China tops energy league - here's why

More than six decades ago, three American scientists invented the silicon photovoltaic cell at the Bell Labs in New Jersey, thus laying the basis for most modern solar power systems.

After years of development, China is now the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels and is also the world's largest market for both photovoltaic and solar thermal energy, with more than 60 percent of the world's solar panels made in the country.

It is also home to numerous sizable solar farms, including the Longyangxia dam solar park located in Qinghai province that consists of 4 million solar panels and generates around 220-gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, which can power 200,000 households.