File:Topaz Solar Farm, California Valley.jpg
From the ground level, the scope of the facility is difficult to comprehend. Visitors to Topaz describe rows of solar panels that seem to stretch endlessly into the horizon. This satellite image, captured on January 2, 2015, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, helps put the facility into perspective. Solar arrays appear gray and charcoal. The surrounding farmland and grasslands appear brown and green. The power plant is situated within a plain flanked by the Caliente Range to the west and the Temblor Range to the east.
Topaz’s solar modules are mounted together on panels supported by steel columns; the structure holds the modules about 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground. Rows of panels are laid in a way that form large geometric shapes that are defined in part by the presence of access roads, stream beds, and preexisting infrastructure. The northernmost portions of the solar farm, which are close to a transmission line, were built first.
Mid American Renewables and Gunther Portfolio have published interesting aerial video and photographs that show additional views of the plant at various stages of construction.(Reusing this file)
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