The Netherlands, Germany and Spain: Which European countries are leading the solar revolution?

Travelling around Europe on a clear day, you’re increasingly likely to spy a sheet of solar panels glinting in the sun.

It’s a positive sign to most, if a recent survey showing that renewable energy is EU citizens’ favoured way out of the climate crisis is anything to go by.

But some politicians are still finding ways to cast solar fields in a bad light, within a wider trend of climate action being politicised. While still competing with Liz Truss to become UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak vowed that he would not see “swathes of our best farmland [lost] to solar farms.”

This is despite ground-mounted solar panels currently covering just 0.1 per cent of all land in the UK, well behind that dedicated to golf courses.

The full picture is much more varied. More and more solar panels are cropping up by roadsides, on reservoirs, and the disused land beside train tracks, as the Europe's energy landscape - and so its physical landscape - changes for the better.

As it must: by 2035, solar needs to grow ninefold to put the continent on a pathway compatible with 1.5C warming, according to clean energy think tank Ember.

We spoke to experts about which countries are leading the way, and what is needed for solar to play its part in the green energy transition.

There’s a number of different metrics by which you can judge a country’s solar success.

Looking at the percentage of electricity generated by solar in the energy mix, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain come out on top, with 23 per cent, 19 per cent and 17 per cent respectively during summer 2022.

Greece is typically a top performer here too, recently celebrating generating 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables for the first time (albeit for only five hours).

The countries where so