Solar's outlook is partly cloudy.

With consumer demand for solar power technology booming thanks to government subsidies, manufactureres are having a hard time keeping up and this threatens to drive prices sky high.

According to the Contra Costa Times:

Yet subsidizing demand for products already in short supply raises a red flag for economists, who view that as a classic recipe for skyrocketing prices. So the silicon shortage, combined with a limited workforce of qualified installers, makes this a bad time to pour money into the state's solar industry, said Severin Borenstein, director of the UC Energy Institute.

The Times also notes that solar energy, despite its growing popularity, is still only a small part of California's overall energy portfolio:

But even on the brightest day, solar remains a long way from providing the power needed by the state's contemporary consumers and industries. The existing flotilla of solar systems produces less electricity than the state's 63rd-largest power plant, a small 165-megawatt natural-gas fired generator in Oakland owned by an affiliate of Chevron Corp.

Given recent revelations about the true state of California's preparendness to meet its new green energy mandate, this troubling news.

Solar power shines, despite clouds [Contra Costa Times]