The first forty years: A brief history of the modern photovoltaic age

This brief history of the modern photovoltaic (PV) age is divided into four major periods: the beginning in 1953‐1954; the next steps, 1954‐1956; the space PV period, 1956‐1970; and the terrestrial PV period, 1970 onwards. the author began his participation in photovoltaics in 1953 and has been a participant in, or a witness to, the events that he describes.