Why is Spain so far ahead of us(US) in solar power technology?

Question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_tower

Answer 1

Maybe because the Spanish care more than the Americans does?

Answer 2

because the current american govt. doesnt give a hoot about the environment

70% of americans ignore the threat of global warming

Answer 3

Because their gov't will subsidize small potatoes non-economic power generating schemes that have serious reliability problems.

The project in Spain you refer to is 11 megawatts.  One turbine alone at Hoover Dam generates 122 megawatts.  Hoover Dam ranks #34 on the world list of hydroelectric dams.

So these solar projects are little more than curiosities, and of little interest to the US that needs a zillion watts of non-interruptible power just to run all the data center servers in California.

(Your third reference is a project in California, not Spain.)