The Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia in 2017 (left) and 2024 (right) – NASA

To anyone walking under the grey skies of a smoggy Beijing day, it may seem madness to suggest that the entire city could run on solar power.

However, The sense of the plan comes into full focus through a pair of photographs taken by NASA’s Landsat 8 and 9 satellites—a vast array of solar panels stretching across the deserts of Inner Mongolia.

The empty Kubuqi Desert in 2017 – credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory.

The solar arrays at the Kubuqi Desert, 2024 – credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory.

At 250 miles long, 3 miles wide, and currently generating 5.4 gigawatts, the Kubuqi Desert solar array will be the world’s largest by a country mile when finished in 2030. Nicknamed the “photovoltaic sea,” there are already over 3 million solar panels shimmering along a stretch of mostly lifeless sand.

The Kubuqi’s sunny weather, flat terrain, and proximity to industrial centers make it a desirable location for solar power generation, NASA explains. Panels are being installed in a long, narrow band of dunes just south of the Yellow River between the cities of Baotou and Bayannur.

A split-screen image shows the incredible progress made between 2017 and 2024, including a giant image of a galloping horse—an homage to Mongolia’s culture and past—that holds the Guinness World Record for the largest image made out of solar panels.

It’s called the Fine Horse Solar Power Station in Chinese, and it currently generates enough electricity to power 400,000 homes.

The stretch of dunes over which the photovoltaic sea is ebbing was part of an ecosystem that was communicated to 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo as being a “sea of death” and Chinese officials have a hunch that the solar arrays may bring tertiary benefits of transforming the desert into a more fertile area.

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The solar panels will help keep the sand dunes from moving and smothering nearby fields. The shade will keep the sand cooler and allow moisture to remain within it for longer, giving hardy plants a chance to gain a foothold in the area.

Western China has severe challenges with desertification and water stemming from the unique geography of the region. China has relied on heavy industry and importation to improve the livelihoods of communities here, as agriculture is extremely difficult.

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In a report from China Daily in September of last year, the Mayor of Ordos city near the Fine Horse Power Plant said that locals are beginning to plant crops underneath the solar panels and are having success with the exercise.

Authorities believe the solar sea could power all of Beijing in the future by channeling the energy of the panels down past the Gansu corridor into north-central China.

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