The Weekender | Global 25: The Largest Solar Plants (PV) on Earth

Olmedilla de Alarcon

Solar power experts are taking a new look at PV solar plants after news that an Arizona utility plans to build a PV plant twice the size of the largest existing one in the US, and word that China is moving ahead on what will be the largest PV array on the planet.

With this renewed interest, we thought it was time to post a list of the 25 largest solar PV plants on the planet. We believe, and hope, this list will have a short shelf-life as larger projects go on-line.

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Tucson utility plans nation’s largest PV solar plant, thanks to federal & state programs

14-MW Array, Nellis Air Force Base, NV.

14-MW Array, Nellis Air Force Base, NV.

Tucson Electric Power Company’s (TEP) announcement yesterday that it intends to build a 25-MW solar PV power plant (twice the size of the largest existing system in the country and seven times larger than the giant array used as a backdrop by CA Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the day before in announcing his own power initiative) outside of Tucson, Arizona, didn’t put a dent in the national news-cycle.

It should have. This is big news.

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Schwarzenegger moves CA forward on renewable power

Gov. Schwarzenegger: "We still have a lot of work to do"

Gov. Schwarzenegger: "We still have a lot of work to do"

With a shining backdrop of 18,000 solar panels glinting as blue as the Pacific, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told a crowd, “This is a great day today, because we are taking major action to create more green jobs and more green energy.”

The governor was referring to Executive Order S-21-09, which he signed after his remarks. The EO commits the state to getting a third of all its electric power from renewable sources by the year 2020. The change sets California’s renewable energy goal higher and meets it faster than any other state.

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