Solar panel statistics: How many are needed to power 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).

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Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
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