I think that perhaps the best use of solar is simply to buy the best grid tie inverter you can afford and either have it installed or if you know your chops do it yourself. Then buy one panel at a time and tie it directly to your electric grid. As time goes by buy another panel and add. It will begin to passively offset the usage and you can buy a panel every 6 months or so and spend an hour on the roof mounting and plugging it into the harness. Solar is a bit like erosion. Not much going on at any one time but over the course of a year you can harvest a hell of a lot of electric off the roof of your house. It is only a matter of time before we get our act together and start making solar roof's virtually free to homeowners that install them since it would take a tremendous weight off of a aging grid. That is, in my eye, what governments can do well. Steer public policy towards technologies that will ensure a safer and more secure tomorrow.
Wet blanket off now.
