What I often say is that every kilowatt from an alternative power source is a kilowatt that doesn't have to come from a power plant.

I follow the tech closely, and I really think we're near a tipping point for solar panels, particularly when they get rolling on the new "printable" kind (Nanosolar just pulled in $50 million of new investment a few days ago!)

It varies a lot, of course. In areas like the Southwest, where peak power demands tend to coincide with maximum solar flux, solar power is a major plus, taking a lot of peak demand offline. Places like northern Minnesota, not so much.

And of course, I'm still pushing hard for nukes.