Five solar breakthroughs that make 2026 the year of the sun

Partnered Content30.01.26by Inside Housing

Sureserve sheds lights on the future of solar power in the wake of the government’s Warm Homes Plan

The past 18 months have been packed with breakthroughs in solar power, indoor solar tech and more (picture: Alamy)

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Sureserve sheds lights on the future of solar power in the wake of the government’s Warm Homes Plan #UKhousing

Considering the recent publication of the government’s Warm Homes Plan, in which solar energy plays a starring role, we’ve decided to shed some light on the future of solar power.

The past 18 months have been packed with breakthroughs in solar power, battery storage, indoor solar tech, photovoltaic (PV) panel design and more – making 2026 a fabulous year for housing associations and local authorities to finally catch some rays.

Here’s our evidence-based round-up of the five best recent solar innovations.

Due to the mineral’s unique crystal framework (ask your physicist friend for details), perovskite absorbs sunlight much better than silicon (today’s go-to material for PV panels). It is highly efficient in low-light settings (a condition where silicon fails), cheap to manufacture and easy to convert into ultra-thin solar layers.

And if you don’t happen to be a light-harvesting tech expert, all you need to know about solar layers is that layering a perovskite panel with a silicon panel gets you a 34% jump in efficiency. Word on the street is that perovskite is the best thing to happen in solar energy since the creation of the sun.

Indoor solar

Indoor solar uses thin, postage stamp-sized cells to absorb power from your ceiling lights, table lamps, fridge lights and even your phone screen. Although there won’t be enough mojo to power your whole house, indoor solar will power just about anything that uses batteries: remote controls, flashlights, smart thermostats, Internet of Things sensors and a thousand other doodads.

For housing associations wondering how indoor solar can help you and your team, imagine never having to change the battery on a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detector again.

Windows and solar thermal glazing

Many of you saw this one coming: normal-looking, everyday windows that act like solar panels. No dark tint, no solar panel look and, of course, you can gaze into and out of them just like every other window in your home.

The incredibly thin layers of magic that make up solar thermal glazing work by capturing certain parts of the solar spectrum. The heat from the light energy is then moved into a storage tank (to heat water) or directly into a heating loop (to warm your indoor spaces). The glazing also makes it harder for heat to escape your home.

For housing associations, solar thermal glazing is beautiful because it doesn’t require roof space, works on flats and high‑rise blocks, pairs wonderfully with heat pumps and will one day, almost certainly, improve a home’s Energy Performance Certificate rating.

AI-driven solar

AI is already being used to optimise solar panel output, predict shading, manage battery charge cycles and reduce inverter losses. Since we are all suffering from major AI fatigue, however, we’ll stop there.

Next-gen solar batteries

In Q3 of 2025, Great Britain saw its biggest quarter ever for new battery capacity, nearly doubling the average of the previous two years. Advances in solid state and lithium-sulphur batteries, as well as other higher-density cells (which allow a solar battery to store more energy in less space), mean that solar batteries will get lighter and smaller, and will last a lot longer. They’ll also be safer.

And, the next time you’re at the pub with your nanotech chums, just mention quantum dot technology and observe their pupils dilate as if a nanoparticle undergoing spontaneous ecstatic polymerisation suddenly produced a new compound that somehow solves the equation of human happiness using nothing but the stuff you forgot about in the back of your kitchen cupboards.

Until next time, enjoy the sun.