Indeed, the main concern with solar is just cost and availability. Getting electricity for free from the sun is a great value proposition for most people. Spending tens of thousands on your roof, not so much. The upfront investment is a bit of a hurdle. And you get some push-back from Nimby's complaining about what things look like. Of course nothing compared to if you were to cause a lot of smog by burning coal.
With coal the concern is the sooth, dust, pollution, and smell. It's just nasty, toxic stuff. Smog from coal is unpleasant. It's not like a wood fire which at least smells nice. Coal is what you used to burn if you could not afford wood or gas. Throwing a lump of coal on the fire is nobody's idea of a romantic thing to do. Making a nice wood fire, completely different thing.
Here in Berlin, people were burning coal in some parts of the city until gentrification caused most of the remaining DDR construction to get renovated. As recent as ten years ago, you could smell coal in the winter in e.g. Prenzlauer Berg, which is now a properly gentrified area full of hipsters, coffee shops, etc. One of my colleagues at the time rented an attic with only a coal furnace. He had to carry the stuff upstairs if he wanted heating. But he payed very little in rent so he was OK with that. It's the most run down, poor areas that got rid of coal last.
My family burned coal when I was a child, and eventually switched to wood. Cost aside, coal still seemed a lot more practical for seriously heating a house because it stays lit much longer, wood constantly demands attention and refuelling. But it's harder to light and the ash is useless. Nostalgic though :)
With coal the concern is the sooth, dust, pollution, and smell. It's just nasty, toxic stuff. Smog from coal is unpleasant. It's not like a wood fire which at least smells nice. Coal is what you used to burn if you could not afford wood or gas. Throwing a lump of coal on the fire is nobody's idea of a romantic thing to do. Making a nice wood fire, completely different thing.
Here in Berlin, people were burning coal in some parts of the city until gentrification caused most of the remaining DDR construction to get renovated. As recent as ten years ago, you could smell coal in the winter in e.g. Prenzlauer Berg, which is now a properly gentrified area full of hipsters, coffee shops, etc. One of my colleagues at the time rented an attic with only a coal furnace. He had to carry the stuff upstairs if he wanted heating. But he payed very little in rent so he was OK with that. It's the most run down, poor areas that got rid of coal last.