That is...unless you take matters into your own free American hands and do solar yourself. If you live in the southern half of the U.S., own your home, and have space on your land clear from shade where you can point solar panels towards the south, solar is a good option. I installed a solar system 11 months ago and it's produced 57% of all the power we've consumed in our all-electric two-story house.
If you do it yourself (or have a professional solar installer do it) you can optimize it specifically for your power consumption habits and make it efficient. That's something that can't be done when the Dims force a one-size-fits-all solution by trying to make utility companies "go green". That's why I'm on track for mine to pay off in the 10th year (including paying the interest on the HELOC I took out to purchase it).
... and about the time you realize your payoff you will need to replace the solar panels as they will be producing virtually no power.
What really annoys me about solar ownership stories is that panel efficiency drops significantly each year but that cost is never part of the original estimates. It seems that payback time-frames are calculated using first-year power generation numbers.