Power for the World

"...an interesting collection of anecdotes concerning solar projects written by the people who were and are actually on the scene. Though the book does not ignore technical aspects, it highlights personal problems and difficulties, especially the institutional and cultural snags that are seldom included in professional papers. In chapter 1, Palz (World Council for Renewable Energy, Belgium) provides a review of the entire field, emphasizing photovoltaic cells. The remaining chapters are authored by solar experts who collectively span the various specialties and national emphases that complicate the construction of viable projects. In each chapter, the author describes his/her educational background, technical specialty, and personal projects. The authors also discuss project failures, which are often omitted from other works even though they may be very instructive to the reader. Solar technology is still in flux, and dead ends are to be expected. Valuable for all students of solar energy. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries."
—J. C. Comer, Emeritus, Northern Illinois University, in CHOICE, August 2011, Vol. 48, #11

"Power for the World by Wolfgang Palz is more than an Encyclopedia of Solar Cells. ... Wolfgang Palz is a master in assembling people, themes, and information that makes the reader live the exciting lives of these pioneers with the development of solar cells from its very beginning to the present. He let his many authors describe the fascination with success and the frustration by so many impediments in between. He stimulates the philosophy that leads to this beginning of the solar age. Wolfgang Palz, during his travels through the continents, is a master of creating friendship between scientists, engineers, industries, and politicians worldwide with his charming personality, for the common goal to make this the starting of the solar age. From his desk at the European Union in Brussels he has directed over decades all the essential research in Europe in solar cells. Now he has created a truly remarkable book that needs to find its place on the bookshelf of any one working or interested in solar. It is one of the few books that will be taken out again and again to find more of the exciting description of lived history. The timing of creating this book was exactly right. This is one of the culmination points of Wolfgang Palz’s life, congratulations."
—Dr. Karl Boer