What are Solar Farms?
Solar farms are a large collection of solar panels in one place.
Solar Panels are devices that collect the suns energy (sunlight) and converts it into energy that we can use.
Once the energy has been converted and collected it gets sent to the power grid. This then makes it way back through the power lines to the houses/organisations around that area.
You many have seen some solar panels on the roof of different houses or sheds. This is because it has become more common to give back to the environment and solar power is a great example of this. However, these are technically not classed as Solar farms due to there normally only being a small amount. Solar Farms are usually found on the ground over a vast space of land.
Solar farm in Vietnam. Credit to: Wikimedia Commons
The placement of the solar farms tend to be in the hotter/sunnier countries and places facing the sun so it can collect as much sun light (energy) as possible.
Are their different types of solar farms?
Yes!
The main two types of Solar Farms I am going to talk about are:
- Utility-scale – The image above is an example of this type of Solar Farm. Utility-scale means it is HUGE Solar Farm with thousands of solar panels all in one place. They are normally found in remote places such as deserts or farm fields. These Solar Farms tend to produce a higher voltage of power meaning it can travel along the power lines to the power grid and be used to power business or a wide range of homes.
- Community solar- These are a smaller collection of solar panels that are used to help reduce the energy bill in a community. (Hence the name community solar) They tend to generate around 5MW of electricity”, this then gets shared out between that community meaning that each house would get a cheaper energy bill because they have been a part of producing that energy. Even when it comes to Community solar panels, they are usually found in a big open space just this time within the community.
Black Rock Solar, a non-profit entity, installed a 31-kilowatt photovoltaic array at Rainshadow Community Charter High School in Reno, Nevada. Credit to: Rapid Transition Alliance
This is an image of a community coming together at the opening of their community solar farm.
