How a large-scale photovoltaic plant is built in record time

Asolar-panel complex was completed a few months ago in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico. From a bird's-eye view, the Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant looks like a large glass lake. Together, the panels are able to generate clean energy to power 583,000 homes, all thanks to the sun beaming down on this Mexican expanse. In doing so, this will save the planet from 925,443 tonnes of CO₂ that would have been emitted by coal-fired power plants.

As many as 1,300 workers have been involved in making this army of renewable spearheads truly shine, and its installation has already set two records: More than one million solar panels were assembled in just two months, of which 43,080 were installed in a single day.

With a solar capture area of 2.4 km² (equivalent to 333 professional football fields) covering a plot measuring 10 km², the Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant is the largest renewable energy project undertaken by ACCIONA around the world to date.

Our image gallery will show you all about the construction of photovoltaic plant. Join us on this journey to discover how to build a photovoltaic plant step-by-step and what constitutes one of the largest solar installations in Latin America.

LOCATION IS KEY

Choosing the right place to install a photovoltaic plant is essential. Flat, sunny expanses are most suited to such installations. The Puerto Libertad photovoltaic plant is located in the heart of the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, just 7 km from the town of Puerto Libertad itself.

A PHOTOVOLTAIC LAKE IN THE HEART OF THE DESERT

The installation covers 1,000 hectares in a region where sun is highly available all year round, with ideal solar radiation values to yield maximum energy output from the installed solar panels.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Before commencing construction work on the photovoltaic plant, impacts as a result of implementing the project must be minimised as much as possible through intensive efforts to protect plant and animal species residing on the land where the photovoltaic plant is planned to be installed.

MORE THAN 30,000 PLANTS PROTECTED

At the Puerto Libertad plant, around 30,000 units of 14 various species of flora were either collected in the form of cuttings for subsequent reproduction, or were relocated in their entirety to a protected area to be replanted at a later stage.

RELOCATING MAMMALS AND REPTILES

Animals—mainly small mammals and reptiles—were also rescued and relocated to a safe distance away from the renewable energy project area: More than 1,000 mammals (mostly small rodents) and more than 1,400 reptiles such as lizards, chameleons, iguanas and snakes were relocated.

PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE

Once the engineering stage of the photovoltaic plant was completed (i.e. the project has been designed and drawn up), fieldwork began, in the heart of the desert in this case, and machinery and personnel were dispatched logistically.

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