China’s biggest wind turbine maker has taken a large step into the European market long dominated by local manufacturers, with a €1.5bn ($2.1bn) Irish wind farm deal.

A series of new, larger turbines with longer blades have been launched into the market recently as manufacturers strive to deliver the lowest cost of energy with the next generation of designs. London, UK A trend towards larger capacity turbines with longer blades and larger rotor diameters has been long established, with OEMs continuing to offer existing machines with a range of rotor diameters. But now, a new generation of still larger machines has been unveiled.

The annual survey of cell manufacturers published in the March 2011 issue of PHOTON International shows that the PV industry increased global cell production to 27.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2010, which is as much as the output of the previous 4 years combined. This incredibly large volume means an increase of 118-percent over the 12.5 GW produced in 2009 - the highest annual growth rate since PHOTON International started tracking cell production in 1999.

France’s solar-panel imports surged last year as developers relied mostly on foreign manufacturers to supply a boom in renewable-energy projects, Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said. French customs figures show the deficit in favor of solar panel imports widened to 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in 2010 compared with 800 million euros the previous year, she said at a conference in Paris.

South Korea is set to become home to a new $8.2bn offshore demonstration wind project, according to local media. The project, which is slated to be the largest in the Yellow Sea, will be used to test 20 turbines produced by local manufacturers in South Korea, its regional government has confirmed.

On September 8, 2010, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Energy Conservation Office organized a ceremony to present an energy label titled Vietnam Energy Star and hand over energy efficiency certifications to three compact lamp manufacturers: Dien Quang, Philips Vietnam and Rang Dong.

On 8th September, at the head office of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, leaders of the Ministry granted the certificate of energy-saving products which are energy labeled for the group of compact light products of three dominant manufacturers of Vietnam, including Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company, Philips Electronic (Vietnam) Co Ltd and Rang Dong Joint Stock Company.

Neo Solar Power Corporation, one of the leading solar cell makers has recently unveiled its new plant within The Southern Taiwan Science Park, according to The China Post. The new factory is expected to have a 3.4 GW capacity, almost 1 GW more compared to the capacity produced by all Taiwanese manufacturers.