Using renewable sources of energy are any day better than exhausting the non-renewable sources and it seems the following countries have learnt this fact by heart. Here is a rundown on some countries that take pride in using solar energy to fulfill much of their energy needs.

Germany

Germany is clearly a leader when it comes to the countries having majority of solar power consumption. In 2009, 3.8 GW of PV solar energy capacities were installed and since then Germany has added at least 3.3 GW of new solar capacity every year.

The German government believes it is the good public awareness of the PV technology, good financing opportunities, a proven feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme, and a large availability of skilled PV companies is what has contributed to such a big success of solar energy installations in the country. There did come a drop in 2013 but the country is quite confident to keep up its position on the list by putting in even greater efforts.

China

China being the world’s most populous nation was a country to have the biggest carbon footprint as well. Somehow, awareness came and the country made major commitment to put solar energy into use that helped the country a lot to bring down its carbon footprint. Since 2009, a tremendous increase has been seen in China’s solar capacity. The country has a target to raise its solar capacity to 70 GW by 2017, and to cut down its coal use and rely on green energy.

Czech Republic

Solar energy is dominating in Czech Republic and the fast economic growth seems responsible for it. Starting from the year 2007, the country has been installing solar power capacities at a very good pace. Although the Czech Republic do not see as much sun as many of the other countries that top the list of sun energy users but easy and the low cost land available in the country is what has made it succeed in such a fast installation of solar energy farms.

United States

It seems as if increase in the electricity costs has given impetus to the solar energy usage in the United States. Americans have started taking interest in solar energy, its usage, and all the possibilities. Yet another reason responsible for the increase in this inclination is the rising amount of sunshine the US now sees every year. Talking about Us, California is the leader as it has around 60 percent of solar installations in America.

Italy

Italy has put in many efforts to rise from fifth to third position from 201o to the end of 2013. Italy has a lot of sunshine to be harnessed and this is what the Italian government understood and put to use, and today approximately 9 percent of the nation’s energy needs are met by solar power. It is doing a lot to harness solar power, as every two months some new solar panels are installed.

Japan

In the past 5 years, the country has brought a 500 percent increase in its solar capacity. Government residential PV programs, high national solar energy goals to reach 28 GW by 2020 and 53 GW by 2030, net-metering, and the support of local authorities is what has given this noble project a rise in the country.

Spain

Spain was once a leader in solar energy usage until it dropped from that position, giving way to Japan. The economic crisis led to a considerable fall in the energy demand that delayed solar energy panel installation in the country but now it is back on track and doing great as a proud solar energy user.

Almost every country across the globe is trying its best to increase its solar power dependency, as they have realized the benefits of using renewable sources of energy over the non-renewable ones.