Salinas — United States of America

Salinas is a 15.5 MW solar power plant in Salinas, United States of America. It is operated by Sonnedix. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 6.6k homes (estimated). It ranks #5098 of 10,884 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, solar supplies about 8.6% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1026820.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: WRI GPPD; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 15.5 MW, Salinas is well above the median solar plant in United States of America (3 MW). Solar PV converts sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts or fuel; output varies by time of day and weather, so it pairs with storage or flexible backup.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Key facts

Share of United States of America solar capacity

less than 0.1% of 38,093 MW across 3,283 plants in this dataset

Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).

Capacity vs largest solar plants in United States of America

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Sonnedix.

Local climate & thermal context

This solar plant converts sunlight directly into electricity with photovoltaic panels. It sits in a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 18.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

This site has effectively no heating season (tropical/equatorial climate), so winter heat loss is not the driver here. The thermal concern shifts to year-round process heat and humidity/heat-driven corrosion of hot equipment.

Solar PV loses ~0.35%/°C above 25°C cell temperature — roughly 0.9% at warm-season highs here (estimate).

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #473 largest solar power plant of 3283 in United States of America by capacity.

United States of America has 3283 solar power plants in this dataset, together about 38,093 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Aguirre · Gas · 42 MW · Salinas
• Aguirre · Oil · 1,492 MW · Salinas
• Aguirre power station · Oil · 1,492 MW · Puerto Rico
• AES Ilumina · Solar · 24 MW · Guayama
• A.E.S. Corp. · Coal · 454.3 MW · Guayama
• AES Puerto Rico power station · Coal · 510 MW ·

Location

Coordinates 17.9786, -66.2205 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions