Germany is global solar energy leader while U.S. still fails to deliver

Germany and plenty of sun, these two do not seem to go together hand in hand but when it comes to solar power production things change drastically. How drastically? Well, Germany is the current global solar energy leader in terms of installed solar power capacity with 38,250 megawatts (MW) according to the latest official data by International Eneregy Agency (IEA).

This is because Germany invests heavily in solar energy and other renewable energy sources. On the other hand, many people will find it surprising that United States is only 5th on the list with the capacity of 18,317 MW.

Despite the rapid development of solar power production in some states, most notably California, U.S. is still far off from being labeled as global solar energy leader.

Some may find it strange because U.S. has far greater territory than Germany, with many states having excellent solar insolation values, but in a country where fossil fuel lobbies still have plenty of power this shouldn't really come as that big of surprise.

The other countries, beside Germany, that are above United States in terms of solar power capacity are Italy with 18,622 MW, Japan 23,409 MW, and China with 28,330 MW.

 The total cumulative solar power capacity for the entire world was 177,000 MW at the end of 2014. A lot more is expected from solar energy sector in years to come.