Renewable Energy AssociationSolar Trade AssociationAct on Co2
Solar Panel News

Largest Solar Farm In The World Operational

It probably does not come as a surprise to you to read that the largest solar panel farm in the world is in the USA. However, what may stagger you is to hear just how big this new plant is.

Topaz Solar Farm

Located in the Carrizo Plain in California, it covers an area of around 9.5 square miles and is known as the Topaz Solar Farm. There are 9 million solar panels covering this huge expanse with a huge capacity of 550 megawatts. This level of capacity would produce enough power for about 160,000 homes. It is forecast that around 377,000 tonnes of carbon emissions will be removed from the atmosphere every year. The ground mounted solar panels only stand about 5 and a half feet of the surface of the land on which they have been placed.

Work started on building the solar farm back in 2011 and has cost in the region of £1.5 billion to build. It was not due to be completed until next year so it is pleasing to see that the work has been done ahead of schedule.

California has a target to have 33% of their electricity produced by renewable energy sources by 2020 so this new solar photovoltaic panel farm will go some way towards the state achieving that target.

However, this farm may not remain the largest for long as, in 2015, another one in the USA is due to be completed. It too is in California and is SunPower’s Solar Star with a capacity of 579 megawatts.

This just goes to show what can be achieved by countries around the world with regard to reducing carbon emissions and producing renewable energy. Let us hope that we continue to see similar projects on our planet as they can only prove beneficial.

As always, we welcome your views so do feel free to leave your comments.

This entry was posted in Renewable Energy and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.

Navigation