It was another scorcher last week as the northern hemisphere sweated through a hot summer. The news was mixed for the world of solar energy, with companies increasing their focus on India, while more incentive programs in the U.S. struggled to provide enough of an incentive to keep local markets, like Los Angeles, strong. And we saw poor second quarter results from solar manufacturer First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR).

On the other hand, more good uses for solar are popping up, like using solar to produce power on a site housing uranium tailings. The most recent such project, a proposed community solar garden near Durango, Colo., will be discussed by the Department of Energy (DOE) at the local cooperative utility’s, La Plata Electric Association, quarterly meeting being held this Thursday. Customer-members of the utility could buy into the garden, which would be built in Ridges Basin (Bodo Canyon). The DOE determined that the project is feasible without disturbing the uranium tailings containment vessel.

First Solar’s net income for the second quarter of 2011 was $61.1 million (71 cents per share). That’s down more than half the $159.0 million ($1.87 per share) the company reported for the second quarter of 2010. The drop in income was attributed to instability in the European market, particularly in Italy, Germany and France, where incentive programs were at risk.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power approved a new incentive program last week—it suspended its program earlier this year as demand screamed past the available funds.

But under the new scheme, which includes doubling the amount of money available for residential installations, California solar installers worry that the incentives won’t be rich enough to help people save on solar. They contended that the new plan is cutting incentives by up to 40 percent.

Last week saw two announcements that will increase the amount of solar in India. First, Amonix, Inc. and Thermax Ltd. partnered to bring Amonix’s concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology to the market. Amonix said it is the first CPV manufacturer to bring its technology to India.

Canadian Solar is also entering India with a shipment of 33 megawatts of its modules. The modules will be shipped to Cirus Solar in the third quarter of 2011, Canadian Solar said.

The biggest U.S. solar markets are California and New Jersey. As such, you might expect one of those states to produce more modules than the rest of the states. Not so. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) recognized Oregon as the top U.S. state producing solar. Companies including Sanyo Solar of Oregon and SolarWorld have made Oregon their U.S. manufacturing homes, giving the Beaver State top honors in solar manufacturing. Manufacturers said that low-cost land and enterprise zones make the state attractive for manufacturing.

Apparently Google, Inc. just can’t get enough sun. Last week, EnFocus Engineering announced that Google will pilot its unique Diamond Power Daylighter CPV skylights at offices in Silicon Valley. The device includes a dual-axis lens tracking system that focuses sunlight on high-efficiency photovoltaics cells. The device also allows excess light to flow through, providing natural daylight in an office or other setting.

Image courtesy of NREL.