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Deployment of solar power to energy grids

Deployment of solar power depends largely upon local conditions and requirements. But as all industrialised nations share a need for electricity, it is clear that solar power will increasingly be used to supply a cheap, reliable electricity supply.

Several experimental photovoltaic (PV) power plants of 300 to 600 kW capacity are connected to electricity grids in Europe and the U.S. Other major research is investigating economic ways to store the energy which is collected from the sun's rays during the day.

Africa

Africa is home to the over 9 million km² Sahara desert, whose overall capacity — assuming 50 MW/km² day/night/cloud average with 15% efficient photovoltaic panels — is over 450 TW, or over 4,000,000 terawatt-hours per year. The current global energy consumption by humans, including all oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and hydroelectric, is pegged at about 13 TW.

Australia

The largest solar power station in Australia is the 400kWp array at Singleton, New South Wales. Other significant solar arrays include the 220 kWp array on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands in South Australia, the 200kWp array at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne and the 160kWp array at Kogarah Town Square in Sydney. A building-integrated photo voltaic (BIPV) installation of 60kW in Brisbane (at the Hall-Chadwick building) has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) which gives around 10-15 minutes worth of emergency power in the event of the loss of electricity supply. Any power not used by the UPS is connected to the grid and goes towards reducing the building's overall power bills. Numerous smaller arrays have been established, mainly in remote areas where solar power is cost-competitive with diesel power.

Asia

As of 2004, Japan had 1200 MWe installed. Japan currently consumes about half of worldwide production of solar modules, mostly for grid connected residential applications.

In terms of overall installed PV capacity, India comes fourth after Japan, Germany, and the United States (Indian Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources 2002). Government support and subsidies have been major influences in its progress. India's very long-term solar potential may be unparalleled in the world because it is one of the few places with an ideal combination of both high solar power reception and a large consumer base in the same place. India's theoretical solar potential is about 5000 TW·h per year (i.e. 600 GW), far more than its current total consumption.

In 2005, the Israeli government announced an international contract for building a 100 MW solar power plant to supply the electricity needs of more than 200,000 Israelis living in southern Israel. The plan may eventually allow the creation of a gigantic 500 MW power plant, making Israel a leader in solar power production.

Europe

The 10 megawatt Bavaria Solarpark in Germany is the world's largest solar electric system, covering 25 hectares (62 acres) with 57,600 photovoltaic panels.

A large solar PV plant is planned for the island of Crete. Research continues into ways to make the actual solar collecting cells less expensive and more efficient.

The scientific solar furnace at Odeillo, French Cerdagne

A large parabolic reflector solar furnace is located in the Pyrenees at Odeillo, France. It is used for various research purposes. Another site is the Loser in Austria.

The Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in Spain, part of the Center for Energy, Environment and Technological Research (CIEMAT), is the largest center for research, development, and testing of concentrating solar technologies in Europe.

In the United Kingdom, the tallest building in Manchester, the CIS Tower, was clad in photovoltaic panels at a cost of £5.5 million and started feeding electricity to the national grid on November 2005.

On April 27, 2006, GE Energy Financial Services, PowerLight Corporation and Catavento Lda announced that they will build the world’s largest solar photovoltaic power project. The 11-megawatt solar power plant, comprising 52,000 photovoltaic modules, will be built at a single site in Serpa, Portugal, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon in one of Europe’s sunniest areas.

North America

A laundromat in California supplements water heating with solar panels on the roof.

In some areas of the United States, solar electric systems are already competitive with utility systems. As of 2005, there is a list of technical conditions that factor into the economic feasibility of going solar: the amount of sunlight that the area receives; the purchase cost of the system; the ability of the system owner to sell power back to the electric grid; and most important, the competing power prices from the local utility. For example, a photovoltaic system installed in Boston, Massachusetts, produces 25% less electricity than it would in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but yields roughly the same savings on utility bills since electricity costs more in Boston.

In addition to these considerations, many states and regions offer substantial incentives to improve the economics for potential consumers. Congress recently adopted the first federal tax breaks for residential solar since 1985 -- temporary credits available for systems installed in 2006 or 2007. Homeowners can claim one federal credit of up to $2,000 to cover 30% of a photovoltaic system's cost and another 30% credit of up to $2,000 for a solar thermal system. Fifteen states also offer tax breaks for solar, and two dozen states offer direct consumer rebates.

Solar One is a pilot solar-thermal project in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California. It uses heliostats, and molten salts storage technology, to achieve longer periods of power generation.

Solar Two, also near Barstow, has now built and elaborated on the success of Solar One. It was an R&D project in Barstow, California, financed by the US federal Department of Energy. Solar Two used liquid salts as a storage medium in order to continue to provide energy for much of the time when sunlight is not available. Its success has led to the larger Solar Tres project in Spain.

On August 11, 2005, Southern California Edison announced an agreement to purchase solar powered Stirling engines from Stirling Energy Systems over a twenty year period and in quantities (20,000 units) sufficient to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. These systems — to be installed on a 4,500 acre (18 km²) solar farm — will use mirrors to direct and concentrate sunlight onto the engines which will drive generators. Less than a month later, Stirling Energy Systems announced another agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide between 300 and 900 megawatts of electricity.

The world's largest solar power plant is located in the Mojave Desert. Solel, an Israeli company, operates the plant, which consists of 1000 acres (4 km²) of solar reflectors. This plant produces 90% of the world's commercially produced solar power.

On January 12, 2006, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the California Solar Incentive Program, a comprehensive $2.8 billion program that provides incentives toward solar development over 11 years.