Your next travel shouldn’t go to waste. See the world’s largest solar installations. The fascination of seeing these power plants in the world is perhaps among the best educational trips you can take.
What is a solar farm? Solar farms are becoming the largest and most popular form of renewable energy in the world. The United States is also home to one of the largest solar farms in the world, which is located in California.
Solar farms are usually large arrays of photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into electricity. They also have large thermal storage tanks that can store heat from the day and release it during cloudy days or at night. These solar systems were built to their current large size (größe) based on two things: the amount of electricity to generate and the area available
Solar farms can be seen as a way to reduce carbon emissions and create a more sustainable future for our planet.
5 Largest Solar Farms in the World
Enel’s plant in Villanueva, Argentina is currently the largest solar plant in the Americas. The facility was built on a 2400-hectare site and has already generated three million kilowatt-hours of electricity from its 2.3 million-photovoltaic installation.
Read also: The Need for the Tourism Industry to Take Serious Steps Toward Sustainability
Gonghe, China
China is putting the finishing touches on a large solar power plant that will be fully operational later this year. The new plant will cover around 5,000 hectares of semi-arid land in Qinya county and should provide electricity equivalent to 2,200 MWAC – enough to power more than 1 million Chinese households.
China has been the world’s largest producer of solar power since 2009 and continues to be ahead of other countries in this area. This year China overtook Germany, which was a major leader in the renewable energy industry.
Sweihan Power Project, UAE
This solar plant became the largest in the world in June 2019 and was powered by 938 MWAC of solar panels that generate 1 million MWh. It was built in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The use of solar panels in the Emirates was led by Marubeni and JinkoSolar with an output of 1,177 MW at an optimized structure that is orientated towards the east and west. The UAE also features prominently on this list
Yanchi Solar Park
Yanchi Solar Park is becoming increasingly popular due to how close it is to Ningxia. It’s not a solar park as the name suggests. China Minsheng New Energy’s solar project uses 1,400 acres of land and generates power equivalent to 820 MWAC. It can maintain this power production throughout the year.
Copper Mountain Solar Facility, USA
The US has not ranked any bikes in the top 10, but their highest entry is now at 4. The Copper Mountain project was the first large-scale utility-scale solar plant in America. It was completed by Sempra Energy (a company) back in 2010.
With the addition of phase five, Southern Nevada Station’s operating capacity increased to 1,130 MW. The station is capable of generating clean power for more than 5,000 households within the region.
About 230 km southeast of Las Vegas, near Boulder City and Searchlight in the Eldorado Valley, is the area where a solar power plant resides.
Datong ‘Front Runner’, China
China added another 1 GW solar array in Datong district to their demonstration program. It is set up over multiple hilltops, and the project has been in place since 2016.
Another big project is located in Ili and covers a wide area. Because of its size, I did not include it as a single project on this list. There is also another new GWP project that’s being developed near Alashan in the Inner Mongolia region.