Solarization failure
Solarization
is still a major time saver for us.
Sometimes the plants end up
winning when the plastic is on its last leg.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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This is why I think black plastic is better than transparent. Because the light can get through the transparent plastic, what you've got is a kind of "mini greenhouse" and it actually helps the weeds to grow. Black plastic, on the other hand, prevents light from reaching the plants and that's what kills them dead. No light - no can grow. I use some recycle small black animal
trough over some really stubborn weeds like thistle that insist on growing in the main walkway to my house. Kills 'em dead every time! 
Also, I'd like to note that this year's ferociously hot summer we've had probably helped the plastic to degrade since most plastics are designed to disintergrate in the sun.