corning and the University of Toledo (UT) have signed a memorandum of understanding to engage in collaborative discussions on photovoltaic (PV) solar research and development efforts to help reduce the cost of solar energy, in order to make it a viable and economically competitive energy option globally.

Borrego Solar Systems, Inc., has secured financing from U.S. Bank and East West Bank to finance an approximately USD$20 million, 2.8 megawatt (MW) solar project. The company says it is the first to be financed through its power purchase agreement (PPA).

Manz Automation AG has signed a know-how licensing and strategic alliance agreement with Würth Solar GmbH & Co. KG. Under the €50 million agreement, Manz gains exclusive rights to the use to Würth Solar’s Copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) production technology and exclusive access to their research results regarding CIGS modules on glass substrates.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd., based in Qidong, Jiangsu Province, China, has said it is to increase its cell capacity by 50 megawatts (MW) through the enhancement of its manufacturing processes, and will convert 160 MW of its existing cell lines to high-efficiency selective emitter technology. Both aims are to be completed in the early first quarter of next year, says the company.

Israel-based Orbotech, which is better known for testing equipment of printed circuits, has announced its decision to enter the photovoltaics (PV) panel sector. The company says its first products will be available next year.

Swiss-based Oerlikon Solar, which makes amorphous-silicon manufacturing equipment, has cut its customers’ costs to “well under” USD$1 per watt today and is on track to reach its goal of 70 cents per watt by the end of the year, Chris O’Brien, head of market development and government relations told pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar North America.

Berkeley, California-based startup SolarNexus has told pv magazine at the Intersolar North America trade show that it is getting ready to launch a web-based software platform aimed at eliminating much of the paperwork that bogs down solar installers today.

As Intersolar North America drew to a close, analysts left the industry with upbeat forecasts for the solar market. “Things couldn’t be better in 2010,” Jefferies analyst Jesse Pichel told pv magazine.