As a small part of this information revolution, may I suggest a (free as PDF) book on the energy problem and the varying efficacy of its potential solutions, available from here: http://www.withouthotair.com/.

It's an eye-opening read for the most part and uses real-world figures for its estimates to show just what might and might not work in replacing fossil fuels around the world.

I wouldn't have been as interested in reading it myself if the Economist/Bill Gates hadn't given it their approval.

Cannot recommend this book enough - brilliant as it just looks at the figures - how much of Britain (Author is a Cambridge mathematics prof.) would have to be covered in solar panels or wind farms to replace coal etc.

Entertaining, memorable and instructive.

Go read.

I too absolutely recommend Without Hot Air; if you're interested enough to read this far into the comments, you'll enjoy the book.

It's a refreshing physicist's take in a field normally consumed with politics and hand waving.

I'm not so sure. Unless you have huge guaranteed subsidies like in Germany, making these investment decisions carries substantial risk. Is it really smart to buy solar panels and large batteries that amortize over 10 years when there could be a technological breakthrough right around the corner? Do you really want to be in a position to operate and maintain that technology, buy insurance, deal with repairs, etc? I know I don't.

And if you're talking about disconnecting from the grid entirely (I know you don't but the OP did), you suddenly have a high availability issue on your hands. That's never going to happen.

I think at the end of the day, solar will be operated by utilities. They don't have to buy all equipment on one day, so they can spread the risk. They have professional staff to fix and maintain things when they are broken.

The analogy to the Internet is apt. But it's worth remembering that the Internet backbone was not built on the existing phone network. Instead the Internet backbone was developed as a separate infrastructure, by separate companies, which was then hooked to the existing telephone (and eventually cable) last-mile infrastructures.

I'm not sure the same thing is possible in power generation, because power plants, substations, and power lines are so much more expensive than telecomm switches.

What we need is the power equivalent to the fiber optic cable--a huge breakthrough in line capacity. The only thing that could compare is probably high-temp superconductivity.