This Week in Solar

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Hey there, solar Fools. In case you were sleepwalking through the workweek, here's a rundown of notable news items from the solar space.

LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) lit up the scene on Monday with an encouraging update on its wafer business. The company announced that it hit 1 gigawatt of installed capacity and also unveiled some heady 2009 guidance.

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) stitched together a supplemental silicon supply deal with GCL Silicon. I was skeptical when the original agreement was signed back in April, but plenty of companies seem eager to sign on with the young polysilicon provider. Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) also announced a deal with GCL later in the week.

Japan moved closer to reintroducing solar subsidies, as the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry there said it would ask for $1.2 billion to support alternative-energy initiatives in 2009. Of the total, about 18% would go toward subsidizing rooftop panels.

After shelling out several billion dollars on a plant in Singapore, European behemoth REC Group picked Quebec as the site for a new polysilicon plant. The company cited the province's "access to stable electricity supply based on long-term, predictable pricing" as a major selling point. The energy-intensive nature of polysilicon production is probably underreported, and it could prove challenging over in China, where brownouts and energy rationing have become prevalent.

Finally, two domestic startups made pretty big announcements this week. Cell maker Suniva landed a nearly half-billion dollar deal with an Indian module manufacturer. This is an interesting company to watch, especially for SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) fans, since Suniva hews to the same high-efficiency model.

Meanwhile, parity-pusher Nanosolar announced another $300 million in funding from a group including power giant AES (NYSE: AES), the Carlyle Group, and eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) founder Pierre Omidyar. Nanosolar's printing-press approach makes it a highly differentiated solar company, and I view it as a true Baby Breaker.