Solar panels are insanely expensive and stupidly inefficient. They also break and from what I've read, can be a PITA to recycle. Maybe in 10-20 years time.
Isn't that what they were saying 10-20 years ago?
And honestly, not much has changed. Lots of new "breakthroughs" to read about every now and then, but good luck finding those commercialized.
That's because the physics of solar radiation haven't changed. The often-quoted power density figure of solar energy (1367 W/m^2) that gets everyone so excited is for the *entire* electromagnetic spectrum, while devices to convert this radiation to electricity work over a relatively small spectrum, thus capturing only a small fraction of the area under the power vs. frequency curve. Oh, and don't forget you only get COS(latitude) of that radiation to begin with -- half up here in Minneapolis. Running a toaster in Minneapolis on solar cells takes quite a large area, even on a sunny day. It's not ever going to replace coal.
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