Erlasee Solar Park facts for kids
The Erlasee Solar Park is a huge power plant that uses sunlight to make electricity. It's located in a very sunny part of Germany, in a place called Arnstein in Bavaria. This park is special because it's one of the biggest solar power stations in the world that uses "tracking" technology. This means its solar panels move to follow the sun!
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What is the Erlasee Solar Park?
The Erlasee Solar Park is a massive area filled with special panels called "solar panels" or "photovoltaic modules." These panels are like magic windows that can turn sunlight directly into electricity. It was built by a company called SOLON.
Where is it located?
This amazing solar park is found in southern Germany, near a town called Arnstein. It's built on land that used to be a wine-producing estate. The area is known for getting lots of sunshine, which is perfect for making solar power!
How does it make electricity?
The Erlasee Solar Park uses nearly 1,500 special solar panels called "SOLON-Movers." These panels are designed to move and follow the sun across the sky. This helps them capture as much sunlight as possible throughout the day.
When sunlight hits the panels, it gets changed into clean, environmentally friendly electricity. This park can produce 12 megawatts (MW) of power. That's enough electricity to power a town like Arnstein!
How big is it and what did it cost?
The solar park covers a very large area, about 77 hectares of land. To give you an idea, that's like 100 football fields! Building this big solar power plant cost about £35 million. It's a big investment in clean energy for the future.