Losing hope of rescue, some European solar firms head to US

European governments due to move to support their solar power manufacturers this week will be too late to stop solar panel maker Meyer Burger packing up a German factory to send production to the United States. The plant in Freiberg in eastern Germany closed in mid-March with the loss of 500 jobs, as the Swiss-listed firm joined a growing list of European renewable energy manufacturing factories shutting down or moving. Talks with the German federal government to try to secure a future for the factory ended without success in late March, a company spokesperson told Reuters.