$30/Watt is the purchase cost, not the lifetime operating cost.
At current electricity prices, a PV panel with a 'lifetime' rating of 30 years (where lifetime = 80% of original rating) might just pay itself off, financially, but I'm willing to bet that electricity prices won't be staying anywhere near current levels.

It depends on a number of factors. I'm deploying hundreds of peak KW of PV in West Africa with an economic payback of 3-5 years. The payback is calculated against using diesel generators - the only viable alternative for rural, off grid electricity.

$30/watt isn't even the purchase cost.