Solar for the Masses

I was watching a solar field being built on 2 acres of prime farmland the other day as a thought occurred.
Why not, instead of putting this land to waste, Why not use the space that most of the power is consumed.
How about just lease the space on their customers roofs. I know me & many of my neighbors would be glad to offer up my roof for  leased space or discount utility rate fee.
So instead of the utility spending our  environment green energy fee's(that many are collecting) building a solar station that they can peddle to the power to elsewhere. Why not Spend the money to benefit the consumers directly at the point of use.

Nest – A Thermostat for the 21st Century

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 
BY JULIE @THE GADGETEER

Only in the last year did I finally replace my older than dirt mercury switch type thermostat with a programmable model. Although I've enjoyed the convenience of having the heat automatically come on in the morning before I wake up and then not come on while no one is home during the day, changing the program times is a big pain in the you-know-what. Doing so consists of pressing and holding a button till the info on the tiny LCD blinks. Then more button pressing is required to cycle through the days of the week, program times, etc. It takes a minute or two just to change the temp for a specific day and time. The Nest Thermostat looks like a much more elegant solution. It has a ring (sort of like an old style thermostat) that you rotate to adjust the temperature. After a few days of adjusting the temp, Nest learns to program itself to keep you at a comfortable temperature while also conserving electricity. At $249, the price is considerably more than other programmable thermostats, but if it works as well as it looks, I'd definitely like to give one a try in my house.