MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of Warren Buffet-controlled Berkshire Hathaway’s Mid-American Energy Holdings Co. is planning to issue $700 million in secured senior notes to support the $2.7 billion Solar Star project, which was formerly known as the Antelope Valley Solar Projects. The bonds, beings issued by Solar Star Funding, LLC, will support construction of the Solar Star projects, which MidAmerican bought from SunPower in January 2013.

An increased focus on quality will drive growth in the materials market that supports solar photovoltaic panel production, according to a report from Lux Research.

Oversupply of solar modules is beginning to balance out and the demand is expected to equal supply by 2015, according to the report. That will drive growth in the PV materials market up 52 percent to become a $27.2 billion market by 2015. Metals, metallization pastes and metallic absorber materials will see the biggest growth, according to the report.

When people think about solar, they often think about harvesting- how to gather the energy.

“But there’s another side of the story that’s sometimes overlooked,” said Hongrui Jiang a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “How do you store it?”

As Latin America is increasingly identified as a growth region for solar energy, companies from the United States and Europe with plans for large utility-scale solar projects are moving into the area. One organization in particular is working with locals to help them develop residential and smaller-scale solar opportunities.

Solar Energy International will launch its first Academia de Profesionales Solares de las Americas this month with a series of online courses and in-person workshops for 50 solar professionals in Central America and Mexico. The program was organized through the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas.