A company called GreenSun Energy is developing solar panels that absorb particular parts of the light spectrum available even when the sun is not shining directly at them:
There's a video at the link and it will play automatically when you click on it.
Link
They say the key is the bright colors in hues to capture different parts of the sun's light spectrum.
GreenSun, the company behind the technology, says unlike conventional solar panels, these can produce electricity without direct sunlight.
It says the colored panels don't need to face the sun and can absorb dispersed light.
This means they can also harness energy on a cloudy day, although with less efficiency than on sunny days.
The company says production costs are kept to a minimum because they require less silicon.
There's a video at the link and it will play automatically when you click on it.
Link
To calculate your savings, the website considers the area (square feet) you currently have available to install solar panels. It looks at the available sunlight and its intensity in your state each month of the year. Based on this data the website (www.MySolar2020.com) estimates how much energy your solar panels will generate. It compares that with how much energy (kWh) you currently consume. You can find average energy (kWh) usage from your monthly utility bill. This data along with the savings is presented in a simple report on the website.
I'm not sure automatically means what you think it means.
Color me NOT impressed.