I saw only one minor mention of solar hot-water heating in the article. In fact, this application has been viable for many years in many parts of the country. (My dad put together his own system almost 60 years ago!) In areas such as ours (HI) where typical hot water heating is by (the country's most expensive) electricity, solar is a no brainer - yet it still lags in after-market installation. Some areas (again, for example, Hawaii) are beginning to mandate SHW for new construction (with exemptions available).
I think PV panel technology is cool, but tying it into the grid in large scale has been problematic. We'll get there eventually, of course. It would be nice if there were some more "rational" effort to integrate wind, solar, hydro, nuke, fossil, etc. Kind of like herding cats. Fun, but not always effective IMHO. Of course, YMMV. Thanks for the article, Chuckanut