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Solar 'could make 100% of electricity by 2028'

All global electricity needs could be met by solar power in 16 years' time, according to futurist Ray Kurzweil.

The author of The Age of Intelligent Machines told Silicon.com that at its current rate of growth solar energy could power the world by 2028.

He said that for the last 20 years, the amount of electricity generated by solar power had been doubling every two years.

"Solar is only eight doublings away from being 100 per cent of the world's energy needs. And it's doubling every two years - so that's 16 years for it meeting 100 per cent of our energy needs," he said.

Nanotechnology will play an important role in making the technology more efficient, enabling the transition, he added.

Scientists at the Future Chips Constellation at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York have devised a way to boost the amount of the sun's energy that solar panels use.

A non-reflective coating made up of seven layers each up to 100 nanometres in height, raises the absorption rate of solar panels from just over two thirds to 96.21 per cent, they claim.

The coating also catches the suns power from different angles, helping the panels capture light even when the sun is not directly overhead.

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