Solar Star


Solar Star is a 579-megawatt photovoltaic power station near Rosamond, California that is operated and maintained by SunPower Services. When completed in June 2015, it was the world's largest solar farm in terms of installed capacity, using 1.7 million solar panels, made by SunPower and spread over 13 square kilometers.

Comparison to similar plants

Compared to other photovoltaic plants of similar size, Solar Star uses a smaller number of large form-factor, high-wattage, high-efficiency, higher cost crystalline silicon modules, mounted on single axis trackers. In contrast, the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm and the Topaz Solar Farm use a larger number of smaller form-factor, lower wattage, lower efficiency, lower cost thin-film CdTe photovoltaic modules, mounted on fixed-tilt arrays and spread over a larger land area. Both approaches appear commercially viable.
There are a number of other solar photovoltaic plants nearby:


Electricity production

Solar Star 1's nameplate capacities are 398 MWdc and 314 MWac.
Solar Star 2's nameplate capacities are 350 MWdc and 266 MWac.