What's The Largest Solar Farm In The US And How Much Electricity Does It Generate?

Our drive to get clean energy means that companies are starting to invest in larger, more powerful solar farms. These facilities use solar panels to generate renewable energy from sunlight, giving power to communities without producing greenhouse gases. Because of this, many companies are putting up sprawling sites to produce hundreds of megawatts, with the largest one being SB Energy's Orion Solar Belt.

This facility is divided into three solar farms, all located in Milam County, Texas, some 70 miles northeast of Austin. It occupies 5,000 acres with 1.3 million solar modules that deliver 875 megawatts DC, which would be enough for around 105,000 American households. (For comparison, the average American home consumes about 10,000 kWh a year and will need roughly 20 solar panels to power it.) However, most of the power at Orion is already contracted to Google, with the tech giant buying 85% of the output to power its data centers in Dallas.

There's also another large solar farm in the U.S. that can rival the Orion Solar Belt's output: the Edwards & Sanborn Solar Energy Storage Project located in Kern County, California. The site is a bit smaller at 4,600 acres but has more solar cells at 1.9 million modules, which gives it a similar capacity of 875 megawatts DC. A battery energy storage system is also installed on-site, allowing it to store 3,287 MWh of excess power and solve the state's biggest solar problem by providing power at night. Edwards & Sanborn also supplies power to the community, with its clients including the City of San Jose and utility companies in Southern California. Plus, it has an interconnection capacity of 1,300 MW, which means there could be room for future expansion.

Electricity demand is ramping up within the U.S., especially as the AI boom is increasing the demand for power. To keep up with demand, companies are building similarly sized or even larger solar projects. For example, Libra Solar is planning a 700 MW site with a 700 MW battery energy storage system in Mineral County, Nevada, about 150 miles southeast of Reno. It would cover approximately 5,778 acres of land, making it larger than the Orion project. If everything goes to plan, it should enter commercial operation by the end of 2027.

There's also an even bigger site in Madison County, Ohio, called the Oak Run Solar Project. This facility is intended to generate 800 MW of clean electricity on a site that's at least 6,000 acres, which would make this the largest solar farm by footprint so far. It will also include a 300-MW battery energy storage system, allowing it to continue powering the community at night. The biggest difference this project has over other sites, though, is that it will also allocate 2,000 acres for raising crops and 1,000 acres for sheep. The goal is to make at least 70% of the site, or 4,000 acres, farmable after eight years — quite literally making it a solar farm.

The Oak Run project is still in the permitting phase. The Ohio Power Siting Board already approved it in March 2024, but some residents weren't happy with the decision and took it to the Ohio Supreme Court, where it was still under judicial review as of March 2025. If the company gets the go signal sooner, Savion, the corporation behind the project, expects the solar farm to begin construction in 2026, with commercial operations commencing by 2027.