Lowdown, in theory I'm in favor of renewable energy. However, in practice, the costs are extraordinary. As I mentioned, a lot of them simply don't scale (your lab observation). They also depend on REE (rare earth Elements) of which China holds 97% global production. Renewables are simply not going to work on the scale that we need them to work to maintain our current patterns of energy use.
I've mentioned her before, Nicole Foss has done a huge amount of work in the economics of energy, including renewables.
See her interview page at FSN
Nicole M Foss | FINANCIAL SENSE
There is a link to her blog from there, the automatic earth.
From my reading, it's not climate change that we should be worried about, but the impending energy shortfall for liquid fuels.