Countries that Love Solar Energy

Solar energy is one of the most rapidly growing markets in the United States. With a growth of 67% just last year, solar became the fastest growing energy sector in the U.S. But where in the world is solar most popular? For 2010 the top 5 countries in solar generated energy were: Germany, Italy, The Czech Republic, Japan and the U.S.

Germany topped the list, reporting that they had installed 7,400 MW of solar PV. December alone saw over 1,000 MW of solar installed. In fact, Germany has been a leader in renewables for some time now. A 2010 report shows that Germany generates nearly 17% of its electricity from renewable sources, and plans on raising that figure to 37% by 2020.

Italy is installed more solar PV in two months than California did in one year, and California is the solar leader in the U.S. and has a similarly sized geographic area to Italy. By the year 2020, Italy hopes to have 30 GW of solar installed. The original goal of 8 GW was completed ahead of schedule.

The Czech Republic has seen extremely rapid growth in the solar industry in the past few years. From 2008 to the end of 2010 the amount of solar installed by The Czech Republic rose from 66 MW to an enormous 1,820 MW.
Japan is fourth on the list, just ahead of the U.S. Renewables only account for 1.3% of total energy use, but Japan has set high goals. Since the tragedy in March, Japan has abandoned their nuclear expansion plans. They instead hope to have 10 million solar powered homes by 2020.

Lastly, the United States has been working hard to keep up in the renewables industry. As mentioned above, solar grew 67% just last year. Renewables accounted for over 11% of the domestically produced electricity in the United States. In 2009 President Obama called to double this amount in the following 3 years.

-Lisa Dougherty