Seven days in the heart of America... Washington DC and Philadelphia offer plenty of visual treats and no shortage of history. It was quite apt, in this setting, that the solar cell industry was described as a “confederation of warring states” in one of the opening talks I attended at the PVSC. There is no shortage of start-up companies that desperately want to succeed independently, but for thin film solar cells at least, they are faced with many fundamental materials chemistry and fabrication issues that they are forced to join hands and share some of their secret ingredients. The greater openness of academic participants at the meeting also helped lubricate the flow of information.
The true highlight was the conference dinner in the Philadelphia science museum with a Galileo exhibition displaying one of his telescopes.