Brad:

Thanks for the blog. Actually stumbled upon it looking for HDTV info, and fell into your solar discussion. Seeing as I've been into it for a few decades. You seem to have a good handle on the topic. However, there are a few aspects to economics, especially in California that could use some solar light. Many investor owned utilities in California have a tiered electrical tariff. It is not a straight $0.08/kWh, it is minimal $0.12/kWh up to $0.40/kWh depending upon monthly usage. The more you use, the more you have to pay. So you can see that California incentives for solar, combined with the high costs for consumers that use lots of monthly electricity, provides for better economics. There is a calculator available for free that combines all the utility rates, solar radiation, and monthly usage inputs. Best thing about it, all you really need to know initially is your zip code:

http://www.clean-power.com/cec/default.asp

Thanks again for the blog. If you want to know how we are going to be reducing installed PV system costs, ask me about thin film PV. Hope this helps.

Regards,

JoE
PS: I like the way you think, and that is really scary ~smiley~