Photovoltaics--Energy for the New Millennium: The National Photovoltaics Program Plan, 2000-2004

At the dawn of the new millennium, the world faces dramatic change. Nations are expanding their economies. Growing populations spawn spiraling needs for food, shelter, and materials. Burgeoning demands burden the Earth's ecosystems. Nations can continue their economic ascent and increase their energy consumption while becoming more harmonious with the environment and while ensuring sufficientsupplies of energy. Key to the success of this vision is technology and its ability to provide the world with a wide portfolio of energy choices. Significant among these is photovoltaics (PV), a semiconductor technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity. The U.S. Department of Energy's Photovoltaics Program is helping to turn the promise of PV into a reality. The Program alongwith its partners-the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories, the nation's universities and the PV industry-has helped build a national effort to effectively usher technologies along the development path from basic R&D, through applied research, through technology development, to engineering and applications. PV will be an integral part of the march oftechnology that will spur economies and promote a more cohesive and affluent world. PV gives us domestic reserves of energy that we will never deplete. Sunshine, the 'fuel' for PV, is something we can never overtax or squander-inexhaustible, clean and for everyone.