本文摘要：Few would argue that 2011 has been a tumultuous year for the PV industry. The significant increase in news flow...

The 2nd most popular news story on the PV-Tech website comes from another well-known market research firm, IHS iSuppli. In June, market analyst Dr. Henning Wicht projected that module prices would decline to the US$1 per watt mark by the first quarter of 2012.

At the time, such a projection was a shock for the industry as many expected the second quarter to be at the bottom of price declines as market demand picked up and prices stabilized. Demand did eventually pick up, but prices continued to fall throughout the year, as overcapacity issues remained. This story has persisted in its popularity since its mid-year posting – in fact, it turned out to be exactly the kind of story that would set the benchmark for what turned out to be an accurate assessment, just one quarter later than the shocking reality.

A story with which many of you will by now be familiar is the news of the filing for bankruptcy of highly-differentiated CIGS thin-film manufacturer, Solyndra. As sagas go, this one turned political and continues to ramble on to this day. And it’s a surprise to us all that the breaking news of Solyndra’s collapse wasn’t even in the Top 10 rankings. However, a story that followed soon after the Solyndra fiasco regarding a US loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar for its Crescent Dunes CSP project has made it to number 1.

Inadvertently, the timing of the Tonopah Solar announcement and the association with one of Solyndra’s venture backers with personal ties to a political figure in the US meant the story took on a whole new meaning. Our story, written by our US editor Syanne Olson, seems to have been vigorously linked to within multiple stories in the mainstream media as reference material. The Tonopah Solar story was posted in late September and has continued to gain interest ever since. By a wide margin, it was the most popular news story of 2011 – all for the wrong reasons, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Below is a list of the Top 10 stories with links for easy reference. PV-Tech will also be providing a roundup of the highly popular Top 10 products of 2011, and, for the first time, we’re also providing a review of the Top 10 blogs for the year, which includes the Editors’ blogs, the Chip Shots blog and Guest Blogs.

1. Tonopah Solar secures US$737 million loan guarantee from US DOE for its Crescent Dunes CSP project

2. Crystalline silicon cost per-watt to hit US$1 in first quarter of 2012, predicts IHS iSuppli

3. Solarbuzz reveals its Top 10 PV cell manufacturers of 2010

4. Italian government considers leaving solar subsidies unchanged

5. Module prices to continue collapse into 2012, warns Solarbuzz

6. Italy has a new FiT

7. Update: Initial assessments of the Japanese earthquake show little impact on the PV supply chain

8. SunPower introduces world’s most powerful solar module at Intersolar EU 2011 (Video)

9. Sharp develops solar cell with world’s highest conversion efficiency of 36.9%

10.News feature: NREL confirms 41.4%-efficient Solar Junction CPV cell; firm on DOE loan shortlist