Abstract
Prosperity in any society is subject to an adequate and consistent provision of energy. It is crucial to adopt an energy strategy with least dependence on vulnerable energy supply channels such as imported oil from foreign/overseas countries. The present work provides a study of the threats and challenges to a secure energy supply to the EU. The work investigates the prospects of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to be employed to provide sustainable and secure energy within the EU. Three potential locations, Sebha (Central Sahara), Bahrain (Arabian Gulf) and Almeria (Southern Spain) have been compared for their energy output. It is shown that the average annual global irradiance values for Sebha, Bahrain and Almeria are 6.9, 6.4 and 6.1 KWh m(-2) respectively. It is concluded that PV systems installed in Southern Spain, despite having lesser energy output per square metre of installed modules as the other two locations' output, are however the most secure means of supplying solar photovoltaic energy within the EU.