The 2017 top ten solar energy ranked countries in the world ranked by the SolarSuperState Association, include only two countries in the Asia and Pacific region, with Japan third and Australia ninth.

Liechtenstein tops the table with a cumulative installed photovoltaic capacity (P) of 578 watt/capita (W/c) with Germany in second place at 499 P, W/c. Other countries listed in the top ten include Italy, Belgium, Vatican City, San Marino, Luxembourg and Greece.

The SolarSuperState Association, a non-profit non-governmental organization based in Switzerland, ranks almost 200 countries annually by cumulative installed power per capita in two categories, solar energy and wind energy.

Tonga was ranked at number 36 under the solar energy category for two years in a row in 2015 and 2016 with 21 P, W/c and 38 P, W/c respectively.

Tonga

The Secretary General for SolarSuperState Association, Mr Stephan Volkwein told Matangi Tonga that the 2017 rankings for Tonga would be available in October.

However, he said he had difficulty obtaining information from Tonga and its utility company and was waiting to confirm how much photovoltaic the kingdom installed on 31 December 2016.

The Association awards an annual prize to the top states (country) and requests from every state “the early and total phasing out of fossil/nuclear energy usage”.

It says that the annual ranking “increases the transparency about the progress in renewable energies at the state level”.