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A brewing green energy trade war, with mooted U.S. retaliation against Chinese makers of solar panels and wind turbine parts, is high on rhetoric but distracts from a bigger technology race.

Chinese solar companies climbed, driving an index of the nation’s stocks traded in New York to gain the most in a month, as Renewable Energy Corp. ASA said demand for the technology is shifting to Asia and the U.S.

China dramatically increased its renewable energy production capacity in 2011, tripling output in solar power alone, but environmentalists warn an unwavering reliance on coal to fulfill 70 percent of its energy needs is offsetting the benefits of this new clean development, according to The Guardian.

Panasonic Corp. said Friday it will spend Y45 billion to build a new solar cell factory in Malaysia.

China’s Trina Solar, one of the world’s leading makers of photovoltaic products, will boost its production capacity 26.3% to 2.4 gigawatts annually by the middle of 2012.

Housing manufacturers are expanding products and services for next-generation energy-saving housing.

Finding the right North American partner is the key to success for East Asian solar companies on this side of the Pacific. A strong business matchup leads to the best utilization of the Chinese or Japanese company’s renewable energy technologies, engineering and operational expertise. An American or Canadian solar company also helps the Asian partner …

On Tuesday 22 Nov 11, Hawaii’s state government signed a memorandum of understanding for a $37 million smart grid project with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). NEDO, which is part of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), will develop and install smart utility system controls on the island of …

New Solar Projects in the United States Southeast People often overlook the American Southeast when they think of North American solar energy. Over the last week, however, there have been a couple of examples of an increasingly robust solar market in the region. Duke Energy announced it has acquired three 1 MW solar farms near …

California Achieves 1 GW of Solar Energy Installed More than one gigawatt (GW) of rooftop solar photovoltaic capacity has been installed in California, according to a recent report from the Environment California Research & Policy Center. Fueled by falling solar prices, California’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative is on track to achieve its goal of three …