Solar photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into electricity and manysolar photovoltaic power stations have been built, mainly in Europe. As of October 2009, the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are the Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park (Spain, 60 MW), the Strasskirchen Solar Park (Germany, 54 MW), theLieberose Photovoltaic Park (Germany, 53 MW), the Puertollano Photovoltaic Park (Spain, 50 MW), the Moura Photovoltaic Power Station (Portugal, 46 MW), and the Waldpolenz Solar Park (Germany, 40 MW). Some photovoltaic power stations which are presently proposed will have a capacity of 150 MW or more.

Many of these plants are integrated with agriculture and some use innovative tracking systems that follow the sun’s daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. There are no fuel costs or emissions during operation of the power stations.

For comparison, the largest non-photovoltaic solar plant, the solar thermal SEGS in California has an installed capacity of 354 MW. The largest nuclear power stations generate more than 1,000 MW.