Altogether, Germany’s new solar plants produce as much as 300 megawatts of electricity a year. Japan followed Germany, with 280 megawatts of energy produced from new facilities, after which came the United States, with 90 megawatts from plants built in 2004.

The future looks bright for Germany’s solar power industry, which witnessed 60% growth in revenues 2004. Much of that success can be credited to Environment Minister Juergen Trittin, who has made efforts to promote renewable energies a pillar of his ministry’s program. When Trittin took up his position in 1998, solar energy accounted for only 14 megawatts of the energy produced that year. By last year, that number had risen more than 20-fold.

The latest news of the strides made in developing solar energy follows similar stories throughout 2004, a year in which Germany made its commitment to renewables clear to the world.

In September, the world’s largest solar power plant went on the grid near the eastern German city of Leipzig. The 22 million Eur ($27 million) plant is expected to prevent more than 3,700 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year and provides enough energy to supply over 1,800 households with electricity.

In April 2004, a conference held in Bonn on renewable energy sources ended with the pledge of 154 nations to provide one billion people worldwide with access to renewable energy sources by the year 2015.