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Scales of solar power systems seem to go polarizing as the demands to small-scale residential systems and to ultra-large-scale power plants are both boosting. The 550MW Topaz Solar Farm in California, USA was once the world’s largest solar power plant at a single site, yet the position has already taken by another solar power plant in India.
In Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu, there locates a large-scale solar power plant which has a capacity of 648MW and covers an area of 10 square km. This plant is the world’s largest solar power plant, currently.
The 648MW solar power plant was developed by India’s local enterprise, Adani Green Energy. It not only took “the world’s largest” position from Topaz Solar Farm, it is more than three-times larger than the 200MW solar power plant developed by China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIC) in China, which was also once the world’s largest.
The Kamuthi facility comprises of 2.5 million solar panels. The construction cost was US$679 million and the construction duration was only eight months. According to AL Jazeera, all the solar panels will be cleaned every day by a robotic system charged by electricity generated from themselves.
The facility’s power yield is estimated to be enough for powering around 15,000 households, while the electricity generated will be sold back to the power grid at Rs 7.01/kWh.
Bridge to India projects that India’s cumulative solar installations would exceed 10GW in 2016, and the completion of the Kamuthi plant has pushed the step forward.
India has been recognized as of the world’s major solar markets. EnergyTrend projects India to become the third-largest solar market following China and the U.S. The nation aims to increase its nationwide solar capacity to 100GW by 2022 and to provide 60 million homes with solar electricity. Furthermore, India plans to increase energy share of non-fossil resources to 40% by 2030.
(Photo: screenshot of the Kamuthi plant's video)