Solar power is anything but cheap. It may be "clean" but it is about the most expensive way to generate power there is. This is because solar energy is so dilute.
I have given the calculation zillions of times here, but for example (without the details) you would need 150 square miles of solar cells to supply California's energy needs. If solar cells cost one cent per square centimeter, it would cost $300 billion, not counting the cost of land, maintenance, and homeless guys wiping bird droppings off the panels.
I can give the detailed calcs if you want; I'm just tired of doing it over and over and over...
--Boris
Let us assume this technology works as they say it does.
Figure 10 million households in California. 40 football field sizes of these bad boys in the mojave desert. Dump the coal generators and keep El Diablo on line with cleaner nuke power to supply much of the power needed in the evening.
40 billion. But in a state that already is 35 billion in debt for this year... 40 billion isn't really that much money. It will be cheaper in the long run. Maintenance is going to be a lot lower. The air much cleaner. Couple that with the switch to hybrid cars, and the state gets quite a bit cleaner.