64% of residential solar costs are the so-called soft costs of permitting and installation. PV's tech problems are smaller than its social/political problems. http://cleantechnica.com/2013/12/12/nrel-soft-costs-now-larg...
Even at the current cost of PV and the current electricity prices, residential PV generation amortises in areas where a lot of air conditioning is required. This basically applies to the entire south west of the US.
The problems rather seem to be ignorance and an unwilligness to see a house as a long term investment.