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Can you think of something more dangerous than a high power beam gone askew?
Roofing has to be redone every 20 to 90 years depending on material and PVs have an expected usable life of 30 years. What better combination could we dream of! What needs to be done now is to fine tune PV processes as to augment their efficiency from the 12-16% for 30years to at least 25% for 50years. When properly applied and when one contains energy spending, today's PVs are practical enough.
Personally I couldn't use solar because of my shop. Its energy drain is considerable. But when I can I do small things like using a hand tool instead of a big machine. Last year I also changed the lighting from halogen to full spectrum compact fluorescent. One of my dreams is to build a woodshop in a windmill with every machine hooked to it and small power tools on solar. The major hurdles are construction codes and the urbanism restrictions like no windmills and no solar panels to deface the neighborhood. I'd have to move out to more remote places and that is not ecological since the first law is to reduce one's footprint on earth.
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