So my kid is taking a Chemical Engineering course called Unit Operations and the Professor asked...

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10. There's a good reason why wind contributes more than solar

It's because it doesn't matter if a utility has a field of them or you have some of them on your house - a panel generates the same amount of electricity (maybe a utility invests in a tracking system to increase output where an individual would usually just install them on the roof).

When someone installs solar on their house, labor is a significant part of the cost. The payback is long term and since people move so often, it's hard to justify the expense. Calif has taken a step in the right direction with requiring all new houses to have solar - that reduces the labor part of the cost. Germany has incentives that encourages individuals to buy solar and PV contributes over 6%. Calif is about 10%. Is that trivial? I would agree it's not a lot, but I think it's not trivial considering PV works best during peak demand periods.

Utilities have an advantage with wind, mainly due to this fact >>> doubling the blade diameter cubes the output. It's is the driving force behind the development of ever increasing size of windmills.