Barclays Capital finds that light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing and materials patents will soon run out, potentially draining value from material/chip/package suppliers and turning LEDs into commodities.

Butterfly wings are not just beautiful. They are also sophisticated collectors of solar energy that help butterflies stay warm, and researchers say that their shinglelike structure could provide valuable clues into developing better solar technology.

Quickly running out of money, solar-project developer Solar Trust of America LLC filed for bankruptcy before it could finish a multibillion-dollar solar plant in California that was planned to generate electricity as one of the world's largest solar-power projects.

Shares of Q-Cells SE declined around 33% on Frankfurt's Xetra after the German weekly magazine Manager Magazin reported that the German solar cells maker may file for insolvency this week.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are also rapidly gaining in popularity in the marketplace. In the next few years, fall in prices coupled with technology developments will further drive demand for OLED displays. Advantages of OLED displays include ability to operate at low voltages often in the range of 5 to 20 V, and lightweight monolithic form factor.

Samsung's widely rumoured Galaxy S3 will come with a high resolution display that will rival Apple's iPhone. (March 29)

Micron Technology has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by Oracle over an alleged conspiracy to increase DRAM prices.

Steve Jobs last war, the magazine argues, could do his company more harm than good.

Hynix Semiconductor has submitted an initial proposal to bid for Elpida Memory, the Japanese chipmaker that filed for bankruptcy last month. Hiynix said in a regulatory filing that it will decide whether to make a final bid after due diligence.

Dialog Semiconductor has announced it is working closely with TSMC to develop its next generation of bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) technology specifically tailored to high-performance power management ICs (PMICs) for portable devices.

Toshiba will bid against Micron Technology to become the sponsor of Japan's failed chipmaker Elpida Memory, the Nikkei newspaper said.

Japan's new feed-in tariff, implementation is anticipated to be July, is set to generate highly attractive returns, according to clean energy market research provider, Bloomberg Energy Finance.

Germany's parliament approved record cuts in aid for solar power, aiming to reduce the annual pace of installations by half in the world's biggest market for the industry.

Micron Technology facility operations were unaffected after an explosion forced workers to evacuate a company building in Boise, Idaho, according to the city's fire department.

EV Group (EVG) announced that Himax Technologies has placed a repeat order for an IQ Aligner UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) system. The IQ Aligner will be used by Himax to support the company's capacity increase in the production of wafer-level cameras used in mobile phones, notebook computers and other consumer electronic devices.

What's surprising are Nvidia's remarks concerning TSMC's current cost curves and manufacturing ramps. This is normally the sort of information discussed quietly between a foundry and its customers or by the press with help from various anonymous sources. Discussing the problems publicly is a sign of just how frustrated the company has become.

InvenSense has announced dual-source capability for its CMOS-MEMS supply from the two leading semiconductor foundries in the world.

Last year Jason Matlof, a partner at Battery Ventures, claimed that 2011 could be the year of the solid state lighting crossover -- when incandescents give way to LEDs. Matlof, like many VCs is an optimistic sort. And while Matlof might be off on the exact year, he's probably accurate with regard to the decade.

A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a 3D solar module structure that can generate up to twenty times the electricity from a given area compared to normal solar panel layout.

President Obama traveled here to the Nevada desert Wednesday to highlight the future of solar energy - and ridicule Republicans for trimming back federal funding to develop it.