Scientists have developed a brand new, clear coating that can be applied to any standard window to turn it into an effective solar panel – while still keeping the window largely transparent.

It's the work of a team from Nanjing University in China, and the researchers have already developed a small working prototype. Scale that up across all the available windows in the world, and we could be talking about terawatts of green energy .

Technically known as a "colorless and unidirectional diffractive-type solar concentrator" (CUSC), the coating directs some sunlight photons to the sides of the window panel where mounted photovoltaic cells convert them to electricity , while other light passes through.

"The CUSC design is a step forward in integrating solar technology into the built e

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