I don't know a lot about California but I can say this about solar thermal. .... if you have a high heat load building, think twice about trying it. The proportion of the total load provided by solar will be quite small. Stick with solar hot water as it has a year round load and a realistic amount of storage is needed.
As well, the concentrated solar thermal is fine in theory until you actually install them and have to service them as I have. It doesn't matter what the technology, the higher the temperatures the system is capable of providing, the more trouble you are getting into. The most efficient systems use a lot of surface area and lower temp. Remember, we only need 40-50C to heat a house and even less in an efficient house.
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