Christoph Steitz for Reuters:  Europe's embattled solar power industry has been dealt a fresh blow, with cut-price competition from China driving Germany's SolarWorld (SWVKk.DE) into insolvency and wiping out quarterly profits at SMA Solar (S92G.DE).

Shares in SolarWorld, which employs around 3,000 people and was once Europe's largest solar panel maker, plunged about 80 percent on Thursday after the group said it would file for insolvency.

"This is a bitter step for SolarWorld, the management board and staff and also for the solar industry in Germany," said Chief Executive Frank Asbeck, known as the "Sun King" in the German solar industry's heyday.

SMA Solar, the world's largest maker of solar inverters which help feed solar power into electricity networks, also reported a 90 percent drop in first-quarter operating profit, citing "high price pressure in all markets and segments".  Full Article: