Hi Mindbender,
Although it does cost quite some energy to produce solar panels, I think your statements are based on some persistent misconceptions in the general publics mindset about the subject. Opponents of solar power sometimes even claim that solar panels won't even generate the amount of energy that was used in producing them during their *entire lifespan* and as it is an easy oneliner to remember, it tends to turn up now and then in popular media.
Several scientific studies were conducted with exactly this aspect of PV systems as their focus, ranging from research to decide just the energy pay-back time up to research into the entire lifetime cycle of pv-systems (production, transport, installation, operation, monitoring, maintenance and recycling, including other system components such as frames, mounts, cabling, inverters, etc.).
Although the outcome of these studies tend to vary somewhat, depending on assumptions regarding module efficiency, solar insolation, and the system components taken into account, the general conclusion is that under Dutch circumstances, it will take between 1 and 4 years to generate the energy that was used during the production of a solar system.
Consider for instance the following scientific publication by some researchers working for Utrecht University:
Environmental life-cycle assessment of multicrystalline silicon solar cell modules
http://www.chem.uu.nl/nws/www/publica/95057.pdf
"Under Dutch insolation conditions the energy pay-back time of a frameless module as described in the base case is estimated at 1.3 years (3.8 resp. 0.5 yr for worst and best case). Addition of an aluminum frame increases the energy pay-back time with 0.4 yr in
the base case."
(Note that this publication is from 1995 and energy efficiency as well as module efficiency has improved since then.)
Furthermore, you are first "accusing" solar panels of being produced using fossil fuel (and thus being polluting) and then you claim that it will take 10 years for the panels to regenerate their production energy. Of course, it cannot be the case that both arguments are valid at the same time: either you produce a solar panel using fossil fuel and it is therefore somewhat polluting (but then you don't need time to regenerate the energy to produce the panel as it was produced using fossil fuel) XOR you use energy generated by other solar panels to produce a solar panel and then you do need to take the regeneration time into account (but no fossil fuel has been used and it's therefore not polluting).
Moving on to your statement about cell degeneration being up to 50%: this might have been the case during the *very* early years, but all commercially available panels from A-brands that were sold since the early nineties came with a production guarantee of at least 80% after 20 or 25 years.
As far as inverters are concerned, I agree that a good inverter is of utmost importance for total system efficiency. As mentioned earlier, good brands are, among others, Sunnyboy, Gridfit, Mastervolt and Steca (previously Philips, but they bailed out of the pv market after just a very short stint).
In my opinion, any product that generates significantly more energy during its lifetime than was used during production (and installation, recycling, etc.) will be beneficial to the environment (disregarding raw materials, chemicals, etc. for the moment). With a lifespan of 25 to 30 years, solar panels certainly fulfill this criterium, even if their regeneration time would be 10 years.
And even if solar panels would only regenerate their production energy after an even longer time, there could still be considerations to put the technology to use. Being more independent from oil production gouverned by totalitarian regimes in unstable countries, for instance. Or not wanting to leave radioactive waste for thousands (!) of generations to come.
To put things into perspective: how long did it take your HA server or car to regenerate the energy that was used in producing it (or compensate the polluting effects of its use)?
Just my two cents
.
Lennart