Solar technology is providing clean, reliable power to millions of people around the world. While most solar installations are small, and serve one building at a time (be it a home, office, or small industrial fixture) there are some people who have decided to take solar to a much bigger scale. These massive solar farms harness the power of the sun and utilize it to provide electricity to thousands or even millions of people in the area surrounding it, eliminating the need for burning fossil fuels or polluting the atmosphere when generating this electricity.
Just how big are these projects? On this blog, we’ll take a look at five of the largest ones, plus the largest solar array in the United States so you can get an idea of just how remarkable these projects are.
#5 – Enel Green Power (Mexico): This is the newest entry on this list, opening up full-time just this month! Dubbed the largest solar array in the Americas, the Enel Green Power Mexico solar farm is a colossal 754 megawatt farm that’s estimated to reach more than 1.7 gigawatts when it becomes fully-operational later this year, which when it does will make it the largest and highest-producing project in history! The farm covers more than 2,400 hectares of land and is comprised of more than 2.3 million solar panels.
#4 – Longyangxia Dam Solar Park (China): China is quickly becoming a world superpower when it comes to solar energy, and for good reason—energy for more than one billion people needs to come from somewhere! This solar park completed in late 2015 produces an incredible 850 megawatts of power from more than 23 square miles of land.
#3 – Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base (China): Located outside the Datong metropolitan area, this sprawling solar panel array had its first one-gigawatt phase completed in June of 2016, and continues to be under construction today. While it’s not yet the number one spot on the list, it’s estimated that the project when completed will provide an estimated three gigawatts of power to the Chinese grid.
#2 – Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park (India): Becoming the first one-gigawatt of electricity feeding into the public grid back in December of 2017, the Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, located in the province of Andhra Pradesh, has laid claim to the title of the largest single-location operational solar park in the world. On top of that, the government is slated to open two more large-scale solar parks in the near future, totaling an additional 2.75 gigawatts of solar energy added to the state’s grid.
#1 – Tengger Desert Solar Park (China): While India may lay claim to the tile of the largest single-site installation, the Tengger Desert Solar Park takes the world’s crown for the largest and highest-producing photovoltaic facility. Located near the city of Zhongwei in the province of Ningxia, this installation that has been dubbed the “Great Wall of Solar” sits on an immense 43 square kilometers (just under 17 square miles) and currently produces just under 1.55 gigawatts of electricity, making it currently the largest solar producing facility in the world. However, as we’ve seen with other projects, it may soon be surpassed as other major projects become ambitious.
If you’re interested in capturing the energy that the sun provides and using it to power your home, talk to the New Jersey solar installers from SunPower by Sea Bright Solar today by dialing (732) 253-4052!
