The world as we know is moving towards renewable energy since it’s the need of the hour. We humans have almost exhausted the fossil fuels and the rate at which we are over using it, it won’t be more than 50 years that we run out of it. Our degrading environment is another reason why we should all try to generate as much renewable energy as possible. Many countries are already on that path and are taking good initiatives to produce more solar power.
Here is the list of top ten countries that are doing a great job:
- Germany
Source: cleanenergywire.org
When we talk about solar power generation, Germany has been topping the list for long. Out of 177 GW of solar power produced globally in 2014, Germany produced 38.2 GW alone. Ocassionally, Germany has done a commendable job of meeting 50% of the it’s energy needs from solar power itself. Germany plans on to achieve the goal of relying 100% on solar or renewable energy by 2050 for electric power. Germany, being a global leader in solar power generation has set an example for the world to bring about a change and shift to cleaner and environment friendly energy sources.
2. China
Source: chinadialogue.net
By 2015, china became the biggest manufacturer and buyer of solar panels. It has been installing solar panels and photovoltaic products all over the country especially in remote areas creating big solar farms for selling energy to utilities. Though china has the largest population and carbon footprint in the world yet its enthusiastic steps to increase the use of renewable energy is a clear commitment that the world can see. Chinese government encourages solar installations by giving incentives as the country is in a dire need to curb its severe air pollution and electricity needs crisis.
3. Japan
Source: Janpantimes.com
Japan is among the top countries that lead in solar power generation. Though the country is densely populated and lacks huge open spaces, it has still managed to produce a commendable amount of solar energy. It produced 23.3 GW of solar energy in the year 2014. The fukushima nuclear plant disaster only made japan more committed to solar energy by doubling it by 2030. Even after the lack of space japan found innovative ways to install solar panels. Many abandoned and forgotten golf courses were fully covered with photovoltaic products. Not only this but japan created floating solar islands installed with thousands of water-resistant solar panels. These panels have an advantage over others due to their ability to be cooled by water.
4. Italy
Source: meco.net
though Italy produced 18.5 GW of solar energy in the year 2014 that accounted for 10 percent of the nation’s total energy needs but the tax breaks that were given to solar farms expired. This caused many of the solar farms to close down while many of them got sold. This would have resulted in a decline in the solar energy output but to help Italy to reach its 2030 solar energy targets a few competitive auctions were planned to be held between 2019-2021. It included 4.8 GW in new photovoltaic and wind power plants and 140 MW of hydro, biomass and geothermal plants.
5. United States
Source: saurenergy
Growing awareness regarding the environment and using renewable energy resources gave way to about two million solar installations in the United States by 2019. If the conditions remain favourable, this growth can lead to as many as four million installations by 2030. Nearly 17 per cent of the electricity generation has been done with the help of renewable energy in recent years. The US also claims to be generating 10 percent more solar power this year. The country had a capacity of 214.7 GW in the year 2016.
6. India
Source: economic times
As of march 2019, India’s solar installed capacity has been estimated as 28.18 GW. Having one of the most rapidly growing solar plants, India has also managed to become he lowest cost producer of solar power in the world. The country had a solar power generation capacity target of 20 GW for 2022 but it was achieved already by 2018
7. France
Source: phys.org
France is in constant efforts to become a leading renewable power generator in coming years. France installed PV power that was successful in surpassing 8.5 GW, with brand new installed PV capacity reaching 479 MW. France being helped by political and economic sectors is looking forward to becoming a country that utilizes more of renewable energy and is taking great initiatives for the same.
8. South Korea
South Korea has made an accomplishment as they installed 1.64 GW of solar PV by July 2019. They were successful in surpassing their target which was 1.62 GW and are working on developing and improving their sources of renewable energy. They have also made a plan to install 30 GW of PV till 2030 which is a great step towards cleaner energy. The country had planned to develop 9% of the renewable capacity in Saemangeum and install 14 GW of solar power energy before 2020 but covid-19 brought about some unfortunate delays.
9. Australia
There are controversies that Australia is facing problems to extract 100% energy from the sun as they do not have all the resources required, yet Australia was successful in installing PV solar power of 12,035 MV in March 2019, of which 4,068 MW were installed in recent 12 months. In early march, electric energy of Australia went up by 5.2%. About 59 more solar energy projects are under construction in the country as the government is taking a nice initiative towards promoting it.
10. United Kingdom
Source: PV magazine
United Kingdom is one of the leading countries that produce solar power. An innovative step taken by the government of introducing solar panels to schools, homes and business sectors has proved successful in contributing more to the solar power utilization of the country. This is one of their best initiatives to promote renewable energy. The cost of PV technology has become comparatively inexpensive so we can expect more of renewable energy generation in coming years, where as in some countries it is still very high.
William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, author, philanthropist, and humanitarian. He is best known as the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation.
