Germany's government and an industry group said Thursday they have agreed to trim solar power subsidies by up to 15 percent this year as demand thrives in the country, a leading producer and user of the renewable energy source.

Germany's planned cuts to subsidies for photovoltaic solar energy installations could take effect as early as July, people familiar with the matter have said.

Globalfoundries plans to double its capital spending to US$5.4 billion in 2011, said CFO Robert Krakauer. The money will go toward upgrading a plant in Dresden, Germany, building another in upstate New York and planning a factory in Abu Dhabi.

The latest data from Germany's solar installations database recorded 340.5 megawatts of solar installs in October, a decline of 151 MW from the September level of 492 MW.

Germany will account for a reduced 40 percent of world demand in 2011, but that will be offset by growth in the U.S., Italy, France, the Czech Republic and others countries. The global demand for the solar market should grow 20 percent next year to 17.7 gigawatts.

A few days old, but still worth reading. Maybe the real application for solar power isn't giant farms in Germany but solar power kits to villages in India and sub-Saharan Africa.

The amount of noise coming out of Germany about proposed additional solar feed-in tariff cuts is an annual rite of passage -- and period of unrest -- for solar investors. Yet there's been a major change of tone this year in the battle of the future level of installations in the solar sector's leading market.

Germany's economy is fueling the euro region's recovery as declining unemployment encourages consumer demand and companies boost investment, helping counter weaker exports.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study reveals cost of solar PV installations in US down 30 per cent, but still around a third more than in countries which have pioneered solar panel deployment

Nokia sued Apple on Thursday in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, alleging that the U.S. technology company used 13 of its patents, including a basic touch-screen maneuver, without its permission.

The SLE 78 chip in the new German ID card has been certified by the Germany Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Infineon developed the chips for the ID card in Neubiberg near Munich, Germany.

Germany's environmental minister said he can't guarantee feed-in tariffs will continue, but scrapping them would play poorly at the polls.

German chipmaker Infineon has reported strong fourth-quarter results, and said it plans to give back cash to shareholders for the first time in a decade.

As T-Mobile loses its iPhone exclusivity in Germany to O2 and Vodafone, Apple has begun offering the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 unlocked without a contract to German customers, with the 16GB iPhone 4 model selling for 629 euros.

According to reports, the German interior ministry has asked government departments to avoid using BlackBerry because of a "dramatic increase in cyber attacks", and instead opt for Simko devices offered by Deutsche Telekom.

Kyocera is ramping up its annual production to 600MW this year - an increase of 50% over the previous year - to meet growing demand in countries such as Japan, US, Germany, France and Italy, the company says.

Germany's move comes as Italy plans a 30% cut in its FIT for next year. That could force Italian developers to build as fast as possible in the 2H10, much like German developers did in 1H. The lower drop in FIT gives manufacturers time to make a transition to markets such as the United States and Canada, which have the possibility of being larger than Europe, based on combined electricity demand and land available for development.

Germany's LFoundry, an analog and mixed-signal foundry, has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Atmel's wafer fabrication operation in Rousset, France.

Germany's upper house is unlikely to pass cuts to solar incentives on Friday, so a mediation committee would be needed to resolve the matter, government sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The eurozone managed only modest economic growth in the first quarter of 2010, with Germany's performance, held back by the bitter winter, failing to kick-start a broader recovery in the 16-country region.

The German parliament yesterday approved long-expected cuts to solar energy incentives prompting US shares in solar companies to tumble amid fears that demand from one of the world's largest markets for soalr panels will now fall.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved plans on Wednesday to grant 100 million euros in support for the solar power industry to overcome resistance in parliament to its plans to cut state-mandated incentives.

The sources said parliamentary experts in Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right administration agreed that so-called feed-in tariffs for new rooftop solar installations will be cut by 16 percent from July as planned. Most open-field installations will be cut by 15 percent, with support for farmland solar systems to be scrapped completely, the sources said.

German chipmaker Infineon expects to raise its outlook for the fiscal year to Sept. 30 due to better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Globalfoundries Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany is undergoing several major changes, including integration of separate modules into an integrated facility. With a steep 32nm MPU ramp underway that includes high-k/metal gate technology, the fab is also now running foundry wafers for non-AMD customers.

The potential impact of lesser subsidies has been an anchor on First Solar in recent sessions, after the company said last week that such cuts could pressure earnings in the second half of 2010.

First Solar has posted a higher-than-expected profit, but its shares fell as its outlook disappointed and profit margins narrowed.

German exports in 2009 were equivalent to US$1,121.3 billion which compared with the US$1,201.7 billion exported by China. China's goods exports also suffered badly last year, falling by 16% over the course of the year, the first time they had declined since 1978.

The combined company employs approximately 10,000 people around the world, anchored by headquarters in Silicon Valley and manufacturing operations in Singapore and Germany, and a new fab under construction in New York.

"China's exports largely consist of low-value everyday goods like cheap electrical appliances and textiles - but that's a long way from where it wants to be..."

China exported US$957 billion of goods in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with US$917 billion for Germany, according to customs data compiled by Global Trade Information Services.

Mixed-signal foundry LFoundry (Landshut, Germany) plans to acquire Atmel's fab in Rousset, France, the site of recent worker unrest. CEO Michael Lehnert said the proposed acquisition will make LFoundry the largest analog foundry in Europe.

Robust German exports have helped calm fears that the economic recovery in Europe's largest economy is losing momentum.

The German government is funding a research project aiming at developing manufacturing processes for large-area OLED illuminants. In the Light InLine (LILi) project, Applied coordinates the activities of a team formed of its own experts as well as professionals from OLED materials manufacturer Merck KGaA and from the Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany).

Price pressure, caused by overcapacities in the worldwide solar panel business are exerting pressure on the solar panel value chain.

Germany's next government plans to reduce incentives to generate solar power as early as 2010, the energy spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats said.

Russia's government is in talks with Germany on buying a stake in Infineon Technologies, said AFK Sistema, tycoon Vladimir Yevtushenkov's holding company.

Chinese exports narrowly edged ahead of those from Germany in the first six months of 2009, in a fresh sign that Germany's status as the world's leading exporter is at risk.

German exports rose 7% in June, the fastest pace in nearly three years, in the latest sign of recovery in Europe's biggest economy, official figures show.

Chipmaker Infineon Technologies has announced plans to launch a rights issue of up to 337 million shares with a subscription price of Euro 2.15 per share.