You also need to keep in mind that smog and the diesel cloud...

You also need to keep in mind that smog and the diesel cloud that covers most major European cities will inevitably make colour coated steel solar panels dirty. I am sure that dirt on the panels will also impact their performance. But, they can always be cleaned.

I would have thought that there were at least two benefits over silicon. First, coated steel panels could be used to cover more area than silicon. When I looked at silicon solar panels, they could only be fitted to about 20 percent of my roof space and doing that was so expensive it would never make sense. So even if they are 50% less efficient, they are probably suitable for about 3 or 4 times the surface area. Secondly, colour coated panels can be incorporated into the walls of a structure. Just imagine a bunnings warehouse. That whole green monstrosity could be made with solar panels. Silicon could only be placed on the north facing part on the roof. There are lots of massive steel warehouse buildings in Europe (Just imagine all those blue IKEAs)

I note the concern over the could word, but honestly no one is going to commit to this at this stage. Corus needs to see the results and the Board would need to approve a massive investment in the technology. Not to mention committing to a start year. Bob Hawke once said that no child would live in poverty in Australia by 1990. He was the boss and he never delivered. No "Joe Smuck" at Corus is going to commit the company publicly. so dont read too much into the could word.

This is and will remain a speculative investment for some time to come.