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A man installing a solar panel system in Morocco
Image: Ute Grabowsky/photothek/picture allianceImage: Ute Grabowsky/photothek/picture alliance

Solar power

The sun provides free energy for the taking in the form of photovoltaic or concentrated solar power. It's a big business that can help save our climate. But to what extent is this being used?

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All Content on this topic

The sun dims for Germany's solar subsidies

Last year Germany installed a whopping 7.5 gigawatts of new solar panels. For a country with a third of the sunlight of Spain, the solar industry is booming. Or perhaps bubbling, say its critics. Amid a raft of bankruptcies due to competition and reductions to incentives, is the sun rising or setting on Germany's solar experiment?
ScienceApril 5, 201207:15 min

Coating promises to improve solar panels

Latvia might not spring to mind as a hub for solar technology, but the small Baltic nation may have come up with a technology that could boost solar panel's efficiency considerably.
ScienceApril 5, 201204:06 min
transformer station in front of q-cells headquarters

State mulls Q-Cells rescue

Now that solar firm Q-Cells has filed for bankruptcy, the government of Saxony-Anhalt is considering financial aid for the company. The aim is to rescue 2,200 jobs in the eastern German state.
April 3, 2012
solar eclipse

Solar firm Q-Cells burns out

Once the world's largest solar-cell maker, Q-Cells has announced its filing for bankruptcy - the fourth major German producer to do so.
April 2, 2012

Latvian solar panel improves energy efficiency

A new nano-coating allows the photovoltaic panel to absorb slightly more UV radiation than ever before.
ScienceMarch 26, 201205:21 min

Brighter business prospects?

German photovoltaic panel-maker Solarworld has reported big losses for 2011. The company remains on shaky ground as it struggles with global overcapacities in the sector and cheaper products from Asian competitors.
March 22, 2012
solar eclipse

Sunset for Solarhybrid

Solar project developer Solarhybrid has filed for bankruptcy protection, reportedly as a result of failed funding for its solar power generation projects. The firm's CEO is being investigated for insider stock trading.
March 21, 2012

Unfair Chinese subsidies?

German solar panel producers have welcomed a decision by the US Department of Commerce to collect duties on Chinese solar products. The move came in response to allegedly unfair Chinese subsidies.
March 21, 2012
solar panels

Greek solar power for Germany

Greece wants to export solar power to Germany and the prospects are good.
March 20, 2012
Rolf Disch's solar village in Freiburg

Germany's energy transition

Fukushima spells the end of Germany's nuclear era
March 9, 2012
This handout image provided by NASA shows a solar flare heading toward Earth

Solar storm heads toward Earth

A solar storm on its way toward Earth could disrupt satellites, airplane flights and power grids, weather experts have said.
March 7, 2012
solar panels

German solar industry shakeout

As Germany's solar gold rush ends, problems mount for two more of its solar firms.
March 6, 2012

Solar Researcher Nagaraju Krishnappa

Nagaraju Krishnappa (34) works at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau. His specialty is the Sun's magnetic field. Two years ago, the solar physicist and his family moved to Germany from India. In this report, he shares some of his first impressions.
ScienceMarch 5, 201202:58 min
Solar panels and wind turbines

Overloaded grid

Deutsche Bank finds companies are unprepared for Germany's massive investment in clean energy.
February 29, 2012
Elad Orian und Noam Dotan erect the foundations of a wind turbine

Under threat

Israel is threatening to destroy solar and wind power systems, says co-founder Elad Orian.
February 29, 2012
solar panels

Berlin cuts solar subsidies

German solar firms face test of 'real economics' as government slashes mountain of subsidies.
February 26, 2012
A hut with a tiny solar system on its roof

Green loans

Micro-credit can lift people out of poverty in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.
January 24, 2012
Screenshots Futurando, Brasilianische Redaktion, edition 13. Solarlampe Datum:26.11.2012

Lighting up the Philippines

On Mindoro Island, solar lamps light up the night and create new business for the locals.
January 24, 2012
Trees lining emerald green waters

Eco-Tourism in Thailand

In Thailand new holiday resorts and tourism projects are designed with sustainability in mind.
January 20, 2012

Solar picture gallery multiclick

January 17, 2012
A flexible solar panel held against the light

Bright prospects

Some of the most innovative solar technology concepts are ready to hit the market.
January 17, 2012

Solar-powered irrigation

Farmers in Nicaragua are opting for solar-powered water pumps. It's an investment that's paying off.
January 17, 2012

Consequences of Climate Change: Solar Pumps for Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, rainfall has declined. During periods of little rainfall, farmers have to rely on well water and expensive irrigation pumps. Solar energy could be a solution.
BusinessJanuary 17, 201206:55 min

From Anti-Nuclear Activists to Solar Pioneers: Wagner & Co Solartechnik

In 1979 a group of anti-nuclear activists set up a company for solar technology. Solartechnikfirma Wagner & Co now has a 350-strong workforce, and is still run on the principle of self-management. Every two years the managers are elected by the staff.
BusinessJanuary 11, 201204:32 min
solar power grid

Burned out

The solar industry struggles as prices fall and subsidies dry up. Insolvencies are commonplace.
December 22, 2011

Our guest this week is: Prof. Wolfgang Heckl

Professor Wolfgang Heckl, Director General of the Deutsches Museum and member of the German Future Prize jury.
ScienceDecember 19, 201103:33 min
Mining shaft in South Africa

Appetite for coal

South Africa's investment in renewable energies pales next to its plans for coal.
December 9, 2011
Alternative Nobel laureates: (from left to right) Huang Ming, Ina May Gaskin, Jacqueline Moudeina, Renée Velvé, Henk Hobbelink

Solar King

The Chinese 'Solar King' receives the Honorary Right Livelihood Award in Stockholm.
December 6, 2011

How to Treat Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer - Prof. Eggert Stockfleth tells us how

LifestyleNovember 17, 201103:50 min

Preventing and Treating Malignant Melanoma - Prof. Eggert Stockfleth is our studio guest

LifestyleNovember 17, 201103:50 min

Desertec - Power for Europe from Africa

From vision to reality - by 2050 Europe is scheduled to get around 15 percent of its power supply from the Sahara and other desert regions. Aglaia Wieland is head strategist at the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii), and Paul von Son chief executive. They are two of the key minds behind the implementation of the Desertec international energy project.
BusinessNovember 9, 201104:53 min
A wind turbine in Germany

Power to gas

Scientists in Germany have been able to convert wind and solar power into easily storable methane.
November 7, 2011

Thin and inexpensive: Organic Solar Cells

Scientists say solar cells made of transparent synthetics could provide energy in the future. You can see through them and they are flexible. Scientists in Dresden are working on what they call "organic solar cells" that they want to eventually market.
ScienceOctober 24, 201104:37 min
Heating with wooden pellets

Smart energy in Germany

A small town in southern Germany runs fully on green energy, setting an example for the country.
October 18, 2011

Climate in Germany

Ein Dorf in Süddeutschland erzeugt mit Sonne, Wind und Wasserkraft dreimal mehr Energie als es verbraucht – und zeigt dem Rest des Landes, wie klimaneutrale Energieversorgung in der Zukunft aussehen könnte.
BusinessOctober 18, 201104:35 min
Earth from space

Solar dimming

A new study says solar fluctuations can trigger freezing winters in the Northern Hemisphere.
October 10, 2011
solar flares

Final frontier

The European Space Agency has approved two new space missions to launch by the end of the decade.
October 6, 2011
Solar cells

Buying sunshine

Merkel wants to invest in Greek solar power and then import it, but critics say it's not that easy.
October 5, 2011
A technician inspects solar modules at a factory

Solar industry

Companies in Germany's solar energy sector are doing it tough. Top managers blame China.
September 29, 2011
A worker shows the solar energy panels on the rooftop of the first solar energy school of China in Qingdao

Polluted waters

Authorities shut down a solar plant after locals stage protests against pollution.
September 19, 2011
Aerial view of mountain tops

Alpine eco-tourism

As global warming changes the face of alpine regions, Swiss tourism is adapting to new realities.
August 23, 2011
SunTech adverstisement on Hoffenheim jerseys

Sunny soccer

Chinese companies are leading the way in a solar power marketing boom in the German Bundesliga.
August 6, 2011
Ein Besucher fotografiert Module im Solarpark Lieberose bei Cottbus, Brandenburg, am Donnerstag, 20. Aug. 2009. Auf einem ehemaligen Truppenuebungsplatz werden Solar-Module montiert, die pro Jahr rund 53 Millionen Kilowattstunden Strom liefern sollen. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz) ---- A visitor takes photographs of solar moduls in the new solar power park in Lieberose, near Cottbus, eastern Germany, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. The solar modules were installed on a former military training area. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)

Harnessing the sun's energy

July 19, 2011
Solar panels in the sun

Sunny prospects

German renewable energy companies hitch their wagon to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Africa visit.
July 13, 2011

Climate Protection: Eco-Loans in Serbia

Danijel Visevic, serbien, energieeffizienz, energie, Unternehmen, Kredite, kfw, klima, klimaschutz, ideasforacoolerworld
BusinessJuly 5, 201105:55 min

Greek Sun - an Export Hit?

Can exporting solar power help save Greece? Why not? The Mediterranean country gets twice as much sunshine as Germany does. But so far the country has overslept the move to green power.
BusinessJune 29, 201104:57 min
solar panels

Cooling with heat

It is now possible to keep cool using the hot rays of the sun. But it's got a hefty price tag.
June 9, 2011
Die Insel Fogo hat zwar fruchtbare Erde, aber nur wenig Wasser, Kapverden

Solar power in Cape Verde

As the first in West Africa the government in Cape Verde passes a renewable energy law.
June 7, 2011
An oil tanker

Cheap and convenient

Cheaper than fossil fuels, renewable energy is especially useful in developing nations.
June 7, 2011
nuclear power plant

Chance for China

Chinese renewable energy companies look to cash in on Germany's nuclear shutdown.
June 6, 2011