As much of the world is becoming more aware of how harmful the burning of fossil fuels is, most of the world’s major green house gas emitters have been turning to the many alternatives of renewable energy sources. Among them, solar has proven to be one of the most popular sources although it is one of the most expensive to build solar and photovoltaic cells to capture the suns rays to convert into electricity. But in order to keep our green house gas emissions from increasing over the years, many countries are making strong efforts and investments in the renewable energy sources and solar energy in particular.
Three of the major solar energy consumers and producers in the world today are Germany (35.5 GW), China (18.3 GW), and Italy (17.6 GW).
Germany: Even dating back to 2010, Germany was the world leader in solar energy production and consumption. To this day they continue their dominance in the solar power industry by a large margin. Although Germany is not the sunniest country they have been smart and efficient in how they use the sun’s energy. As of June 2014, Germany was able to produce nearly 50% of their electricity. By 2050, they are setting a goal to produce 100% of their electricity through solar powered means.
China: Coming in second to Germany in the solar power production rankings in the world, China had set out and soared higher than their original goals they had put into action in 2009. In 2009, China had drawn up a new 5-year plan, envisioning a goal of producing 5 GW of solar energy. They met this goal in such a short amount of time that they had to go back to the drawing board and set their sights a lot higher. By the end of their new 5-year plan, they are expecting to exceed their goal of 45 GW and over take Germany in the “solar power race.” Farther down the line, by 2020, China is estimating their solar energy production to hit triple digits.
Italy: By the end of 2013, Italy had risen from 5th to 3rd place in solar energy production and as of September of 2014, about 10% of their country’s electricity was being produced through solar powered means. Using the large, 50 billion Euro, investment, Italy has been able to continue their solar energy growth.
http://pureenergies.com/us/blog/top-10-countries-using-solar-power/
http://theweek.com/speedreads/451299/germany-gets-50-percent-electricity-from-solar-first-time