logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2024
25m 22s

Empire of the sun: a solar power revolut...

The Economist
About this episode

No energy source has ever increased as fast as solar photovoltaics. The technology will transform humanity’s energy consumption–even when the sun doesn’t shine. Many people associate champagne with success but wine collectors often shun it. Now global sales are fizzing (10:51). And many chief executives are early birds, not night owls. Does it really pay to be up with the larks (18:32)?


Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—Subscribe to Economist Podcasts+


For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account. 




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Nov 21
Flee country: Britain seeks to slash migration
<p>Britain’s home secretary Shabana Mahmood proposed a big shift in <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/11/20/will-britain-copy-asylum-policy-from-a-place-with-poor-integration?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discov ... Show More
23m 22s
Nov 20
War graft: scandal engulfs Ukraine
<p>Pentagon officials are meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss a <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/11/19/a-terrible-american-russian-proposal-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_con ... Show More
25m 24s
Nov 19
Crown prince arming: Trump sells jets to MBS
<p>Muhammad bin Salman’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/11/18/saudi-arabia-is-in-no-hurry-to-join-the-abraham-accords?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-n ... Show More
21m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
Empire of the sun: a solar power revolution
No energy source has ever increased as fast as solar photovoltaics. The technology will transform humanity’s energy consumption–even when the sun doesn’t shine. Many people associate champagne with success but wine collectors often shun it. Now global sales are fizzing (10:51). A ... Show More
25m 22s
Oct 2023
Babbage: How to avoid a battery shortage
In the coming decades, electric vehicles will dominate the roads and renewables will provide energy to homes. But for the green transition to be successful, unprecedented amounts of energy storage is needed. Batteries will be used everywhere—from powering electric vehicles, to pr ... Show More
44m 44s
Dec 2023
Audio long read: A new kind of solar cell is coming — is it the future of green energy?
Perovskites are cheap, abundant photovoltaic materials that some have hailed as the future of green energy.Around the world, companies are layering perovskites on top of traditional silicon to develop so-called tandem solar cells that some think could deliver at least 20% more po ... Show More
23m 37s
Jul 2014
What Was He Smoking? How a Solar Pioneer’s Big Dreams Came True
Today, solar’s dominance feels inevitable. But in 1979, when Neville Williams started promoting the industry at the Department of Energy, it felt like a far-off dream. That didn’t stop the early pioneers from thinking big and pushing the government to invest in the early technolo ... Show More
42m 47s
May 2016
The Solar Coaster: Troubles at Yingli Solar and the Flatlining Global PV Market
This year, GTM Research is forecasting that 66 gigawatts of PV capacity will be installed around the world -- a 21 percent increase over last year. But next year, capacity will only expand by 4 percent. In fact, without some of the top markets like India, America and China, the g ... Show More
52m 44s
Oct 2013
TechStuff Shines Light on Solar Panels
<p>How are scientists improving solar panel efficiency? What do moth eyes have to do with solar panels? How long until solar panels are cheap enough for the average homeowner?</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://w ... Show More
47m 9s
Jan 2021
Why Local Solar + Storage Is a Pillar of the Net-Zero Grid
<p>This week, we finally left behind a destructive regime that thwarted environmental policy at every turn. We exchanged it for a government putting climate experts and clean-energy doers in its highest ranks in a way that no prior administration has done before.</p><p>What comes ... Show More
59m 54s
Aug 2023
Beaming 24/7 solar… from space
It’s the highest-intensity solar power you can get. It’s available 24/7. And you can send it anywhere on earth. All you need to do is launch a ten-by-ten kilometer array of solar panels into geosynchronous orbit, capture solar energy, and beam it to earth using a massive antenna ... Show More
47m 52s