Why have Solar Photo
Voltaic Cells not caught on in
The answer, obviously, is economics. Solar cells (when the study was conducted, 2002, my sophomore year), cost Rs. 350 (Roughly Translates to $7) per installed Watt. Such cells would pay back only after 20 years! Given that their life is of the same order, you would expect that these things would not catch on.
However, the future for these cells is reasonably bright, since innovations in this field are happening on a day to day basis – and fabrication costs are coming down. More innovative materials are being used. And, of course, Oil prices are skyrocketing. Somewhere down the line, these cells shall become cheaper. And when you factor in the implicit cost of the environment, then this should happen faster.
Somewhere – say 50 years down the line – solar cells could take over from fossil fuels for most domestic applications. However, the future of energy is almost impossible to predict.