A solar farm is a large collection of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that absorb energy from the sun, convert it into electricity and send that electricity to the power grid for distribution and consumption by customers like you. Solar farms — which you’ll sometimes see being called solar parks or photovoltaic power stations — are usually mounted to the ground instead of rooftops and come in all shapes and sizes.
Unlike residential and commercial systems, they’re decentralized and usually consist of ground-mounted solar panels installed across large areas. In most cases instead of providing power to a local end-user like a homeowner or business solar farms provide power to the electric grid and are part of the utility’s energy mix. There are different types of large solar projects, like community solar farms and utility-scale solar farms. Some solar projects, like those built to power data centers or other large users of solar power, have solar farms built purely for their use—sometimes onsite, sometimes offsite.
