A petition has been filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission in a bid to stop ratepayer money being used to fund campaigns against renewables and the climate.

A survey reveals greenwashing among major U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, which have been accused of using disproportionately high ratios of renewable versus fossil fuel images and language, while at the same time helping to block renewable energy policies. pv magazine speaks to the lead researcher.

Canada-based Silfab Solar has invested US$40 million in U.S. solar PV module manufacturer, Itek Energy, LLC’s Bellingham, Washington production facility.

China has officially filed two complaints with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the United States, in response to its 30% Section 201 and 25% Section 301 tariffs.

While total corporate funding was down in H1 2018, compared to a year earlier, due to lower investment in the Smart Gird and Efficiency categories, battery storage companies recorded an increase of 12%.

The Chinese ingot, wafer cell and module giant has signed a significant sales contract for the shipment of solar PV modules to an unidentified customer in the United States.

While overall global investment in clean energy saw a decrease of just 1% year-over-year in the first half of 2018, solar’s share dropped 19% following changes to China’s PV policy and lower project costs, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance. It forecasts this trend to continue throughout the year.

The Norwegian polysilicon maker has announced that it will today lay off around 100 employees from its Washington plant and reduce production, as a “direct result” of the trade dispute between the United States and China.

The analytics firm is the latest to predict a decline in global PV demand this year and crushed global module prices due to Chinese policy changes. TrendForce also finds that the protectionist moves taken by the U.S. will be weakened by falling module prices.

Wacker Chemie has said it is gradually ramping up production at its beleaguered U.S. polysilicon production site, with product expected to be again available in Q2. The shutdown has affected its Q1 earnings, with sales down 18% compared to a year ago.