Scientists are gathered this week to discuss a relatively underappreciated threat to our well-being, the impact a huge solar flare (also known as a solar mass ejection (SME) or solar electromagnetic pulse (EMP)) directed at Earth could wreak upon our modern technology.

FORBES: Huge Solar Flares Could Spell Catastrophe for Earth

To keep a pulse on the rapidly evolving solar market and better understand what companies need to do to better position themselves for the future, PwC has published the PV Sustainable Growth Index, a ranking of the largest publicly traded solar companies, for the last eight years.

FORBES: Solar Leaders Pull Away From The Pack

Another team of US physicists recently published a paper suggesting that an unusually large solar flare from the Sun could have caused the pulse of energy.

BBC: Gamma-ray burst 'hit Earth in 8th Century'

By unleashing a massive pulse of electromagnetic radiation sweeping over the planet, a severe solar storm could potentially knock out the electric power grid, silence radio and satellite communications and disrupt GPS navigation systems.

FORBES: Sky Full of Trouble; Bracing for Super Solar Storms