Nothing at a global scale is without downsides, but solar has fewer problems than any other energy source. It is cheap, easy to deploy anywhere, can reuse exist

Nothing at a global scale is without downsides, but solar has fewer problems than any other energy source. It is cheap, easy to deploy anywhere, can reuse existing “ruined” land (buildings, farmland, bodies of water) without needing any new area for the foreseeable future, and is easily dismantled too. Within few years it seems likely it’ll be trivial to recycle it as well. The only downside is that it’s intermittent, which hydrogen solves. The “extra steps” convert intermittent solar to predictable energy, useable 24/7/365. It’s not a device to transport solar to _where_ it will be used, but _when_ it will be used. Even if fusion actually worked, it would be inferior in a major way - it concentrates too much energy in a single point. With solar and gas, energy could be distributed and redundant. No sabotage or failure can cut the energy supply to millions of consumers at once, and energy would be created where it’s needed. Fusion could still be useful for science experiments requiring enormous amounts of energy but IMHO it’s not a good idea as a grid source.