In California, earned the largest solar power plant in the world

The largest "Solar Farm", sometimes referred to as solar-powered power plants, began operating in California, USA. The power of this power plant, called Topaz, is 550 MW. Two years ago, the millionth solar module First Solar (FSLR) was installed. Now installed 9 million solar panels. The power plant is located on the Carrizo plain (Carrizo), California, USA.

Work on the practical implementation of the facility began in 2012, and ended even slightly earlier than planned (according to the plan, the station should have been launched at the very beginning of 2015). The total cost of the project has reached $ 2.5 billion, which is also a record for projects of this kind. The station is owned by MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of MidAmeric Renewables.
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According to the authors of the project, the station’s capacity will be enough to provide energy to 160,000 Californian households.

The location of the station was not chosen randomly. Under the terms of the project, there should be one or more power lines, settlements. In addition, the site design should not be too sensitive in terms of the influence of the station on the environment. It is worth noting that the Carrizo plain is not a desert. The land here is used by agriculture, so that during the construction of the station had to resort to the alienation of a large number of suitable for the cultivation of land. True, this is far from being the most profitable region from the agricultural point of view, and according to the authors of the project, “limited fertility.” Earth, as far as can be understood, was exploited for a long time, which led to its exhaustion.


Comparison of the characteristics of Topaz and other large solar power plants in the USA



During the construction of the object, the developers took care of the greening of the region. Plants, in the future, will help reduce the amount of dust deposited on the panel. In this case, washing is not required.

The owners of the Topaz solar power station will sell energy to Pacific Gas and Electric. Both partners have already signed a 25-year collaboration agreement.

Via greentechmedia