List of photovoltaic power stations

2016–2020 development of Bhadla Solar Park (India) documented by satellite imagery

The following is a list of photovoltaic power stations that are larger than 500 megawatts (MW) in current net capacity.[1] Most are individual photovoltaic power stations, but some are groups of co-located plants owned by different independent power producers and with separate transformer connections to the grid. Wiki-Solar reports total global capacity of utility-scale photovoltaic plants to be some 96 GWAC which generated 1.3% of global power by the end of 2016.[2][3][4][5][6]

The size of photovoltaic power stations has increased progressively over the last decade with frequent new capacity records. The 97 MW Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant went online in 2010. Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park reached 200 MW in 2012. In August 2012, Agua Caliente Solar Project in Arizona reached 247 MW only to be passed by three larger plants in 2013. In 2014, two plants were tied as largest: Topaz Solar Farm, a PV solar plant at 550 MWAC in central coast area and a second 550-MW plant, the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm located in the far eastern desert region of California.[7][8] These two plants were superseded by a new world's largest facility in June 2015 when the 579 MWAC Solar Star project went online in the Antelope Valley region of Los Angeles County, California.[9]

Gonghe Talatan Solar Park (in Gonghe County, Qinghai, China) as the largest solar park in the world with a capacity of 15,600MW as of 2023 and a planning area of 609 km2, which is close to the land area of Singapore.[10]

As with other forms of power generation, there are important regional habitat modification problems, such as the heat island effect, and the resulting stress to local threatened species.[11] Several planned large facilities in the U.S. state of California have been downsized due in part to such concerns.[12][13]

  1. ^ Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant, and therefore any totals quoted are hybrid. See AC-DC conundrum: Latest PV power-plant ratings follies put focus on reporting inconsistency (update) Archived 2011-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Global installierte Photovoltaik-Kraftwerksleistung nähert sich der 100-Gigawatt-Marke". SolarServer. 2 March 2017. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ^ "2016年全球公用事业规模太阳能累计装机量接近100GW". Solar.OfWeek. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Solar energy | Renewable energy | Statistical Review of World Energy | Energy economics | BP". Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  5. ^ "Solar-powered sheep".
  6. ^ "PV park in NW China's Qinghai contributes to sustainable development - People's Daily Online".
  7. ^ "DOE Closes on Four Major Solar Projects". Renewable Energy World. 30 September 2011. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. ^ "2013 Top 250 Solar Contractors". Solar Power World. Archived from the original on 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  9. ^ Wesoff, Eric (26 June 2015). "Solar Star, Largest PV Power Plant in the World, Now Operational". Greentech Solar. Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  10. ^ "全球最大光伏产业园去年发电量达144亿千瓦时_涉藏动态_手机中国西藏网". m.tibet.cn. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  11. ^ Barron-Gafford, Greg A.; Minor, Rebecca L.; Allen, Nathan A.; Cronin, Alex D.; Brooks, Adria E.; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell A. (2016). "The Photovoltaic Heat Island Effect: Larger solar power plants increase local temperatures". Scientific Reports. 6: 35070. Bibcode:2016NatSR...635070B. doi:10.1038/srep35070. PMC 5062079. PMID 27733772.
  12. ^ Nellis, Stephen (November 8, 2010). "Bright, but not as big: Solar projects could be downsized to protect wildlife". Pacific Coast Business Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  13. ^ Rogers, Paul (July 21, 2017). "Giant California solar project cut back after environmentalists oppose it". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.