Map Reveals How the World Could Switch to Solar Using a Tiny Amount of Land

A solar-powered society is not as unreasonable as it may seem. While Tesla CEO Elon Musk has told state governors about how the United States could easily switch to sun power using a small patch of land, only around 10 percent of the country’s energy is renewable. A new analysis published last week shows how most countries around the world could make the switch using just a tiny fraction of national space.

Price comparison website Finder.com has produced an interactive map that shows how the world could move onto solar energy. The group found that around 87 percent of countries could meet their power demands with solar panels covering less than five percent of the land area. The world could power itself on just 1.1 million square kilometers of solar panels, less than the size of South Africa.

“While, of course, we can’t replace South Africa with solar panels, spreading this area out across the world does seem like something we could achieve in the future,” the team writes.

Just three countries would need more solar panels than its land area to meet its energy needs: Bahrain would need 156 percent of its land space, Hong Kong needs 213 percent of its land space, and the city-state of Singapore would need a staggering 830 percent of its land space to go all-solar.

On the whole, though, the findings show how an all-solar future would use surprisingly little land for many countries. The United States, for example, would use a small block for power production:

It’s a small amount, but still notably larger than the figure Musk gave at the National Governors Association meeting in July, where he told 30 representatives that the country needs just 100 square miles of solar panels (or 259 square kilometers), combined with a battery pack around one square mile.

Canada would also use very little space to provide energy for its 37 million people:

China, the world’s most populous country, would require a small patch of land for its 1.4 billion people. The country has made big strides in the switch, including the 850 megawatt-capacity Longyangxia Dam Solar Park by the Tibetan plateau, one of the largest solar farms in the world stretching over 10 square miles, enough for 140,000 homes. A full switch would look something like this:

The same goes for Russia, the world’s largest country:

Not every country would find it straightforward to switch. Germany has an impressive track record with renewables, reaching a level of 85 percent usage in April 2017, but its 82 million people would need to cover most of the country to meet their energy needs from solar alone:

North Korea would require very little land:

South Korea, on the other hand, would have a much harder time:

The team used the following equation to work out the number of solar panels required:

Energy (kilowatt-hours) equals total solar panel area (square meters) multiplied by solar panel yield or efficiency (percent) multiplied by annual average solar radiation on tilted panels not including shadings multiplied by performance ratio

For energy the group looked at consumption based on the CIA World Factbook, yield and performance ratio used the standard figures provided on the Photovoltaic Software website that recommends the equation, while annual average solar radiation came from OpenSolarDB. Countries with missing data in the World Factbook or OpenSolarDB were left out of the map — which notably leaves out a large section of Latin America.

See the full list of countries below:

Afghanistan — 470 square km (0.1 percent)

Albania — 150 square km (0.6 percent)

Algeria — 3,010 square km (0.1 percent)

Andorra — 2 square km (0.3 percent)

Angola — 480 square km (0 percent)

Argentina — 7,380 square km (0.3 percent)

Armenia — 250 square km (0.9 percent)

Australia — 6,270 square km (0.1 percent)

Austria — 2,530 square km (3.1 percent)

Azerbaijan — 1,680 square km (2 percent)

Bahrain — 1,200 square km (156.3 percent)

Bangladesh — 2,810 square km (2.2 percent)

Belarus — 3,640 square km (1.8 percent)

Belgium — 6,240 square km (20.6 percent)

Benin — 140 square km (0.1 percent)

Bhutan — 30 square km (0.1 percent)

Bosnia and Herzegovina — 280 square km (0.6 percent)

Botswana — 80 square km (0 percent)

Brunei Darussalam — 280 square km (5.3 percent)

Bulgaria — 840 square km (0.8 percent)

Burkina Faso — 60 square km (0 percent)

Burundi — 10 square km (0 percent)

Cambodia — 140 square km (0.1 percent)

Cameroon — 200 square km (0 percent)

Canada — 24,010 square km (0.3 percent)

Cape Verde — 20 square km (0.4 percent)

Central African Republic — 10 square km (0 percent)

Chad — 10 square km (0 percent)

Chile — 2,040 square km (0.3 percent)

China — 106,200 square km (1.1 percent)

Comoros — 3 square km (0.2 percent)

Republic of the Congo — 220 square km (0.1 percent)

Democratic Republic of the Congo — 130 square km (0 percent)

Cote DIvoire — 300 square km (0.1 percent)

Croatia — 730 square km (1.3 percent)

Cyprus — 150 square km (1.6 percent)

Czech Republic — 2,360 square km (3.1 percent)

Denmark — 1,600 square km (3.8 percent)

Djibouti — 20 square km (0.1 percent)

Egypt — 6,400 square km (0.6 percent)

Eritrea — 10 square km (0 percent)

Estonia — 330 square km (0.8 percent)

Ethiopia — 200 square km (0 percent)

Fiji — 60 square km (0.3 percent)

Finland — 2,450 square km (0.8 percent)

France — 13,120 square km (2.4 percent)

Gabon — 130 square km (0.1 percent)

Gambia — 10 square km (0.1 percent)

Georgia — 350 square km (0.5 percent)

Germany — 86,460 square km (24.8 percent)

Ghana — 320 square km (0.1 percent)

Greece — 1,590 square km (1.2 percent)

Guinea — 50 square km (0 percent)

Guinea-Bissau — 10 square km (0 percent)

Hong Kong — 2,230 square km (212.5 percent)

Hungary — 2,230 square km (2.5 percent)

Iceland — 360 square km (0.4 percent)

India — 22,730 square km (0.8 percent)

Indonesia — 8,750 square km (0.5 percent)

Iran — 17,620 square km (1.1 percent)

Iraq — 3,060 square km (0.7 percent)

Ireland — 1,600 square km (2.3 percent)

Israel — 1,520 square km (7 percent)

Italy — 10,950 square km (3.7 percent)

Japan — 29,170 square km (8 percent)

Jordan — 740 square km (0.8 percent)

Kazakhstan — 2,340 square km (0.1 percent)

Kenya — 270 square km (0 percent)

North Korea — 140 square km (0.1 percent)

South Korea — 19,130 square km (19.6 percent)

Kuwait — 3,100 square km (17.4 percent)

Kyrgyzstan — 230 square km (0.1 percent)

Laos — 30 square km (0 percent)

Latvia — 460 square km (0.7 percent)

Lebanon — 530 square km (5.2 percent)

Lesotho — 20 square km (0.1 percent)

Liberia — 20 square km (0 percent)

Libya — 1,100 square km (0.1 percent)

Liechtenstein — 3 square km (1.9 percent)

Lithuania — 620 square km (1 percent)

Luxembourg — 460 square km (17.9 percent)

Macedonia — 160 square km (0.6 percent)

Madagascar — 50 square km (0 percent)

Malawi — 30 square km (0 percent)

Malaysia — 5,350 square km (1.6 percent)

Maldives — 30 square km (10.1 percent)

Mali — 30 square km (0 percent)

Malta — 130 square km (40.8 percent)

Mauritania — 50 square km (0 percent)

Mauritius — 80 square km (3.9 percent)

Mexico — 27,890 square km (1.4 percent)

Moldova — 360 square km (1.1 percent)

Mongolia — 140 square km (0 percent)

Morocco — 1,030 square km (0.2 percent)

Mozambique — 250 square km (0 percent)

Myanmar — 610 square km (0.1 percent)

Namibia — 80 square km (0 percent)

Netherlands — 9,720 square km (28.9 percent)

New Caledonia — 60 square km (0.3 percent)

New Zealand — 1,520 square km (0.6 percent)

Niger — 40 square km (0 percent)

Nigeria — 2,320 square km (0.3 percent)

Norway — 4,230 square km (1.2 percent)

Oman — 2,150 square km (0.7 percent)

Pakistan — 4,380 square km (0.6 percent)

Palestinian Territory — 50 square km (0.9 percent)

Philippines — 1,760 square km (0.6 percent)

Poland — 6,550 square km (2.1 percent)

Portugal — 1,490 square km (1.6 percent)

Qatar — 3,070 square km (26.5 percent)

Romania — 2,210 square km (1 percent)

Russia — 60,980 square km (0.4 percent)

Rwanda — 20 square km (0.1 percent)

Sao Tome and Principe — 3 square km (0.3 percent)

Saudi Arabia — 14,410 square km (0.7 percent)

Senegal — 150 square km (0.1 percent)

Sierra Leone — 20 square km (0 percent)

Singapore — 5,890 square km (830.2 percent)

Slovakia — 1,220 square km (2.5 percent)

Slovenia — 410 square km (2 percent)

Somalia — 20 square km (0 percent)

South Africa — 3,310 square km (0.3 percent)

Spain — 7,940 square km (1.6 percent)

Sri Lanka — 410 square km (0.7 percent)

Sudan — 310 square km (0 percent)

Swaziland — 20 square km (0.1 percent)

Sweden — 3,130 square km (0.8 percent)

Switzerland — 1,660 square km (4.2 percent)

Syria — 780 square km (0.4 percent)

Taiwan — 6,860 square km (18.9 percent)

Tajikistan — 160 square km (0.1 percent)

Tanzania — 260 square km (0 percent)

Thailand — 10,820 square km (2.1 percent)

Togo — 40 square km (0.1 percent)

Trinidad and Tobago — 2,370 square km (46.2 percent)

Tunisia — 810 square km (0.5 percent)

Turkey — 9,420 square km (1.2 percent)

Turkmenistan — 4,520 square km (1 percent)

Uganda — 90 square km (0 percent)

Ukraine — 5,390 square km (0.9 percent)

UAE — 9,980 square km (11.9 percent)

UK — 29,690 square km (12.3 percent)

US — 129,390 square km (1.4 percent)

Uzbekistan — 1,100 square km (0.3 percent)

Vietnam — 2,880 square km (0.9 percent)

Yemen — 410 square km (0.1 percent)

Zimbabwe — 120 square km (0 percent)