Photovoltaic power station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Renewable energy
Wind Turbine
Biofuels
Biomass
Geothermal
Hydro power
Solar power
Tidal power
Wave power
Wind power

Solar photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity and many solar photovoltaic power stations have been built, mainly in Europe.[1] Spain has two recently completed 20 megawatt MW photovoltaic (PV) power plants, one in Jumilla and the other in Beniexama. Another recently completed 14 MW plant is located at Nellis Air Force Base in the USA. Germany has a 12 MW plant in Arnstein, and a 10 MW photovoltaic system in Pocking, with a 40 MW power station planned for Muldentalkreis. Portugal has an 11 MW plant in Serpa and a 62 MW power station is planned for Moura. A photovoltaic power station proposed for Australia will use heliostat concentrator technology, should come into service in 2010, and is expected to have a capacity of 154 MW when it is completed in 2013.[2]

Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and some use innovative tracking systems that follow the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. There are no fuel costs or emissions during operation of the power stations.

Contents

[edit] World's largest photovoltaic power stations

World's largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants[1]
Name Country DC Peak Power (MW) Description GW·h/year
Parque Solar Hoya de Los Vincentes Spain 23 41
Solarpark Calveron Spain 21 40
Planta Solar La Magascona Spain 20
Beneixama photovoltaic power plant [3] Spain 20 Tenesol, Aleo and Solon solar modules with Q-Cells cells 30
Nellis Solar Power Plant USA 14 70,000 solar panels 30
Planta Solar de Salamanca Spain 13.8 70,000 Kyocera panels n.a.
Lobosillo Solar Park Spain 12.7 Chaori an YingLi modules n.a.
Erlasee Solar Park Germany 12 1,408 Solon mover 14
Serpa solar power plant[4] Portugal 11 52,000 solar modules 20
Pocking Solar Park Germany 10 57,912 solar modules 11.5
Monte Alto photovoltaic power plant Spain 9.5 14
Viana Solar Park Spain 8.7 11
Gottelborn Solar Park Germany 8.4 8.4
Alamosa photovoltaic power plant[5] Colorado, USA 8.22 Completed December 20, 2007 17
Bavaria Solar Park in Muhlhausen[6] Germany 6.3 57,600 solar modules 6.7
Huerta solar de Aldea del Conde Spain 6.3 Completed October 2007
Huerta Solar Crevillent Spain 6 Completed January 2008 8
Huerta Solar de Olmedilla Spain 6 Completed November 2007
Rote Jahne Solar Park[7] Germany 6 90,000 First Solar thin-film modules 5.7
Darro Solar Park[1] Spain 5.8 Conergy and SunPower modules 11.6
Kameyama Japan 5.2 47,000 square meters on Sharp LCD factory roof n.a.
For comparison, the largest non-photovoltaic solar plant, the solar thermal SEGS in California has an installed capacity of 354 MW. The largest nuclear power stations generate more than 1,000 MW.
Large systems in planning or under construction
Name Country DC Peak Power (MW) Description GW·h/year
Solar power station in Victoria[8] Australia 154 Heliostat concentrator photovoltaic technology** 270
Moura photovoltaic power station[9] Portugal 62 376,000 solar modules* 88
Waldpolenz Solar Park[10] [11] Germany 40 550,000 First Solar thin-film modules* 40
Davidson County solar farm[12] United States 21.5 36 individual structures**
Cádiz solar power plant Spain 20.1 * 36
* Under construction; ** Proposed

[edit] Solar power station in Victoria

A large new Solar power station in Victoria is planned. Solar Systems has announced the world's most advanced[13] 154 MW photovoltaic (PV) heliostat solar concentrator power station for north-western Victoria. The A$420 million (about €254 million as of January 2008) project will generate 270,000 MWh per year, enough for more than 45,000 homes. It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 400,000 tonnes per year and aid in reducing salinity. It will create jobs during manufacture, construction and operation.[14] The first stage is expected to be completed in 2010 with full commissioning due in 2013.[15]

[edit] Moura photovoltaic power station

Moura photovoltaic power station is located in the municipality of Moura, in the interior region of Alentejo, Portugal, and will have an installed capacity of 62 MWp. The first stage of construction should be finished in 2008 and the second and final stage is scheduled for 2010. Together with the construction of the power station, a solar panel factory is currently being built and there are plans for a research lab dedicated to solar energy.[9]

[edit] Waldpolenz Solar Park

Building approval has been given for the Waldpolenz Solar Park at a former military air base to the east of Leipzig in Germany. The €130 million power plant will be a 40 MW solar power system using innovative thin film technology, and should be finished by the end of 2009.[16] 550,000 First Solar thin-film modules will be used, which will supply 40,000MWh of electricity per year.[11]

[edit] Nellis Solar Power Plant

Solar array at Nellis Air Force Base. These panels track the sun in one axis. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.
Solar array at Nellis Air Force Base. These panels track the sun in one axis. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.

In December 2007, the U.S. Air Force announced the completion of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system at Nellis Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada. Occupying 140 acres of land leased from the Air Force at the western edge of the base, this ground-mounted photovoltaic system employs an advanced sun tracking system, designed and deployed by PowerLight subsidiary of SunPower. The 14 MW system generates more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year and supplies approximately 25 percent of the total power used at the base. The Nellis Solar Power Plant is the largest solar photovoltaic system in North America.[17][18]

[edit] Planta Solar de Salamanca

The 13.8 MW Planta Solar de Salamanca is located in Salamanca, Spain. It incorporates about 70,000 Kyocera PV modules in three separate arrays on a 36-hectare (89-acre) site. It’s the largest PV system ever created using Kyocera PV modules exclusively.[19]

[edit] Erlasee Solar Park

The Erlasee Solar Park, also sometimes called the Gut Erlasee Solar Park, is in one of the sunniest regions of Germany. It is currently the largest tracking photovoltaic solar power station in the world with an output of 12 MW, located on the former wine-producing Erlasee estate near Arnstein in Bavaria, in southern Germany. Just under 1,500 "Solon-Movers" tracker mounted arrays convert sunlight into environmentally friendly electricity, generating as much as the average consumption of the nearby town of Arnstein.[20]

[edit] Serpa solar power plant

Solar power plant near Serpa, Portugal 38°1′51″N, 7°37′22″W
Solar power plant near Serpa, Portugal 38°1′51″N, 7°37′22″W

Construction of the 11 megawatt Serpa solar power plant began in June 2006 and was completed as planned in January 2007. The facility consists of a ground-mounted photovoltaic system that uses silicon solar cell technology to convert sunlight directly into energy. The Serpa solar power plant incorporates 52,000 photovoltaic modules manufactured by SunPower, Sanyo, and Sharp. The plant uses an innovative tracking system that follows the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems.[21] Generating electricity from the sun with no fuel costs or emissions, the Serpa plant is on a 60-hectare (150-acre) hillside and is a model of clean power generation integrated with agriculture.

[edit] Pocking Solar Park

The Pocking Solar Park is a 10 Megawatt (MWp) solar power plant which is among the largest photovoltaic solar power plants in the world. Construction and assembly of the power plant started in August 2005 and was completed in March 2006. On the former military training area in the Lower-Bavarian town of Pocking, sheep are now grazing under and around the 57,912 photovoltaic modules.[22]

[edit] Monte Alto photovoltaic power plant

The Monte Alto photovoltaic power plant in Spain has a generating capacity of 9.55 megawatts peak (MWp) and will generate 14 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per annum. It cost 65 million Euros [US$87 million].[23]

The installation covers an area of 51 hectares on agricultural land near the locality of Milagro (Navarre) and contains 889 solar structures, of which 864 are equipped with automated solar tracking. The rest are fixed structures adapted to the relief of the terrain.[23]

[edit] Rote Jahne Solar Park

The Rote Jahne Solar Park in Saxony, Germany, has a total output capacity of six megawatts. Built at a former military airfield, it has 90,000 First Solar thin-film modules covering approximately 6.7 hectares, and produces approximately 5.7 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar electricity every year. The project cost around Euro 21 million [US $28 million].[7]

[edit] See also

Energy Portal
Environment Portal
Sustainable development Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Greenpeace Energy (2008). World's largest photovoltaic power plants
  2. ^ Solar Systems (undated). Solar Systems Facts Sheet
  3. ^ Citysolar (2007). Solar park of the superlative
  4. ^ GE, SunPower, Catavento team on plant. BusinessWeek (2007-03-28). Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
  5. ^ 8.22-Megawatt Photovoltaic Solar Plant
  6. ^ Solarpark Bavaria
  7. ^ a b Construction Complete on 6 MW Thin-Film PV Installation in Germany Renewable Energy Access, 5 April 2007.
  8. ^ 154 MW Victoria (Australia) Project
  9. ^ a b Portugal plans biggest solar station
  10. ^ Large photovoltaic plant in Muldentalkreis
  11. ^ a b World’s largest solar power plant being built in eastern Germany
  12. ^ Duke Energy Signs Up for Largest US Photovoltaic Project
  13. ^ Australia advances with solar power The Times, 26 October 2006.
  14. ^ Solar systems projects
  15. ^ Solar systems facts sheet -- The technology
  16. ^ Building Approval Granted for 40 MW Photovoltaic Project
  17. ^ PV System Completed at Nellis Air Force Base Renewable Energy Access, 18 December 2007.
  18. ^ Largest U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System Begins Construction at Nellis Air Force Base PRNewswire, 23 April 2007.
  19. ^ Solar Leading The Energy Revolution?
  20. ^ Solar Park "Gut Erlasee"
  21. ^ GE Invests, Delivers One of World's Largest Solar Power Plants
  22. ^ The world’s largest photovoltaic solar power plant is in Pocking
  23. ^ a b ACCIONA Inaugurates Solar Garden with 9.55 MWp Capacity

[edit] External links