India has cut the ribbon on the world’s largest solar-electric plant, a 648-megawatt project in Kamuthi, Tamil Nadu that will produce enough power for 150,000 homes.
The facility was built in just eight months, Inhabit reports, and “is largely self-maintaining, with a host of solar-powered robots that clean the solar panels, keeping efficiency rates high and human effort to a minimum.”
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The $679-million, 1,270-acre project, owned by Adani Power, went online September 21, and contains 2.5 million individual solar cells. The project “is part of India’s broader plan to power 60 million homes with solar power by 2022” and boost clean power to 40% of demand by 2030, notes correspondent Cat DiStasio.
The project pushes India’s total installed capacity above 10 gigawatts, “but many more solar projects will need to come online in order for the country to meet its renewable energy goals.”
