Articles related to "Solar power: Harnessing the world's largest energy source"

Germany’s lights were kept on by solar power last winter, after Berlin’s rapid phase out of nuclear power brought the country to within a whisker of complete breakdown, senior energy industry sources say.

Unpredictable cuts to Europe's feed-in tariff schemes for solar energy threaten the recession-hit renewable sector with disaster, the head of the solar industry’s business association has told EurActiv.

French solar power producers will receive a 10% premium on selling green power from April, as long as the electricity is produced using components manufactured in the European Union, France's environment ministry said on Thursday (16 February).

Solar heating systems can provide over half of households' hot water needs, according to the largest ever field trial of the green energy devices, conducted in the UK.

Germany has imported more lignite coal and nuclear energy from its neighbours since the Fukushima disaster pushed it to begin closing its ageing nuclear reactors. But it is still exporting one source of electricity to France: solar power.

Prototype solar-powered military uniforms, skyscrapers built from energy-harvesting glass and waterways covered with floating panels are all being developed as innovators seek to match photovoltaics and industrial demand.

Europe will import its first solar-generated electricity from North Africa within the next five years, European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said in an interview on Sunday.

Solar power could provide up to a quarter of the world's electricity needs by 2050 if countries put in place long-term policies to support early deployment and sustained technology innovation, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Solar panel manufacturers are fighting to be excluded from EU legislation restricting the use of dangerous chemicals in electronic products. But some voices are calling for greater scrutiny of the industry, illustrating a technology war between rival companies.

The Desertec project, which aims to power Europe with solar energy from the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, is to go truly international next month as five new companies from Spain, Italy, France, Morocco and Tunisia join the scheme.

The solar thermal sector has been hit badly by the crisis in the construction sector, which had a direct impact on the heating industry, said Xavier Noyon, secretary-general of the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF).