Visualizing the World’s Largest Solar Power Plants

Devastating wildfires, rising temperatures, and warming seas across the world have added renewed vigor to the global quest for carbon emission reductions.

And in this hunt for sustainable alternatives to air-polluting energy sources, solar power plants have emerged as shining beacons of hope.

In this graphic, Pranav Gavali uses data from Statista to shed light on the world’s 15 largest solar power plants (and solar parks) illuminating the world as of 2021.

World’s Largest Solar Power Plants By Capacity

Solar power plants have been harnessing the sun’s abundant rays over the past two decades, but plants with capacities in the thousands of megawatts have only come online within the last few years.

And two countries have been leading their rollout: China and India. Together they housed nine of the 15 largest solar power plants in the world in 2021.

Here are the top 15 solar power plants (photovoltaic power stations) by installed capacity:

India’s Bhadla Solar Park is the world’s largest solar park as of the time of the dataset. It has the capacity to generate 2,245 megawatts of electricity alone, enough to power 1.3 million homes. The country also has the third-largest solar power plant, Pavagada Solar Park, and five of the top 15.

China is the world’s largest producer of solar energy and had four of the 15 largest solar plants in 2021. Huanghe Hydropower’s Hainan Solar Park—listed in some sources as Golmud Solar Park—is the world’s second largest solar power plant with a 2,200 megawatt capacity, while Tengger Desert Solar Park (also known as the “Great Wall of Solar”) was formerly the largest solar park in the world with a 1,547 megawatt capacity.

One thing the world’s largest solar power plants have in common is access to large stretches of open land, particularly deserts. And three of the newest mega solar parks are in the Middle East: Egypt’s Benban Solar Park, and UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and Noor Abu Dhabi Solar Power Plant.

Solar energy usage has been growing exponentially across the Atlantic as well, just not as fast as in Asia. Mexico’s Villanueva Solar Park is the largest solar plant in the Americas with an 828 megawatt capacity, while the Copper Mountain Solar Facility (802 MW) in Nevada and the Mount Signal Solar Park (794 MW) in California are the largest plants in the United States.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.