Solar farms are booming in every country of the world. Thanks to the country’s goal to decarbonize themselves, clean energy is beginning to be one of the most reliable sources of energy in the world.
Solar farms may be a slowly growing phenomena, but it has the potential to be one of main sources of energy in the future, so here you have five interesting facts of solar farms:
1. The largest solar farm.
The largest solar farm in the world is in China. The Golmund Solar Park is the largest solar farm, with a capacity of 2.8 GW. It has seven million solar panels and China has plans to make this farm even bigger. In the next five or six years it is expected that Golmund Solar Park could achieve a capacity of 16 GW! A single gigawatt could power one million UK homes for an hour.
2. Solar farms can generate electricity at night.
Usually, solar panels only produce energy when sunlight hits them and so they convert it to electric energy. At night, when there is no sun, the solar panels cool down in comparison to the air surrounding them, which creates a temperature difference. This difference can be used to create energy thanks to a thermoelectric generator. So at night, solar panels can use thermic energy instead of solar energy to produce electricity.
3. Solar farms can improve human health.
Solar farms do not produce any emissions, so they are great to improve the air quality of a city. Air pollution is a major risk factor that can aggravate respiratory diseases. Reducing emissions of big cities improves the health of the citizens.
4. Solar farms are creating a lot of jobs.
There are many jobs involved in the construction and operation of solar farms. According to a report by Market Watch Guides, there are more than 255,000 workers in the U.S. solar industry, and it’s rapidly growing. Solar power jobs are growing five times faster than the overall job growth rate in the U.S.
5. Solar farms are becoming cheaper.
According to many studies, solar energy will be one of the cheapest energy sources of the future. Some studies project that the cost of energy will drop around 34% percent by 2030 while others project that the drop will be around 50%. This puts solar farms on their way to be one of the cheapest renewable energy in the decades to come.
With their size, efficiency, environmental benefits, job creation potential, and cost-effectiveness, solar farms are poised to play a crucial role in the global energy transition towards a sustainable future.