Gold foil is actually relatively cheap....plus it would just fall apart...

Actually, according to insurance companies who have actuaries who get paid lots of $$$$ to figure this stuff out, the price of a human being varies depending on age and sex, and the value is MUCH less than $16 mil.

@Tommy five

Do you know that the efficiency of coal plants in the US are around 30%? Some of the newer ones about 35%. This is also very low efficiency, but also combined with huge outputs of greenhouse gases, acid-rain causing nitrates/sulfates, mercury, etc.etc. Building more coal plants should be avoided at ALL costs, yet there are many still being built in the US. Solar plants, even relatively small ones like this are a necessary step towards more widespread use.

Then there is something wrong with that calculation because it also says that a similar plant with 48 Megawatts supports around 30,000 homes. Perhaps this is due to the difference in average solar energy in the different areas, but either way the point is plants like this need to be built in order to keep the price of solar panels falling so that eventually (probably sooner rather than later) they will be on par with coal/gas plants in cost and there become an economical option.

Where are you idiots getting $50,000 per home to build? From that moron above?

The building cost is about $7500 per house ($150 mil / ~20,000 homes). Each american home uses about 1000W (1 kW) so this should be good for about 20,000 US homes.

Still very expensive, but steps like this are necessary in order to bring the price down further. Look at Wind Turbines. They used to be EXTREMELY expensive, and now they are less expensive to build than nuclear plants per megawatt.

The ignorance on this site is rampant.

@Jay Adams,

Where are you getting your numbers? That would mean the average home in uses 8300 Watts, which, even in the wasteful USA, is not true. The average american home uses about 1kW, maybe a little more in florida due to the constant A/C. So this means this will power around 20 000- 25 000 homes. Still expensive, yes, but WAY better than coal/gas/etc. etc. and these small expensive steps are needed for the technology to become more mainstream and affordable.

Do you think the first coal powered plant was cheap? Definitely not. It was only after production was very high and pioneering projects such as this solar plant took those first risky, expensive steps that it became affordable and widespread. We have to start somewhere.

....You forgot about those walmart-types that wear sweat-pants ALL the time and shop using those electric buggies, despite being able to walk just fine without one.

MONO....D'OH!!!

Since when does being a marine with "3 confirmed kills" exempt one from being ignorant?

Yes....look it up.