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The biggest problems will be: durability; the costs of installation and ancillary equipment to make the current usable for general purposes; and whether retrofitting is economically feasible. If so, in five years, the technology will be in wide scale use, and in ten years, it will have a major, potentially transformative economic impact.

Oddly, some of the best gains will be in conjunction with the electric grid and its usual power sources -- oil, coal, nuclear. Wide use of solar power would reduce net demand on the grid and make its generating facilities more efficient. And the off-the-grid market will go mainstream for those willing to make the necessary investments in storage and standby power capacity.

One aspect of solar power that gets little discussion is the effect of cleanliness.

A dirt film on the collector rapidly degrades performance. Which means somebody has to clean the darn things on a very regular basis. Somebody who will want to be paid for his work.

Probably another job Americans won'd do.