Solar panel statistics: How many are needed to power the world?
Discover key information on solar panels, including how many are needed to power your home, the UK, Europe and the world.
Given the rising cost of electricity in the UK many consumers may be tempted to turn to solar power, in an effort to power their home. The initial investment in solar panels can lead to savings in the long run.
Finder compiled the most relevant information on solar power in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
Solar panel statistics: Highlights
The average home in the UK would need around 9.2m² of solar panels to satisfy its yearly electricity demands, estimated at 2,900kWh.
The cost of solar panels to power the average home in the UK is around £2,588, the initial investment would be made up in less than 4 years by saving on electricity prices.
The UK would need around 980km² to satisfy its electricity needs, roughly 0.41% the total land area.
The world would need around 85,894km² of solar panels, roughly equal to the size of Hungary or the US state of Indiana to satisfy its yearly electricity demand.
How many solar panels do I need?
The average home in the UK would need around 9.2m² of solar panels to satisfy its yearly electricity demands, estimated at 2,900kWh. This figure was calculated using the UK average solar radiation per year, but solar panels may not be able to power the home during cloudy periods, or during the nighttime.
Are solar panels worth it?
Barring installation charges, the average home in the UK would need to spend an estimated £2,588, in order to cover its yearly electricity demand of 2,900kWh. Given the average electricity price of 34p/kWh, the initial investment would be repaid in free electricity, in less than 4 years.
Installing additional solar panels would speed up the process, since extra electricity generated is sold back to the grid at 6p–9p/kWh.
How many solar panels are needed to power the UK?
The UK would need around 980km² to satisfy its electricity needs, roughly 0.41% the total land area. Considering just 6% of the UK is currently built on it may well be possible, but it would represent a significant investment.
How many solar panels are needed to power Europe?
Most countries in Europe would be able to satisfy their electricity needs with less than 1% of their total land area being devoted to solar power.
Belgium has the highest ratio of solar panel area to total land area needed to power its electricity demand, requiring 363km² or about 1.20% of its total land area. Bulgaria would only need to cover 0.04% of its land to satisfy its electricity demands amounting to 217km².
How many solar panels are needed to power the world?
The world would need around 85,894km² of solar panels, roughly equal to the size of Hungary or the US state of Indiana, to satisfy its yearly energy demands. According to the International Energy Agency the world consumed around 22,848TWh in electricity in 2019.
Below is a list of each country on earth with the land area of solar panels and the percentage of the total land area of that country:
Country
Area of solar panels in km2
Percentage of total land
China
16632.66
0.18%
United States
12981.68
0.14%
India
3611.67
0.12%
Japan
4103.94
1.13%
Russia
4102.15
0.03%
Germany
1619.68
0.46%
Canada
1862.87
0.02%
Brazil
2203.47
0.03%
South Korea
1884.40
1.93%
France
1431.96
0.26%
United Kingdom
980.47
0.41%
Saudi Arabia
1685.37
0.08%
Italy
1326.91
0.45%
Mexico
910.43
0.05%
Spain
1487.90
0.30%
Taiwan
813.52
2.25%
Iran
742.85
0.05%
Turkey
917.61
0.12%
Australia
1082.68
0.01%
Indonesia
677.86
0.04%
South Africa
705.72
0.06%
Thailand
936.70
0.18%
Egypt
992.14
0.10%
Poland
540.35
0.18%
Vietnam
552.97
0.18%
Malaysia
461.34
0.14%
Sweden
461.81
0.11%
Ukraine
421.64
0.07%
Norway
461.15
0.13%
Argentina
560.93
0.02%
United Arab Emirates
340.62
0.48%
Netherlands
348.63
1.04%
Kazakhstan
529.57
0.02%
Pakistan
501.90
0.07%
Finland
262.53
0.09%
Belgium
363.35
1.20%
Philippines
283.20
0.09%
Chile
252.33
0.03%
Venezuela
253.24
0.03%
Colombia
256.50
0.02%
Austria
242.28
0.29%
Czech Republic
225.47
0.29%
Switzerland
189.32
0.48%
Kuwait
215.82
1.21%
Greece
192.07
0.15%
Algeria
171.49
0.01%
Israel
180.68
0.83%
Bangladesh
188.08
0.14%
Romania
294.37
0.13%
Uzbekistan
300.76
0.07%
Singapore
143.74
20.02%
Portugal
173.55
0.19%
Peru
294.15
0.02%
Hong Kong
141.00
13.43%
New Zealand
121.87
0.05%
Hungary
167.23
0.18%
Iraq
112.21
0.03%
Qatar
112.06
0.98%
Denmark
131.68
0.33%
Bulgaria
217.16
0.20%
Belarus
99.04
0.05%
Serbia
126.04
0.14%
Oman
151.79
0.05%
Morocco
108.63
0.02%
Libya
109.83
0.01%
Slovakia
187.87
0.38%
Bahrain
128.20
16.33%
Ireland
91.97
0.13%
Nigeria
81.06
0.01%
Ecuador
72.04
0.03%
Azerbaijan
66.01
0.08%
Puerto Rico
77.35
0.87%
Iceland
72.57
0.07%
Jordan
56.79
0.06%
Cuba
56.22
0.05%
Croatia
52.24
0.09%
Lebanon
55.07
0.54%
Dominican Republic
73.06
0.15%
Tunisia
54.05
0.03%
Turkmenistan
73.69
0.02%
Syria
46.68
0.03%
North Korea
72.07
0.06%
Slovenia
52.98
0.26%
Tajikistan
87.03
0.06%
Sri Lanka
45.38
0.07%
Georgia
89.30
0.13%
Sudan
40.10
0.00%
Bosnia and Herzegovina
39.71
0.08%
Mozambique
36.75
0.00%
Zambia
49.54
0.01%
Paraguay
38.21
0.01%
Uruguay
32.68
0.02%
Kyrgyzstan
53.23
0.03%
Lithuania
50.20
0.08%
Guatemala
31.92
0.03%
Trinidad and Tobago
43.86
0.86%
Costa Rica
35.20
0.07%
Ghana
27.89
0.01%
Ethiopia
29.66
0.00%
Angola
41.38
0.00%
Estonia
28.30
0.07%
Panama
35.51
0.05%
Kenya
26.78
0.00%
Bolivia
29.12
0.00%
DR Congo
22.14
0.00%
Honduras
24.42
0.02%
Zimbabwe
41.02
0.01%
Latvia
23.52
0.04%
Luxembourg
21.33
0.83%
Cameroon
41.52
0.01%
El Salvador
35.86
0.17%
Mongolia
39.10
0.00%
Cambodia
26.17
0.01%
Tanzania
18.66
0.00%
Afghanistan
28.45
0.00%
Laos
17.75
0.01%
Armenia
17.28
0.06%
Albania
16.29
0.06%
Macau
17.28
52.52%
Nepal
22.46
0.02%
Moldova
13.35
0.04%
Namibia
14.18
0.00%
Brunei
14.68
0.28%
Yemen
17.41
0.00%
Botswana
15.39
0.00%
Nicaragua
11.79
0.01%
Senegal
11.88
0.01%
Papua New Guinea
9.80
0.00%
Uganda
11.34
0.01%
Mali
9.74
0.00%
Jamaica
11.05
0.10%
Montenegro
8.02
0.06%
Mauritius
10.91
0.54%
Bhutan
6.36
0.02%
Malta
7.12
2.22%
Gabon
7.50
0.00%
Suriname
11.18
0.01%
Madagascar
11.26
0.00%
Burkina Faso
6.25
0.00%
Malawi
4.10
0.00%
Togo
6.50
0.01%
Benin
3.32
0.00%
Niger
3.66
0.00%
Mauritania
4.08
0.00%
Barbados
3.51
0.82%
Republic of the Congo
3.51
0.00%
Lesotho
3.12
0.01%
Fiji
3.47
0.02%
Guyana
4.84
0.00%
Marshall Islands
2.08
1.16%
Guinea
2.65
0.00%
Rwanda
2.12
0.01%
Equatorial Guinea
1.69
0.01%
Belize
1.47
0.01%
Haiti
1.42
0.01%
South Sudan
1.21
0.00%
Liechtenstein
2.00
1.25%
Burundi
2.22
0.01%
Djibouti
1.37
0.01%
Cape Verde
1.09
0.03%
Maldives
1.07
0.36%
Eritrea
1.10
0.00%
Saint Lucia
1.38
0.23%
Seychelles
1.37
0.30%
Somalia
1.14
0.00%
Antigua and Barbuda
0.96
0.22%
Sierra Leone
1.30
0.00%
Liberia
0.85
0.00%
Gambia
1.39
0.01%
Andorra
0.71
0.15%
Chad
0.89
0.00%
Grenada
0.65
0.19%
Saint Kitts and Nevis
1.07
0.41%
Micronesia
0.95
0.14%
Central African Republic
1.09
0.00%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
0.56
0.14%
Samoa
0.38
0.01%
Solomon Islands
0.32
0.00%
Dominica
0.34
0.04%
Vanuatu
0.20
0.00%
Sao Tome and Principe
0.18
0.02%
Tonga
0.17
0.02%
Guinea-Bissau
0.15
0.00%
Comoros
0.16
0.01%
Kiribati
0.12
0.01%
Nauru
0.07
0.34%
Methodology
The area of solar panels required was calculated from equation
E = A * r * H * PR
from photovoltaic-software.com.
For energy (E), we summed the countries’ electricity, natural gas and refined petroleum products consumption according to the CIA World.
For solar panel efficiency (r) and performance ratio (PR) we used the default values suggested by photovoltaic-software.com.
For annual average solar radiation (H), we averaged the total yearly values given for each country in OpenSolarDB.
Countries for which either the World Factbook or OpenSolarDB didn’t have data were left out of the analysis.
The total area needed to power the world was estimated by finding the average area needed for a country, and multiplying it by the total number of countries (195).
Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact –
Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications T: +44 20 8191 8806
Learn more about eEnergy Group’s recent performance and where you can invest in eEnergy Group shares. We also run through some helpful rules of thumb for any investor.
Read our full comparison of two of the UK’s biggest energy providers, including prices, tariffs, exit fees, green credentials and customer satisfaction information.
Is it possible to power the entire world with just solar energy? Discover how much land you’d need to to achieve just that. Click image to see the interactive version (via finder.com).
Matthew Boyle is a banking and mortgages publisher at Finder. He has a 7-year history of publishing helpful guides to assist consumers in making better decisions. In his spare time, you will find him walking in the Norfolk countryside admiring the local wildlife. See full bio
Matthew's expertise
Matthew has written 284 Finder guides across topics including:
Helping first-time buyers apply for a mortgage
Comparing bank accounts and highlighting useful features
Read our full comparison of two of the UK’s biggest energy providers, including prices, tariffs, exit fees, green credentials and customer satisfaction information.
Learn about “Big Six” supplier E.ON Next’s gas and electricity tariffs, its commitment to renewables – and what customers say.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser disclosure
Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.