President Obama is putting some wind in the sails of the transformation of solar energy to an industrial scale. Lost in the pre-election frenzy in July was this announcement:
The Obama administration announced a plan on Tuesday to open public land in six southwestern states to speed up the development of solar energy, while blocking projects in areas deemed environmentally sensitive.
The plan allows for 17 zones covering about 285,000 acres of federal land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The administration wants to fast track development of large solar power generation plants that would provide electricity to homes and businesses through power grids.
The new solar energy zones are shown in the graphic above. This portion of America is a solar goldmine with enormous potential for large-scale electricity generation. Reuters estimates how big the potential is (emphasis mine):
The government expects development of about 23,700 megawatts of solar power from the areas where projects are permitted, enough to power about 7 million homes.
