Solar technologies that will make it in the long term will have to be low maintenance. That means strong materials that don't have to be cleaned, few if any moving parts, cheap to make, and will still put out some power even in cloudy weather (yes, it clouds up and rains even in the Southwest. And it has to be 120 VAC if a power utility is going to put the power on the grid (solar cells put out DC).
Then there's power storage, as people need power even/especially at night or in bad weather.
Finally, most of the US (other countries too) really isn't suitable for solar, simply because it's so cloudy east of the Great Plains and in mountains.
On the other hand, wind turbines work in much of the US, though I know little about how they fare in strong winds (thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, microbursts).
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