More solar-cell Stories

Solar Firm Amonix Piles On $129M, Backed by Kleiner Perkins

Both job creation and layoffs are particularly sensitive topics during a weak economy, let alone an election year, so the big layoff at Amonix’s solar factory in Nevada raises questions about the health of the Kleiner Perkins-backed company and its promise to bring many jobs Read more »

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boxers

A trade complaint filed against Chinese solar makers, accusing them of benefiting from illegal subsidies, has drawn a line in the sand for the U.S. solar industry. Now the Commerce Department has issued a finding that tilts the case in favor of the petitioner, SolarWorld. Read more »

First Solar 14.4% efficiency

First Solar has broken its own record. The company announced Tuesday that it’s able to produce a thin-film solar panel that can convert 14.4 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity. The new record exceeds the 13.4 percent it achieved last year. Read more »

solar panel

The turning of the new year didn’t make the solar industry any easier for solar manufacturers. Power electronics maker, Satcon Technology, announced Wednesday that it’s laying off 35 percent of its workers and shutting down its factory in Canada. Read more »

Calisolar silicon

Solar silicon maker Calisolar is laying off about 80 employees in its Silicon Valley factory as part of its shift in business focus, the company said on Wednesday. The layoff represents about 23 percent of the company’s labor force globally. Read more »

SolarOr's honeycomb

Fusing solar technology with buildings is an area that tends to invite creative ideas. An intriguing design caught our attention at Intersolar in San Francisco this week: It’s a solar panel with a honeycomb structure that replaces the glass facades of a building. Read more »

Panasonic, the world’s largest plasma-TV maker, will invest $1 billion by 2012 into clean technologies as part of a plan to focus its core business on outfitting homes and commercial buildings with solar power and energy-saving products. The plan is the latest example of a corporate behemoth […] Read more »

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