Photovoltaic power station

A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building-mounted and other decentralized solar power because they supply power at the utility level, rather than to a local user or users. Utility-scale solar is sometimes used to describe this type of project.

This approach differs from concentrated solar power, the other major large-scale solar generation technology, which uses heat to drive a variety of conventional generator systems. Both approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but to date, for a variety of reasons, photovoltaic technology has seen much wider use. As of 2019^[update], about 97% of utility-scale solar power capacity was PV.<ref name=WikiSolar_2019>Wolfe, Philip (17 March 2020). "Utility-scale solar sets new record" (PDF). Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 11 May 2010.</ref><ref>"Concentrated solar power had a global total installed capacity of 6,451 MW in 2019". HelioCSP. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.</ref>

In some countries, the nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations is rated in megawatt-peak (MW_p), which refers to the solar array's theoretical maximum DC power output. In other countries, the manufacturer states the surface and the efficiency. However, Canada, Japan, Spain, and the United States often specify using the converted lower nominal power output in MW_AC, a measure more directly comparable to other forms of power generation. Most solar parks are developed at a scale of at least 1 MW_p. As of 2018, the world's largest operating photovoltaic power stations surpassed 1 gigawatt. At the end of 2019, about 9,000 solar farms were larger than 4 MW_AC (utility scale), with a combined capacity of over 220 GW_AC.<ref name="WikiSolar_2019" />

Most of the existing large-scale photovoltaic power stations are owned and operated by independent power producers, but the involvement of community and utility-owned projects is increasing.<ref>"Expanding Renewable Energy in Pakistan's Electricity Mix". World Bank. Retrieved 17 July 2022.</ref> Previously, almost all were supported at least in part by regulatory incentives such as feed-in tariffs or tax credits, but as levelized costs fell significantly in the 2010s and grid parity has been reached in most markets, external incentives are usually not needed.

History

Serpa Solar Park built in Portugal in 2006

The first 1 MW_p solar park was built by Arco Solar at Lugo near Hesperia, California, at the end of 1982,<ref name="Lugo">Arnett, J.C.; Schaffer, L. A.; Rumberg, J. P.; Tolbert, R. E. L.; et al. (1984). "Design, installation and performance of the ARCO Solar one-megawatt power plant". Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference, Athens, Greece. EC Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference: 314. Bibcode:1984pvse.conf..314A.</ref> followed in 1984 by a 5.2 MW_p installation in Carrizo Plain.<ref name="Carrisa">Wenger, H.J.; et al. "Decline of the Carrisa Plains PV power plant". Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1991., Conference Record of the Twenty Second IEEE. IEEE. doi:10.1109/PVSC.1991.169280. S2CID 120166422.</ref> Both have since been decommissioned (although a new plant, Topaz Solar Farm, was commissioned in Carrizo Plain in 2015).<ref>"Topaz Solar Farm, California". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2022.</ref> The next stage followed the 2004 revisions<ref name="EEG2004">"The Renewable Energy Sources Act" (PDF). Bundesgesetzblatt 2004 I No. 40. Bundesumweltministerium(BMU). 21 July 2004. Retrieved 13 April 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}</ref> to the feed-in tariffs in Germany,<ref name="solarplaza" /> when a substantial volume of solar parks were constructed.<ref name="solarplaza">"Top 10 Solar PV power plants". SolarLab. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.</ref>

Several hundred installations over 1 MW_p have since been installed in Germany, of which more than 50 are over 10 MW_p.<ref name=Wiki-Germany>"Solar parks map – Germany". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> With its introduction of feed-in tariffs in 2008, Spain briefly became the largest market with some 60 solar parks over 10 MW,<ref name=Spain_map>"Solar parks map – Spain". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> but these incentives have since been withdrawn.<ref>"An Early Focus on Solar". National Geographic. Retrieved 22 March 2018.^{[dead link]} Retrieved 5 March 2015</ref> The USA,<ref name=USA_map>"Solar parks map – USA". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> China,<ref name=China_map>"Solar parks map – China". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> India,<ref name=India_map>"Solar parks map – India". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> France,<ref name=France_map>"Solar parks map – France". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> Canada,<ref name=Canada_map>"Solar parks map – Canada". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> Australia,<ref name=Australia_map>"Solar parks map – Australia". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> and Italy,<ref name=Italy_map>"Solar parks map – Italy". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> among others, have also become major markets as shown on the list of photovoltaic power stations.

The largest sites under construction have capacities of hundreds of MW_p and some more than 1 GW_p.<ref name="Topaz">"Topaz Solar Farm". First Solar. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.</ref><ref>Olson, Syanne (10 January 2012). "Dubai readies for 1,000MW Solar Park". PV-Tech. Retrieved 21 February 2012.</ref><ref>"MX Group Spa signs a 1.75 Billion Euros agreement for the construction in Serbia of the largest solar park in the world" (PDF). Retrieved 6 March 2012.</ref>

Siting and land use

The land area required for a desired power output varies depending on the location,<ref name=Statistics /> the efficiency of the solar panels,<ref>Joshi, Amruta. "Estimating per unit area energy output from solar PV modules". National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> the slope of the site,<ref>"Screening Sites for Solar PV Potential" (PDF). Solar Decision Tree. US Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> and the type of mounting used. Fixed tilt solar arrays using typical panels of about 15% efficiency<ref>"An overview of PV panels". SolarJuice. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> on horizontal sites, need about 1 hectare (2.5 acres)/MW in the tropics and this figure rises to over 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in northern Europe.<ref name=Statistics />

Because of the longer shadow the array casts when tilted at a steeper angle,<ref name=tilt_spacing>"Calculating Inter-Row Spacing" (PDF). Technical Questions & Answers. Solar Pro Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> this area is typically about 10% higher for an adjustable tilt array or a single axis tracker, and 20% higher for a 2-axis tracker,<ref name=Wolfe_book>Wolfe, Philip (2012). Solar Photovoltaic Projects in the Mainstream Power Market. Oxford: Routledge. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-415-52048-5.</ref> though these figures will vary depending on the latitude and topography.<ref>"Solar Radiation on a Tilted Surface". PVEducation.org. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

The best locations for solar parks in terms of land use are held to be brown field sites, or where there is no other valuable land use.<ref>"Solar parks: maximising environmental benefits". Natural England. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref> Even in cultivated areas, a significant proportion of the site of a solar farm can also be devoted to other productive uses, such as crop growing<ref>"Person County Solar Park Makes Best Use of Solar Power and Sheep". solarenergy. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref><ref>"Person County Solar Park One". Carolina Solar Energy. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref> or biodiversity.<ref>"Solar Parks – Opportunities for Biodiversity". German Renewable Energies Agency. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref> The change in albedo affects local temperature. One study claims a temperature rise due to the heat island effect,<ref>Barron-Gafford, Greg A.; Minor, Rebecca L.; Allen, Nathan A.; Cronin, Alex D.; Brooks, Adria E.; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell A. (December 2016). "The Photovoltaic Heat Island Effect: Larger solar power plants increase local temperatures". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 35070. Bibcode:2016NatSR...635070B. doi:10.1038/srep35070. PMC 5062079. PMID 27733772. S2CID 4587161.</ref> and another study claims that surroundings in arid ecosystems become cooler.<ref>Guoqing, Li; Hernandez, Rebecca R; Blackburn, George Alan; Davies, Gemma; Hunt, Merryn; Whyatt, James Duncan; Armstrong, Alona (August 2021). "Ground-mounted photovoltaic solar parks promote land surface cool islands in arid ecosystems". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition. 1: 100008. doi:10.1016/j.rset.2021.100008. S2CID 239061813.</ref>

Agrivoltaics

Agrivoltaics is using the same area of land for both solar photovoltaic power and agriculture. A recent study found that the value of solar generated electricity coupled to shade-tolerant crop production created an over 30% increase in economic value from farms deploying agrivoltaic systems instead of conventional agriculture.<ref>Harshavardhan Dinesh, Joshua M. Pearce, The potential of agrivoltaic systems, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54, 299–308 (2016).</ref>

Solar landfill

A Solar landfill is a repurposed used landfill that is converted to a solar array solar farm.<ref>"U.S. Landfills Are Getting a Second Life as Solar Farms". 2 June 2022.</ref>

Co-location

In some cases, several different solar power stations with separate owners and contractors are developed on adjacent sites.<ref name="Co-location">Wolfe, Philip. "The world's largest solar power stations" (PDF). Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 11 May 2020.</ref><ref>"Addendum to conditional use permit" (PDF). Kern County Planning and Community development Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref> This can offer the advantage of the projects sharing the cost and risks of project infrastructure such as grid connections and planning approval.<ref name="Solar_Parks">Wolfe, Philip. "The world's largest solar parks" (PDF). Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 11 May 2020.</ref><ref>"Smart Grid transmission scheme for Evacuation of Solar Power" (PDF). Workshop on smart grid development. Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> Solar farms can also be co-located with wind farms.<ref>"E.ON's Solar PV Portfolio". E.On. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

Sometimes 'solar park' is used to describe a set of individual solar power stations, which share sites or infrastructure,<ref name="Solar_Parks" /><ref>"Solar parks: maximising environmental benefits". Natural England. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref><ref>"First solar park set for Upington, Northern Cape". Frontier Market Intelligence. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref> and 'cluster' is used where several plants are located nearby without any shared resources.<ref>Wolfe, Philip. "Large clusters of solar power stations" (PDF). Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 11 May 2020.</ref> Some examples of solar parks are the Charanka Solar Park, where there are 17 different generation projects; Neuhardenberg,<ref name=Neuhardenberg /><ref>"Solarpark Neuhardenberg – site plan". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> with eleven plants, and the Golmud solar park with total reported capacity over 500 MW.<ref>"Qinghai leads in photovoltaic power". China Daily. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.</ref><ref name=Golmud>"Golmud Desert Solar Park – satellite view". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 March 2018.</ref> An extreme example would be calling all of the solar farms in the Gujarat state of India a single solar park, the Gujarat Solar Park.

To avoid land use altogether, in 2022, a 5 MW floating solar park was installed in the Alqueva Dam reservoir, Portugal, enabling solar power and hydroelectric energy to be combined.<ref name=CNBC_20220720/> Separately, a German engineering firm committed to integrating an offshore floating solar farm with an offshore wind farm to use ocean space more efficiently.<ref name=CNBC_20220720/> The projects involve "hybridization", in which different renewable energy technologies are combined in one site.<ref name=CNBC_20220720>Frangoul, Anmar (22 July 2022). "A pilot project in the North Sea will develop floating solar panels that glide over waves 'like a carpet'". CNBC. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022.</ref>

Solar farms in space

The first successful test in January 2024 of a solar farm in space—collecting solar power from a photovoltaic cell and beaming energy down to Earth—constituted an early feasibility demonstration completed.<ref name=Independent_20240118/> Such setups are not limited by cloud cover or the Sun’s cycle.<ref name=Independent_20240118>Cuthbertson, Anthony (18 January 2024). "First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024.</ref>

Technology

Most solar parks are ground mounted PV systems, also known as free-field solar power plants.<ref name=Free_field> "Free-field solar power plants a solution that allows power to be generated faster and more cost-effectively than offshore wind". OpenPR. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2013. </ref> They can either be fixed tilt or use a single axis or dual axis solar tracker.<ref name=mounting_tilt> "Optimum Tilt of Solar Panels". MACS Lab. Retrieved 19 October 2014. </ref> While tracking improves the overall performance, it also increases the system's installation and maintenance cost.<ref> "Tracked vs Fixed: PV system cost and AC power production comparison" (PDF). WattSun. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2012. </ref><ref> "To Track or Not To Track, Part II". Report Snapshot. Greentech Solar. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> A solar inverter converts the array's power output from DC to AC, and connection to the utility grid is made through a high voltage, three phase step up transformer of typically 10 kV and above.<ref name=transformer> "3-phase transformer" (PDF). Conergy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2013. </ref><ref name=Grid_voltage>"Popua Solar Farm". Meridian Energy. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

Solar array arrangements

The solar arrays are the subsystems which convert incoming light into electrical energy.<ref>"Solar cells and photovoltaic arrays". Photovoltaics. Alternative Energy News. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> They comprise a multitude of solar panels, mounted on support structures and interconnected to deliver a power output to electronic power conditioning subsystems.<ref name=system_schematic>Kymakis, Emmanuel; et al. "Performance analysis of a grid connected photovoltaic park on the island of Crete" (PDF). Elsevier. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> The majority are free-field systems using ground-mounted structures,<ref name=Free_field /> usually of one of the following types:

Fixed arrays

Many projects use mounting structures where the solar panels are mounted at a fixed inclination calculated to provide the optimum annual output profile.<ref name=mounting_tilt /> The panels are normally oriented towards the Equator, at a tilt angle slightly less than the latitude of the site.<ref>"Mounting solar panels". 24 volt. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> In some cases, depending on local climatic, topographical or electricity pricing regimes, different tilt angles can be used, or the arrays might be offset from the normal east–west axis to favour morning or evening output.<ref name=SEAI>"Best Practice Guide for Photovoltaics (PV)" (PDF). Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

A variant on this design is the use of arrays, whose tilt angle can be adjusted twice or four times annually to optimise seasonal output.<ref name=mounting_tilt /> They also require more land area to reduce internal shading at the steeper winter tilt angle.<ref name=tilt_spacing /> Because the increased output is typically only a few percent, it seldom justifies the increased cost and complexity of this design.<ref name=Wolfe_book />

Dual axis trackers

To maximise the intensity of incoming direct radiation, solar panels should be orientated normal to the sun's rays.<ref>"PV Energy Conversion Efficiency". Solar Energy. Solarlux. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> To achieve this, arrays can be designed using two-axis trackers, capable of tracking the sun in its daily movement across the sky, and as its elevation changes throughout the year.<ref>Mousazadeh, Hossain; et al. "A review of principle and sun-tracking methods for maximizing" (PDF). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009) 1800–1818. Elsevier. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

These arrays need to be spaced out to reduce inter-shading as the sun moves and the array orientations change, so need more land area.<ref name=Trackers_REW>Appleyard, David (June 2009). "Solar Trackers: Facing the Sun". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> They also require more complex mechanisms to maintain the array surface at the required angle. The increased output can be of the order of 30%<ref name=Trackers>Suri, Marcel; et al. "Solar Electricity Production from Fixed-inclined and Sun-tracking c-Si Photovoltaic Modules in" (PDF). Proceedings of 1st Southern African Solar Energy Conference (SASEC 2012), 21–23 May 2012, Stellenbosch, South Africa. GeoModel Solar, Bratislava, Slovakia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> in locations with high levels of direct radiation, but the increase is lower in temperate climates or those with more significant diffuse radiation, due to overcast conditions. So dual axis trackers are most commonly used in subtropical regions,<ref name=Trackers_REW /> and were first deployed at utility scale at the Lugo plant.<ref name=Lugo />

Single axis trackers

A third approach achieves some of the output benefits of tracking, with a lesser penalty in terms of land area, capital and operating cost. This involves tracking the sun in one dimension – in its daily journey across the sky – but not adjusting for the seasons.<ref name=NREL_tracker>Shingleton, J. "One-Axis Trackers – Improved Reliability, Durability, Performance, and Cost Reduction" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> The angle of the axis is normally horizontal, though some, such as the solar park at Nellis Air Force Base, which has a 20° tilt,<ref>"Nellis Air Force Base Solar Power System" (PDF). US Air Force. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.</ref> incline the axis towards the equator in a north–south orientation – effectively a hybrid between tracking and fixed tilt.<ref>"T20 Tracker" (PDF). Data sheet. SunPower Corporation. Retrieved 14 April 2013.</ref>

Single axis tracking systems are aligned along axes roughly north–south.<ref>Li, Zhimin; et al. (June 2010). "Optical performance of inclined south-north single-axis tracked solar panels". Energy. 10 (6): 2511–2516. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2010.02.050.</ref> Some use linkages between rows so that the same actuator can adjust the angle of several rows at once.<ref name=NREL_tracker />

Power conversion

Solar panels produce direct current (DC) electricity, so solar parks need conversion equipment<ref name=system_schematic /> to convert this to alternating current (AC), which is the form transmitted by the electricity grid. This conversion is done by inverters. To maximise their efficiency, solar power plants also vary the electrical load, either within the inverters or as separate units. These devices keep each solar array string close to its peak power point.<ref>"Invert your thinking: Squeezing more power out of your solar panels". scientificamerican.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.</ref>

There are two primary alternatives for configuring this conversion equipment; centralized and string inverters,<ref>"Understanding Inverter Strategies". Solar Novus Today. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> although in some cases individual, or micro-inverters are used.<ref>"Photovoltaic micro-inverters". SolarServer. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> Single inverters allows optimizing the output of each panel, and multiple inverters increases the reliability by limiting the loss of output when an inverter fails.<ref name=casestudy/>

Centralized inverters

These units have relatively high capacity, typically of the order between 1 MW up to 7 MW for newer units (2020),<ref name=inverters_REW> Lee, Leesa (2 March 2010). "Inverter technology drives lower solar costs". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved 30 December 2012. </ref> so they condition the output of a substantial block of solar arrays, up to perhaps 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in area.<ref>"Solar Farm Fact Sheet" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved 13 April 2012.</ref> Solar parks using centralized inverters are often configured in discrete rectangular blocks, with the related inverter in one corner, or the centre of the block.<ref>"Sandringham Solar Farm" (PDF). Invenergy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2012.</ref><ref>"McHenry Solar Farm" (PDF). ESA. Retrieved 13 April 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}</ref><ref>"Woodville Solar Farm" (PDF). Dillon Consulting Limited. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref>

String inverters

String inverters are substantially lower in capacity than central inverters, of the order of 10 kW up to 250 KW for newer models (2020),<ref name=inverters_REW /><ref>Appleyard, David. "Making waves: Inverters continue to push efficiency". Renewable Energy World. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> and condition the output of a single array string. This is normally a whole, or part of, a row of solar arrays within the overall plant. String inverters can enhance the efficiency of solar parks, where different parts of the array are experiencing different levels of insolation, for example where arranged at different orientations, or closely packed to minimise site area.<ref name=casestudy>"Case study: German solar park chooses decentralized control". Solar Novus. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref>

Transformers

The system inverters typically provide power output at voltages of the order of 480 V_AC up to 800 V_AC.<ref>"1 MW Brilliance Solar Inverter". General Electric Company. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref><ref name=planning>"Planning aspects of solar parks" (PDF). Ownergy Plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> Electricity grids operate at much higher voltages of the order of tens or hundreds of thousands of volts,<ref>Larsson, Mats. "Coordinated Voltage Control" (PDF). International Energy Agency. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> so transformers are incorporated to deliver the required output to the grid.<ref name=Grid_voltage /> Due to the long lead time, the Long Island Solar Farm chose to keep a spare transformer onsite, as transformer failure would have kept the solar farm offline for a long period.<ref>"Long Island Solar Farm Goes Live!". Blue Oak Energy. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref> Transformers typically have a life of 25 to 75 years, and normally do not require replacement during the life of a photovoltaic power station.<ref>"Analysis of Transformer Failures". BPL Global. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>

System performance

The performance of a solar park depends on the climatic conditions, the equipment used and the system configuration. The primary energy input is the global light irradiance in the plane of the solar arrays, and this in turn is a combination of the direct and the diffuse radiation.<ref>Myers, D R (September 2003). "Solar Radiation Modeling and Measurements for Renewable Energy Applications: Data and Model Quality" (PDF). Proceedings of International Expert Conference on Mathematical Modeling of Solar Radiation and Daylight. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> In some regions soiling, the accumulation of dust or organic material on the solar panels that blocks incident light, is a significant loss factor.<ref name="Ilse">Ilse K, Micheli L, Figgis BW, Lange K, Dassler D, Hanifi H, Wolfertstetter F, Naumann V, Hagendorf C, Gottschalg R, Bagdahn J (2019). "Techno-Economic Assessment of Soiling Losses and Mitigation Strategies for Solar Power Generation". Joule. 3 (10): 2303–2321. doi:10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.019. hdl:11573/1625631.</ref>

A key determinant of the output of the system is the conversion efficiency of the solar panels, which depends in particular on the type of solar cell used.<ref>Green, Martin; Emery, Keith; Hishikawa, Yoshihiro & Warta, Wilhelm (2009). "Solar Cell Efficiency Tables" (PDF). Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 17: 85–94. doi:10.1002/pip.880. S2CID 96129300. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

There will be losses between the DC output of the solar panels and the AC power delivered to the grid, due to a wide range of factors such as light absorption losses, mismatch, cable voltage drop, conversion efficiencies, and other parasitic losses.<ref>Picault, D; Raison, B.; Bacha, S.; de la Casa, J.; Aguilera, J. (2010). "Forecasting photovoltaic array power production subject to mismatch losses" (PDF). Solar Energy. 84 (7): 1301–1309. Bibcode:2010SoEn...84.1301P. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2010.04.009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref> A parameter called the 'performance ratio'<ref name=PerfRatio>Marion, B (); et al. "Performance Parameters for Grid-Connected PV Systems" (PDF). NREL. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref> has been developed to evaluate the total value of these losses. The performance ratio gives a measure of the output AC power delivered as a proportion of the total DC power which the solar panels should be able to deliver under the ambient climatic conditions. In modern solar parks the performance ratio should typically be in excess of 80%.<ref>"The Power of PV – Case Studies on Solar Parks in Eastern" (PDF). Proceeding Renexpo. CSun. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2013.</ref><ref>"Avenal in ascendance: Taking a closer look at the world's largest silicon thin-film PV power plant". PV-Tech. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

System degradation

Early photovoltaic systems output decreased as much as 10%/year,<ref name=Carrisa/> but as of 2010 the median degradation rate was 0.5%/year, with panels made after 2000 having a significantly lower degradation rate, so that a system would lose only 12% of its output performance in 25 years. A system using panels which degrade 4%/year will lose 64% of its output during the same period.<ref>"Outdoor PV Degradation Comparison". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref> Many panel makers offer a performance guarantee, typically 90% in ten years and 80% over 25 years. The output of all panels is typically warranted at plus or minus 3% during the first year of operation.<ref>"New Industry Leading Warrantee". REC Group. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>

The business of developing solar parks

Solar power plants are developed to deliver merchant electricity into the grid as an alternative to other renewable, fossil or nuclear generating stations.<ref>"Alternative Energy". Alternative Energy. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

The plant owner is an electricity generator. Most solar power plants today are owned by independent power producers (IPP's),<ref>"independent power producer (IPP), non-utility generator (NUG)". Dictionary. Energy Vortex. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> though some are held by investor- or community-owned utilities.<ref>"Investor-owned utility". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

Some of these power producers develop their own portfolio of power plants,<ref>"Owners and IPPs". Deployment of utility-scale solar parks by company. Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 5 March 2015.</ref> but most solar parks are initially designed and constructed by specialist project developers.<ref>Wang, Ucilia (27 August 2012). "The Crowded Field of Solar Project Development". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> Typically the developer will plan the project, obtain planning and connection consents, and arrange financing for the capital required.<ref>"Leadership across the Entire Value Chain". First Solar. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> The actual construction work is normally contracted to one or more engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors.<ref>Englander, Daniel (18 May 2009). "Solar's New Important Players". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>^{[unreliable source?]}

Major milestones in the development of a new photovoltaic power plant are planning consent,<ref>"Solar farm on 20 acres of Kauai land gets county planning commission approval". Solar Hawaii. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> grid connection approval,<ref>"Aylesford – Certificate for grid connection". Aylesford Solar Park. AG Renewables. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> financial close,<ref name=SunEdison_SA>"SunEdison Closes R2.6 Billion (US$314 Million) in Funding for 58 MW (AC) in South Africa Solar Projects". SunEdison. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> construction,<ref>"juwi starts build on its first solar park in South Africa". Renewable Energy Focus. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> connection and commissioning.<ref>"Saudi Arabia's Largest Solar Park Commissioned". Islamic Voice. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> At each stage in the process, the developer will be able to update estimates of the anticipated performance and costs of the plant and the financial returns it should be able to deliver.<ref>"Large scale solar parks". Know Your Planet. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Planning approval

Photovoltaic power stations occupy at least one hectare for each megawatt of rated output,<ref>"Statistics about some selected markets for utility-scale solar parks". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> so require a substantial land area; which is subject to planning approval. The chances of obtaining consent, and the related time, cost and conditions, vary by jurisdiction and location. Many planning approvals will also apply conditions on the treatment of the site after the station has been decommissioned in the future.<ref name=planning /> A professional health, safety and environment assessment is usually undertaken during the design of a PV power station in order to ensure the facility is designed and planned in accordance with all HSE regulations.

Grid connection

The availability, locality and capacity of the connection to the grid is a major consideration in planning a new solar park, and can be a significant contributor to the cost.<ref>"Τα "κομμάτια του πάζλ" μιας επένδυσης σε Φ/Β". Greek Photovoltaics Guide. Renelux. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

Most stations are sited within a few kilometres of a suitable grid connection point. This network needs to be capable of absorbing the output of the solar park when operating at its maximum capacity. The project developer will normally have to absorb the cost of providing power lines to this point and making the connection; in addition often to any costs associated with upgrading the grid, so it can accommodate the output from the plant.<ref>"Connecting your new home, building or development to Ausgrid's electricity network". Ausgrid. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> Therefore, solar power stations are sometimes built at sites of former coal-fired power stations to reuse existing infrastructure.<ref>"The Switch to Solar at Coal Power Plants and Mines is On". dpfacilities.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.</ref>

Operation and maintenance

Once the solar park has been commissioned, the owner usually enters into a contract with a suitable counterparty to undertake operation and maintenance (O&M).<ref>McHale, Maureen. "Not All O&M Agreements Are Alike". InterPV. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> In many cases this may be fulfilled by the original EPC contractor.<ref>"Project Overview". Agua Caliente Solar Project. First Solar. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Solar plants' reliable solid-state systems require minimal maintenance, compared to rotating machinery.<ref name=low_maintenance>"Advantages of Solar Energy". Conserve Energy Future. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> A major aspect of the O&M contract will be continuous monitoring of the performance of the plant and all of its primary subsystems,<ref name=OandM>"Addressing Solar Photovoltaic Operations and Maintenance Challenges" (PDF). A Survey of Current Knowledge and Practices. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> which is normally undertaken remotely.<ref>"IT for Renewable energy sources management" (PDF). inAccess Networks. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> This enables performance to be compared with the anticipated output under the climatic conditions actually experienced.<ref name=SunEdison_SA /> It also provides data to enable the scheduling of both rectification and preventive maintenance.<ref>"Solar Park Maintenance". BeBa Energy. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> A small number of large solar farms use a separate inverter<ref>"Featured Array: Brewster Community Solar Garden® Facility". Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref><ref>"Featured Array: Strain Ranches". Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref> or maximizer<ref>"Talmage Solar Engineering, Inc. Unveils Largest Smart Array in North America" (Press release). 31 July 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref> for each solar panel, which provide individual performance data that can be monitored. For other solar farms, thermal imaging is used to identify non-performing panels for replacement.<ref name=pv2012>"PV Power Plants 2012" (PDF). p. 35. Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref>

Power delivery

A solar park's income derives from the sales of electricity to the grid, and so its output is metered in real-time with readings of its energy output provided, typically on a half-hourly basis, for balancing and settlement within the electricity market.<ref>"Introduction to the Balancing and Settlement Code". Elexon. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

Income is affected by the reliability of equipment within the plant and also by the availability of the grid network to which it is exporting.<ref>Mitavachan, H.; et al. "A case study of a 3-MW scale grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant at Kolar, Karnataka". Renewable Energy Systems. Indian Institute of Science.</ref>^{[unreliable source?]} Some connection contracts allow the transmission system operator to curtail the output of a solar park, for example at times of low demand or high availability of other generators.<ref>"Electricity network delivery and access". UK Department of Energy and Climate Change. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> Some countries make statutory provision for priority access to the grid<ref name=Priority_access>"Renewable electricity". European Renewable Energy Council. Retrieved 31 July 2012.</ref> for renewable generators, such as that under the European Renewable Energy Directive.<ref>"Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC". European Commission. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Economics and finance

In recent years, PV technology has improved its electricity generating efficiency, reduced the installation cost per watt as well as its energy payback time (EPBT). It has reached grid parity in most parts of the world and become a mainstream power source.<ref> "2014 Outlook: Let the Second Gold Rush Begin" (PDF). Deutsche Bank Markets Research. 6 January 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014. </ref><ref> Giles Parkinson (13 August 2014). "Citigroup: Outlook for global solar is getting brighter". RenewEconomy. Retrieved 18 August 2014. </ref><ref>"The Evolution of Photovoltaic Technology: A Path to Grid Parity and Mainstream Adoption".</ref>

As solar power costs reached grid parity, PV systems were able to offer power competitively in the energy market. The subsidies and incentives, which were needed to stimulate the early market as detailed below, were progressively replaced by auctions<ref>International Renewable Energy Agency (June 2019). "Renewable energy auctions and trends beyond price" (PDF): 32. Retrieved 8 January 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)</ref> and competitive tendering leading to further price reductions.

Competitive energy costs of utility-scale solar

The improving competitiveness of utility-scale solar became more visible as countries and energy utilities introduced auctions<ref>World Bank (October 2014). "Performance of Renewable Energy Auctions" (PDF): 39. Retrieved 8 January 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)</ref> for new generating capacity. Some auctions are reserved for solar projects,<ref>Dezem, Vanessa (31 October 2014). "Brazil Solar Power Auction May Spur $1 Billion in Investment". Renewable Energy World. Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref> while others are open to a wider range of sources.<ref>Gorey, Colm (11 September 2020). "160 wind turbines and 1,750 hectares of solar approved in first State auction". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>

The prices revealed by these auctions and tenders have led to highly competitive prices in many regions. Amongst the prices quoted are:

Competitive energy prices achieved by utility-scale PV plants in renewable energy auctions
Date	Country	Agency	Lowest price	Equivalent US¢/kWh	Equivalent €/MWh 2022	Reference
Oct 2017	Saudi Arabia	Renewable Energy Project Development Office	US$17.9/MWh	1.79	16	<ref>"Saudi Arabia sets lowest-ever PV price; IEA hikes solar growth outlook by a third". Reuters. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Nov 2017	Mexico	CENACE	US$17.7/MWh	1.77	16	<ref>"Mexico sets world's lowest solar price; Energy storage to hit 125 GW by 2030". Reuters. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Mar 2019	India	Solar Energy Corporation of India	INR 2.44/kWh	3.5	32	<ref>"Rajasthan solar auction draws electricity price of just 3.5 US cents". IndustryAbout. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Jul 2019	Brazil	Agencia Nacional de Energía Eléctrica	BRL 67.48/MWh	1.752	16	<ref>"Brazil posts new world record low price for solar power". Business Green. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Jul 2020	Abu Dhabi, UAE	Abu Dhabi Power Corporation	AED fils 4.97/kWh	1.35	12	<ref>Ombello, Carlo (8 July 2020). "1.35 Cents/kWh: Record Abu Dhabi Solar Bid Is A Sober Reminder To Upbeat Fossil Fuel Pundits". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Aug 2020	Portugal	Directorate-General for Energy and Geology	€0.01114/kWh	1.327	12	<ref>Shahan, Zachary (30 August 2020). "New Record-Low Solar Price Bid – 1.3¢/kWh". CleanTechnica. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>
Dec 2020	India	Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam	INR 1.99/kWh	2.69	24	<ref>"Indian PV auction delivers final record low price of $0.0269/kWh". Focus Technica. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.</ref>

Grid parity

Solar generating stations have become progressively cheaper in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue.<ref>Aaron (23 November 2012). "Solar panels to keep getting cheaper". Evo Energy. Retrieved 13 January 2015.</ref> Meanwhile, traditional electricity generation is becoming progressively more expensive.<ref>Jago, Simon (6 March 2013). "Prices going one way". Energy Live News. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> These trends led to a crossover point when the levelised cost of energy from solar parks, historically more expensive, matched or beat the cost of traditional electricity generation.<ref>Burkart, Karl. "5 breakthroughs that will make solar power cheaper than coal". Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> This point depends on locations and other factors, and is commonly referred to as grid parity.<ref>Spross, Jeff. "Solar Report Stunner: Unsubsidized 'Grid Parity Has Been Reached In India', Italy–With More Countries Coming in 2014". Climate Progress. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

For merchant solar power stations, where the electricity is being sold into the electricity transmission network, the levelised cost of solar energy will need to match the wholesale electricity price. This point is sometimes called 'wholesale grid parity' or 'busbar parity'.<ref name=UN-Energy-2012>Morgan Baziliana; et al. (17 May 2012). Re-considering the economics of photovoltaic power. UN-Energy (Report). United Nations. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2012.</ref>

Prices for installed PV systems show regional variations, more than solar cells and panels, which tend to be global commodities. The IEA explains these discrepancies due to differences in "soft costs", which include customer acquisition, permitting, inspection and interconnection, installation labor and financing costs.<ref name=IEA-roadmap-PV-2014> "Technology Roadmap: Solar Photovoltaic Energy" (PDF). IEA. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.</ref>

Incentive mechanisms

In the years before grid parity had been reached in many parts of the world, solar generating stations needed some form of financial incentive to compete for the supply of electricity.<ref>Wolfe, Philip (19 May 2009). "Priorities for low carbon transition". The politics of Climate Change. The Policy Network. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>^{[unreliable source?]} Many countries used such incentives to support the deployment of solar power stations.<ref>"Taxes and Incentives for renewable energy" (PDF). KPMG. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Feed-in tariffs

Feed-in tariffs are designated prices which must be paid by utility companies for each kilowatt hour of renewable electricity produced by qualifying generators and fed into the grid.<ref>"Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Couture, T., Cory, K., Kreycik, C., Williams, E., (2010). National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy</ref> These tariffs normally represent a premium on wholesale electricity prices and offer a guaranteed revenue stream to help the power producer finance the project.<ref>"What are Feed-in Tariffs". Feed-in Tariffs Limited. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Renewable portfolio standards and supplier obligations

These standards are obligations on utility companies to source a proportion of their electricity from renewable generators.<ref>"Race to the Top: The Expanding Role of U.S. State Renewable Portfolio Standards". University of Michigan. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref> In most cases, they do not prescribe which technology should be used and the utility is free to select the most appropriate renewable sources.<ref>"Investment in electricity generation – the role of costs, incentives and risks" (PDF). UK Energy Research Centre. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

There are some exceptions where solar technologies are allocated a proportion of the RPS in what is sometimes referred to as a 'solar set aside'.<ref>"Solar Carve-Outs in Renewables Portfolio Standards". Dsire Solar. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

Loan guarantees and other capital incentives

Some countries and states adopt less targeted financial incentives, available for a wide range of infrastructure investment, such as the US Department of Energy loan guarantee scheme,<ref>"Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program" (PDF). US DOE Loan Guarantee Program Office (LGPO). Retrieved 21 February 2012.</ref> which stimulated a number of investments in the solar power plant in 2010 and 2011.<ref>"Independent Review: DOE's Loan Guarantee Program Has Worked, Can Be Better". GreenTech Media. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Tax credits and other fiscal incentives

Another form of indirect incentive which has been used to stimulate investment in solar power plant was tax credits available to investors. In some cases the credits were linked to the energy produced by the installations, such as the Production Tax Credits.<ref>"Production Tax Credit for Renewable Energy". Union of Concerned Scientists. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref> In other cases the credits were related to the capital investment such as the Investment Tax Credits<ref>"Business Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC)". US Department of Energy. Retrieved 21 February 2012.</ref>

International, national and regional programmes

In addition to free market commercial incentives, some countries and regions have specific programs to support the deployment of solar energy installations.

The European Union's Renewables Directive<ref>"Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council". Renewables Directive. European Commission.</ref> sets targets for increasing levels of deployment of renewable energy in all member states. Each has been required to develop a National Renewable Energy Action Plan showing how these targets would be met, and many of these have specific support measures for solar energy deployment.<ref>Ragwitz, Mario; et al. "Assessment of National Renewable Energy Action Plans" (PDF). REPAP 2020. Fraunhofer Institut. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> The directive also allows states to develop projects outside their national boundaries, and this may lead to bilateral programs such as the Helios project.<ref>Williams, Andrew (3 November 2011). "Project Helios: A brighter future for Greece?". Solar Novus Today. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

The Clean Development Mechanism<ref>"Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)". UNFCCC. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> of the UNFCCC is an international programme under which solar generating stations in certain qualifying countries can be supported.<ref>"CDM projects grouped in types". UNEP Risø Centre. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Additionally many other countries have specific solar energy development programmes. Some examples are India's JNNSM,<ref>Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. "The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission". Scheme documents. Government of India. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> the Flagship Program in Australia,<ref>Department for Resources, Energy and Tourism (11 December 2009). "Solar Flagships Program Open for Business". Government of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> and similar projects in South Africa<ref>"South Africa: Renewable Energy Programme to Bring R47 Billion in Investment". allAfrica.com. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref> and Israel.<ref>"Solar Energy". Ministry of Energy and Water Resources. Retrieved 30 December 2012.</ref>

Financial performance

The financial performance of the solar power plant is a function of its income and its costs.<ref name=Wolfe_book />

The electrical output of a solar park will be related to the solar radiation, the capacity of the plant and its performance ratio.<ref name=PerfRatio /> The income derived from this electrical output will come primarily from the sale of the electricity,<ref>"Investment in Solar Parks". Solar Partner. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> and any incentive payments such as those under Feed-in Tariffs or other support mechanisms.<ref>"Community ownership". FAQs. Westmill Solar Cooperative. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Electricity prices may vary at different times of day, giving a higher price at times of high demand.<ref>"What are time-of-use rates and how do they work?". Pacific Gas and Electric. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> This may influence the design of the plant to increase its output at such times.<ref>"Optimum Orientation of Solar Panels for Time-of-Use Rates". Macs Lab. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

The dominant costs of solar power plants are the capital cost, and therefore any associated financing and depreciation.<ref>"The Optimum Financing Structure". Green Rhino Energy. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> Though operating costs are typically relatively low, especially as no fuel is required,<ref name=low_maintenance /> most operators will want to ensure that adequate operation and maintenance cover<ref name=OandM /> is available to maximise the availability of the plant and thereby optimise the income to cost ratio.<ref>Belfiore, Francesco. "Optimizing PV Plant O&M Requires Focus on the Project Lifecycle". Renewable Energy World. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>

Geography

The first places to reach grid parity were those with high traditional electricity prices and high levels of solar radiation.<ref name=Statistics>"Statistics about selected locations for utility-scale solar parks". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 5 March 2015.</ref> The worldwide distribution of solar parks is expected to change as different regions achieve grid parity.<ref>"Solar Photovoltaics competing in the energy sector – On the road to competitiveness". European Photovoltaic Industry Association. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> This transition also includes a shift from rooftop towards utility-scale plants, since the focus of new PV deployment has changed from Europe towards the Sunbelt markets where ground-mounted PV systems are favored.<ref name=epia-2014 />^: 43

Because of the economic background, large-scale systems are presently distributed where the support regimes have been the most consistent, or the most advantageous.<ref>"Renewable Power, Policy, and the Cost of Capital". UNEP/BASE Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref> Total capacity of worldwide PV plants above 4 MW_AC was assessed by Wiki-Solar as c. 220 GW in c. 9,000 installations at the end of 2019<ref name="WikiSolar_2019" /> and represents about 35 percent of estimated global PV capacity of 633 GW, up from 25 percent in 2014.<ref>"Utility-scale solar breaks all records in 2014 to reach 36 GW" (PDF). wiki-solar.org. Wiki-Solar.</ref><ref name=epia-2014> "Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2014–2018" (PDF). epia.org. EPIA – European Photovoltaic Industry Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014.</ref>^{[needs update]} Activities in the key markets are reviewed individually below.

China

In 2013 China overtook Germany as the nation with the most utility-scale solar capacity.<ref name=Capacity_2013>Hill, Joshua (22 February 2013). "Giant Solar Farm Capacity Doubling Inside 12 Months Breaking 12 GW". Clean Technica. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> Much of this has been supported by the Clean Development Mechanism.<ref>"Project search". CDM: Project activities. UNFCCC. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> The distribution of power plants around the country is quite broad, with the highest concentration in the Gobi desert<ref name=China_map /> and connected to the Northwest China Power Grid.<ref>"Northwest China Grid Company Limited". Northwest China Grid Company Limited. Retrieved 22 April 2013.</ref>

Germany

The first multi-megawatt plant in Europe was the 4.2 MW community-owned project at Hemau, commissioned in 2003.<ref name=Hemau>"In Hemau liefert der weltweit größte Solarpark umweltfreundlichen Strom aus der Sonne" (in Deutsch). Stadt Hemau. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> But it was the revisions to the German feed-in tariffs in 2004,<ref name=EEG2004 /> which gave the strongest impetus to the establishment of utility-scale solar power plants.<ref>"Best of Both Worlds: What if German installation costs were combined with the best solar resources?". National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref> The first to be completed under this programme was the Leipziger Land solar park developed by Geosol.<ref name=Leipziger_Land>"Leipziger Land project" (PDF). Geosol. Retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> Several dozen plants were built between 2004 and 2011, several of which were at the time the largest in the world. The EEG, the law which establishes Germany's feed-in tariffs, provides the legislative basis not just for the compensation levels, but other regulatory factors, such as priority access to the grid.<ref name=Priority_access /> The law was amended in 2010 to restrict the use of agricultural land,<ref>Olson, Syanne (14 January 2011). "IBC Solar completes grid connection for 13.8MW German solar park". PV-Tech. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> since which time most solar parks have been built on so-called 'development land', such as former military sites.<ref name=Neuhardenberg /> Partly for this reason, the geographic distribution of photovoltaic power plants in Germany<ref name=Wiki-Germany /> is biased towards the former East Germany.<ref>"Eastern Germany's sunny future". Michael Dumiak. Fortune magazine. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2018.</ref><ref>"German PV Funding Up in the Air Again". SolarBuzz. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>

India

India has been rising up the leading nations for the installation of utility-scale solar capacity. The Charanka Solar Park in Gujarat was opened officially in April 2012<ref>"Gujarat Solar Park Inauguration at Charanka, Gujarat". Indian Solar Summit. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> and was at the time the largest group of solar power plants in the world.

Geographically the states with the largest installed capacity are Telangana, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh with over 2 GW of installed solar power capacity each.<ref name=capa>"State wise installed solar power capacity" (PDF). Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. 31 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.</ref> Rajasthan and Gujarat share the Thar Desert, along with Pakistan. In May 2018, the Pavagada Solar Park became functional and had a production capacity of 2GW. As of February 2020, it is the largest Solar Park in the world.<ref>"Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Retrieved 24 February 2020.</ref><ref>"World's largest solar park launched in Karnataka". The Economic Times. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2020.</ref> In September 2018 Acme Solar announced that it had commissioned India's cheapest solar power plant, the 200 MW Rajasthan Bhadla solar power park.<ref>"Acme Solar Commissions India's Cheapest Solar Power Plant". Retrieved 29 September 2018.</ref>

Italy

Italy has a large number of photovoltaic power plants, the largest of which is the 84 MW Montalto di Castro project.<ref>"Top 10 Solar PV Power Plants". InterPV. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>

Jordan

By the end of 2017, it was reported that more than 732 MW of solar energy projects had been completed, which contributed to 7% of Jordan's electricity.<ref>"103 MW solar plant comes online in Jordan". PV magazine. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.</ref> After having initially set the percentage of renewable energy Jordan aimed to generate by 2020 at 10%, the government announced in 2018 that it sought to beat that figure and aim for 20%.<ref>Brian Parkin (23 April 2018). "Jordan Eyes Power Storage as Next Step in Green Energy Drive". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 23 April 2018.</ref>^{[needs update]}

Spain

The majority of the deployment of solar power stations in Spain to date occurred during the boom market of 2007–8.<ref>Rosenthal, Elisabeth (8 March 2010). "Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref>^{[needs update]} The stations are well distributed around the country, with some concentration in Extremadura, Castile-La Mancha and Murcia.<ref name=Spain_map />

United States

The US deployment of photovoltaic power stations is largely concentrated in southwestern states.<ref name=USA_map /> The Renewable Portfolio Standards in California<ref>"California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS)". California Public Utilities Commission. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> and surrounding states<ref>"Nevada Energy Portfolio Standard". Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. US Department of Energy. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref><ref>"Arizona Energy Portfolio Standard". Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. US Department of Energy. Retrieved 7 March 2013.</ref> provide a particular incentive.

Notable solar parks

The following solar parks were, at the time they became operational, the largest in the world or their continent, or are notable for the reasons given:

**Noteworthy solar power plants**
Name	Country<ref name=Wiki-Solar_maps>"Solar Parks mapping". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 1 March 2016. The locations of these and other plants over 10MW are illustrated in</ref>	Nominal power (MW)<ref name=MW_rating>Wolfe, Philip. "Capacity rating for solar generating stations". Wiki-Solar. Retrieved 22 August 2013.</ref><ref>Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant. See "AC-DC conundrum: Latest PV power-plant ratings follies put focus on reporting inconsistency (update)". PV-Tech. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>	Commissioned	Notes
Lugo,<ref name=Lugo /> San Bernardino County, California	USA	1 MW	Template:Hs Dec 1982	First MW plant
Carrisa Plain<ref name="Carrisa" />	USA	5.6 MW	Template:Hs Dec 1985	World's largest at the time
Hemau<ref name=Hemau />	Germany	4.0 MW	Template:Hs Apr 2003	Europe's largest community-owned facility<ref name=Hemau /> at the time
Leipziger Land<ref name=Leipziger_Land />	Germany	4.2 MW	Template:Hs Aug 2004	Europe's largest at the time; first under FITs<ref name=Wolfe_book /><ref name=Leipziger_Land />
Pocking<ref>"The world's largest photovoltaic solar power plant is in Pocking". Solar Server. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Germany	10 MW	Template:Hs Apr 2006	Briefly the world's largest
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada<ref>"Nellis Airforce Base solar power system" (PDF). United States Air Force. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	USA	14 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2007	America's largest at the time
Olmedilla<ref>"The Olmedilla Solar Park". Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Spain	60 MW	Template:Hs Jul 2008	World's and Europe's largest at the time
Setouchi Kirei	Japan	235 MW	Unknown	Largest solar park in Japan
Makran	Iran	20 MW	Unknown	Largest solar park in Iran
Sinan<ref>"24 MW: SinAn, South Korea" (PDF). Conergy. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Korea	24 MW	Template:Hs Aug 2008	Asia's largest at the time
Waldpolenz, Saxony<ref name=Waldpolenz />	Germany	40 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2008	World's largest thin film plant. Extended to 52 MW in 2011<ref name=Wolfe_book />
DeSoto, Florida<ref>"DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center". Florida Power and Light. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	USA	25 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2009	America's largest at the time
La Roseraye<ref>"EDF Energies Nouvelles secures building permits for two solar power plants (15.3 MW) on Reunion Island". EDF Energies Nouvelles. 23 July 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Reunion	11 MW	Template:Hs Apr 2010	Africa's first 10 MW+ plant
Sarnia, Ontario<ref>"Sarnia Solar Project celebration". Enbridge. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Canada	97 MW_P	Template:Hs Sep 2010	World's largest at the time. Corresponds to 80 MW_AC.
Golmud, Qinghai,<ref>"Chint Solar successfully completed Golmud 20MW photovoltaic power station". PVsolarChina.com. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	China	200 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2011	World's largest at the time
Finow Tower<ref>"FinowTower I + II; Mit 84,7 MWp das größte Solarstrom-Kraftwerk Europas". SolarHybrid. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Germany	85 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2011	Extension takes it to Europe's largest
Lopburi<ref>"Lopburi Solar Farm". CLP Group. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref>	Thailand	73 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2011	Asia's largest (outside China)<ref name=Wolfe_book /> at the time
Perovo, Crimea<ref>"Activ Solar Commissions 100-Plus MW Perovo Solar PV Station in Ukraine's Crimea". Clean Technica. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2015.</ref>	Ukraine	100 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2011	Becomes Europe's largest
Charanka, Gujarat<ref>"Gujarat's Charanka Solar Park". Energy Insight. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2012.</ref><ref>"Gujarat's Charanka Solar Park" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref>	India	221 MW	Template:Hs Apr 2012	Asia's largest solar park
Agua Caliente, Arizona<ref name=Agua_Caliente>"Agua Caliente Solar Project". First Solar. Retrieved 31 August 2012.</ref>	USA	290 MW_AC	Template:Hs Jul 2012	World's largest solar plant at the time
Neuhardenberg, Brandenburg<ref name=Neuhardenberg>"ENFO entwickelt größtes Solarprojekt Deutschlands". Enfo AG. Retrieved 28 December 2012.</ref>	Germany	145 MW	Template:Hs Sep 2012	Becomes Europe's largest solar cluster
Greenhough River, Western Australia,<ref name="Greenough">Leader, Jessica (10 October 2012). "Australia's Greenough River Solar Farm Opens Amid Renewable Target Debate". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 22 April 2013., Reuters, Rebekah Kebede, 9 October 2012 Retrieved 13 April 2013</ref>	Australia	10 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2012	Australasia's first 10 MW+ plant
Tze'elim, Negev	Israel	120 MW	Jan 2020	JPost.com. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2022.</ref>
Majes and Repartición	Peru	22 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2012	First utility-scale plants in South America<ref>"Photovoltaic stations". T-Solar Group. Retrieved 16 May 2015. Repartición solar farm, Location: Municipalidad Distrital La Joya. Province: Arequipa. Power: 22 MWp</ref><ref>"President Humala inaugurates T-Solar Group photovoltaic solar-power plants in Peru". 27 October 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2013.</ref>
Westmill Solar Park, Oxfordshire<ref name=WSC />	United Kingdom	5 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2012	Acquired by Westmill Solar Co-operative to become world's largest community-owned solar power station<ref name=Westmill />
San Miguel Power, Colorado	USA	1.1 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2012	Biggest community-owned plant in USA<ref>Ayre, James (27 December 2012). "Biggest Community-Owned Solar Array in US Now Online". Clean Technica. Retrieved 13 January 2015.</ref>
Sheikh Zayed, Nouakchott<ref>"Sheikh Zayed site location". Retrieved 19 April 2013.</ref>	Mauritania	15 MW	Template:Hs Apr 2013	Largest solar power plant in Africa<ref>WAM (18 April 2013). "Shaikh Zayed Solar Power Plant in Mauritania inaugurated by Shaikh Saeed". Gulf News. Retrieved 13 January 2015.</ref>
Topaz,<ref name=Topaz /> Riverside County, California	USA	550 MW_AC	Template:Hs Nov 2013	World's largest solar park at the time<ref>Topaz, the Largest Solar Plant in the World, Is Now Fully Operational, Greentechmedia, Eric Wesoff, 24 November 2014</ref>
Amanacer, Copiapó, Atacama	Chile	93.7 MW	Template:Hs Jan 2014	Largest in South America<ref>Woods, Lucy (9 June 2014). "SunEdison inaugurates 100MW Chile solar plant". PV-Tech. Retrieved 22 July 2016.</ref> at the time
Jasper, Postmasburg, Northern Cape	South Africa	88 MW	Nov 2014	Largest plant in Africa
Longyangxia PV/Hydro power project, Gonghe, Qinghai	China	850 MW_P	Dec 2014	Phase II of 530 MW added to 320 MW Phase I (2013)<ref>"World's Largest Hydro/PV Hybrid Project Synchronized". Corporate News. China State Power Investment Corporation. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2016.</ref> makes this the world's largest solar power station
Nyngan, New South Wales	Australia	102 MW	Jun 2015	Becomes largest plant in Australasia and Oceania
Solar Star,<ref>"Solar Star, Largest PV Power Plant in the World, Now Operational". GreenTechMedia.com. 24 June 2015.</ref> Los Angeles County, California	USA	579 MW_AC	Template:Hs Jun 2015	Becomes the world's largest solar farm installation project (Longyanxia having been constructed in two phases)
Cestas, Aquitaine	France	300 MW	Template:Hs Dec 2015	Largest PV plant in Europe<ref>Canellas, Claude; et al. (1 December 2015). "New French solar farm, Europe's biggest, cheaper than new nuclear". Reuters. Retrieved 1 March 2016.</ref>
Finis Terrae, María Elena, Tocopilla	Chile	138 MW_AC	Template:Hs May 2016	Becomes largest plant in South America<ref>"Enel Starts Production at its Largest Solar PV Project in Chile". Renewable Energy World. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.</ref>
Monte Plata Solar, Monte Plata	Dominican Republic	30 MW	Template:Hs March 2016	Largest PV plant in The Caribbean.<ref>"Inauguran en Monte Plata la planta de energía solar más grande de la región". Acento.</ref><ref>Francisco, Mayelin (30 March 2016). "Inaugurada planta de energía solar en Monte Plata".</ref>
Ituverava, Ituverava, São Paulo	Brazil	210 MW	Template:Hs Sep 2017	Largest PV plant in South America<ref>"ENEL starts operation of South America's two largest solar parks in Brazil". ENEL Green Power. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2019.</ref>
Bungala, Port Augusta, SA	Australia	220 MW_AC	Template:Hs Nov 2018	Becomes Australasia's largest solar power plant<ref>Mesbahi, Mina (8 February 2019). "Top 35 Solar Project in Australia". SolarPlaza. Retrieved 11 May 2020.</ref>
Noor Abu Dhabi, Sweihan, Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	1,177 MW_P	Template:Hs Jun 2019	The largest single solar power plant (as opposed to co-located group of projects) in Asia and the world.<ref>"Noor Abu Dhabi solar plant begins commercial operation". Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.</ref><ref>"World's Largest Solar Power Plant Switched On". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.</ref>
Cauchari Solar Plant, Cauchari	Argentina	300 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2019	Becomes South America's largest solar power plant
Benban Solar Park, Benban, Aswan	Egypt	1,500 MW	Template:Hs Oct 2019	Group of 32 co-located projects becomes the largest in Africa.<ref>"Benban, Africa's largest solar park, completed". ebrd.com. Retrieved 29 November 2019.</ref>
Bhadla Solar Park, Bhadlachuhron Ki, Rajasthan	India	2,245 MW	Template:Hs Mar 2020	Group of 31 co-located solar plants reported to be the largest solar park in the world.<ref>"With 2,245 MW of Commissioned Solar Projects, World's Largest Solar Park is Now at Bhadla". 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.</ref>
High Plateaus East, Adrar	Algeria	90 MW	Unknown	Largest solar park in Algeria
Villanueva Solar Park	Mexico	828 MW	2018	Largest solar park in North America
Kalyon Karapınar Solar Power Plant	Turkey	1,350 MW	2023	Largest solar park in Turkey
Núñez de Balboa solar plant, Usagre, Badajoz	Spain	500 MW_AC	Template:Hs Mar 2020	Overtakes Mula Photovoltaic Power Plant (450 MW_AC installed three months earlier) to become Europe's largest solar power plant.<ref>"Núñez de Balboa completed: Iberdrola finalizes the construction of the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe within one year". Iberdrola. Retrieved 28 February 2020.</ref>

References

External links

Interactive mapping of worldwide projects over 10MW

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