Seeing a massive array of solar panels lined up across a wide field or on the rooftop of a large building is a sight to behold. Much more impressive, though, are the incredibly large solar parks or solar energy farms that seem to stretch to the horizon. Let’s list some of the biggest ones that are producing vast amounts of clean electricity world-wide.
Massive Solar Farms: Tengger Desert Park – China
Located in Zhongwei in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China, the Tengger Desert Solar Park is the world’s largest photovoltaic plant at the time of this writing.
As its name states, the site is constructed across 1,200 kilometers (just under 750 miles) of the Tengger Desert. The area of the facility itself covers 43 square kilometers with a power output of 1,547 MW.
Both those figures are the largest of any photovoltaic plant in the world. This has rightfully earned the plant the moniker, ‘The Great Wall of Solar’.
Ourzazate Solar Power Station – Morocco
OSPS, also known as Noor Power Station, in Morocco is the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant. The giant energy farm is the size of around 3,500 football fields, an area almost equivalent to that of San Francisco! Truly one of the biggest solar farms in the world, area-wise.
To produce solar power it uses rows of mirrors, called “heliostats,” These track the movement of the sun. They direct and focus the sunlight onto a receiver. This heats up molten salts and fluids producing steam. The steam, in turn, drives enormous turbines to produce electricity.
The project is said to cost around $9 billion upon its completion, where it will then be able to provide a combined 582 MW peak capacity. That consists of 510 MW from its concentrated solar power capacity, complemented by 72 MW provided by the complex’s photovoltaic system.
Noor, incidentally, is the Arabic word that means ‘light’. It’s quite the fitting name, for one of the brightest solar farms, isn’t it?
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Farm – Dubai
This upcoming solar energy facility isn’t completed yet, but once it’s done sometime in 2030, it will be the world’s biggest solar power plant. At the moment, though, the construction is already in the third phase of a planned five-phase build.
When the third stage of phase 3 is done, the plant will have 1,000 MW of photovoltaic capacity. Once all the phases are working, the plant will have a total of around 2,863 MW. On an even longer-term plan, the facility will boast an estimated 5,000 MW capacity by 2030.
That capacity comes mostly from photovoltaic systems, with around 600 MW through parabolic trough and 100 MW through a solar power tower.
With those lofty goals, it’s no wonder this solar park is the linchpin of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to source 75% of the country’s total power output via clean energy by 2050.
Bhadla Solar Park – Largest of the solar farms in India
The Bhadla Solar Park occupies a site of 40 square kilometers. It currently produces 1,365 MW but this is constantly increasing. The farm is expanding rapidly, with plans to produce an additional 880 megawatts . Once it reaches full capacity, Bhadla will possibly be the largest solar facility in the world. This will help India come closer to its goal of obtaining 17% of its energy from solar power.
These are some of the gigantic solar farms across the globe
Those are just a few of the most impressive solar power projects. All are in operation or soon will be. Just the sheer size and scale of these facilities shows how many countries believe in solar. When it comes to energy all are going along the renewable route.
The current pace of solar energy development is tremendous. It won’t be a surprise if we’ll see even bigger plants. The largest projects today in terms of scale will be small by future standards. This will probably happen sooner rather than later.
What these massive solar farms mean for you
There is a lesson we can take from these amazing solar projects. Solar power is definitely the way forward into the future. With countries across the globe moving to clean, renewable solar energy, it makes sense for us all to follow.
If you’d like to find out how your home can easily benefit from solar power, contact us at Renewable Energy Corporation. We’ll show you how you can easily switch to solar, bringing enormous utility savings down the line.
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