The largest solar installation in SoCal history, some 600,000 solar panels atop a distribution center in Fontana, is complete as of yesterday~ Just 1 of 150 solar projects planned for factory and warehouse roofs in SoCal, this site will produce enough electricity to power 1,300 homes.
Check it out in more detail! LINK
I am curious about how this project (2 square miles, or about 5 million square meters of PV) for $875,000,000, as reported in the sfgate link you provided. A typical module is about 10% efficient, yielding about 100 Watts per square meter. The cost per watt for modules these days is about $4.80 per Watt, with another $1, or so, per watt of addtional costs for installation (inverters for example ).
So, at $5.50 per Watt and 100 Watts per square meter, the cost is about $550 per square meter. Five million square meters would cost $2.75 billion, three times the reported cost of $875 million.
I don’t think the project can be done at this price at this time. I hope I am wrong about that – but I don’t think I am. I hope that with manufacturing advances that it will be possible in the future.
Best regards,
ClimateSanity