Solar works very well in the southwest U.S.
There are artificial financial forces making that so.
1. Federal/State rebates significantly subsidize/reduce the initial cost of a solar power system.
2. State/Local laws force the power companies to allow you to use their grid as a virtual battery, feeding the grid during overproduction hours and drawing that power back later (AKA Net Metering). Adding your own battery system with sufficient power to go off the grid will more than double the cost of the system and wear out far before the panels.
3. Artificially high power prices that allow solar to compete. Solar is great in SoCal, but try financially justifying solar in Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or Oklahoma, where power costs are at least 50% lower.
I live in SoCal, and my solar system pays 100% + of my SDG&E bill (they pay me every year at true-up), which was previously over $300/month average. Anyone considering solar needs to do the math and decide based on that. Also, beware of leased systems!
Hopefully, future solar/battery technology will make solar financially competitive without items 1-3 above.
I live in Fort Worth. There’s a house near me that was covered with solar panels that went up for sale about 18 months ago. This is a very strong sellers market. It ain’t selling. A few weeks ago I noticed that all but 2 of the panels are gone. Maybe it will sell now.