I opened your link, I grabbed the second one (kind of at random) and did a quick internet search. The first article I found on it says:
"And yet, like alternative energy projects around the country, the future of Topaz Solar Farm has been brought into question by the world financial crisis. As a startup, albeit a large one, OptiSolar is going to need to get its hands on a great deal of capital. A company spokesman declined to specify the estimated cost of the project-which OptiSolar will build, soup to nuts-but it is almost certain to exceed $1 billion. The current seizing up of credit and private equity investment could make raising such a sum difficult.
Many observers are speculating that the alternative energy industry is facing a serious downturn. Energy analysts are worried about the credit freeze and the recent sharp drop in the price of oil, along with the possibility that federal funding will diminish as a consequence of the fiscal burden created by the financial crisis. According to a recent story in the New York Times, financing for alternative energy projects fell to about $18 billion in the third quarter, compared to over $23 billion in the second. It’s likely to fall even further in the fourth quarter. The Topaz Solar Farm represents by far the most ambitious solar energy project ever proposed; whether it comes to fruition could be a bellwether of the industry’s health as a whole.
Everyone interviewed agreed that for the clean technology industry to continue growing, local, state, and federal help is necessary."
http://www.independent.com/news/2008/oct/26/will-central-coasts-alternative-energy-businesses-/
In other words, in the very best place in the US to build a solar plant it cannot exist without huge government subsidies!!!
