Belgium better than California for solar power

Belgium is on course to have more solar power-generating capacity than California, if it doesn't already, writes Los Angeles broadcaster KCET’s Chris Clarke. According to clean energy website CleanTechnica, Belgium had 2,018MW of solar-generating capacity at the end of 2011. Even after the largest burst of solar installations in its history, California has only 2,073MW as of the end of last December. That’s only a 55MW margin, which Belgium may well have surpassed during 2012 (last year’s figures are still being compiled). Even with that year to catch up, California still loses badly to Belgium when that solar capacity is divided among population. In 2011, Belgium had more than 184W of solar per capita, compared to California’s 55W, in a region that is almost 14 times the size of Belgium; that’s including the 6% of Belgium that’s covered with water. California also trails behind a lot of other European countries, including Luxembourg, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.