solar

On August 2, 2027, the Sun will ‘go out’ for up to six minutes. The incredible phenomenon will be most visible across North of Africa and parts of the Middle East

A rare solar eclipse in 2027 has spiked bookings to five countries.

On August 2, 2027, the Sun ‘go out’ for up to six minutes. The incredible phenomenon will be most visible across North of Africa and parts of the Middle East. Google searches for destinations in this area have surged over the past couple of months as celestial event enthusiasts work out how they can be there when it happens.

The 2027 total solar eclipse will be the longest eclipse of the century visible from land. Some of the best destinations to witness the eclipse include:

• Tangier, Morocco – This area is directly beneath the central shadow, and you can expect around four minutes of totality
• Oran, Algeria – You can expect over five minutes of totality
• Sfax, Tunisia – You can expect over five minutes of totality
• Benghazi, Libya – This area is along the centerline passage, offering about five minutes of totality
• Luxor, Egypt – This area is near the point of greatest eclipse, where you can expect near-maximum totality of over six minutes

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To celebrate the rare event, Wild Frontiers , a B Corp tour operator that specialises in adventure travel, has launched three exclusive ‘eclipse special’ tours, and bookings for all departures sold out within 24 hours. Wild Frontiers has since added new departure dates to its eclipse tour collection and is anticipating similar levels of demand.

Clare Tobin, CEO at Wild Frontiers, said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness one of the most incredible natural spectacles. We launched tours in three of the best viewing points in north Africa.

“Travellers can observe the event from a traditional houseboat on the waters of the Nile in Egypt, among the atmospheric UNESCO Roman ruins of Timgad in Algeria or from the epic amphitheatre of El Jem in Tunisia. We previously ran an eclipse tour in Northern Mexico in 2024 and, whilst it was popular, we have seen even more demand for the 2027 tours.”

The term ‘astro-tourism’ came to light towards the end of last year, with experts coining it as a key travel trend for 2025. The term has been used to describe travellers becoming increasingly interested in escaping the urban city lights, in pursuit of dark skies.

Now it seems that astro-tourism is becoming more than stargazing and trips to see the northern lights. Clare says: “Travellers are seemingly fascinated with space, the stars and natural phenomena and they’re turning their attention to the skies. Witnessing celestial events has become more accessible for several reasons, such as more accurate forecasting predications, advancements in technology and increased education and coverage around the topic.

“As demand for ‘astro-tourism’ continues to increase, the ability to travel to these destinations also becomes more accessible. Travellers can now plan and book trips in advance that are centred around significant celestial events. There is no better way to escape and feel at one with nature than to behold such an extraordinary event.”

For travellers who wish to add ‘witness a natural phenomenon’ to their travel bucket list, below are some of most significant eclipse events over the next two years.

12

Most visible from: Iceland, Northern Spain and the Balearic Islands, Greenland, parts of northeastern Portugal and Russia. The best of the eclipse will take place over the water however.

17

An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, but is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun. This causes what is often referred to as a ‘ring of fire’ effect, where a bright rind of sunlight can be seen around the moon’s silhouette.

Most visible from: Antarctica, Southern South America (particularly southern Argentine and southern Chile), Southern Africa (including South Africa, Namibia and Botswana), Madagascar.

Lunar eclipses

A lunar eclipse takes place when the Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow onto the Moon, which makes it appear a reddish colour. It only occurs during the full moon stage and doesn’t happen every month as the Moon’s orbit is tilted, relative to the Earth’s orbit.

7 September 2025

Most visible from: India, China, Russia, Central Asia, Western Australia, New Zealand, eastern Africa, parts of Europe (especially Czech Republic).

3 March 2026

Most visible from: Northeast Asia (especially Japan, Korea and China), northwestern North America (western Canada and Alaska), Central Pacific Ocean.

28 August 2026

Most visible from: North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia), Spain, France, Nigeria, Egypt, Pacific Islands (Hawaii, parts of Polynesia).

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (UPI) — South Korean chemical giant OCI Holdings said Monday it will enter the solar wafer business to target the U.S. market by acquiring a facility being built in Vietnam.

Toward that end, its subsidiary, OCI TerraSus, plans to spend $78 million to purchase a 65% stake in a 2.7-gigawatt wafer plant from Elite Solar Power Wafer, which is scheduled for completion by the end of this month.

OCI Holdings expects the factory to start rolling out wafers early next year, without having to worry about U.S. tax-credit restrictions.

A solar wafer is a tin slice of crystalline silicon that serves as the primary building block for manufacturing solar cells.

The United States introduced legislation in early July barring prohibited foreign entities from receiving clean energy tax credits. These are entities controlled or significantly influenced by such nations as North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.

OCI Holdings projected that the deal would create synergy because OCI TerraSus is set to provide all the polysilicon needed for the new facility to manufacture non-prohibited foreign entity wafers.

The Seoul-based corporation said the plant’s capacity could be doubled within six months with an additional $40 million investment. However, it has yet to decide whether to proceed with the expansion.

“This strategic investment brings us closer to building a supply chain that facilitates U.S. exports,” OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun said in a statement. “We will continue to strengthen our presence in the global solar market by fostering partnerships with local companies in Southeast Asia.”

In July, OCI TerraSus joined hands with Japan’s Tokuyama to channel $435 million into establishing a semiconductor-grade polysilicon factory in Malaysia. Each company holds a 50% stake in the project.

Solar panel fields operate in Wuzhong, a frontier city in the northwestern province Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, in 2011. The Trump administration has canceled a proposed solar project in Nevada that would have been among the world’s largest solar power facilities.
File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 10 (UPI) — The Trump administration has canceled the proposed Esmeralda 7 Solar Project in Nevada that would have been among the world’s largest solar power facilities.

Officials with the Bureau of Land Management on Thursday announced an environmental impact review of the proposed renewable energy facility has been canceled, which in turn cancels the project, Politico reported.

The canceled project would have built seven solar power-generation projects within the Esmeralda site that would have occupied 118,000 acres of land in Nevada’s Esmeralda County and about 30 miles west of Tonopah and 270 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The project would have generated up to 6.2 gigawatts of energy over its service life, which is enough energy to power up to 2 million homes, according to Heatmap.

The proposed solar power project generally enjoyed smooth sailing through the Biden administration and would have included the NextEra Energy utility firm and Invenergy among its developers, The New York Times reported.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, in August expressed his concerns that the solar power project was being delayed or canceled unnecessarily in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Lombardo said the project’s completion would help Nevada to better support the nation’s energy needs for mining projects and data centers, according to The New York Times.

President Donald Trump previously criticized solar- and wind-power projects as insufficient and costly compared to natural gas and coal power-generation facilities.

Since Trump took office in January, the Interior Department has added new review requirements for wind and solar projects, which have slowed their development and have stopped some from moving forward.

The Interior Department also has begun investigating bird deaths and other impacts on wildlife and plant life by large solar and wind projects.

While the Esmeralda 7 project appears to be canceled, another Nevada solar power project called Dodge Flat II is still in progress, according to the BLM.