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Upsolar has partnered with Plan-net Solar in installing a 1.2 megawatt rooftop photovoltaic system in Slovenia. This is the company’s largest system in the country to date.

The 9th International Green Energy Expo 2012 (IGEE) kicked off today, March 28, in Daegu, South Korea. In contrast to the two solar events held in Shanghai, China last week, the exhibitors, including Korea’s heavyweights, were out in force. There are mixed feelings however, over the future of the Korean solar industry. On the one side is a clear lack of political support and on the other, a stark focus on research and development, and equipment. Many capacity ramp ups have also been put on hold.

Smart grids are set to grow as Pike Research’s report shows. Meanwhile Echelon Corporation has announced two micro grid deployments in India and South Africa that will integrate distributed generation to compensate disruptions in utility-supplied power.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is being sued by Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club with the claim that the proposed Calico project in California does not meet basic environmental protection requirements and threatens imperiled wildlife.

The revised draft for the changes in the solar subsidies calls for some serious changes. The cuts remain though.

Cost reduction is still more important than achieving higher efficiency as a photovoltaic production technology driver, according to speakers at the sixth edition of the PV Fab Managers Forum held in Berlin, Germany this week.

International photovoltaic companies exhibiting at Ecobuild, which took place in London last week, see the U.K. market as important for being able to accommodate and reward companies with long-term strategies.

On the eve of delivering his company’s first 30 megawatt (MW) of photovoltaics to Pacific Gas & Electric under the utility’s 250 MW Utility Owned Generation program, Boris Schubert, the CEO of Q-Cells North America, tells pv magazine why he is betting on the continued rapid growth of photovoltaics on this continent, and how his company will seek out a lion’s share of the market.

IMS Research reports that the Chinese photovoltaic inverter market grew by over 400 percent in 2011 to achieve more than 2.5 gigawatts (GW) in shipments.

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.