Did you know the Sun delivers more energy to earth in one hour than the entire human population uses in one whole year?

 

If you did, then you might be surprised to learn that according to scientists Geoffrey Goodman and Dani Bercovich, some of that energy will be directly used by our bodies. That's right, our skin may contain the equivalent of tiny “solar-panels,” which make it possible for us to “ingest” energy, as plants do, directly from the Sun.

 

There is so much more to solar power than we realise, but even taking what we know of it today into consideration, it truly stacks up as the single most abundant source of energy we have available and the cleanest too. Which is something we are going to need, whichever way you look at things. Even if fossil fuels were good for the environment, we are simply running out of hydrocarbons and the clock is ticking so fast that we have no other choice but to find alternative sources of energy. Which is why solar PV is quite literally shining some light onto the matter.

 

Solar PV today is the fastest growing energy technology in the world and in 2014, the global solar industry saw investments of €133 billion. The world is clearly turning towards solar, and in terms of cumulative capacity, guess where is the most developed region? That's right, Europe. From rooftops to fields, every corner of Europe is seemingly being cladded out in solar panels. But what we perceive as solar panels may be about to change.

 

A Swedish company, Ripasso, is now claiming to have designed solar panels which have a 34% solar cell efficiency. To put that into context, that is approximately double the energy conversion rate of current solar panels. The technology is currently being put through its paces in the Kalahari desert, South Africa. Polysolar in Cambridge and Oxford Photovoltaics, both based in the UK, have developed transparent solar cells which have the potential to literally change the face of how we glaze our building of the future. Furthermore, this technology is expected to add only 10% to glass buildings cost, and like traditional solar cells, these costs are expected to go down in time.

 

A team of scientists at the University of Sheffield have discovered a perovskite based spray-on material which can turn anything into a solar cell. Think concrete walls, precast warehouse walls, even cars being full-time solar PV generators. Solar PV technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate: and the latest, cutting edge discoveries are being made right here in Europe.

 

As climate change staff writer at Vox, David Roberts wrote, “Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is eventually going to dominate global energy. The question is not if, but when."

 

At Sustain Europe we believe that at this rate, "when" will come around much sooner than most people might think. In the meanwhile, please stick with us as we chart every step of the meteoric rise of the original and best source of sustainable energy.