Last week was the first full week of 2012. People began sloughing off their New Year and getting back to work. This was definitely the case in solar, which saw significant activity in numerous states and companies both in the U.S. and internationally.

As the second largest market for solar in the U.S., behind California, it’s no surprise a flurry of activity came from New Jersey as the year got underway. Case-in-point, New Jersey’s Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) energy company is making tax-equity investments in solar projects.

Kimco Realty, which owns shopping centers across the nation, recently completed two new commercial solar installations in New Jersey. With the completion of 1.3 new megawatts of arrays on two shopping centers, one in Bridgewater, the other in Edgewater, the company has now installed six solar arrays in the state.

But New Jersey’s not the only northeast state grabbing headlines in solar. In his “State of the State Address,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for quadrupling the amount of solar in the Empire State.

That was followed by news that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the state Public Service Commission announced the first recipients for a total of $30 million that will be awarded to solar project developers and installers. It’s the first announcement of a larger, $150 million project that’s encouraging installers to pursue new projects over the next five years.

Texas also made the news recently, with two of its cities vying for the bigness of lone-star status with new solar announcements. Austin’s Austin Energy announced completion of the largest solar project in Texas to date. It’s a 30-megawatt photovoltaic plant, which Austin Energy will purchase all the power from under a power-purchase agreements with Renewable Energy Systems and MetLife.

But Austin’s star could soon be outshone by CPS Energy’s new agreement with OCI Solar, which could lead to up 400 megawatts of solar projects in its service territory. The utility expanded on a request for proposals last year when it saw how many companies were interested in winning the project. The proposal generated international interest and will likely result in a PV company from Korea creating its first PV manufacturing facility in the U.S.

While CPS Energy is likely to become a big solar player soon, the first PV plants larger than 100 megawatts in the U.S. are likely to come online in 2012. Sempra Generation’s Mesquite Solar 1 in Arizona may be the first to reach the milestone. The company recently turned on the first 42 megawatts of the 150-megawatt project in Arizona.

Meanwhile, U.S. solar companies are gaining international investments. Westinghouse Solar recently attracted a $1 million investment from Australia’s CDB Energy. The investment could be the first step in a relationship that could see the introduction of Westinghouse Solar’s all-in-one approach to AC photovoltaic modules, which incorporate a microinverter, racking, mounting and wiring into modules.

Another company looking to use U.S.-based PV technology is China’s TFG Radiant. That company doubled its investment in Colorado-based thin-film manufacturer Ascent Solar. The company bought out Norsk Hydro Produksjon’s 20 percent stake in the company. TFG Radiant now has a 41 percent stake in Ascent. It also has an agreement under which it will build a manufacturing facility in China using Ascent technology to supply the market in the country.

Trina Solar sees the opportunity to expand its presence in the U.S. market. As such it introduced a trio of new products to the U.S. solar market last week. Its “three-pronged service solution” consists of new, more efficient modules, a new racking system and a design service to help installers evaluate sites, so they can reduce some in-house work and deliver proposals to clients faster.

Image courtesy of NREL.