Male Northwest Photovoltaic Energy Storage Power Station

Of the 309 PV station clusters (hereafter, PV parks), the top 7% largest ones account for 61% of the total area of PV power stations, indicating that PV power stations in the Northwest tend to be developed in the form of large-scale centralized PV parks.

In the long run, the establishment of large-scale photovoltaic power stations in various provinces is subject to the levels of clean energy consumption in the region and the coordination of power grids between different provinces and regions.

Land used for PV power stations were mainly converted from Gobi desert, sandy land, sparse and moderate grassland. The focus of China's PV industry is shifting from the northwest to the south and east. Many leading countries are boosting renewables, especially solar energy, as a major way to mitigate future energy crises and climate change.

Northwest China has abundant solar energy resources and extensive land, making it a pivotal site for solar energy development. However, restrictions on site selection and severe weather conditions have hindered the establishment and operation of photovoltaic (PV) power stations.

Energy policies are the main factor driving the rapid development of PV power stations in China (Fig. 10 a) (Yang et al., 2020). Since 2004, China's PV production has experienced tremendous growth due to the dramatic increase in demand for PV in European countries and reached number one in the world in 2007 (Xu, 2016).

A PV power station usually consists of a number of PV arrays, which are manifested by a large number of crystalline silicon panels arranged in close proximity.