solar power is the earth's most abundant energy source. and, today, that goes far beyond simply plonking panels on rooftops. we keep seeing scientists develop new ways to make the technology more flexible, more powerful, and more useful. this factory in stockholm is making ultra—thin solar cells that don't even need sunlight to harvest energy. the idea is that they can be used outside or inside your home to power products. i will be showing you later on what that means for various devices but, first, here's dan who's been looking at how solar could help the energy price crisis. although most of us like the idea of clean energy, so far, we've not been persuaded. maybe it's because we don't own our own roof or it's the upfront costs. maybe we're thinking of moving and we can't take solar panels with us, orjust those are glaring, large slabs isn't quite the look we're after. so i've been to the homes of two british start—ups who want you to look again. this is the solivus arc. its curves are wrapped in an organic solar film, which doesn't contain any toxic substances or rare earth materials that could require mining. and so, it has a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional panels. and that's not all. the arc is designed to capture sunlight throughout more of the day, and that's partly because it's got five surfaces on which to harvest energy. and this curved design means that it usually has a sweet spot, which is very useful at the start and the end of the day in particular. i think it looks quite futuristic, and if solar sculptures like this were to catch on, i could see this being seen as a sort of a carbon—neutral status symbol, something for the neighbours perhaps to gawk at. i don't like the look of conventional solar panels. ijust don't like them. so i thought well, i want to get the home energy—independent but how can i do it with avoiding solar panels? so started looking into new solar technology that was out there. this is solivus�* testing yard in kent where they've been adapting the shape of the sculpture to maximise efficiency. the multilayered solar film used is provided by german firm heliotech. these solar panels are made up of three distinct layers the high—energy light. the middle layer will capture the sort of visible light and then the bottom layer captures more of the infrared, more of the heat. so maximum efficiency for conventional solar panel is about 33% whereas for this technology they can layer it with, in theory, as many layers as they want to choose different parts of the spectrum and capture overall more light coming in. despite this sunny outlook, today this solar film is only 8% efficient. with a10% version expected later this year. last year that may have been a problem, high initial costs have dogged solar as a cost—effective option. until the maths changed. driven by supply issues and fresh demand from a world recovering from a global pandemic, energy prices are surging. more than 50% in a matter of minutes. and that was before many western nations imposed sanctions on russia's gas and oilfollowing its invasion of ukraine. with the uk's energy price cap lifting next week, many household bills are about to soar. from around 18p per kilowatt hour last year, the variable rate of electricity is expected to jump to more than 26p by the autumn, and at least 32p if you want to fix your prices for a year or more, depending on where you live in the uk. at £3,500, the arc isn't cheap. but it is guaranteed for 20 years. its film panels which are upgradable are expected to produce an average of 1,000 kilowatt hours per year by the end of 2022. when it becomes 1,000 kilowatt—hours a year, in the uk you are looking at about 21p per kilowatt hour. that amount of energy will be locked in at that 2ip for 20 years and after that, it's free, obviously. let's be clear, one of these isn't enough to power the home. even one that uses gas or oil for heating. in theory, you would need at least one for every bedroom you have. and if you don't have an expensive battery to store any surplus energy as it's captured, you end up feeding it back to the grid for a fraction of the market price. one alternative is you can plug the arc directly into your electric car if you have one. i found another solo entrepreneur in london's notting hill. this prototype features a unique cost—effective way to attach solar film to regular blinds so owners of flats and garages can take advantage, too. because, to date, solar power has been for the rich, and it has not been, there has not been a system or product in place where it can go on any building. my company's aim is all around the democratisation of solar, so any window can now become a solar panel. david has applied for a patent for his creation and will take it first to spain where these types of blinds are more common. installations begin later this year. and he is also in talks with a london authority, which wants to fit them to council flats. so for this size of window, it would generate around 10—15% of your energy needs, and this is a 3—bedroom house. so, between a hot summer or a cool winter, the amount of energy you could generate would be probably about 10, 15% less during winter compared to summer. so not much difference? not that much, no. and with this new solar film, it generates energy in cloudier climates compared to silicon panels. another good thing about solar film is that it's scalable. some places have more roof space than of course. so, for reasons of cost savings, as well as the environment, this rugby stadium has decided now is the time to cover its stands in a new, lightweight solar film. there is an estimated 2.5 billion square metres of south facing commercial roof space in the uk. and a lot of it wouldn't have enough strength to support weighty, traditional solar panels. so the panels, we will pay 15p per kilowatt hour. that is half or less than half of what the current cost of electricity is, so that is a significant saving for us. if you've got a big roof or big area of land, i don't know why you wouldn't consider this as a viable option. i mean, you know, it uses an asset you cannot really use for any other purpose. it saves you money, and it's good for the planet. increasingly, these new types of flexible solar panels are making solar more accessible for people. the don't replace traditional panels, which will be idealfor some. and there are other options like solar tiles out there, too. but solarfilm is now getting more efficient and, importantly, cheaper. just as grid prices are going through the roof. so, both practically and financially now, solar could be coming home. here is a way that you can make your gadgets greener by using sustainable energy, something this solar cell factory in sweden is taking to the next level. this machine is printing custom nano—ink onto solar panels, and they don't even need the sun to charge. we have developed our own nano inks, and in this machine we will print that ink on the proprietary substrate. how is the end result and the usage of it different to other solar cells? it actually harvests all kinds of light. it's sort of like artificial photosynthesis so we work under any light conditions, led, normal light bulbs, even in the shade. any kind of light. you are sort of using electricity but i guess it's electricity that's being used anyway? we are recycling light. the extra efficiency means that the silver strips that usually run through solar panels are no longer needed, freeing up new design ideas. these cells have been shaped to fit a headphone band and this robot is responsible for squirting electrolytes on them to allow conduction. it looks like it's going to drip bits in between. but it's actually doing very precisely? it's more efficient and predictable and for sure doesn't make any mistakes. the final step is lamination to give the cells custom textures. and into the press it goes. and here's the finished product. giovanni, tell me about the prototypes you've got here? what you see here is a fully self powered, sustainable powered headphone. it has a leather structure to it. and it will actually absorb any kind of light and convert that light into electric energy and charge the battery. if you go to the gym, whatever you do, they will always charge during the day. but the luxury of not needing conventional charging will add a chunky $50 to devices, several of which have already been created. a smart helmet can sense when it is being worn in the dark and light up automatically. here are the charging panels. one, two, three. it's actually one cell underneath. they really blend in. and this bag doubles up as a power bank. this is a pretty big surface and you can place this in the sun so it will charge a lot. charging from ambient light does have its limitations, though. how about a laptop, how far away are you from being able to create that sort of power in the bag? the laptop you know is super power hungry. and a phone as well, you just are not going to get enough power? laptops and phones, you need much stronger light, or you need a larger surface. but who is going to walk around with this? it's not going to happen. so it's all about finding the balance. what is the available surface on the product, how do you normally use the product in your daily life. it can sell your phone how much it charges and how much it drain. you can track how you are doing. as ever you can keep up with the team on social media. find us on youtube, instagram, facebook and twitter at @bbcclick. thanks for watching, goodbye. hello there. we've seen plenty of cloud over the past few days. wednesday brings the promise of brighter skies. but with more in the way of sunshine, we could trigger some heavy downpours with the odd rumble of thunder and some lightning mixed in as well. here's the set—up as we move into wednesday, then. we've got these weather fronts bringing and patchy outbreaks of rain pushing eastwards, so it does mean that we start the day on a generally cloudy note. there could be a bit of mist and murk and some patchy outbreaks of rain. that is all shifting its way eastwards, so it will brighten up from the west as we go through the day. sunny spells coming through with more in the way of sunshine, could trigger those heavy thundery downpours. parts of eastern scotland, north—east england, and the midlands through to southern and central england seeing those heavy, thundery downpours. of course, not everyone catching one, but if you do see one, it could be heavy. and with more in the way of sunshine, it's going to be warmer highs, around 17 celsius in the south and east. as we move overnight, we'll see those showers fading away. we'll see plenty of clear spells, but turning cloudier across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. the temperatures not falling too far at all, staying in the single figures. as we move into thursday, here's how the pressure chart looks. high pressure tending to dominate across england and wales. here, we see a good deal of dry and fine weather. we have those weather fronts just topping across the top in the north—west, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. we do drag in this milder air from the south—west, so thursday is looking like a warmer day. a good deal of sunshine across england and wales. cloudier skies, though, across the north and west with some patchy outbreaks of rain. so, for the north, we are looking at highs of around 13—16 celsius, 16—21, perhaps 22 celsius in the south. friday, we'll see this band of rain pushing its way south. there could be some heavy bursts in there for parts of northern england and the midlands. drier and brighter behind it, and temperatures dropping off a touch here, but still warm in the south and east. highs of 20 degrees celsius. into the weekend, then, and high pressure dominates the weather, so it's looking like a settled picture. we'll see a good deal of dry, fine weather with light winds. so, if we take a quick look at those outlooks, we can see plenty of dry weather through the weekend. there'll be some patchy cloud and sunny spells and temperatures reaching a high of around 21 celsius. bye— bye. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. were the details in the bbc report on the tim westwood allegations too lurid to broadcast before the watershed? translation: with me, - you've chosen an ambitious plan for france and for europe. and praise for the bbc�*s coverage of the french election — but should we use subtitles instead of voice—overs? the announcement that the former radio i dj tim westwood had been accused of sexual misconduct by seven women provoked outrage and a lot of questions. he denies the allegations, which were the subject of a bbc documentary tim westwood: abuse of trust, which aired on tuesday. it was previewed in a report on the news at six. in london, alone, with this guy who's a lot older than me. now, if i tried to get out of it, who's to say how he's going to react? so i just submit to it. traumatic — that's how i describe it. although many viewers praised the investigation, there were also concerns, with hazel murie complaining about the amount of what she thought was lurid detail in the bbc�*s tv news reporting of the story. maggie parkerfelt the reports had been unbalanced, with long descriptions of the allegations against tim westwood, but nothing in his defence. she said it amounted to "trial by tv." bbc news has said it's confident the reporting complied fully with its editorial guidelines. a bbc spokesperson told us that this had been a lengthy joint investigation by the bbc and the guardian, and there was a clear public interest in bringing the allegations to light. the presidential election in france dominated much of bbc news output last weekend, as emmanuel macron was voted back into the elysee palace for another five years. translation: with me, - you've chosen an ambitious plan for france and for europe. there's a lot for us to do. the war in ukraine reminds us that we live in tragic times, and france must make its voice heard. translation: tonight's . historic score puts our camp in an excellent position to obtain a large number of deputies next june. mary—rose hughes was an enthusiastic viewer of the output, but she had a plea to make. the bbc has given us this response to mary—rose's suggestion. the discussion show dateline london has been running on the bbc�*s domestic and international news channels for over 25 years. it's strictly to get a foreign view of what's going on in britain, as others see us. from the days of its first presenter, charles wheeler, guests on the programme have included foreign correspondence based in the uk, providing a fresh perspective on the big stories of the week. my guests today are thomas kielinger of die welt, polly toynbee of the guardian, mina al—0raibi of asharq al—awsat, and brian 0'connell, who's an irish journalist. welcome to you all. the format remained unchanged through the days of gavin esler, and for the past five years, it's been hosted by one of news channel's presenters, with shaun ley normally in the chair of late. but this week it emerged that dateline london faces the axe from september, with the bbc saying in a statement: well, several viewers have told us they are unhappy with the decision to end the programme. beth hutchings recorded this video for us. i was watching dateline last saturday, as i always do and have done for many years, thinking how amazing shaun ley is, the way he gets the group to merge and mingle, and get a really good discussion going. so you can imagine my distress hearing later on that the bbc is thinking of cutting it. i believe that this is a unique, niche programme unlike any other news programme on the bbc. and i know the bbc are saying that we can watchjohn simpson, which is a new programme, but he speaks purely to experts from the bbc, it is not journalists from around the world telling us what they think, and their countries think, of britain. and i think it would be tragic if this programme was cut. it's a short programme, once a week, it can't possibly cost enough money for the bbc to be thinking of stopping it. thanks to beth hutchings for that. well, nick guthrie, who edits the programme, has said publicly he feels it would be a tragedy to cancel it now, as audiences cry out for clarity. and we do hope to explore the fate of dateline london further with a bbc executive in the next few weeks. do let us know your thoughts on anything we're covering in this week's programme or on any aspect of bbc news. details of how to contact us at the end of the programme. before that, some of your other comments. it's been a big week for football fans with two clubs, liverpool and manchester city, both featuring in the semifinals of the champions league. on wednesday, nestor mcgregor was at anfield to look forward to liverpool's game that night. they're on the edge of history, chasing four trophies. the league cup already in the bag, they're on the hunt for the champions league, the fa cup and of course the premier league as well. and how fitting that no british team has ever done it, that this city, already home to the fab four, won, or wins, the big four. but that claim that "no british team" had won the so—called quadruple was challenged by football fans with long memories, particularly those from scotland. gerald freel pointed out: and iain lees backed that up: those comments reflect a concern we've heard before, that the bbc sometimes conflates britain with england, and can tend to forget parts of the united kingdom outside london and the south—east. it's to counter that perception, one voiced recently by the contradictory nadine dorries, that the bbc promised last year recently that some of its flagship news programmes such as the today programme, newsnight and bbc one news bulletins would be presented on occasion from around the country. and that's why huw edwards popped up on wednesday in cardiff. good evening, noswaith dda, and welcome to bbc news at six, which comes today from the headquarters of bbc wales in cardiff. the move to put bbc one bulletins on the road once in a while has elicited some grumbles from viewers in the past, with andrew riley wondering of huw edwards back in september: the prince of wales and the duchess of cornwall visited this building, new broadcasting house, on thursday to mark 90 years of the world service. that anniversary falls later this year, and the royal couple were keen to see where the magic happens. classical music plays i don't think we have featured any royal comments on newswatch before, but in a first, here is a tweet from prince charles after his visit, directed at world service staff. finally, a plea from an elderly viewer along with a compliment for us at newswatch, which we couldn't resist including. ian plummerfrom dunstable got on the telephone to make this point. my point is, first of all, to congratulate your programme on being the only one on the news channel that gives a phone number. i'm 90 years old. i don't have a computer. i don't have a smartphone. i would appreciate it very much if your programme could put pressure on the news channel whenever they do a "your questions answered", to put a phone number up so that people like me can get in touch. thank you, ian, and thank you for your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about anything you see or hear on bbc news and current affairs on tv, radio, or social media, do email newswatch: or you can find us on twitter: and as we've been hearing, you can of course give us a ring: and do have a look at our website for interviews. that's all from us. we will be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello there, after generally cloudier skies over the past few days wednesday brings the promise of something brighter. more sunshine on the cards, but with that we could trigger heavy, thundery downpours. generally a cloudy start of the day on wednesday. patchy outbreaks of rain shifting eastwards. brighter skies will feed in as we move through the day from the west and with that sunshine could see those heavy, thundery downpours, bing lee eastern parts of scotland, the midlands, down central, southern england. with more anyway of sunshine it will be warmer, highs 12—17. 0vernight we will see the showers fading away across england and wales. patrick loud and clear spells here, cloudierskies patrick loud and clear spells here, cloudier skies fitting and across northern ireland and scotland, some patchy outbreaks of rain. damages overnight not falling too far at all. 0vernight lows sitting generally in the high single figure. a warmer day across england and wales, which damages in the south—east reaching highs of 21— 22 celsius, cloudierto reaching highs of 21— 22 celsius, cloudier to the north and west. welcome to bbc news — i'm david eades. our top stories: protests in the united states after a leaked document suggests the supreme court will overturn the law protecting the right to abortion. there's fierce reaction on both sides. the us senate majority leader says he'll hold a symbolic vote to put the right to an abortion into federal law. we will vote to protect a woman's right to choose and every american is going to see which side every senator stands on. in ukraine, more than 100 civilians — including children — finally reach safety after being trapped for weeks beneath a besieged steel plant in mariupol.