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"Another is steam reformation which strips off the hydrogen which could be used in a fuel cell and leaves CO2 as a byproduct."

Actually, the byproduct from steam reformation is CO, not CO2. Of course CO is a combustible as well, which will yield CO2 when burned. Other byproduct of using coal to produce H2 are not so pleasant to deal with.

I did not overlook coal and natural gas. I didn't mention them because they are already fuels that we are using today (as is oil) to produce power.

Today's best solar cells cost $3.00 per watt to purchase (wholesale), and it would take more than 20 years to recover this cost at today's energy prices. The price has to come down by an order of magnitude for it to be viable. I don't see that happening...

Which brings us back to what I said in my post, Hydrogen is at best a storage mechanism for atomic.

"Today's best solar cells cost $3.00 per watt to purchase (wholesale), and it would take more than 20 years to recover this cost at today's energy prices. The price has to come down by an order of magnitude for it to be viable. I don't see that happening..."

It's ALREADY happening. Check into what Konarka is doing. It looks like a major breakthrough in both efficiency and cost is quite close.