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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.
In some countries, the nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations is rated in megawatt-peak (MWp), 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 MWAC, a measure more directly comparable to other forms of power generation. Most solar parks are developed at a scale of at least 1 MWp. 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 MWAC (utility scale), with a combined capacity of over 220 GWAC.
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. 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.
The first 1 MWp solar park was built by Arco Solar at Lugo near Hesperia, California, at the end of 1982, followed in 1984 by a 5.2 MWp installation in Carrizo Plain. Both have since been decommissioned (although a new plant, Topaz Solar Farm, was commissioned in Carrizo Plain in 2015). The next stage followed the 2004 revisions to the feed-in tariffs in Germany, when a substantial volume of solar parks were constructed.
Several hundred installations over 1 MWp have since been installed in Germany, of which more than 50 are over 10 MWp. With its introduction of feed-in tariffs in 2008, Spain briefly became the largest market with some 60 solar parks over 10 MW, but these incentives have since been withdrawn. The USA, China, India, France, Canada, Australia, and Italy, 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 MWp and some more than 1 GWp.
The land area required for a desired power output varies depending on the location, the efficiency of the solar panels, the slope of the site, and the type of mounting used. Fixed tilt solar arrays using typical panels of about 15% efficiency 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.
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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.
In some countries, the nameplate capacity of photovoltaic power stations is rated in megawatt-peak (MWp), 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 MWAC, a measure more directly comparable to other forms of power generation. Most solar parks are developed at a scale of at least 1 MWp. 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 MWAC (utility scale), with a combined capacity of over 220 GWAC.
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. 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.
The first 1 MWp solar park was built by Arco Solar at Lugo near Hesperia, California, at the end of 1982, followed in 1984 by a 5.2 MWp installation in Carrizo Plain. Both have since been decommissioned (although a new plant, Topaz Solar Farm, was commissioned in Carrizo Plain in 2015). The next stage followed the 2004 revisions to the feed-in tariffs in Germany, when a substantial volume of solar parks were constructed.
Several hundred installations over 1 MWp have since been installed in Germany, of which more than 50 are over 10 MWp. With its introduction of feed-in tariffs in 2008, Spain briefly became the largest market with some 60 solar parks over 10 MW, but these incentives have since been withdrawn. The USA, China, India, France, Canada, Australia, and Italy, 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 MWp and some more than 1 GWp.
The land area required for a desired power output varies depending on the location, the efficiency of the solar panels, the slope of the site, and the type of mounting used. Fixed tilt solar arrays using typical panels of about 15% efficiency 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.
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