Topaz Solar Farm, California

Topaz is the larger of two major solar power plants in the remote Carrizo Plain of California. Construction started in 2011 by First Solar, and when it was completed in 2014, with over 9 million photovoltaic panels, it was producing 550 megawatts, making it the largest solar power plant in the world at that time. Part of the plant was built on the site of the Carrizo Solar Plant, built by the oil company ARCO. ARCO’s plant operated from around 1985 to 1994, when it was disassembled. Though it had just 100,000 panels, and produced only 5.2 megawatts, it was the largest photovoltaic plant in the world, during that time, by far.