Largest solar power plants in USA

Top biggest solar PV stations in the United States 2021. PV parks, PV farms.

(Updated 01 June 2021)

See also: Solar Installers in USA

Get familiar with our list of the largest US-based solar photovoltaic plants with a capacity accounting for hundreds of megawatts. Using the links provided to every project, you can get additional information on the station, find its exact map location, and read the news related to each developer and state of location.

Name Location State Capacity MWp or MWAC (*) Annual Output GWh Land Size km² On grid Remarks  Developer
Solar Star (I and II) map California  579* 1,664 13 2015 Largest in California and US. 579 MW ac (747.3 MWp) connected to the grid on June 19, 2015. 1.7 million solar panels SunPower
Copper Mountain Solar Facility map  Nevada 552* 1,291 16.2 2016 Largest in Nevada at 552 MW ac. Proposed Fifth Unit to add 250MW. 9 million First Solar panels Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy
Desert Sunlight Solar Farm map  California 550* 1,287 16 2015 Phase I of 300 MWAC completed 2013. Phase II to final capacity completed January 2015. First Solar
Topaz Solar Farm map California 550* 1,268 19 2014 Gradually commissioned since February 2013. Reached final capacity November 2014. First Solar
Mount Signal Solar map California 460* 1,197 15.9 2018 Phase 1 of 206 MWAC in May 2014. Phase 3 of 254 MWAC in July 2018. Phase 2 of 154 MWAC projected in 2020. Up to 600 MWAC when complete. 8minute Solar Energy
Mesquite Solar project map Arizona 400* 1,140 9.3 2016 Largest in Arizona. Up to 700 MWAC when complete. Zachry Holdings
Springbok Solar Farm map California 350* 717 5.7 2019 443MW(DC) 8minute Solar Energy
Techren Solar Project map  Nevada 300*   9.3 2019 100MW Phase 1 and 200MW Phase 2. Expected completion in 2019. Up to 400MW when complete. Sustainable Energy Capital Partners
Agua Caliente Solar Project map Arizona 290* 740 9.7 2014 290MWAC project was completed in April 2014 First Solar
California Flats Solar Project map California 280*   11.7 2017 130 MWac completed November 2017. Full capacity year-end 2018. First Solar
McCoy Solar Energy Project map California 250* 745 9.3 2016 First 250 MW commissioned June 2016. Two more 250MW phases proposed. First Solar
Silver State South Solar Project map Nevada 250* 711 11.7 2016 Commissioned December 2016 First Solar
California Valley Solar Ranch map California 250* 675 7.96 2013 Completed October 2013 SunPower
Stateline Solar map California 250* 658 6.82 2016 Completed September 2016. First Solar
Moapa Southern Paiute map Nevada 250* 629 8.1 2016 First station on north american tribal lands. Commissioned March 2017. First Solar
Escalante Solar Project map  Utah 240* 624 7.7 2016 Largest in Utah. SunEdison, Inc.
Blythe Solar Energy Center map California 235* 622 8.1 2016 Phase 1 of 110 MWAC in Apr 2016. Phase 2 of 125 MWAC in Oct 2016. Up to 485MW when complete Solar Trust of America
Antelope Valley Solar Ranch map California 230* 614 8.5 2015 Largest in Los Angeles County, CA First Solar
GA Solar 4 Project map  Georgia 200*   8.1 2019 Largest in Georgia and eastern US. Expected completion December 2019. 261MWdc/200MWac. First Solar
Garland Solar Facility map California 200* 547 8.1 2016 272MWdc/200MWac. Kern County, CA Recurrent Energy
Great Valley Solar map California 200* 675 6.5 2018 281MWdc/200MWac. Fresno County, CA Recurrent Energy
Tranquillity Solar project map California 200* 455 7.7 2016 258MWdc/200MWac. Fresno County, CA Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy
Midway Solar map  Texas 236   6.1 2019 236MWdc/178MWac. Pecos County, TX 174 Power Global
Upton Solar 2 map Texas 235   7.7 2017 235MWdc/180MWac with 42MWh storage. Upton County, TX Vistra Energy
Roserock Solar map Texas 212 396 5.3 2016 212MWdc/157MWac. Pecos County, TX Recurrent Energy
Buckthorn Solar 1 map Texas 202   5.1 2018 202MWdc/154MWac. Pecos County, TX NRG Energy
 

Solar power in USA

USA is an unquestioned champion in the solar industry. Many of the world’s biggest and most productive photovoltaic stations and farms are located in the United States. The nation boasts dozens of solar PV plants whose capacity exceeds 200 megawatts. All of them have been deployed within the last decade. 
 
Over a half of the top nation’s utility-scale PV projects are based in California – the sunniest state of the country. The Beach State houses the largest solar power station as of 2020 – 579MWAC Solar Star. 
 
Nevada ranks second, accommodating the second-largest and a few more over-200-MW plants. 
 
The PV systems in the list rank according to their capacity. Keep it in mind that the sector is growing rapidly and the rating is changing. But you can rest assured that we are doing our best to update the info regularly to keep you in line with the fresh news.
 
Utility Scale Solar Power Plants along with photovoltaics make up majority of the solar power generation in the United States of America. Since USA was focused on research and development with regards to photovoltaics and concentrated solar power for a very long period of time thus has been one of the top countries in the world responsible for electricity generation through the Sun. 
 
According to US Energy Information Administration,  40% of U.S. Solar Energy Output is made possible  through Utility-scale fixed-tilt solar photovoltaic plants. In alignment with this,  by 2020, US comprised of 97,275 MW of installed photovoltaic and concentrated solar power capacity that makes it one of the top countries in the world with respect to total cumulative installed capacity. 
 
Although Solar PV's expansion in USA  is driven  by renewable energy resources but a 2012 report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has indicated that the availability of these required renewable energy sources for each state of the US is turning scarce over time. Regardless of this limitation, the demand for solar power has been increasing significantly. According to Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research, the market share of US has increased above 10% in the world’s solar power installations in the past seven years. Furthermore, another study by the U.S. department of Energy and the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates that there has been an increase in the number of homes that have solar systems installed. They predict that the households that are currently benefiting from the rooftop solar energy would reach over 3.8 million houses by 2020. 

Solar Star(I and II)

It is a photovoltaic power station with an installed capacity of 579MW. The plant is located in Rosamond, California. It has been fully constructed since 2013 and is currently operational by the SunPower developer. The annual output of this plant comes around 1664 GWh through the 1.7 million installed solar panels. By 2015, Solar Star was declared the world’s largest solar farm with regards to its installed capacity, as mentioned earlier that it makes use of 1.7 million solar panels that spread over 3200 acres of land. 

Copper Mountain Solar Facility

The solar photovoltaic power plant is considered the largest plant in Nevada due to its 552 MW capacity. Furthermore since this facility is located alongside Nevada Solar One (64 MW capacity), Boulder Solar(150 MW capacity) and Tecren Solar projects(300MW) in the Eldorado Valley thus is attributed as one of the largest photovoltaic plants in US by forming a solar generating complex of more than 1 GW.  Nevada’s largest solar power plant is owned by Sempra Generation which is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. It started being constructed in 2010 and is fully operational at the present time. The Copper Mountain Solar Facility takes up around 16.2 square kilometers(4000 acres) of land and is responsibly for 1348 GW/h annual net output that is equivalent to 337 MW-h per acre. 

Desert Sunlight Solar Farm

The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is located in Riverside County, California on 16 square kilometers which is around 3900 acres of land. It is currently owned by Next Era Energy Resources, GE Energy Financial Services, and Sumitomo Group. The Solar Farm is capable of generating 1287 Annual Output GWh  by making use of approximately 8.8 million cadmium telluride modules that were installed by First Solar.  The plant has a peak capacity of 550MW and was developed in two phases. The first phase was completed in 2013 with a 300MWAC and the second phase brought the farm to its final capacity of 550 MW by January 2015.