links for 2011-06-27

Soaring silver prices are hampering the solar industry's ability to compete with fossil fuels. Panel makers consume about 11 percent of the world's supply of silver, used to conduct electricity in solar cells…High silver prices may provide a competitive advantage to companies that make thin-film solar products such as First Solar Inc.

Congress is threatening to turn off power to the solar-energy industry, sending companies scrambling to save federal programs that have helped finance the creation of a massive solar plant in Gila Bend and other projects throughout the nation.