The World’s Top 10 PV Solar Power Stations in 2014

2014-07-11 17:50

Solar power is growing at an extremely fast speed. In 2014, the total amount of PV installation will surpass 150GW, up from just 5GW in 2005. This near exponential expansion comes from reductions in the cost of production and increases in each panel's efficiency - it has led some to believe we are experiencing a "Moore's Law" of energy production.

For this article, the top ten solar plants will be listed out by annual Gigawatt-hours. In some cases these installations have a much higher potential capacity, but because they are still building or upgrading- their full potential has not yet been reached. Now on to the list:

#10

Name	Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant
Location	Ontario, Canada
Annual Output	120GWh
Interesting Facts	Plant developed by First Solar and Enbridge Was made by a Canadian government feed-in tariff of CDN 44.3 cents per kWh Contains about 635 acres (96.6 ha) of modules, which is about 1.3 million panels Uses Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film technology
Related Links	//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarnia_Photovoltaic_Power_Plant

#9

Name	Silver State North Project
Location	Nevada, USA
Annual Output	122GWh
Interesting Facts	A thin film solar farm Developed by First Solar and owned by Enbridge Power 15,000 homes in Nevada and California A legacy of the Obama administration's American Recovery Act, First Solar was eligible to receive 30% of the construction cost back from the government - or around $30 million
Related Links	//www.enbridge.com/DeliveringEnergy/RenewableEnergy/Solar.aspx

#8

Name	Perovo Solar Park
Location	Perovo, Crimea
Annual Output	133GWh
Interesting Facts	In a precarious position because the region is now occupied by Russia and formerly held by Ukraine Owned by Austrian power company Active Solar and has enjoyed a relatively high feed-in tariff from the Ukraine government of €0.46 per kilowatt hour Ukraine may discontinue the tariff program with the station now being in territory annexed by Russia
Related Links	//www.activsolar.com/products/pv-project-development/project-references

#7

Name	Ningxia Qingyang Solar Park
Location	Ningxia, China
Annual Output	150GWh
Interesting Facts	Takes advantage of the relatively elevated solar insolation levels of the high desert region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Covers an area of 2.3 square kilometers in the Tengger Desert Hong Kong based GCL-Poly developed the site and owns 51% of the plant

#6

Name	Xitieshan PV Plant
Location	Qinghai, China
Annual Output	150GWh
Interesting Facts	Takes advantages of clear skies and good sunlight in Northwest China Plant developed by the CGN Solar Energy Development Co a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation It was the biggest solar installation by gigawatt in the world when it was completed in 2011, but now it’s fallen to number 6 in 2014
Related Links	//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xitieshan_Solar_Park

#5

Name	Catalina Solar Project
Location	California, USA
Annual Output	204GWh
Interesting Facts	California's Mojave Desert has some of the highest solar insolation levelsin North America, as well as energy hungry metropolitan areas of Southern California close by Jointly owned by EDF Renewable Energyand financial services company TIAA-CREF Power about 35,000 homes and will offset about 74,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions - the latter being very important in meeting California's tough emission standards
Related Links	//www.edf-re.com/projects/detail/catalina_solar_project/

#4

Name	Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park
Location	Qinghai, China
Annual Output	317GWh
Interesting Facts	A pure PV plant developed by Yingli Solar and managed by Huanghe Hydropower
Related Links	//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huanghe_Hydropower_Golmud_Solar_Park

#3

Name	California Valley Solar Ranch
Location	California, USA
Annual Output	399GWh
Interesting Facts	The California Solar Ranch is located 270 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles and covers 1,966 acres of former grazing land Plant owned by NRG Energy and developed by SunPower Sunpower provided 88,000 tracking modules that pivot the panels - allowing them to absorb the maximum amount of rays all through the day Power roughly 100,000 homes, which means 5% of LA homes are potentially powered by solar
Related Links	//www.californiavalleysolarranch.com/

#2

Name	Mesquite Solar Project
Location	Arizona, USA
Annual Output	413GWh
Interesting Facts	With over 300 days of sunshine, The Mesquite Solar Project is well situated, 100 kilometers outside the major metropolitan area of Phoenix (Pop. 1.5 million) Has the potential to power 260,000 homes Plant run by US power company, Sempra Energy, with 800,000 panels supplied by Chinese manufacturer Suntech Power
Related Links	//www.semprausgp.com/energy-solutions/solar-mesquite-solar.html

#1

Name	Agua Caliente Solar Project
Location	Arizona, USA
Annual Output	626GWh
Interesting Facts	Located in the desert about 160 kilometers southwest of Phoenix Plant was just completed in April, 2014 The panels are thin film cells manufactured by First Solarthat are cheaper on a per watt basis than those manufactured from crystalline silicon Does not use a tracking module to point the panels at the sun – which is another way to save cost
Related Links	//www.firstsolar.com/en/about-us/projects/agua-caliente-solar-project