A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) staes that solar photovoltaics (PV) has the potential to provide up to one third of the world's electricity supply by 2050.
Solar energy is utilised in three main ways:

• Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert the sun's energy directly into electricity using solar panels. 
• Solar thermal is typically used in the residential sector to collect the sun's heat in containers filled with fluid or air to heat domestic water and houses, as well as to provide cooling.
• Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a means of producing either solar-thermal or photovoltaic electricity on a large scale. CSP usually uses giant mirrors to collect sunlight from a large area.