In order to promote solar power, the government is subsidising the technology. Besides, efforts are also on to encourage people to get into using the solar energy equipment.

GOVERNMENT help for solar power was supposed to be a triple play: jobs at a time of dire short-term need; incubation of an American industry sure to be important on a global scale in the next few years; and a long-term reduction in climate-changing pollution.

Infineon Technologies is the global market leader in power semiconductors for the eighth consecutive year. According to IMS Research data, Infineon again strengthened its position in 2010 and commands an 11.2% share of the overall market.

Strong growth in customer numbers helped UK chipmaker ARM beat analysts' forecasts with its third-quarter results, despite "below seasonal growth in the semiconductor industry."

"Economic uncertainty continues to weigh on demand in almost every major market segment in which we operate," said CEO Rich Templeton. "Our revenue for the third quarter was higher than we expected though, overall, the quarter was below the seasonal average. We expect the same in the fourth quarter."

Bridgelux Inc., a maker of light- emitting diode, or LED, lighting, received $15 million in financing to accelerate research and development.

A recent report from the USA has found return on investment from solar power is higher than any other renewable energy source.

"TSMC has ceased to participate in the program," said Ebun Caldeira, director of finance and market research at SIA. Caldeira declined to say why TSMC has pulled out. "We do have some efforts underway to get TSMC to rejoin," she said.

Japanese electronics maker Panasonic will scale back domestic semiconductor output by the end of March 2012 and cut about 1,000 jobs, reflecting its recent move to reduce TV panel production, the Nikkei business daily said.

Installed capacity in Italy is expected to reach 12.5GW by the end of the year, according to the chairman of the Italian Photovoltaic Industry Association (GIFI), Valerio Natalizia.

Programmable logic vendor Altera has reported third quarter sales that came in below analysts' expectations and the company's own revised guidance, with CEO John Daane saying customers are burning through existing inventories in a manner reminiscent of the downturn of 2008.

Taiwan and mainland China will focus on LED lighting, TFT-LCD, wireless cities, low-temperature logistics, and electric cars initially for cross-Taiwan Strait industrial cooperation.

A Washington lobbying firm reported it did $20,000 of work for Solyndra LLC as the company approached bankruptcy, according to federal documents

Street-light-manufacturer Schr矇der has supplied SSL luminaires to Arraiolos, Portugal based on Osram LEDs, while Cooper Lighting has introduced a new version of its LightBAR that primarily targets outdoor lighting.

Xilinx's fiscal second-quarter profit fell 26% as the programmable-chip maker posted sales declines in its communications and industrial segments. Looking to the third quarter, the company projected a 3% to 8% sales decline from the second quarter.

Japanese cabinet ministers will call on the government to ease rules on building geothermal, wind and hydraulic power plants to boost renewable energy use after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.

Wal-Mart stores in the central Chinese city of Chongqing were cited for violations 20 times over five years before the latest incident that led to the closure of all the chain's stores in the city, a Chongqing official said on Wednesday.

The US economy plodded on with "modest" growth in September the Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday, describing restrained hiring and a still-weak housing market

A group of U.S. solar-panel makers Wednesday called on the federal government to punish Chinese rivals with extra duties for allegedly dumping their products on the U.S. market.

A coalition of US solar panel manufacturers asked on Wednesday for retaliatory tariffs on imports of panels from China, the first such case filed in the renewable energy sector.

Germany's solar industry has endured a difficult year and the Federal Network Agency and transmission system operators (TSO) have responded accordingly by leaving the Renewable Energy Law (EEG) levy virtually unchanged at ??.3592 per kWh.