One thing that cheap solar panels can't do is produce feedstock for a 3d printer. The effective wattage of something that prevents the need to ship something from the other side of the planet could be quite high even if it's actual wattage is low.

That's not to say that we're there yet. Specialists in other countries still make a much better widget than the robot in my closet and they will for a while. But it's a step.