Researchers have been making significant inroads into new ways to incorporate solar energy technologies into everyday life - but they aren't the only ones coming up with innovative new ways of using it.

In fact, a student at Purdue University made news this week amid reports that he had created a motorcycle that runs on solar power.

An Associated Press report said that physics major Tony Coiro had spent $2,500 to add two photovoltaic panels to a 1978 Suzuki motorcycle that uses lead-acid batteries to run about 24 miles at a time at speeds as high as 45 miles per hour.

The wire service report added that the student has already received a provisional patent for the creation and is next hoping to create a solar-powered motorcycle that can hit speeds of 100 MPH.

The news comes just days after a European team of researchers announced that they were beginning a trip around the world on a solar-powered yacht. These and other emerging solar energy technologies only help demonstrate how unlimited the future of this industry may be.