Roof tiles on the Paul VI auditorium are being replaced by 2,700 solar panels in move that will save over 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted every 2 weeks.

With a reported installation cost of £1.5 million the Pope is certainly lucky they’ve been donated by Bonn-based company, Solar World at no cost.

Surplus power will be fed back into the grid earning the Vatican a good chunk of revenue when it’s not being used to cool or heat the 6,000 seater hall.

See video footage of the installation here.

Thanks to the BBC for this story.

Nothing is more frustrating to honest solar retailers than the relentless flow of cheap solar lights available on petrol station forecourts and other retail outlets. We often take calls from customers who are keen to try something new, like a solar security light for example, but are having trouble recovering from their last solar light purchase which barley manages a whimper come dusk.

Some point the finger at China but this is often unfair as China simply manufactures to our demand. You can get great products from China and you can also get rubbish much like anywhere else.  More worryingly, others point the finger at solar itself as their ‘throw-away’ solar garden light flickers out its final flutter. This can do damage to the solar industry as a whole and also the wider environmental cause. Would you consider solar panels for your house if your only previous experience of solar was a garden light not fit for purpose?

The truth is that both solar and the Far East are capable of generating fantastic products and these products are readily available in our shop as well as many others and they needn’t cost the earth. It is our hope that as time moves on the questions will be about the difference between good solar products and bad solar products rather than the integrity of solar itself.