The Advertiser
By: Cathy Alexander
Germany may be a cloudy country - but it has 50 times as much solar power as sunny Australia.
An international study on clean energy conducted by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change has found Australia is far from leading the way.
Australia is considered a good fit for solar panels because it is sunny and has long daylight hours.
But it ranks 15th on the world solar scale, with fewer solar panels than Germany, South Korea, Mexico and South Africa. Experts blame a lack of government incentives for Australia's solar slump of the past 15 years.
The study found Australia was doing better on wind power and came in at 14th overall in clean energy investment last year, spending $1.1 billion - less than Turkey, Mexico and Canada.
China is leading the world on clean energy, spending the most and rivalling the US in installed capacity.