Solar power plant

Solar energy absorbing panels on the sound barrier next to the Munich airport.

Solar power plant is based on the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics converts light into electric current using the photoelectric effect. The largest photovoltaic power plant in the world is the 250 MW Agua Caliente Solar Project in Arizona.

Concentrated solar power plants first appeared in the 1980s. Now, the 354 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world; it is located in the Mojave Desert, California. Other large CSP plants include the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW, 250 MW when finished) and the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain.

Solar power is increasingly used.

Other pages

• Nuclear power plant
• Solar thermal energy
• Wave power