In recent years, the implementation and use of solar energy has skyrocketed. In 2011 alone, solar energy use rose 54% and in 2015 solar use was 100 times greater the energy produced in 2000.
As in the case of many markets, China has become the worlds leading PV panel producer. Over half of all solar panels produced come from key companies in China such as Suntech. The company has been able to produce the panels at record-low prices ($1.28/Watt) and now the question of world wide installation isn’t the cost of the technology itself but the often costly price of initial installation. Some of these solar grids are as large as the cities they need to power and it takes both time and money to install every panel.
The top leader in solar energy use however is Germany. The country produces around 30% of the world’s solar powered energy which amounts to almost more than the rest of Europe combined. Although this sounds like great amount (32.4 GW) this only equals about 3% of Germany’s power consumption. The country hopes to eliminate the majority of nuclear power use and harness nearly 25% of all their energy using solar power by 2050.
China is not just the world’s leading producer for solar panels but also the world’s second leading solar energy producer. As the world’s most populous country with one of the largest carbon footprints it makes sense that the country has began to invest in alternatives for their massive energy needs. Sine 2009 China’s solar production has grown a tremendous 9,000%. With the intention of drastically reducing the amount of coal burned China aims to producing 70 GW of solar energy by 2017.
The rest of the leading producers are Italy, Japan, the US and Spain.
Although not yet a leading producer of solar energy, Morocco is currently in the process of building the largest solar plant in the world. Located on the edge of the Sahara desert this power plant is nearly the size of the city it is providing power to. The plant is outside the city of Ouarzazate, and will provide electricity to 1.1 million people 20 hours a day by using the Sun’s heat to melt salt, which will hold its heat to power a steam turbine after the sun has set. By 2020 Morocco aims to produce 42% of its electricity from renewable energy.
Below are some of the more specific details of the solar giant.
Resources:
http://pureenergies.com/us/blog/top-10-countries-using-solar-power/
http://www.thinkglobalgreen.org/solar.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34883224