An experimental solar-powered airplane took off from Switzerland on its first transcontinental flight yesterday, aiming to reach North Africa next week.

China should respond forcefully and make every effort to let the United States withdraw the unfair and harsh ruling, so as to avoid a trade war between the two countries in the solar power sector, said Li Junfeng, deputy director of the Energy Research Institute under the National Development and Reform Commission.

A move designed to punish China-based solar panel makers that charge unfairly low prices in the US could, ironically, end up hurting American-based solar panel installers, a fast-growing sector of the green economy.

When will the stock price of China solar panel makers stop collapsing? When China starts switching to solar power. In other words, unless there are bottom feeders in the market with a long-term bullish outlook on the sector, 2012 promises to be a killer for China solar. Yet, despite US government's anti-dumping charge against them on Friday, industry insiders said at a conference in Shanghai that they were hopeful for a rebound.

Apple said its North Carolina facility will be powered by a combination of photovoltaic solar energy, green fuel cells and other sources of renewable energy.

China-based solar panel manufacturers are making plans to source components from Taiwan in order to get around US anti-dumping tariffs of at least 31% announced by the Department of Commerce last week.

China unleashed a storm of protest Friday on multiple fronts against the US decision to impose a 31% antidumping tariff on Chinese solar-panel makers and said the action could backfire on US industries.

The US yesterday imposed tariffs of as much as 250% on Chinese-made solar cells to aid domestic manufacturers beset by foreign competition, though critics said the decision may end up raising prices and hurting the US renewable energy industry.

SolarWorld said its Hillsboro, Oregon-based U.S. unit can't compete with Chinese exporters, including Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP), the world's largest solar-panel maker, and Trina Solar Ltd. unless tariffs are imposed. Suntech was told to pay 31.22%, Trina's levies were set at 31.14% and others were told to pay duties ranging from 31.18-249.96%.

The US solar-power industry has been nervously awaiting a federal decision on whether to impose antidumping tariffs on Chinese solar-panel makers.

Canadian Solar Inc., the world's fifth-largest maker of solar modules, plans to build a plant in Japan as soon as fiscal 2013 to become the first foreign company to produce solar panels here, company sources said.

The German Federal Council has determined that that the bill earlier adopted by the German Parliament for the reduction of solar subsidies will be going a the mediation committee, which will allow for the federal and state governments to negotiate finding a comprise.

Saudi Arabia is seeking investors for a $109 billion plan to create a solar industry that generates a third of the nation's electricity by 2032, according to officials at the agency developing the plan.

Despite strong opposition from environmentalists, the state Assembly on Thursday approved controversial legislation that allows a solar energy developer to bypass local agencies in seeking to build a large-scale power plant in a valley that is home to desert tortoises, golden eagles and bighorn sheep.

May 10 (Reuters) - Applied Materials Inc will move its solar equipment plant to China from Europe to cut costs and tap into the growing appetite for clean energy in Asia. Asia is expected to overtake Europe as the largest solar power generation hub, aided by lower manufacturing costs, while falling subsidies and weak demand have hurt the industry in Europe.

German solar-power companies expect sales to decline by 50 percent this year because of subsidy cuts in the world's second-largest market for the industry, according to a survey by the BSW-Solar lobby.

After suffering losses last year amid US anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations, Chinese solar panel manufacturers may be seeing a light near the end of the tunnel: a nuclear-free Japan.

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) posted a smaller first-quarter loss despite weak demand amid warm weather, but the company plans to see revenue growth this summer as prices rise.

LDK Solar Co. (LDK), the world's second- largest maker of wafers for cells, cut 5,554 jobs this year after plunging prices cut margins to a record low amid a renewable-energy shakeout that's pushed at least eight solar companies into bankruptcy and prompted thousands of industry firings.

The San Mateo, Calif., company said it filed confidential draft registration documents last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was unclear when the company planned to file public registration documents and when it plans to go public.

Solar panel installations have fallen by almost 90% in the weeks since the government halved cut the subsidy available, according to Department of Energy and Climate Change figures.

The National Solar Mission, which aims to install 20,000 MW capacity of solar energy by 2020, has commissioned 89% of its allotted capacity in its first stage, government officials said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's effort to create jobs in renewable energy is faltering as subsidy cuts and competition from Chinese manufacturers forces the industry to stop hiring for the first time in eight years.

NRG Energy, First Solar and MidAmerican Solar representatives gathered to connect the first 100MW of the 290MW Agua Caliente Solar Project to the grid. The project is owned by NRG Energy and MidAmerican, while operator First Solar designed and constructed the plant in Yuma County, Arizona, using thin-film modules.

South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Corp. and ESB Novusmodus LP, a fund backed by Irish state utility Electricity Supply Board, led a $15.5 million Series B investment in closely held TenKsolar Inc.