China's solar quantum leap

...China's  project would eventually blanket 25 square miles of Inner Mongolia (slightly larger than the size of Manhattan) with a sea of black, light-absorbing glass would dwarf anything in operation in the U.S. or Europe.

At 2 gigawatts, or 2 billion watts, the solar plant could pump as much energy onto China's grid as two coal-fired plants, enough to light up three million homes

First Solar will provide most of the solar, with the first 30 megawatts installed by June 1, 2010. The company will expand the plant over the next decade, installing about 27 million thin-film panels by 2019.