SolarPower Europe has just released a report on the global market outlook for solar power and the Netherlands has overtaken Germany’s watt capacity per capita, securing it the top spot in Europe!
It’s a long report, so let us sum it up for you. The Netherlands currently generates 825 watts per capita every year, just behind Australia’s 1,049 watts per capita, which makes Australia the world leader in solar energy. This year the Netherlands is expected to add around 3.5 gigawatts to its solar capacity. That’s a lot of watts, guys! 3,500 to be precise.
You will see examples of solar energy generation and use across the country. Approximately 35% of the solar energy in the country goes to power homes and solar panels on rooves are a common sight here. Commercial rooftop panels make up 40% of the market and we’re building more and more floating solar projects by the day.
We have the largest floating solar panel project in Europe, which is called the Sellingerplas project and the study suggests that the more people get used to these kinds of projects the more open they are to future solar endeavors. We all know that wind turbines and solar panels can take up a lot of space and some would argue that they ruin the landscape but the report argues that the use of solar panels for power at home increases awareness of solar energy and ultimately helps to persuade people of the benefits.
The world’s most populous country, China, has the highest solar power capacity of all countries, but not per capita. This is despite the country being responsible for 33% of the world’s solar energy, which is mindblowing.
So the densely populated 41,543 sq km Netherlands, which is approximately 0.42% of the size of the United States is second in the world for solar energy capacity, which we would say is a job well done! Just behind the Netherlands is Germany and you can download the full report here.