Ranking Solar Energy By Country – The Top 5
As the world begins to realize that the impact of fossil fuels is having disastrous effects on the environment and leading to accelerating climate change there has been a renewed interest in the energy supplied from renewable sources – and included in this mix is solar energy
It is not only climate change that is spurring the move towards solar. In countries such as India and China major cities are having to cope with increasing levels of air pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels. This pollution is causing medical conditions such as asthma and other respiratory problems to skyrocket. Not only does this affect the health of individuals, but also has severe effects on productivity and harms the economic growth of countries.
So for many nations the need to install solar power generation is one that is coming more and more urgent.
Taking this into account which are the top 5 nations where solar power is being installed at a breakneck pace?
The first one the list is China. For many years China has been at the forefront of developing solar technology – but it was not until recently that it began developing solar farms and parks to power its own growing economy.
The country installed solar infrastructure supplying 78 GW of electricity in 2016 and rapidly followed up with 35 GW in 2017 – with much more in the pipeline. Astonishingly the is more than the entire world had up and running in 2014.
Japan has been slow in coming to the solar power party but has steadily increased its capacity and now is in second spot behind China. Japan now generates 42.8 GW of power from solar installations. The nature of Japan’s installations is different from other countries due to space restrictions and much of the growth has come from installations on home rooftops. However, Japan’s spot at number two might not last – installations have slowed recently and changes in the tariff structure might slow new installations considerably.
At number three we find Germany which has long been recognized as one of the pioneers in the installation of solar power generation facilities. By the end of 2016 the country had a generation capacity of around 41.2 GW. But as is the case with Japan installation has slowed and the country may not be one of the top 5 for very long.
At position number 4 is the United States. This country has the potential to get to top spot and maintain its position – and as the world’s largest consumer of energy it has the motivation to take solar to the next level. It also has huge amounts of space that are ideal for the establishment of solar farms. Areas like the Mojave Desert are perfect for the development of enormous arrays of solar panels. The country generates 40.3 GW of electricity at the moment. However there are plans to develop mega projects to up this significantly.
Number five might be surprising – Italy which was generating 19.3 GW at the end of 2016 – but continues to add capacity on a regular basis. The importance of solar in Italy is abundantly clear when one realizes that the country generates 7.3 percent of its energy needs via solar energy installations – more than any other country on this list. The country is relatively small so it is possible that Italy will slowly but surely move to a situation where solar energy dominates its energy mix.
Solar is here to stay and these countries are leading the way towards a brighter – and greener future.
