OK, taking my own suggestion and posting my comments over here on Off Topic Forum re: Solar Energy.  Let me be the first to shift this topic over here to the Off Topic Forum  

Pavel, we could go all day about the intricacies of solar panels.  N panels, P panels, Poly vs Mono panels, Concentrated Solar Energy production, etc.  Not that these subjects aren't important, but I sense that you are focused on the impractical nature of home owners depending upon off grid solar.

I may be wrong in that assumption and if I am wrong then I have no doubt you will correct my error.  However, if you are taking the position that solar energy is a waste of time and money for the homeowner then let me counter that position and say that home generation of solar electricity doesn't have to be at the level of Off Grid production for the bulk of home owners, whether those home owners live in California ( perish the thought!! ) or in Alaska or in the Czech Republic.  For many, if not most home owners the focus is to try and reduce their dependence somewhat on the grid and to reduce their monthly energy bill.  The ones who do take on the considerable expense of adding PV panels to their roof have made a decision to do so after considering many factors.  I have PV panels on my garage roof that have less than an ideal angle to the sun because at the time I had them installed ( 4 years ago ) I had considerable misgiving about the aesthetics of having them on the main roof of my home.  It would have been more optimal as far as maximizing the eelectricity generated if I had chosen, instead, to have them placed on the main roof since it is South facing and the garage roof is more East-West facing ( I have some on the East face and some on the West face for capturing morning and then afternoon sun respectively ).   Since then I have become more receptive to adding in the future improved solar panels on the South side of the main roof.  Times and attitudes change!

I wasn't looking for Off Grid generation and I maintain the Tie In status with the grid, but my monthly electricity bills are considerably less.  Most panels installed today can expect to have at least 80% effieciency relating to their efficiency on the date of instillation for at least 25 years and many, if not most, manufacturers warranty their solar panels for 25 years.  The weak chink in the armor is more in things like the invertor and residential owners may expect to have to replace the invertor at least once in that 25 year period, not the solar panels.

Bottom line: I think that providing part of my electricity need via home solar is a reasonable goal and I am now into the 5th year of my own home solar.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  We have fairly low electricity rates here in Northern Nevada at about 11 cents per kWh, however I have no insurance or assurance that Nevada Energy won't decide some day to mimic the rate of electricity in some other state and bump their rate up to 20 or even 30 cents per kWh.  Who knows?  What I do have now is the confidence that the bulk of my electricity will be guaranteed for the next 20 years at a rate slightly below 11 cents per hour because that is in my original contract with the company that I delt with for installing solar on my house. I am guaranteed 6,800 kWh of electricity at that low rate every year and if my solar system fails to produce that amount then the company I delt with is obligated to make up the difference to me by payment for that difference.  Those are the terms of the contract I made over 4 years ago.  So, for me it has worked out very nicely.

  My situation is not that of every person considering solar.  I did not  purchase the solar so I did not have the huge initial cost that an owner of the solar system would face.  On the con side, I did not get the Federal and State energy credits because, as part of the deal, those went to the company that installed the system.   I was OK with that.  

There are many different ways for a homeowner to "go solar".  The pro and con situation of such a move is going to be individualized to the situation of that particular person and so it can't be over generalized.  The industry continues to advance as far as the cell technology goes so I don't see anything other than a continued assimilation of solar power for the future, both on an industrial scale and on the residential level... regardless of all of the obstacles involved and the fact that solar energy is not perfect.  Utilities using solar generation are, in may cases, focusing on Concentrated Solar Energy applications and that approach uses less area on the  ground for the solar panels than the old solar farms do so I expect to see more, not less, applications of Concentrated Solar Energy in the future.  JMO   Okiedo