German solar power

Via FP Passport, last Thursday was a big day for solar power in Germany:

This week, two of Germany's most important solar energy projects came online -- the second biggest solar power project in the world and one of the first solar thermal "power towers." The projects are part of the country's plan to provide 20 percent of its energy through renewable sources.

Officials flicked on the switch at two of Germany's most important new solar energy sites on Thursday.

The irony, of course, is that Germany isn't very sunny. And for a while their government incentives were so high that they drove up the price of silicon around the world, worsening the economics of solar power for sunnier, poorer countries.

Now, of course, Germany is driving an massively ambitious new solar project a bit further south. The NYTimes recently enumerated the "numerous pitfalls":

...Maghreb politics, Saharan sandstorms and the risk to desert populations if their water is diverted to clean dust off solar mirrors.

but at least someone is trying to bring online solar power from a more natural location.