(German solar tariff article updated to reflect changes in solar stocks entering the week.)

BERLIN, Germany (

TheStreet

) -- Germany may push back the implementation of its earliest planned solar feed-in tariff cuts by one month, to May,

Reuters

reported on Friday afternoon.

While the one-month delay in the implementation of 15% tariff reductions in Germany would provide solar companies with more time in the first half of the year to install projects at the more favorable feed-in tariff rates, the concession from Germany comes with a new catch.

Reuters

reported that when Germany next makes feed-in tariff reductions in 2011, they may be steeper than planned. Germany had already planned for a 2.5% reduction in feed-in tariffs in 2011 if 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity are added. Now the Germany government is saying it will up those 2011 cuts by a percentage point to 3.5%.

There was no official word from the German government on Friday, and the

Reuters

sourcing was anonymous government officials.

However, it would not be entirely surprising if Germany did push back the introduction of the feed-in tariff cuts by one month, as there has been considerable resistance from important coalition party members in the German parliament.

The solar industry had originally wanted the cuts to be implemented in July, so it would be able to front-load its earnings in the first half of 2010. Germany's planned April deadline for solar projects would force solar companies to pack installations into the first quarter, which is sometimes impossible due to winter weather, and that is being seen as a worst-case scenario for solar companies.

A one-month delay, therefore, could provide a little more breathing room for solar, while also allowing German environment minister Norbert Roettgen to play his political cards. Roettgen has recently been quoted as saying that delays in the implementation of the feed-in tariff reductions can be measured in the higher electricity costs being passed along to consumers as a result of every installed solar project at the lucrative tariff levels.

The anonymous message from Germany seemed to be: a one-month delay, maybe. Three months and back to the original July deadline? Not likely. The

Reuters

report indicated that the environment minister is still scurrying for support among parliamentary parties, so resolution to the German Solar Saga may still be a few weeks off.

Nonetheless, the latest anonymous venting to

Reuters

by German politicians playing the solar companies like pawns amidst a larger board of German consumers, German corporations, and at-odds parliamentary factions, did little to help the shares of solar companies on Friday.

Almost all the Chinese solar players were down on Friday, led by a 5% drop at

ReneSola

(SOL) - Get Report

and a 4% drop from

JA Solar

(JASO)

.

For the week ended Friday, JA Solar lost another 42 cents, closing at $4.30 after having opened on Monday at $4.72.

ReneSola was down 35 cents from its Monday opening price of $4.75, to a Friday close of $4.40, but had regained 20 cents, or 4.6%, during pre-market trading Monday morning.

Yingli Green Energy closed on Friday at $12.52, 49 cents below its Monday opening price of $13.01.

Canadian Solar

(CSIQ) - Get Report

ended the week with a drop of 90 cents -- after having opened on Monday at $22.03, Canadian Solar closed Friday at $21.13, but regained 1.5%, or 32 cents, by pre-market trading Monday morning.

SunPower

( SPWRA) also lost 90 cents of its share price over the course of the week, to a closing price of $20.41 on Friday.

Trina Solar, on the other hand, was able to make a small gain over the course of the full week, closing on Friday at $21.93, versus a Monday opening price of $21.50. Shares of Trina were essentially flat in pre-market trading Monday. The same was true of

Suntech Power

(STP)

eeking out a 19 cent gain over the week to a closing price of $13.51 on Friday.

-- Reported by Eric Rosenbaum in New York.

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