Peter Varadi is one of the few people who could be said to personify the solar industry. He and his partner, Joseph Lindmayer helped develop this technology for space and founded the World’s first terrestrial solar company in 1973. It was the worlds largest, and possibly the only profitable, solar company when they sold out a decade later. That did not end Varadi’s involvement. He has continued to be at the center of developments, as a consultant to organizations like the European Commission, The World Bank and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His recently published book, Sun Above the Horizon: Meteoric Rise of the Solar Industry, is and insider’s view of what has transpired since Bell laboratories discovered that silicon was a incredible conductor of electricity in 1953.