Utility-scale photovoltaic installations require substantial land areas. This study investigates the land area required for utility-scale photovoltaic installations as a function of the photovoltaic module mounting system employed. The study focuses on the photovoltaic field; therefore, roads, substations, service buildings and other related infrastructure are excluded. To examine the influence of geographic location on utility-scale photovoltaic systems design and performance, 18 sites across both hemispheres were analysed. Four representative mounting configurations were evaluated: 2V×15 and 3V×10 (fixed tilt angle systems), and 1V×60 and 2V×30 (horizontal single-axis trackers). The analysis process was predicated upon four assessment indicators, namely land use intensity, power density, energy density, and ground coverage ratio. A detailed analysis leads to several conclusions. Fixed-tilt systems show strong latitude dependence due to variations in optimal tilt angle, whereas horizontal single-axis trackers are largely insensitive to latitude except at high latitudes. The 2V×30 configuration provides the best performance across both hemispheres based on four indicators. For fixed-tilt systems, the 3V×10 configuration is the best. As a general tendency, configurations with more vertically stacked modules per row tend to achieve superior performance.
