The photovoltaic industry needs to lay out photovoltaic panels to receive more sunlight. With the large-scale development of the industry, the bottleneck problem of land use is gradually emerging. Industry insiders say that compared to other regions such as deserts, Gobi, and deserts, wind power and photovoltaic development can better form economies of scale and reduce costs in land, infrastructure, operation and maintenance.
Firstly, it should be understood that photovoltaic power generation in desert areas has significant advantages. Due to the long duration and high intensity of sunlight in desert areas, solar energy can be used to convert light energy into electrical energy, achieving power supply. Meanwhile, the higher temperatures in desert areas can improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cell modules and increase power generation. Therefore, building photovoltaic power stations in desert areas has unique advantages.
In recent years, China has repeatedly proposed to accelerate the construction of large-scale wind and photovoltaic bases in desert, Gobi, and desert areas. In February 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration released the "Planning and Layout Plan for Large Wind Power and Photovoltaic Bases with a Focus on Deserts, Gobi, and Desert Regions", which proposed that by 2030, China will plan to build a total installed capacity of approximately 455 million kilowatts of wind and solar power bases. At present, the construction of these large-scale wind power and photovoltaic bases is progressing smoothly, with the first batch of approximately 100 million kilowatts of projects starting, and the second and third batches of projects are also gradually advancing. On March 28, 2023, relevant departments once again proposed to encourage the use of unused land and existing construction land to develop the photovoltaic power generation industry. This is a further clarification and standardization of the development of desert photovoltaic industry and the connection between photovoltaic power generation industry development planning and national spatial planning. In December 2022, the world's largest "Sagohuang" wind power and photovoltaic base project began construction in the Kubuqi Desert. This project is the world's largest wind power and photovoltaic base project developed and constructed in desert, Gobi, and desert areas, and also the first 10 million kilowatt level new energy base project to start construction in China.
The "Junma" photovoltaic power station constructed by State Power Investment Group. Kubuqi Desert Forestry Company/Image provided
Since a group of American geologists discovered oil in the Saudi Arabian desert 80 years ago, Saudi Arabia's vast crude oil reserves (estimated to account for one fifth of the world's total) have been the main engine of its economic growth and a major source of its international influence.
But Saudi leaders are now seeking to develop another rich resource: solar energy. Because the local sunshine resources and deserts are abundant. Taking Riyadh as an example, with a population of over 7.3 million, it is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. The city is dominated by hot desert climate climate. It is not only hot but also sunny. It has 3225 hours of sunshine every year on average, ranking seventh among major cities in the world. Therefore, they cannot easily miss such a good opportunity to use photovoltaic power generation to create huge profits. Saudi Arabia announced in its "Vision 2030" development strategy that by 2030, the proportion of renewable energy in the country's energy structure will reach 50%. Saudi Arabia plans to install 27.3GW of renewable energy by 2023 and 58.7GW by 2030. To this end, the Saudi government has decided to invest up to 380 billion riyals (101 billion US dollars).
There is also one of the largest power plants in the United States, the Desert Solar Power Plant. The Desert Solar Power Plant refers to a large solar power plant built in December 1984 in the Mokhev Desert area, 225 kilometers away from Los Angeles, USA, with a power generation capacity of 13800 kilowatts and a parabolic concentrator that collects sunlight covering an area of 71700 square meters.
The emergence of desert photovoltaics not only forms an ecological cycle, but also improves the local desert environment. By converting solar energy into electricity, the agricultural and animal husbandry products of photovoltaic power stations can also bring certain economic benefits. Some additional products of power stations have exceeded the cost of desert photovoltaics, and greatly reduce the operation and maintenance costs of photovoltaic power stations. With the global strategic goal of carbon neutrality, low energy consumption and clean energy will be the inevitable direction in the future, especially the power shortage and production restriction in the previous period. It is precisely because the proportion of thermal power is too high, which makes the coal supply fluctuate slightly, resulting in insufficient power supply. Photovoltaics belong to the category of clean energy, with controllable pollution and low power abandonment rates, and can also improve desert environments. Photovoltaic+desert will be a huge emerging market.
