ABSTRACT
But I’m getting ahead of the story. When I joined the US Department of Energy in 1979 to help promote President Carter’s nascent solar energy program, it was clear that PV, enjoying a vast R&D budget, was the sexiest and most promising new energy technology. Ten years later, after PV module prices fell from $90 a Watt to $5 a Watt (today we’re at $2 a Watt) , it seemed to me that solar PV would be a great human development tool, bringing clean, affordable light and — and also power for black & white televisions — to some of the millions of families who lived their lives in the dark, with only candles and kerosene for illumination (and kerosene won’t run a radio, TV or a fan).
