A solar photovoltaic power plant is a regular power plant that converts solar energy into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. This effect occurs when sunlight photons bump into a specific material and displace an electron, which generates a direct current. The acronym PV is commonly used to refer to photovoltaics.
Depending on its operating system, there are two main types of solar plants: solar thermal power plants and solar photovoltaic plants. Although both solar thermal plants and photovoltaic power plants use solar energy to produce electricity, the process to generate it is different in each case.
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power.
Solar PV power plants are made up of different components, of which we cite the main ones: Solar modules: they are made up of photovoltaic cells. A PV cell is made of a material called silicon that is prone to suffer the photovoltaic effect. Commonly, they are systems for tracking the Sun.
The solar power plant uses solar energy to produce electrical power. Therefore, it is a conventional power plant. Solar energy can be used directly to produce electrical energy using solar PV panels. Or there is another way to produce electrical energy that is concentrated solar energy.
Yes, it can – solar power only requires some level of daylight in order to harness the sun’s energy. That said, the rate at which solar panels generate electricity does vary depending on the amount of direct sunlight and the quality, size, number and location of panels in use.