In terms of research, the technology that currently exists for solar panels and batteries is more than good enough. But society as a whole doesn't move in that direction, only individuals do. So it's a very slow movement. Think about cell phones. This was a very fast movement that the whole world got behind. Nothing really stood in its way. The technology was created and constantly improved, and distributed all over the world. That type of movement isn't there for solar. And the current interests in energy don't want to give up the control, power and money to decentralize energy into individuals having their own electricity with no dependence.
Our energy companies are "crown" corporations, meaning they are partly government organizations. These organizations aren't open to the idea that one day they SHOULD be obsolete and replaced with either solar, geothermal, wind, hydro, etc. renewable energy.
That's true, it's good enough but thinking about it, it's the people who can really change something. A collective effort if you think about it. It's started by a person then suddenly two or more people starting using it then boom, a whole community then it will start changing the world. It's just fantasy because like you said, they want control of the energy because they want the money produced by it and definitely it's something that is really profitable. It's just that, it's not helping the world, it's helping the controller of it.
Yeah exactly. Not everyone in the world is for solar because they might have a personal financial interest against it. And unfortunately, it is these few people that are getting in the way of mass distribution because solar is "too expensive". It's foolish to think building and installing a solar panel is too expensive. For oil, aside from the countless wars that surround oil, you need to test/drill for it to find it, build a rig on it, then transport the oil to ships, go half way around the world, get on trucks to distribute...and we consider this to be "cheaper". It's a foolish way of thinking in my opinion.
Right now, my hopes lie with Tesla to take the initiative and push the distribution of solar. Check this out...they basically converted a small island that used to use diesel fuel into a solar island:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkQBVoS9lAo