What Country Uses the Most Solar Panels?
Solar energy is becoming popular across the world. So, what country uses the most solar panels?
What Country Uses the Most Solar Panels?
The answer to the question of what country uses the most solar panels is dependent on how it is measured. The leading countries are Cypress, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Germany, the Scandinavian countries, and Italy are also significant consumers of solar panels. China’s usage is a bit of a mystery, but they have been involved in training scientists and technicians from developing countries.
In Cypress, 90% of the households and a large percentage of apartments and hotels are equipped with solar water heaters. However, the population of Cypress is only around 50,000 people, so while the per capita is the highest, they do not have the largest actual amounts.
Presently, Japan, Israel, and the United States have the highest actual numbers of solar panels to heat water. In Japan, over 4 million homes and businesses have solar water heaters. Japan was an early leader in offering government financed subsidies and incentives to individuals and businesses who went solar. Next in line after Japan and the United States is Israel with more than 700,000 solar arrays in use. Solar power is crucial to the economy of Israel since their relationships with many of the crude oil producers is strained.
By 2010, the United States seeks to be the country that uses the most solar panels. The Department of Energy’s Million Solar Roofs Initiative is encouraging businesses and communities to “go solar.” The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) spearheads this initiative. IREC programs include Connecting to the Grid, Workforce Development, DSIRE (information network), Training Accreditation, and Schools Going Solar. In addition to these programs, there are federal tax incentives and state and local rebates and incentives to encourage Americans to convert to solar panels.
In addition to the countries with high numbers of solar panels in use, many developing countries are growing consumers of solar energy. Major uses in these countries are passive heating and cooling and water purification. China is also a major user of solar panels, but they do not disclose exact numbers. It is known that their production costs are less, but their efficiency is significantly below the United States and Japan. What is most important is that there are initiatives around the world to increase solar panel production and use. Increased uses in water purification, farming, heating and cooling, and electricity production will be important in the future as our fossil fuels run out and our pollution reaches untenable levels.
