Seems like a dud. Photovoltaic is a lot of hype and $5 a watt. Five cents a watt would do the trick.
Original IC engines were pretty anemic too. But research and development gave us the powerful engines of today.
Babies do not walk either, so are they automatic failures?
Thinking like that gets us nowhere and ignores development basics. Cost at the outset is high until production efficiencies kick in and R&D is amortized. Meanwhile, other factors may well come into play that will take the five cent figure and inflate it.
I can't think off hand what might be out there that would be raising the price of energy but give me a while and it will come to me.
$5 a watt isn’t as bad as you would think....
According the the Energy Department (if you believe anything coming from the government), a new coal power plant typically costs $2.10 per Watt of capacity to construct.
Considering that the fuel is free, solar can cost more to install and pay itself back. $5 per Watt is likely still too high... but if you can get below $3 per Watt, you’re looking better....
Personally, with the amount of electricity my house consumes on average, a system that cost $2 per Watt would be VERY well worth the investment. Considering tax benefits, final cost could be as little as $4000... knocking out that electric bill at that investment cost would be equivalent to getting 23% annual return on investment...