Housing units in CA in 2013 = 13,791,262
Solar Plants (160k houses per) needed = 86.2
Acreage per plant = 4000
Total acreage needed for all residences = 344,781.6
Square miles of desert habitat destroyed = 538.7
An amount of land almost equal to Marin County just North of S.F. needs to be destroyed in order to power residences and that’s not including manufacturing, industrial, office, etc. bldgs.
Also, expect air quality to take a direct hit as not one of the solar facilities in our area engages in any form of dust abatement...bastards.
Ah well . . . what with this being desert land, that just may fit into the “cultivation of wastelands” part of the Ten Planks of Communism.
good point SZonian.
The article makes no mention of storage batteries either.
Without them duplicate generation must be maintained.
(You know for minor things like clouds, storms and night.)
Double the systems = double the cost.