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5% of global electricity is generated from Solar

4.51 % Share of global electricity
45 gCO2eq/kWh Carbon Intensity

Solar energy is a form of renewable energy derived directly from the sun. This radiant energy is captured and converted into electricity or thermal energy and is widely used across the globe in many different ways. Solar energy generation is a crucial part of ensuring a low-carbon future, contributing clean, sustainable and green power on a large scale. Truly unlimited, solar energy is captured using multiple technologies, including solar panels, solar water heating, and, on a large scale, concentrated solar power systems.

The use of solar energy for generating electricity primarily involves solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. These panels are composed of cells made from semiconducting materials, typically silicon, which absorb sunlight and produce a flow of electricity. When sunlight strikes a solar cell, photons from the light trigger the release of electrons from the cell, creating an electric current. This current can be captured and utilized for electricity generation. With the right infrastructure in place, solar energy can feed directly into the electricity grid, powering homes, businesses, and even communities.

One of the key advantages of solar energy is its low carbon intensity. Solar energy emits an average of 45 gCO2eq/kWh, a significantly lower figure when compared to fossil fuels such as coal and gas, which produce 820 gCO2eq/kWh and 490 gCO2eq/kWh respectively. This means solar energy production results in substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions, contributing significantly less to climate change and air pollution than conventional fossil fuel energy sources.

Solar energy also makes a significant contribution to global electricity generation. As of current statistics, solar energy is responsible for generating 4.51% of all electricity consumed globally. This takes into account all forms of solar energy generation, from home rooftop solar panels to large-scale solar farms. This global figure underscores the worldwide acceptance and implementation of solar energy solutions for electricity generation.

The use and generation of solar power is even more impressive in specific countries, highlighting the potential for its increased uptake. For instance, in Australia, solar represents 13% of electricity generation. In the Netherlands and Germany, solar accounts for 15% and 10% of electricity generation respectively. Similar achievements have been recorded in Japan (10%) and Chile (17%). These countries stand as proof of the potential for solar energy to deliver clean, low-carbon electricity on a substantial scale.

In conclusion, the benefits of solar energy, including its low carbon intensity, the global contribution to electricity production, and its significant contribution to energy generation in countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and Chile, demonstrate that solar is a key player in the shift toward low-carbon energy solutions. This, along with other low-carbon sources such as wind and nuclear power, show great promise in our collective effort to address the challenges of climate change and air pollution.

Country/Region Watts / person % TWh
Australia 147.5 W 13.3% 33.5 TWh
Cook Islands 134.1 W 40.0% 0.0 TWh
Netherlands 115.3 W 14.6% 17.7 TWh
Japan 91.2 W 10.3% 99.6 TWh
Chile 84.7 W 17.4% 14.5 TWh
Germany 80.7 W 10.1% 59.0 TWh
Spain 78.8 W 11.5% 32.8 TWh
Seychelles 75.0 W 10.8% 0.1 TWh
Greece 72.3 W 11.8% 6.6 TWh
Belgium 72.3 W 7.8% 7.3 TWh
New Caledonia 71.4 W 5.4% 0.2 TWh
United States 69.6 W 4.7% 205.4 TWh
South Korea 64.1 W 4.8% 29.1 TWh
United Arab Emirates 62.7 W 3.7% 5.1 TWh
Israel 59.5 W 6.3% 4.6 TWh
Republic of China (Taiwan) 57.4 W 4.1% 12.0 TWh
Malta 56.3 W 9.0% 0.3 TWh
Cyprus 56.0 W 11.6% 0.6 TWh
Guam 53.5 W 4.4% 0.1 TWh
Italy 53.4 W 8.6% 27.7 TWh
Hungary 52.6 W 9.4% 4.5 TWh
EU 52.2 W 7.2% 203.3 TWh
Estonia 45.5 W 5.7% 0.5 TWh
Luxembourg 39.3 W 3.3% 0.2 TWh
Denmark 38.8 W 5.5% 2.0 TWh
Jordan 35.8 W 15.9% 3.5 TWh
Switzerland 35.5 W 4.1% 2.7 TWh
France 35.3 W 4.1% 20.0 TWh
Austria 34.9 W 3.7% 2.7 TWh
Portugal 34.1 W 5.5% 3.1 TWh
People's Republic of China 33.5 W 4.7% 417.8 TWh
Barbados 32.5 W 7.5% 0.1 TWh
Vietnam 30.8 W 9.9% 26.3 TWh
Bulgaria 28.5 W 3.4% 1.7 TWh
Czechia 27.3 W 2.9% 2.5 TWh
Sweden 25.5 W 1.4% 2.3 TWh
Antigua & Barbuda 24.5 W 5.7% 0.0 TWh
Poland 24.3 W 4.5% 8.2 TWh
Slovenia 23.7 W 3.0% 0.4 TWh
United Kingdom 23.6 W 4.3% 13.9 TWh
U.S. Virgin Islands 22.8 W 2.9% 0.0 TWh
Turkey 21.3 W 4.8% 15.8 TWh
El Salvador 19.9 W 13.3% 1.1 TWh
French Guiana 19.5 W 3.8% 0.0 TWh
French Polynesia 18.8 W 7.1% 0.1 TWh
The World 18.6 W 4.5% 1286.1 TWh
Singapore 18.1 W 1.7% 0.9 TWh
Réunion 17.8 W 4.8% 0.1 TWh
Lithuania 17.6 W 3.3% 0.4 TWh
Namibia 17.1 W 10.1% 0.4 TWh
Canada 16.6 W 0.9% 5.6 TWh
Uruguay 16.0 W 3.2% 0.5 TWh
Ukraine 15.7 W 5.3% 6.0 TWh
Slovakia 14.5 W 2.5% 0.7 TWh
Honduras 14.2 W 10.7% 1.3 TWh
Mauritius 14.1 W 5.6% 0.2 TWh
Mexico 12.1 W 3.8% 13.4 TWh
South Africa 11.9 W 2.9% 6.2 TWh
Curaçao 11.7 W 2.2% 0.0 TWh
Brazil 11.6 W 3.1% 21.8 TWh
Panama 11.0 W 3.8% 0.4 TWh
Maldives 10.9 W 7.6% 0.1 TWh
Tonga 10.8 W 12.5% 0.0 TWh
Aruba 10.7 W 1.1% 0.0 TWh
Romania 10.6 W 3.1% 1.8 TWh
Samoa 10.4 W 11.8% 0.0 TWh
Puerto Rico 9.5 W 1.5% 0.3 TWh
Guadeloupe 8.5 W 1.8% 0.0 TWh
Kazakhstan 8.4 W 1.3% 1.4 TWh
Thailand 8.0 W 2.3% 5.0 TWh
India 7.7 W 5.2% 95.2 TWh
Argentina 7.3 W 1.9% 2.9 TWh
Malaysia 6.8 W 1.1% 2.0 TWh
Finland 6.2 W 0.4% 0.3 TWh
Jamaica 6.1 W 3.4% 0.1 TWh
Morocco 5.6 W 4.3% 1.8 TWh
Dominican Republic 5.4 W 3.0% 0.5 TWh
Egypt 5.3 W 2.4% 5.0 TWh
Mongolia 4.8 W 1.6% 0.1 TWh
Bolivia 4.6 W 4.3% 0.5 TWh
Bosnia & Herzegovina 4.5 W 0.8% 0.1 TWh
New Zealand 4.5 W 0.5% 0.2 TWh
Palestinian Territories 4.4 W 2.8% 0.2 TWh
Croatia 4.2 W 0.8% 0.1 TWh
Oman 4.0 W 0.4% 0.2 TWh
Tunisia 3.8 W 2.0% 0.4 TWh
Suriname 3.7 W 0.7% 0.0 TWh
Armenia 3.7 W 1.2% 0.1 TWh
Norway 3.6 W 0.1% 0.2 TWh
Vanuatu 3.6 W 14.3% 0.0 TWh
Mauritania 3.5 W 6.7% 0.1 TWh
Senegal 3.2 W 7.9% 0.5 TWh
Peru 2.9 W 1.4% 0.8 TWh
Belize 2.9 W 1.0% 0.0 TWh
Sri Lanka 2.8 W 3.3% 0.5 TWh
Albania 2.8 W 0.8% 0.1 TWh
Cuba 2.6 W 1.3% 0.3 TWh
Saudi Arabia 2.6 W 0.2% 0.8 TWh
Cambodia 2.5 W 3.0% 0.4 TWh
Lebanon 2.4 W 0.6% 0.1 TWh
Belarus 2.1 W 0.4% 0.2 TWh
Algeria 2.1 W 1.0% 0.8 TWh
Russia 2.1 W 0.2% 2.6 TWh
Yemen 2.1 W 17.0% 0.6 TWh
Ireland 2.1 W 0.3% 0.1 TWh
Cape Verde 1.9 W 2.2% 0.0 TWh
Philippines 1.8 W 1.6% 1.8 TWh
North Macedonia 1.6 W 0.3% 0.0 TWh
Guatemala 1.5 W 1.6% 0.2 TWh
Guyana 1.4 W 0.8% 0.0 TWh
Costa Rica 1.3 W 0.5% 0.1 TWh
Fiji 1.2 W 0.9% 0.0 TWh
Colombia 1.1 W 0.6% 0.5 TWh
Iraq 1.0 W 0.3% 0.4 TWh
Malawi 1.0 W 12.0% 0.2 TWh
Zambia 0.9 W 0.8% 0.1 TWh
Iran 0.9 W 0.2% 0.7 TWh
Bahrain 0.8 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Trinidad & Tobago 0.7 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Pakistan 0.7 W 0.9% 1.4 TWh
Kenya 0.6 W 2.4% 0.3 TWh
Burkina Faso 0.6 W 4.3% 0.1 TWh
Laos 0.6 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Latvia 0.6 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Azerbaijan 0.6 W 0.2% 0.1 TWh
Rwanda 0.5 W 6.8% 0.1 TWh
Nicaragua 0.5 W 0.5% 0.0 TWh
Botswana 0.4 W 0.2% 0.0 TWh
Bangladesh 0.4 W 0.7% 0.7 TWh
Qatar 0.4 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Nepal 0.4 W 1.2% 0.1 TWh
Uganda 0.4 W 3.4% 0.1 TWh
Moldova 0.4 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Eritrea 0.3 W 2.2% 0.0 TWh
Hong Kong SAR China 0.3 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Zimbabwe 0.3 W 0.4% 0.0 TWh
Togo 0.3 W 1.4% 0.0 TWh
Ecuador 0.3 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Mozambique 0.2 W 0.4% 0.1 TWh
Afghanistan 0.2 W 1.3% 0.1 TWh
Niger 0.2 W 3.1% 0.1 TWh
Myanmar (Burma) 0.2 W 0.4% 0.1 TWh
Ghana 0.2 W 0.3% 0.1 TWh
Somalia 0.2 W 7.3% 0.0 TWh
Libya 0.2 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Guinea 0.2 W 0.7% 0.0 TWh
Serbia 0.2 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Mali 0.2 W 0.9% 0.0 TWh
Sierra Leone 0.1 W 4.8% 0.0 TWh
Turkmenistan 0.1 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Tanzania 0.1 W 0.7% 0.1 TWh
South Sudan 0.1 W 1.8% 0.0 TWh
Burundi 0.1 W 2.2% 0.0 TWh
North Korea 0.1 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Benin 0.1 W 1.1% 0.0 TWh
Cameroon 0.1 W 0.2% 0.0 TWh
Indonesia 0.1 W 0.1% 0.2 TWh
Madagascar 0.1 W 1.0% 0.0 TWh
Sudan 0.1 W 0.2% 0.0 TWh
Angola 0.1 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Côte d’Ivoire 0.0 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh
Ethiopia 0.0 W 0.3% 0.0 TWh
Uzbekistan 0.0 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Nigeria 0.0 W 0.2% 0.1 TWh
Venezuela 0.0 W 0.0% 0.0 TWh
Congo - Kinshasa 0.0 W 0.1% 0.0 TWh