SDG&E discloses plans for 200MW wind farm in San Diego.

That means there will now be two large wind farms in San Diego County producing CO2 free energy for approximately 400k homes total per year. Add to this the fact that a new geothermal power station is being built in the Imperial Valley along with a new power line to transport that electricity to San Diego and San Diego will get about 20% of its energy from renewable sources while another 25% will be from nuclear power. :b:

Of the renewable power sources wind and geothermal are the only two which make market sense and I'm happy to see that in southern California we're heading in that direction. We will need more nuclear power if we want to decrease CO2 output on a large scale as there are no more areas in So.Cal. where geothermal could be built nor are there many places for additional wind farms. The only hydro plants in the area are on the Colorado River but half of that output goes to Arizona (even though California and the Feds paid for their construction) and transmission losses mean it is most efficient to sell California's share to nearby cities in Arizona and Nevada.

To compare SDG&E has formed a partnership with Stirling Energy Systems of Phoenix, AZ to build the world's largest solar power plant in the desert east of San Diego in Imperial County. This planet will have a peak output of 900 megawatts but currently they're only averaging 350 MW or about enough energy for 9,000 homes. This solar plant cost 20 times what it will cost to build both wind farms while the wind farms will power approximately 3333% more homes. Does that illustrate how expensive an niche solar is compared to all the other alternatives or what?

The wind farms, on located in Escondido and the other on an Indian reservation located in a mountain pass, will be completed by the middle of 2007. At that point 45% of San Diego's electricity will come from nongreen house gas sources and if we can get another nuclear plant in the region then we could push that up to around 60%-70%.

Not your conventional panel farm. It's good to see Stirling Energy Systems get a contract that will allow them to plumb the mass production waters. Maybe someday I'll be able to buy a stirling engine genset at a price comparable to an ICE generator.

As it's new technology naturally it's more expensive. But even as new technology it's less expensive than current panels.

No, it doesn't demonstrate solar as a niche. Just as a technology that is still ramping up, compared to wind and geothermal, which have received a lot more attention to their production pipeline R&D. (Not to be confused with lab R&D.)

SDG&E is not a charity. They know what they are doing. They are laying cash down on the solar installation because it produces pretty reliably during peak hours, whereas the wind is less predictable in that respect, and geothermal resources are limited. They also know the more they buy, the cheaper they get.

BTW, the solar plant isn't operational yet. Don't know where you got that.

You forgot the link. Here it is.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20051022-9999-1b22wind.html

I must have misread the article about when the plant was up and running. After rereading it it says the solar plant is intially only going to be 350 then will later be ramped up to a peak of 900 if things go well. Thanks for setting me straight.