German PV output covered 6.1% of electricity demand in the first nine months of 2012

BDEW German Energy Blog
According to the latest figures by the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW) for January to September 2012, solar power generation increased by 50% year-on-year. Renewables contributed 26% to electricity consumption in the first nine months of this year. (...) Wind energy remained the largest contributor of renewable energy in the first three quarters, accounting for 8.6% (2011: 8.0%), followed by photovoltaics accounting for 6.1% (4.1) and energy from biomass with 5.8% (2011: 5.4%). Hydro power contributed 3.8% (2011: 3.3%) and power from waste incineration plants and other renewable energies accounted for an unchanged share of 0.9%.

Sahara solar plan loses its shine

Nature
Dimming prospects for solar energy have caught up with a massive renewable-energy project planned for the Sahara Desert. By 2050, according to its backers, DESERTEC, a network of solar plants and other renewable sources scattered across North Africa and the Middle East, could generate more than 125 gigawatts of power that could be used locally or delivered to Europe through high-voltage direct-current cables beneath the Mediterranean Sea. But one of its major backers, Siemens, based in Munich, Germany, now says that it will leave Dii, the consortium trying to advance DESERTEC, by the end of the year.

China opens antidumping and antisubsidy investigation into EU polysilicon imports

Ministry of Commerce Announcement
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) has opened an antidumping and countervailing duty investigation into solar-grade polysilicon imports from the EU. Through the investigation, Mofcom will attempt to determine if EU polysilicon producers have engaged in unfair trade practices or have unfairly benefited from government subsidies. If Mofcom determines they have, it will assess the extent to which these practices have damaged the Chinese polysilicon industry over the last four and a half years (Jan. 1, 2008 to June 30, 2012).
The probe covers the period from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 and specifically targets three subsidies: Germany’s Common Task: Improving Regional Economic Structure investment grants; the East Germany Investment Allowance incentive program; and European Investment Bank policy loans. Mofcom expects to issue a final determination on the investigation on Nov. 1, 2013, but the probe could be extended by six months to May 1 under special circumstances.
Mofcom opened similar investigations into US and South Korean polysilicon imports in July. All three investigations were launched at the request of four Chinese companies: Jiangsu Zhongneng Polysilicon, LDK Solar, Sino-Silicon and Daqo New Energy. In August, the European Commission opened an investigation to determine whether Chinese solar manufacturers are illegally dumping crystalline silicon PV modules, cells and wafers on the European market. The EU antidumping probe is expected to last 15 months.

REC Is Merger Candidate as Solar Takeovers Loom

Renewable Energy News Article
Renewable Energy Corp., the Norwegian solar-energy company struggling with falling demand and excess capacity, said it's a merger candidate as the industry gears up for a probable consolidation.
“We won’t be surprised if there are more mergers in the time ahead” and REC is involved in discussions with possible partners, Chief Executive Officer Ole Enger said in an interview in Oslo today after presenting REC’s third-quarter results. “When results are like now, you must always be open for solutions that can give better results.”

LDK Joins China State-led Solar Bailout

RenewableEnergy-com

The nascent state-led bailout of China's struggling solar industry has taken another step forward with word that LDK has just sold a big chunk of itself to a partly state-owned consortium for enough cash to perhaps fund its operations for another month or 2. This new rescue package values LDK at just $140 million, which is probably still too high a figure for one of China's weakest solar panel makers in an industry where everyone losing big money due to a huge supply glut.

Photovoltaics in Italy: more than 6,000 jobs at risk

GIFI
The Italian photovoltaic industry is in the balance: economic crisis, unstable political situation and new legislation  don't favor the growth and competitiveness of the PV companies. The regulatory changes that occurred in 2012 have challenged a sector that, until 2011, employed more than 100,000 people with an average age of less than 35 years. There are already many signs of downsizing and closures.
A survey conducted among 200 member companies of the Italian association of photovoltaic industry ANIE / GIFI, representing a turnover of 13.5 billion euro in 2011, concludes that the employment in the Italian photovoltaic industry has dropped  24% in 2012 , to which must be an expected decline of 7% in 2013 should be added .
"We are worried - explains Valerio Christmas, President of ANIE / GIFI - that over 6 000 workers will lose their jobs. Engineers and technicians are in danger. Highly qualified personnel for which companies have invested heavily in their training."

Será que o telhado da minha casa tem potencial energético?

in Cidades do Futuro | Expresso - Expresso.pt
Será que o telhado da minha casa tem potencial energético? 
Um trabalho de um grupo de investigadores do e-GEO, unidade de investigação da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCSH-UNL) e do DEGEE da Faculdade de Ciência da Universidade de Lisboa, tem uma solução que permite estimar a rentabilidade da instalação de sistemas fotovoltaicos dos telhados das habitações, Para já, este sistema de informação geográfica tem como área de demonstração a freguesia de Alvalade, em Lisboa [aqui]. Mas, segundo Teresa Santos, investigadora da FCSH-UNL, o e-GEO é uma plataforma que foi concebida para ser replicada noutras zonas de Lisboa e cidades portuguesas.