BrightSource Inks 1.3GW SoCal Edison Deal

On balance, probably a good solution to pursue. Regarding the desert environment, there are very many sensitive issues (species, ecology, wildfire risk, wind damage, flashflood risk) to consider at the very local level.
Still, worth considering how this $ investment compares with the cost/benefit of merely whitewashing all those flat asphalt roofs in LA itself.

Hey Elizabeth, I read one story that says the total capacity of the new factory would be 620MW, and another story says 600MW. Am trying to get some info from the company. Sanyo is moving fast on expanding its production all right.

Holy Crap! That’s almost 16.5 square miles! I’m all for clean energy and I like the initiative of these folks. However, for solar to be a truly alternative source of electricity, the technology is going to have to be advanced in a big hurry. 1300 MW isn’t enough of a jump from what an average nuclear plant can produce to compensate for the HUGE land requirements. Also, just to correct the article a bit, according to the DOE, there are 2 units in AZ that produce just over 1300 MW, the largest of which had a net capacity of 1314 MW in 2007.

In addition, just from a security standpoint, it will be an incredible headache to keep someone from severely damaging one of these huge arrays. If we’re interested in protecting critical U.S. infrastructure, that needs to be a consideration as well. I’d hate to spend billions of dollars just to create a huge target.

This sounds like a great idea, except what happens when the earth rotates and you know the sun sets… I hear this happens at least once each day or so. I think people call it nighttime, that’s when people use electricity to say light their homes.

Yes, this is a bit of snark. Solar alone won’t do it. Wind alone won’t do it. Nukes alone could do it.

Just got a call from my brother who lives/works in Japan, also today > Sanyo Electric Co plans to invest more than ¥10 billion in a new solar cell plant in Osaka.  They will also increase production of solar cells at a plant in Unnan, Shimane Prefecture, under a plan to boost solar cell production capacity to 600 megawatts from 340 megawatts in 2010.wi

I am very happy to see that American people agree with Obama on this point!More and more people are finally becoming aware that green energy is necessary if we want to continue to live on this planet I think we are witnessing a green revolution. Governments are looking at renewable energy as one of the most safe and stable investment, and the sector is booming, in the West as well as in the East.
China PV Industry, under the boost of International Market challenges and the implementation of domestic policies, has gradually start to grow and is very likely to emerge soon as one of the greatest solar energy production bases in the world. For this reason properly understand what´s going on in such a big Country could make the difference between closing that deal and catching the next plane home

News on Euro-China Solar Promotion Association website at:
http://www.solarpromotion.org

China PV Industry, under the boost of International Market challenges and the implementation of domestic policies, has gradually start to grow and is very likely to emerge soon as one of the greatest solar energy production bases in the world. For this reason properly understand what´s going on in such a big Country could make the difference between closing that deal and catching the next plane home

News on Euro-China Solar Promotion Association website at:
solarpromotion.org

ChrisB, I think your relentless promotion of the Chinese PV industry is wearing down my defense—I’ll check out the website for sure. But what’s China doing in developing solar thermal?