Today, solar technology is becoming more prevalent in the new development of buildings and homes. With the clean energy revolution in full swing, countries all over the world are investing in global energy now more than ever. While many of us already know the benefits of solar technology, there are some facts that you might not know.
Here are ten facts you probably didn’t know about Solar Technology.
1. Nearly twenty countries have already installed one gig watt of capacity
Since the recent Paris agreement on the rise, nations all over the globe are expanding their efforts to increase their installation of renewable solar capacity. However, nearly twenty countries have installed over 1GW since 2015, which has accounted for over 90%. With Asia’s combined account for almost 60% of energy capacity, this adds up to a total of over 800 gig watt, or 40% of solar capacity in the world.
2. The United Kingdom has the fifth largest energy capacity in Europe
With the overall eleventh rank with the most significant energy capacity in the world, the UK government has made recent cuts to the constantly-changing green policy and renewable subsidies. However, the UK has increased Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway to be one of the top countries with renewable energy capacity since 2006.
Currently, the United Kingdom is ranked as the 12th largest renewable energy producer at 33GW.
3. China alone have more capacity than all of Europe combined
While China is the biggest carbon emitter in the world, they do share the responsibility of installing renewable energy. What makes China’s plans more encouraging is that China currently has over 516 GW power capacities. That is over 20 GW more than the entire continued of Europe.
Back in 2015, China installed 15W of new capacity as Japan also installed 10GW – making a 48% increase in solar capacity in the entire continent of Asia.
4. Apple’s facilities in China is currently installing 2.2GW more energy capacity
As one of the many clean energy projects of Apple, the increase of 2.2 GW of power capacity in China makes it the 18th largest country in Asia for solar energy capacity. Apple, the tech mogul, has made considerable efforts to install more capacity in their manufacturing facilities. In return, the major increase will exceed the other thirteen countries in Asia.
5. Japan has 2.4GW more than Europe
Although China’s efforts to renewable capacity are widely known, Japan is the eighth largest emitter in the world. In fact, the “land of the rising run” has added another 10 GW of solar renewable capacity in 2016.
6. Hydropower is taking the lead of generating renewable energy
Since the start of 2016, more renewable generation capacity has increased the amount to almost 2,000GW around the globe. This amounts to a total of 26.3 GW of new capacity installed in China, Turkey, India, and Brazil. Besides, more than one gig watt was installed in Europe, North America, Iran, and Africa.
7. Moldova decreased capacity to more than 75%
As Moldova was recently caught up in the export web of Russia, the decline in its renewable energy generation capacity reduced from 68 MW to a small 3 MW within 12 months.
8. Thames River has more renewable capacity than over forty countries combined
With nearly 24,000 solar photovoltaic floats placed along the reservoir near Walton, the English capital can take pride in their 6.3 MW capacity of the Thames River can now generate more renewable energy for as many as forty countries.
9. Six more countries have accepted the OMW of solar power capacity
The countries of Kuwait, Niue, South Sudan, and Nauru will soon join along with the green community that holds the accolade of OMW.
10. Morocco has increased their energy capacity to over 160MW
The city of Quarzazate is famous for its major TV and film appearances including the Game of Thrones, Mummy, and Lawrence of Arabia. With its recent popularity increase, this created the construction of the largest solar power plant in the world. Currently, there are over 160 megawatts of power that is already in use as the power station is expected to be fully operational by 2018. As a result, Morocco will have more energy capacity in three years with over 580 megawatts than the country had in the past six years of installation.
Have you installed your solar technology in your home? Is your country increasing their energy capacity? Comment below and let us know what you think!