From the Publisher
The book is not gloomy. It lays out the history, promise, and pitfalls of solar technology with an easy-going lack of wonkishness. But it offers a sobering message that may be as prescient—and as readable—as Robert Shiller's Irrational Exuberance was before the dotcom and housing crises of the 2000s—The Economist—
The book is both the best available overview of where the industry finds itself today, and a road map for how it can reach that brighter future....
—Financial Times—The first important policy book of 2018.
—Bloomberg View—Foreign Affairs Best of Books 2018. Sivaram's enlightening and candid book describes both the enormous progress that has already been made in exploiting solar energy and the major obstacles to further progress.
——Sivaram includes a raft of case studies, from current research on the photovoltaic materials called perovskites to Off Grid Electric, a start-up aiming to electrify swathes of Africa by 2019.
—Nature—Taming the Sun is an even-handed untangling of a situation that can appear a mess of contradictions
—Engineering and Technology Magazine—
Reviews
Taming the Sun is an even-handed untangling of a situation that can appear a mess of contradictions
Engineering and Technology Magazine
Nature
Sivaram includes a raft of case studies, from current research on the photovoltaic materials called perovskites to Off Grid Electric, a start-up aiming to electrify swathes of Africa by 2019.
Financial Times
The book is both the best available overview of where the industry finds itself today, and a road map for how it can reach that brighter future....
AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile
Think of the world of 2050. It could be a polluted world of droughts, floods, and heat waves. It could also be a solar world, with carbon emissions stored or used in industry. Varun Sivaram, a senior adviser to Los Angeles' mayor, reviews the hurdles in both policy and the technology itself as he offers glimpses of a brighter solar future. Narrator Barry Abrams captures the author's enthusiasm as he tours the world's solar projects, visiting India, Germany, Mexico, and the Mideast. Abrams appropriately tempers his cheerful narrative with a cautionary tone reflecting the research and investment that are still needed. Sivaram goes heavy on details of financing and science that bog down at times. Those details are important, though, for shaping the future. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine