The deployment of solar power plants has expanded over the past few years for several key reasons, such as the need for more energy, the advancement of technology, falling investment prices, the availability of major incentives, climatic goals, etc. The article discusses the world’s largest solar power plants.
The world’s largest solar power plants include Topaz Solar Farm, Solar Star Projects, Benban Solar Park, Kamuthi Solar Power Station, Enel Villanueva PV Plant, Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base, etc.
Nations worldwide have begun to pay attention to solar companies as solar plant construction becomes increasingly widespread. Several large, powerful solar power plants worldwide provide tremendous electricity and aid in sustainable development. Read below to learn more about the world’s largest solar power plants.
Table of Contents
Top 8 World’s Largest Solar Power Plants
Here is the list of the world’s largest solar power plants.
Topaz Solar Farm, US
First Solar built the 550MW facility, which BHE Renewables purchased in January 2012.
The project was put into service in 2014, spans 4,700 acres, and contains more than eight million solar modules. In California, Topaz provides electricity to about 180,000 homes.
The Desert Sunlight solar farm lies in the Mojave Desert in Riverside County, California, United States. The 2013-built power plant’s eight million solar panels can produce enough electricity to power 160,000 households.
Solar Star Projects, US
The Solar Star is one of the world’s largest solar power plants, and installations include the co-located Solar Star 1 and Solar Star 2 installations in Kern and Los Angeles US counties. The two projects, which cover 3,200 acres of land, have a combined capacity of 579 MW and more than 1.7 million solar modules. SunPower Corporation created them, and BHE Renewables is the owner.
The projects, finished in March 2015, provide electricity to more than 255,000 residences. The panels are set up to monitor the sun during the day thanks to the SunPower Oasis Power Plant technology, which also boosts energy capture by up to 25%.
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Benban Solar Park, Egypt
One of Africa’s world’s largest solar power plants is Benban Solar Park, situated in the Egyptian village of Benban in the Aswan Governorate. The enormous complex has 41 solar power plants and a 1.6 GW solar generating capacity.
The project’s development supervises by the government-owned New and Renewable Authority (NREA), following the Egyptian government’s Sustainable Energy Strategy 2035.
2019 saw the facility’s connection to Egypt’s National Grid, and it now supplies electricity to more than 4,20,000 homes.
Kamuthi Solar Power Station, India
The complex, which is 2,500 acres (10 km2) in size and has 2.5 million solar panels, can generate enough electricity to power 750,000 people, according to estimates.
At a price of over $680 million, the Kamuthi solar power facility was completed in September 2016. It was constructed in approximately eight months with the help of 8,500 workers. The solar energy installation used 6,000km of cables, 576 inverters, and 154 transformers, as well as 38,000 foundations.
A robotic system powered by the world’s largest solar power plants cleans the plant daily. Around 265,000 houses receive the electricity generated by the facility from the 400kV Kamuthi substation, which Tantransco runs.
Enel Villanueva PV Plant, Mexico
The solar photovoltaic (PV) complex in the Mexican state of Coahuila consists of more than 2.5 million solar panels spread across 2,400ha in the country’s semi-arid region. It is one of the world’s largest solar power plants. Villanueva was built with an estimated $710 million in funding from the Enel Group. The 828MW power plant, which can generate more than 2,000GWh annually, started up fully in September 2018. 
The plant’s initial capacity was 754 MW, but after a 10% capacity extension option in the energy sales contracts, that capacity rose to 828 MW.
Enel used an innovative pilot program utilizing automation and digital technologies to develop the facility. The initiative used GPS-controlled equipment to move the earth, drones to conduct 3D topography, and robots to install solar panels automatically.
Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, China
Over four million solar panels have been placed at the plant. The power plant’s first and second phases, which cost more than six billion yuan ($920.84m), were completed in 2013 and 2015.
The project, developed by Huanghe Hydropower Development, incorporates the 1,280MW Longyangxia hydroelectric power facility.
Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, India
Kurnool Solar Park is located in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and spans 5,683.22 acres (22.99 km2). The park has more than four million solar panels, each having a capacity of between 315 and 320 watts. The solar park costs about $1 billion to construct and has a 1,000MW production capacity. It is one of the world’s largest solar power plants.
On bright days, the site produces more than eight million kWh of electricity, more than enough to cover the Kurnool district’s total electrical needs.
Yanchi Ningxia Solar Park, China
The Yanchi Ningxia Solar Park’s installed capacity of 1,000MW in Ningxia, China. The facility opened in September 2016 and bills itself as one of the world’s largest solar power plants.
The smart PV controllers and wireless transmission systems SUN2000-40KTL and SUN2000-50KTL from Huawei utilize a fiber ring network service.
The main management platform for the power plant is the FusionSolar Smart O&M cloud center, which employs cloud computing and big data to operate the facility effectively over its 25-year lifespan.
FAQs
Which nation has the most solar energy?
With 392 GW of solar energy production, China leads the world. It plans to install 108 GW of solar energy this year.
What governs a solar power plant's operation?
When the sun shines on a solar panel, the panel's PV cells absorb the energy from the sun's beams. This energy produces moving electrical charges in response to an internal electric field within the cell, which causes electricity to flow.
What do you mean by solar energy facilities?
A solar power plant is a structure that transforms the light, heat and ultraviolet radiation from the sun into electricity that uses to power houses and businesses.
Why are solar energy facilities important?
Given the water scarcity, solar energy must refrain from creating waste or contaminating the water. Wind energy is essential for safeguarding water resources because it has one of the lowest water footprints compared to fossil fuels and nuclear power facilities.
What benefits do solar energy facilities offer?
Solar electricity is a form of clean energy. It prevents environmental harm from fossil fuel drilling or mining. Drilling or mining fossil fuels does not cause environmental damage. In contrast to power plants that create water, solar energy also uses a negligibly small amount or none of it.
Conclusion
To reduce their dependency on conventional power sources, nations are hurrying to expand their capacity for renewable energy. A solar PV plant is a single-producing facility created by a developer with a single export connection to the grid. In other instances, it can be built in phases or placed across many nearby lots. It is all about the world’s largest solar power plants
