Elon Musk details his plan to BOMB Mars saying constant 'nuclear pulse explosions' would create double suns to heat the planet

SolarCity Corp says it had built a solar panel that is the most efficient in the industry at transforming sunlight into electricity.

The top U.S. solar installer, which expanded into manufacturing through its acquisition of Silevo last year, will make the panels at a major solar panel factory it is building in Buffalo, New York. That facility will open in 2017.

SolarCity, which is backed by Tesla Motors Inc founder Elon Musk, has increasingly moved beyond its primary business of installing solar panels in an effort to keep driving down the cost of going solar.

Making its own panels will bring system costs down by 15 to 20 cents a watt, said Chief Executive Lyndon Rive, who added that Friday's announcement should assuage concerns about the company's foray into a new line of business.

Musk has previously hypothesised Mars could be heated up quickly by dropping nuclear weapons over its poles and said he would like to visit the red planet one day.

"Now that we are going to be making the best module in the world hopefully that addresses anyone's skepticism," Rive said in an interview.

Third-party testing measured the SolarCity panel's efficiency at 22.04 percent, the company said. SunPower Corp , a U.S. panel manufacturer that has long made the most efficient panels in the industry, is currently producing modules with 21.5 percent efficiency on a mass scale.

SolarCity is currently producing its panels at a 100 megawatt pilot facility in Fremont, California, near Tesla's factory. SolarCity's $750 million Buffalo facility will ultimately have ten times that capacity.

Still, fast-growing SolarCity will never make enough panels to fulfill its installation needs, Rive said. Currently most of the panels SolarCity installs are made in China by companies including Canadian Solar, Trina Solar and Yingli Green Energy, among others.

Because the SolarCity panels are very efficient, they will be used in locations where they work best, such as those with space constraints. Customers will not be able to choose the in-house panel over another brand, Rive said.

The theory goes that if there is intelligent across the universe, aliens will probably have developed the same technology as us, including nuclear weapons.

So like on Earth, they could use them to bring about their own demise.

Now a group of physicists has studied the various ways in which such alien civilisations could destroy themselves and established that signs of this destruction would be visible using telescopes on Earth.

For each scenario, physicists from The Open University, University of Edinburgh, University of St Andrews, and Cornell University detailed the types of signals that would be emitted into the atmosphere and the likelihood of these signals being picked up with technology on Earth.

They think the approach is the best chance of finding any evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth.

For example, the researchers explained that nuclear weapons produce a short, intense burst of gamma radiation with a characteristic 'double peak'.

These flashes could be detected using the same techniques used to detect gamma ray bursts from other stellar events.

When gamma-rays smash into Earth's upper atmosphere, they emit a faint, blue light and astronomers use this to trace the rays back to their source. 

How will they get there?

Plans about how the four Mars One finalists will arrive on the red planet are vague. 

Mars One simply says that the crew will arrive on Mars in 2025, after a seven month journey from Earth.

A landing module attached to a rocket would drop the humans off, before they were met by a rover and taken to the Mars One Colony.

There is a possibility that the colonists could hibernate on the long journey. A proposal by Nasa on an unrelated mission suggests a crew could be put in a deep sleep for 180 days, allowing them to make the journey of 350 million miles (560 million km) with a reduced need for food and water.

A landing module attached to a rocket would drop the humans off, before they were met by a rover and taken to the Mars One Colony. There is a possibility that colonists could hibernate on the long journey (illustrated)

The crew would be kept alive through intravenous feeding, before being woken at their destination by inhalation of a coolant gas.

Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden believes that colonising Mars is essential to ensure the survival of our species.

'It's important for the preservation of the species, and I want to make sure that my grand-daughters, and great-great-grandaughters, have the opportunity to go there,' he said.

After landing on the red planet, the colonists would move into small 'pods', which would be their homes. An experiment is under way in the Utah desert to recreate the psychological effects of life on Mars, with four 'astronauts' living in isolation in cyclindrical homes (pictured) for two weeks at a time

What about when they arrive?

After landing on the red planet, the colonists would move into small 'pods' - their homes.

The colonists will have 50 square metres each and a total of more than 200 square metres combined interior space, according to Mars One.

It says: 'Within the settlement are inflatable components which contain bedrooms, working areas, a living room and a 'plant production unit', where they will grow greenery.

'They will also be able to shower as normal, prepare fresh food in the kitchen, wear regular clothes, and, in essence, lead typical day-to-day lives'

An experiment is under way in the Utah desert to recreate the psychological effects of life on Mars, with four 'astronauts' living in isolation for two weeks at a time.

Like the researchers from the Mars Society, colonists might expect to survive on food rations, conduct experiments and shower every few days.

Nasa is also planning a manned trip to Mars and has designed a house with solar panels.

In its Hi-Seas experiment in Hawaii, crews of six are living in a small dome with a 'sense of airiness' and are only allowed to venture outside wearing space suits, perhaps indicating what may lie ahead for the colonists.

The colonists may breathe through a device called Helena, which will could use electrolysis to produce oxygen from water extracted from Martian soil.

Designed by the University of Western Australia and a Mars One astronaut candidate, the device could be flown on Mars One's first unmanned lander mission and arrive on the planet in 2018. 

While living on Mars may seem exciting, it could be monotonous sending time in cramped conditions with only three other people for company.Daily tasks might include cultivating food (an illustration of what a Mars One greenhouse may look like is shown) and maintenance of essential equipment

What will daily life be like? 

While living on Mars may seem exciting, it will probably be monotonous spending time in cramped quarters with only three other people for company on the entire planet.

Daily tasks might include cultivating food and maintenance of essential equipment. 

Scientists could fill their hours conducting experiments or perhaps using 3D printing to create objects they need to survive. 

In November, astronauts aboard the ISS made the first 3D printed object in space - a nameplate to commemorate the achievement. 

Nasa is studying objects to see how zero gravity conditions affect the printing process, but if they are sound, colonists could use additive manufacturing to produce spare parts and even perhaps games to keep them occupied.  

Will humans really be able to colonise Mars? 

Researchers from the University of Kansas have warned that high levels of radiation in space damage the ovaries and testicles, which could hamper people's efforts to reproduce. 

Mars One says: 'In the first years, the Mars settlement is not a suitable place for children to live. The medical facilities will be limited and the group is too small. 

Ms Lieu said it would be incredible to be the first mother on Mars, but researchers from the University of Kansas have warned that high levels of radiation in space damage the ovaries and testicles, which could hamper people's efforts to reproduce. An illustration of martian families is pictured

'The human ability to conceive in reduced gravity is not known, neither is there enough research on whether a foetus can grow normally under these circumstances. 

'In order to establish a true settlement on Mars, Mars One recognises having children is vital.' 

Kate Greene, who took part in Nasa's Mars simulation believes that all colonists should be female. 

She says it was rare for a woman to burn more than 2,000 calories a day, whereas men regularly exceeded 3,000, so sending women to Mars would be cheaper and more feasible than one with men – but arguably make reproduction harder. 

Mars One plans on sending additional teams to the colony every two years, with the intention that by 2033 there would be over twenty people living and working on Mars.