
5 ways to save on energy bills this winter
With so many of us looking to cut costs this winter, here are some ways to save on gas and electricity while still staying safe and warm.
Read more…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
Finder compiled the most relevant information on solar power in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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% |
from photovoltaic-software.com.
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).
With so many of us looking to cut costs this winter, here are some ways to save on gas and electricity while still staying safe and warm.
Read more…Find out who gets the Warm Home Discount automatically, who needs to apply and how to do it. Plus more tips for saving on your energy bills.
Read more…The energy experts at Finder compare suppliers and rank them on several areas of customer service performance to give you an informed view.
Read more…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 more…Choosing between E.ON and EDF? Compare these two major energy suppliers on factors like available tariffs, Finder score, price and service.
Read more…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).
With so many of us looking to cut costs this winter, here are some ways to save on gas and electricity while still staying safe and warm.
Find out who gets the Warm Home Discount automatically, who needs to apply and how to do it. Plus more tips for saving on your energy bills.
The energy experts at Finder compare suppliers and rank them on several areas of customer service performance to give you an informed view.
Choosing between E.ON and EDF? Compare these two major energy suppliers on factors like available tariffs, Finder score, price and service.
Read our full comparison of two of the UK’s biggest energy providers, including prices, tariffs, exit fees, green credentials and customer satisfaction information.
Compare British Gas and EDF Energy on factors like available tariffs, price and customer service.
Choosing between two energy suppliers? Compare British Gas and E.ON on factors like available tariffs, price and customer service.
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