If it maintains its efficiency in the uncontrolled environment of the outside world, and if it does not have a tendency to break down, it will be economical for power companies to build solar power facilities after all. Of the main types of energy usage, the least suited to solar power is transportation. While large, relatively slow vehicles like ships could power themselves with large onboard solar panels, small constantly turning vehicles like cars could not. The only possible way a car could be completely solar powered would be through the use of battery that was charged by solar power at some stationary point and then later loaded into the car. Electric cars that are partially powered by solar energy are available now, but it is unlikely that solar power will provide the world's transportation costs in the near future.
Solar power has two big advantages over fossil fuels.
The second is its effect on the environment. While the burning of fossil fuels introduces many harmful pollutants into the atmosphere and contributes to environmental problems like global warming and acid rain, solar energy is completely non-polluting. While many acres of land must be destroyed to feed a fossil fuel energy plant its required fuel, the only land that must be destroyed for a solar energy plant is the land that it stands on. Indeed, if a solar energy system were incorporated into every business and dwelling, no land would have to be destroyed in the name of energy. This ability to decentralize solar energy is something that fossil fuel burning cannot match.