After the production of the solar modules, panels and the installation of a solar photovoltaic system there are no fuels or materials used. No substances are being released.

For the whole life of the panel energy is being produced purely on the basis of transformation of sun light energy in to electric energy.

After the panels age they can be easily recilced in the same purpose product. There is no good indication now what is the expected life of a solar panel but most of the commercially available solar photovoltaic panels these days are sold with 25 year warranty. I am guessing if the manufacturers are willing to risk on a warranty 25 year long the actual productive life expectancy would be longer.

In many countries where people are more ecologically conscious and, or where there are government incentives to build solar photovoltaic power stations, already there are multi megawatt power generation capacity.

The technology is there, is tested and tried.

Germany, a country with insolation (raw solar energy falling on a unit of land area) - max. 1,300 - much lower than USA - max. 2,200 - already has around 4 GW of peak power coming from solar installations. That is about 50 W for each German citizen. That means a family probably completely can power their lighting needs with just solar.

The government is looking for ways to spend money now so that it creates growth and jobs. Spending money comparable to the ones spents on keeping the banks solvent can do all of that plus bring better energy independence, reduce poisonous ways of generating electricty.

http://solarbythewatt.com/2009/03/05/can-solar-replace-fossil-fuels/

Prices of solar photovoltaic panels and other components needed for the building of solar power installations are falling dramatically.

In many circumstances it becomes economically efficient to invest in solar photovoltaic power stations.

http://solarbythewatt.com/2009/03/30/economics-of-solar-power/

To replace a large amount of the current electricty generation in the US we only need very little area out of the desert land in the South West.

http://solarbythewatt.com/2009/03/09/solar-energy-land

Solar is the one energy production technology that requires investment and effort only once to produce super clean electricity for decades.

If someone asks what will happen in 30 - 40 years when the solar installation modules eventually need to be replaced - think about this: solar photovoltaic components prices are falling now - imagine how affordable they will be in 30 - 40 years.