What is a solar farm?

Solar farms are large ground-mounted solar energy systems. They use solar panels or other means of harvesting solar energy, such as concentrating solar systems, to harness the sun's energy so that crops can be grown beneath the panels. This is a solar farm, also known as agricultural photovoltaics.

Solar farms are also known as "solar parks", "solar power plants" and "solar power stations". They operate as power plants, just like fossil fuel power plants.

Solar farms are usually large in scale, so a large number of panels and brackets need to be purchased, and an ideal location without trees is generally chosen. Decentralized solar farms usually consist of ground-based solar panels installed over a large area. Solar farms primarily supply power to the grid and are part of the utility's energy mix.

Solar farms can be divided into community solar farms and utility-scale solar farms. The biggest difference between utility-scale solar farms and community solar farms is scale: Utility-scale solar farms tend to be much larger than community solar farms. Utility-scale solar farms can range in capacity from 1 MW to 2,000 MW, while community solar farms are typically under 5 MW, with many under 100 kW.