Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
The Waldpolenz Solar Park is a 52-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station built by German developer and operator Juwi at a former military air base near Leipzig, Eastern Germany. When completed by the end of 2008, it was the world's largest thin-film solar park using CdTe-modules.
Solar power accounted for an estimated 8.2 per cent of electricity in Germany in 2019, which was almost exclusively from photovoltaics (PV). About 1.5 million photovoltaic systems were installed around the country in 2014, ranging from small rooftop systems, to medium commercial and large utility-scale solar parks. Germany's largest solar farms are located in Meuro, Neuhardenberg, and Templin with capacities over 100 MW.
The Köthen Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station in Köthen, Germany. It has a capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) and an expected annual electricity generation of 42 gigawatt-hours. The solar park was developed and built by RGE Energy.
The Rothenburg Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station in Rothenburg, Oberlausitz in Germany. Initially it had a capacity of 20.5 megawatts (MW). The solar park is equipped with 273,240 CdTe-modules from First Solar, and 11 Siemens central inverters. The project was commissioned in 2009. The original solar farm was divided into three fields on the airfield site.
Development of solar power in Greece started in 2006 and installations of photovoltaic systems skyrocketed from 2009 because of the appealing feed-in tariffs introduced and the corresponding regulations for domestic applications of rooftop solar PV. In 2019, 90% of the around 2.5 GWp capacity was installed in 2011, 2012 and 2013. However, funding the FITs created an unacceptable deficit of more than €500 million in the Greek "Operator of Electricity Market" RES fund. To reduce that deficit, new regulations were introduced in August 2012 including retrospective feed-in tariffs reduction, with further reductions over time. These measures enabled the deficit to be erased by 2017.
Gehrlicher Solar AG is a German photovoltaics corporation with its registered office in Neustadt near Coburg and its administrative headquarters in Dornach near Munich. Gehrlicher Solar AG acts as a system integrator, planning, building, financing, maintaining and operating photovoltaic systems on open areas and roofs. In addition, the corporation acts as a wholesaler for solar modules, inverters and complete photovoltaic systems as well as offering its own developed components from the „GehrTec“ family of products.
Canadian Solar Inc. is a publicly traded company that manufactures solar PV modules and runs large scale solar projects.
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 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.
The Perovo Solar Park or Perove Solar Park is a 100 MWp photovoltaic power station located at Klyuchi - a part of Perove, Simferopol Raion, Crimea, Ukraine. As of July 2012, it was the world's fourth-largest solar farm, and was made up of 440,000 solar panels. It is owned by Activ Solar, and the final 20 MW stage was completed on December 29, 2011.
Solar power in France including overseas territories reached an installed capacity figure of 11.2 GW in 2020, and rose further to 17.1 GW at the end of 2022. Government plans announced in 2022 foresee solar PV capacity in France rising to 100 GW by 2050.
The Lauingen Energy Park is a 25.7–megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station, located in Bavarian Swabia, Germany. It covers an area of 63 hectares and was commissioned in June 2010.
The Tutow Solar Park is in Demmin, Germany, and is located at Tutow Airport.
Solarpark Eiche is a 26.5-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station located in Ahrensfelde‐Eiche, Germany, near the capital Berlin, and covers an area of 73 hectares.
Serenissima Solar Park is a 48 MW photovoltaic (PV) plant in Northeast Italy. The construction schedule was shortened by several months to meet the August 31, 2011 deadline to receive the FIT rate of EUR 0.256/kWh.
Ernsthof Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station near Dörlesberg, Wertheim, Germany. It has a capacity of 34.4 MWp making it the largest Solar Park in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Phase I of 6.88 MWp and covering an area of 16.6 hectares, consisted of 31,280 modules by LDK Solar Energy Systems was completed on March 30, 2010. The second phase of 7.25 MWp was completed in December 2010, and it was expanded to 29.5 MW and then to 34.4 MW, with over 120,000 modules being fitted in December. Ernsthof East is 6.8 MW and Ernsthof West is 27.5 MW. The total area is 85 ha. Ernsthof is part of the Tauberlandpark, a planned 72 MW solar park consisting of Ernsthof and Solarpark Gickelfeld, which has been delayed due to the political uncertainty of solar parks of over 10 MW receiving the FIT. They may need, instead, to sign a Power Purchase Agreement with the grid distribution power company, which is better than subdividing large projects into multiple smaller segments just to qualify for the FIT.
Neuhardenberg Solar Park is a 145-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plant, and was Europe's largest solar power station, located at the former Neuhardenberg military airport in Brandenburg, Germany.
The Perleberg Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station, with an installed capacity of 35 megawatts (MW). It uses 144,144 solar panels manufactured by Chinese company Yingli. The panels are mounted at a fixed angle on posts that are driven into the ground, at a former military airport.
Mount Signal Solar, also known as Imperial Valley Solar Project, is a 794 MWp (614 MWAC) photovoltaic power station west of Calexico, California, United States, in the southern Imperial Valley, near the Mexican border. The facility is being developed and constructed by 8minutenergy Renewables in three phases, with two completed as of 2018. At full build-out, it will be one of the world's largest PV solar farms with a capacity of about 800 MWp (600 MWAC). The project has been supported by several environmental groups, as the power station was built on low productivity farmland.
The Cestas Solar Park is a 300 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power station in Cestas, France. Built by Eiffage and Schneider Electric for the developer, Neoen, it opened on December 1, 2015. When it opened on 1 December 2015, Cestas Solar Park was the largest solar photovoltaic power station in Europe. Located in Cestas, to the south of Bordeaux, it spans 260 hectares and produces 300 MWp.
