Renewable energy technology continues to expand rapidly – researchers and scientists are constantly coming up with new and innovative ways to generate clean energy and better the environment…including the latest idea from researchers at University of Notre Dame in the USA.

They have made a huge advance in solar technology by creating solar paint. It’s a special paint that employs semiconducting nanoparticles to generate energy from the sun. Just imagine – the paint on the outside of your house could generate power from light! And the best part is, the researchers say the paint can be produced cheaply and in large quantities. Now the team is just working on how to perfect and stabilize the paint. You can read more about the science behind the solar paint in the scientific journal ACS Nano.

No, no. Not what you might think. With a summer just as miserably rainy as the ones before and a winter mild but overcast as ever, Germany probably has not clocked more hours of sun shine than usual last year.

But price hikes in fossil fuels and plummeting costs for solar energy systems have lead Germans to opt for solar energy big time in 2011. 18 billion kilowatt-hours to be precise. That’s a staggering 60 percent more in solar electricity output than the previous year, the German Solar Industry Association announced. In 2011 Germans slapped a record number of solar panels onto rooftops and walls of their homes, public buildings and industry installations. By November the one Millionth photo-voltaic system was connected to the grid.

What’s more, even from the economics point of view nuclear power is beginning to look decidedly unsexy compared to solar power – something that die-hard supporters of nuclear hadn’t deemed possible in the foreseeable future. And that’s not just because better economies of scale and new technology are lowering the price tag on solar. Not least due to Fukushima new nuclear power plants have simply become uninsurable.

Greece has been struggling to get out from under its heavy debt crisis for more than a year now, and the government is looking for any opportunity to slash debt and increase revenues. Their new plan? Solar power. The government wants Greece to become Europe’s leading solar power producer.

Renewable energy could be one field where Greece could have a big advantage, especially with the generous amounts of sun the country gets. The government’s new plan, called “Project Helios,” would see Greece’s solar power production multiply from 206 megawatts in 2010 to 2.2 gigawatts by 2020. Right now, Germany is Europe’s leader in photovoltaics, but Greece’s energy minister says his country actually gets 50% more sun. And he also said that if the plan is successful, Greece could help the rest of Europe meet its renewable energy targets by 2020.

So clean energy might be a way to fight debt crises across Europe and elsewhere…

For his shoot on location at Monte Rosa Hut in the Swiss Alps our reporter Sascha Quaiser took a short cut and ascended to the mountain shelter via helicopter. Here are a couple of scenes from his approach to the shelter, showing glaciers and stunning panoramic views of the mountainscape including the Matterhorn – one of the highest peaks in the Alps.

To watch his report and read more about the Monte Rosa sustainable mountain shelter, click here.

The Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is world-renowned for creating futuristic, cutting-edge and popular designs, like the Tate Modern gallery in London. Now the company is working on what might be one of its most innovative projects yet: a new, eco-friendly football stadium.

The building will be constructed in Bordeaux, France, and serve as the new home for the Bordeaux Girondins team. And most importantly, it will be powered by solar energy! Using a photovoltaic pump, clean power will be distributed throughout the stadium and the surrounding area. Construction is expected to be done by 2016, just in time for UEFA European Football Championship play. And that’s a good thing, too, because the stadium can hold more than 40,000 fans!

What do you all think? Is this the future of football stadiums in Europe and beyond?