Australia missed the boat with Uni of NSW's last breakthrough in...

Australia missed the boat with Uni of NSW's last breakthrough in solar panel technology - probably because the "we know all about business" conservatives don't try to back winners. China gained.

With decent government backing for these latest panels and incentives to electrify Australian households - according to Dr Saul Griffith - people would be saving thousands of dollars annually, even after a substantial initial payment. Having lived off grid since 1993 with solar panels and batteries, the benefits are proven. Now solar panels power my car. The technology today is so much more efficient, approaching theoretical limits. We need to produce these panels in Australia to power our houses and export energy through the big arrays planned for the end of the decade.