That map doesn't effectively capture the intermittency of solar energy in different climates. In Britain the country gets less than 8 hours of energy during peak winter. It also often goes with overcast skies for extended periods of time. A bigger array does not solve these extended periods of non-production.
Today, around 1/3 of homes in the Netherlands have rooftop solar, accounting for 21% of total electric energy consumption.
Compare and contrast to the stats for 2013, when solar power made up just 0.16% of overall electricity generation and a negligible 0.96% of residences were fitted with PV systems.
The UK and NL are time zone neighbours, so I'd argue solar energy / duration are close also. Apparently the sun keeps shining in winter or with overcast skies regardless.
Initially I also had my doubts, but it seems we've got solar everywhere before the nuclear power mega projects are done with construction.
Take the European Pressurised Reactor. A French 'mass production' design from 1995, constructed starting 2005 in Finland, and commissioned in 2023. France got theirs running in 2025. China managed to generate electricity from a European Pressurised Reactor just a tad earlier, back in 2018, but the stats are filled with inaccuracies.
The mass production hype has been exceptionally farcical, considering we ended up with only three units.
It absolutely can be. Solar would even be harder hit in a place like Alaska, with the dual whammy of very cloudy and overcast for 9-10 months, and then so far north that the sun just barely sits on the horizon, which makes gathering sunlight very hard (very directional, 60deg angle panel, limited positioning). Works fine in summer of course, that's just a 2mo or so window.
That map doesn't effectively capture the intermittency of solar energy in different climates. In Britain the country gets less than 8 hours of energy during peak winter. It also often goes with overcast skies for extended periods of time. A bigger array does not solve these extended periods of non-production.