Why in news? The foreign representatives of G-20 Energy Transition Working Group visited the solar park near Tirumani in Pavagada Taluk.

Highlights

• A power point presentation was made on the 2,000-MW capacity of the solar plant spread across 13,000 acres.
• A demonstration was given on use of robots for cleaning solar panels.

About Pavagada solar park

• It is located  at  Pavagada taluk, Tumkur district, Karnataka.
• World’s third largest photovoltaic solar park after the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan and Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park in China.
• Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Ltd, a joint venture between Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) have established the plant

Why Pavagada is selected for solar park?

• High solar radiation and availability of land, the region receives very little rainfall.
• Pavagada taluk is located in a semi-arid tract, atop an elevated plateau surrounded by rocky hills.
• The region has been declared drought hit by the Karnataka Government 54 times in the past 6 decades and also scarcely populated and most of its residents are poor farmers.