An aerial photo of a solar power station in Xinyu, east China's Jiangxi Province, March 1, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua]

Worldwide usage of solar power has increased significantly, led by a surge of installations in China.

That's according to the Guardian, who has reported that new global solar capacity grew by 50 percent over the last year, with strong increases also being reported in the USA.

In contrast to the worldwide trend, however, new solar installations in the UK fell during 2016.

That disappointing news follows widespread criticism of the British government's policy of reducing subsidies for some forms of renewable energy.

As we reported in January, there had even been claims that that policy would leave the country in the 'dark ages.' Now those predictions seem to be coming true.

When it comes to China, it isn't just solar power in which the country has taken a global lead.

Last week, we revealed that when it comes to renewable energy as a whole, the country had made great strides to transform power production to environmentally friendly solutions.

That news followed the announcement that the steel and coal industries in China face new capacity cuts, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

They've announced plans to suspend construction of large coal power plants and cut a total of 200 million tonnes of coal and steel output this year.