Photovoltaics World will host a free webcast with Bryan Bond, business development manager, Konica Minolta Sensing, February 9, 2011, at 2PM EST. Bond will discuss the classification and need of measuring a solar simulator.

Built on the modular patented Probe System for Life (PS4L) platform, the system allows users to configure their test instruments to best suit their experiments. The video microscope slides into position for probe placement and out of the way to bring in an overhead solar simulator.

The Solar Engineering & Manufacturing Association (SEMA) will hold a March meeting in CA to address the impact of China’s manufacturing model on the global solar manufacturing industry. The technical assessment of China's photovoltaic (PV) industry will offer comparative data on capital cost models, technology, manufacturing efficiency and quality practices.

Debating the cost of switching to renewable energy is a hidden trap, says Navigant Consulting's Paula Mints. Instead, we need to focus on what future incentive programs must address: distributed generation, technology investments, controllable demand, and long-term viability.

Ferro Corporation's (NYSE: FOE) Electronic Materials business is expanding production capacity for electronic-grade silver powder and silver flake at its South Plainfield, NJ, facility. The expansion is resulting from installation of additional production lines and new process automation at the plant.

DyeTec Solar Inc., a joint venture involving Dyesol Inc. (DYE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dyesol Ltd., will receive a US$1 million Ohio Third Frontier Commission grant to develop technology for mass manufacture of glass-based building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), building-applied PV (BAPV) and automotive-integrated PV (AIPV) products.

A PV World reader responds to Paula Mints' column about a solar 12-step program to wean from incentives, with some suggestions of his own.