The solar industry has been booming in recent years, but solar energy still represents only a tiny fraction of the United State’s energy supply. As a new way of visualizing the installed capacity of solar and other renewable energies in the United States I decided to compare our total energy production by source with the total energy consumption of various countries. Note that this is different from the electricity consumption by each country, but instead attempts to account for the total energy consumed from all sources.

One surprising finding was that we have enough wind turbine capacity to provide for all of the energy needs of a country the size of Portugal. We also have enough total renewable energy production to bring the United Kingdom fully green. Check below for the full results.

The data I used is from the US Energy Information Administration. The US production data is for the latest year 2011, while for consumption I had to rely on slightly older 2009 data, but the numbers should still be fairly accurate.

Total Energy Consumption by Country: International Energy Statistics – Total Energy

US Energy Production by Source: Monthly Energy Report (Table 1.2)