Solar has come down about 50% in the last 3 years, so if your system is older than that, it could be $6/W. It could also be a tracking system, which gets 25% more sunlight but costs about 25% more, too.

Also, it is important to remind you that solar avoids the environmental problems of natural gas (fracking and accidents), coal (too numerous to mention, recently described as about 18 c/kWh in externalities), and nuclear (obvious). Not to mention oil, if we can have an electric transport sector. Your bill may go up, but your other bills and taxes will come down. Are you sure you are already not paying through the nose for all these other things’ mistakes?

I don’t want to be propounding un-economic rates for electric customers. We will have $3/W systems in your neighborhood soon, as prices continue to drop. We will also have great, lower cost systems in sunnier locations and possibly the ability to send those electrons to you via high-voltage lines, if that is more economical.

Why is solar costly? Not because of materials you mention, which are tiny parts of their costs; not even so much because of manufacturing. It is because sunlight is a diffuse resource, and even spending the price of a really good carpet ($200/m2) to collect it makes the output costly. There is almost nothing hi-tech you can make that costs so little it makes solar cheap. That is why the progress to-date has been so astonishing (and under-appreciated).

The theme of adding more costly electricity is one I recognize as crucial to the future of solar. We need the cheapest possible prices, and besides technical progress, we also need to simplify permitting and other siting issues. Right now, they are costing a lot and helping to make some solar unaffordable.