Industry leaders have announced that by the end of this century, solar power could become the world's primary source of energy. The move to use solar energy has gotten support from various countries including Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy, the United States of America, and even Greece.

Implementation of this looks to be expensive and subsidies are still needed since solar power is still more expensive than more conventional energy sources such as coal. On the other hand, costs have been dropping by around 5 percent each year and sunny countries could potentially do away with the subsidies in around five years.

While solar power has been gaining acceptance and is growing at 40 percent per year, growth has been limited by its small user base and silicon shortages, which have affected solar panel production. Currently, the sun provides us with 0.3 percent of our electricity, including market leader Germany. Still, many are hopeful that the growth can be maintained and that it won't be long before solar energy use becomes widespread.

General Electric Company's Chief Engineer Jim Lyons summed up the growth of this industry pretty well, "At that point you can expect pretty much unbounded growth. The solar industry will eventually be bigger than wind."