panel

Second-quarter U.S. installations of photovoltaic solar panels rose 17 percent from the previous quarter as increases in non-residential and utility-scale projects offset a weakened residential solar market.

Installations were also up 69 percent from the same period the previous year at 314 megawatts, according to a report released today by industry trade group the Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm GTM Research.

Installations are poised to double this year, though SEIA said it revised its outlook for the residential and utility segments while raising its non-residential market forecast.

"We have to step back and remember that we are in some dire economic times, and to see 17 percent quarter-over-quarter growth and 69 percent year-over-year growth is really quite astounding," said Tom Kimbis, vice president for strategy and external affairs at SEIA.

Solar module prices fell 12 percent in the United States during the quarter--bringing the decline for the year to about 30 percent, the report said, adding that without that decline, U.S. installations may have been flat this year.

"We're benefiting from competition. It's driving some companies out of business, but on the other hand it's a real boon for homeowners and small businesses who want to install solar," Kimbis said. … Read more

The laws of supply and demand are actively at work in the solar industry with two direct effects: the death of some solar panel providers and a boost in the number of solar panels installed in the U.S.

Research company Solarbuzz today reported that rapidly falling solar panel prices this year contributed to a sharp increase in planned non-residential solar projects. Two months ago, the pipeline of projects was 17 gigawatts' worth of solar capacity; it now stands at 24 gigawatts.

Commercial-scale solar projects can be solar arrays at businesses or other organizations, such as utilities. Much of the … Read more

A Democratic senator today urged President Barack Obama to use U.S. trade laws to restrict surging imports of solar panels from China in a sign that high U.S. unemployment is increasing trade tensions.

"The American solar industry is facing unparalleled challenges and without the leadership of your administration this industry may disappear leaving behind additional workers without employment," Sen. Ron Wyden said in a letter.

"Letting that happen is unacceptable."

The plea came just days after solar-panel maker Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, becoming the third U.S. solar firm to succumb to pressure from China in recent weeks.

Solyndra said it had been unable to bring down its costs quickly enough to compete with cheaper panels from China despite receiving more than $535 million in U.S. federal loan guarantees.

"Chinese imports of solar panels are surging and are on pace to increase 240 percent this year, compared to 2010," Wyden said. "Furthermore, imports of Chinese solar panels increased 1,593 percent between 2006 and 2010."

The Oregon Democrat said the Obama administration has "ample tools" to restrict the imports, including possible anti-dumping or countervailing duties. … Read more

Desktop audio has never been important to me. I already have a high-end hi-fi in my apartment, so while I occasionally play music on my Audioengine P4 speakers that live on my desktop, I'm not really listening. The music is just there in the background. When I want to listen, I turn on my hi-fi.

That's me, but for some 21st-century audiophiles, the computer is the primary music source at home. That's why Magnepan has designed the all-new Mini-Maggie system. I was the very first reviewer to audition it, and to say I was impressed would be … Read more

Making tablets with a very-high-resolution display in large volumes is posing a challenge for Apple, according to analysts and an Asia-based report.

Two analysts contacted by CNET today said that they don't expect a new version of the iPad, dubbed the iPad 3, until next year because of high-resolution display supply constraints. And a report today from Digitimes made similar claims.

"We have heard that panel makers have had trouble manufacturing panels at efficient yields with the resolutions that Apple is requesting," said Richard Shim, an analyst at DisplaySearch. "There's even been discussion of lowering the resolution to get better yields."

A 9.7-inch tablet display with 2,048x1,536 resolution "has been under development for some time," Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, said in reply to an e-mail query. Alexander said iSuppli has built its projections on a 2012 introduction of an iPad with this kind of very high-resolution display. Apple's iPad 2, announced back in March, has a 9.7-inch display with a resolution of 1,024x768. … Read more

Halftone turns your photographs into captioned comics with a distinctive worn-paper style. Start by snapping a new photo with your iPhone camera or by selecting an image from your photo library. From there, you can use the buttons on the bottom of the interface to select from 27 different paper styles to give your final product that heavily dogeared comic look. You also can add customizable speech balloons and choose from a few different layouts, but we think there should be more layout options--especially multipane formats. For a little more excitement, you can pick from 24 exclamation balloons (Arrrgh! BLAM!) … Read more

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Friday, August 12.

• Bay Area Rapid Transit, a regional transportation system in the San Francisco area, cut wireless service prior to a planned protest at four downtown San Francisco subway stops. Activists were responding to a shooting by a BART police officer, but their protest seems never to have materialized because of the disruption of cell service. "BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer … Read more

Even on the first day the iTunes App Store launched there were photo apps that let you manipulate and edit images on iPhone. The App Store has come a long way since then and, with new iPhones with faster processors and better cameras, the apps have gotten significantly better as well.… Read more

Owners of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet will receive an update starting tomorrow that will deliver the TouchWiz UX interface and a host of other enhancements.

Sent OTA (over the air), the update package will include Samsung's revamped Media Hub service, Samsung Kies 2.0 support for PCs and Macs, and mobile features for the enterprise crowd.

The most notable feature of the update, the customizable TouchWiz interface, runs on top of Android 3.1 Honeycomb. Among its many options is a Live Panel, which offers home screen widgets that show you the latest news, weather, e-mail, … Read more