
Where does the US rank in solar energy?
Country | 2018 Total | % Total Consumption |
---|---|---|
United States | 62,200 | 2.30% |
Japan | 55,500 | 6.80% |
Germany | 45,930 | 7.90% |
India | 26,869 | 5.40% |
Why doesn’t the US use solar energy? So why aren’t we using it more? It turns out there’s a lot of inertia built into the energy system. Many of us might assume that the reason so much energy still comes from gas and coal power plants is simple economics: those fuels are cheaper.
Can the US run on solar power alone? “If you wanted to power the entire U.S. with solar panels, it would take a fairly small corner of Nevada or Texas or Utah. You only need about 100 miles by 100 miles of solar panels to power the entire United States. The batteries you need to store the energy, to make sure you have 24/7 power, is 1 mile by 1 mile.
How much solar energy did the US use in 2020? The United States consumed over 1.2 quadrillion British thermal units of solar thermal and photovoltaic energy in 2020.