"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
Malcom "Mal" Reynolds wrote:

As for PVs, the amount of the sun's radiation falling on the earth is
about 1350 watts / sq meter. At the equator. At noon. With no clouds.

Assuming a PV collector running at 50% efficiency (ha!) and adjusting for
latitude, 12 hours of darkness, clouds, etc., it would take a solar
collector farm the size of the Los Angeles basin (~1200 sq miles) to
provide 55GW of power just for California*. Can you imagine the cost to
construct 1200 sq miles of anything? Let alone maintenance.

The bright side (pardon the pun) is that everybody in Los Angeles would be
living in the dark.

I have a 4Kw PV grid tie array myself on the roof. It generates about as
much electricity as I use. Due to subsidy i make around $1,500/yr profit
from it.
Roofs are otherwise wasted space.
I export by day and import by night.
Insolation here (UK)maxes out at around 1000w/m2
Efficiency is around 12%,depends on temperature and age.
As I type,(10.00) it is doing around 2Kw ,it will probably max out today at
around 2.75Kw