Numbers and sizes of photovoltaic solar power plants have grown unprecedentedly over the last few years in China, which aims to achieve a carbon emission peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality b. ••Improved random forest mapping algorithm of photovoltaic solar power p. Global energy demand is increasing to fulfill the needs of the growing human population as fossil fuel consumption has increased significantly over the past half-century, around eight-fold. 2.1. Study areaThe Gansu Province, which has 14 cities, is located at the intersection of three main plateaus of China (i.e., the Loess Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Pla. 3.1. Accuracy assessment of the annual PV map of Gansu in 2020The user's accuracy (measure of commission error) for the PV map in this study is 97.57%,. 4.1. Annual maps of PV solar power plants in Gansu ProvinceTimely and accurate monitoring of PV solar power plants is crucial to design, operation, and managemen.
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How big are PV power plants in China?
The total area of the PV power plants in China is about 897 km2, based on Dunnett's dataset. We manually modified this dataset with Google Earth's background to ensure that the PV samples are located inside the PV power plants.
Why is China a global leader in solar power plants?
China's rapid deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants has positioned it as the global leader in cumulative installed capacity. The expansion patterns of PV power plants in China play a crucial role in promoting PV diffusion in markets, shaping policies, and analyzing environmental and social impacts.
Can machine learning map PV power plants in China?
This study developed a workflow combining machine learning and visual interpretation methods with big satellite data to map the PV power plants in China. We applied a pixel-based Random Forest (RF) model to classify the PV power plants from composite images in 2020 with 30-meter spatial resolution on Google Earth Engine (GEE).
How are photovoltaic power development stages classified in China?
Accordingly, the photovoltaic power development stages could be classified into Full operation, Partial operation, Announced construction, Permitted construction, and Under construction. The classification of regional solar radiation in China is presented in Table 1. Table 1. Classification of regional solar radiation in China.
The model trained by large and scattered training samples ensures that most PV power plants are successfully identified in China under various conditions. Nevertheless, there are still some omission errors in the RF classification result.
Eventually, we established a map of PV power plants in China by 2020, covering a total area of 2917 km2. We found that most PV power plants were situated on cropland, followed by barren land and grassland, based on the derived national PV map. In addition, the installation of PV power plants has generally decreased the vegetation cover.