The price of solar energy has dropped significantly over the years, but many still believe that it is too expensive over the use of fossil fuels and other energy sources. On the other hand, it can be argued that it is one of the cleanest sources of renewable energy. However, since the first mass production of photovoltaic solar cells, they have generated more publicity than energy. So, to the prospects of solar energy are not obvious at this point. This paper further discusses the success and failures of past photovoltaic solar cells projects and evaluates today's photovoltaic use of solar cells from the environmental, societal and governmental perspectives to see its progression from previous lessons learned in the past.The paper also presents a review what the United States Military is doing in solar energy as a yardstick of where and how photovoltaic solar cells are likely to be used in the future.