In Arizona, earned in full force the world's largest photovoltaic plant

Powerhouse Aqua Caliente, located in Yuma County, Arizona, in April of this year вышла design capacity of 290 megawatts . In the year it produces about 650 gigawatt-hours of electricity. Construction of the station at a cost of 1, 8 billion. The area occupied by the station - 971 hectares. Electricity that it produces will be enough to meet the needs of a medium-sized city. At the heart of the station - thin-film solar cells based on cadmium telluride.

Aqua Caliente today is the world's largest photovoltaic plant unfinished. Her superior just being built in California Topaz Solar Farm - now its capacity reached 300 megawatts, and its design capacity - 550 MW. Also it comparable power has recently unfinished solar plant in Ivanpah (California), but it operates on a different principle - hundreds of thousands of mirrors concentrate sunlight on the central tower, heating collector positioned therein, and the electricity produced by the generator as well as any other thermal power station.

Solar power plants have been actively building in the US at the beginning of this decade - four years ago the largest solar power plant had a capacity of only 20 megawatts. In the south of the United States a hot arid climate and plenty of space - ideal conditions for solar energy. Power Aqua Caliente is about 10 times less than that of a typical large nuclear and thermal power plants, which are usually issued by several gigawatts. The world's largest Japanese Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant had a capacity of 8, 2 gigawatts (station was stopped after Fukushima).

However, the most powerful power on the planet - is hydroelectric. The largest of them - the Chinese HPP "Three Gorges" on the Yangtze River produces 22 5 gigawatts. Her dam has a length of 185 meters 2309 meters. Reservoir Area - 1045 km <sup>2 sup>. When filling the reservoir were moved 1, 3 million people - a record number in the history of hydropower.

Solar power - the fastest growing segment of the energy sector today. Every year the number of installed solar generating capacity increased by 50%. Modern solar cells efficiency approaching 20%.



Source: habrahabr.ru/post/224349/</sup>