Following Paul Lynn’s lead in including color photographs in the first edition, illustrating PV’s beauty and extraordinary promise, I have added plenty more in this new edition. For the new figures and valuable exchanges, I am grateful to the following individuals and organizations: Mahesh Morjaria, First Solar; Pierre Verlinden, Trina; William Shafarman, University of Delaware; Raed Bkayrat, First Solar; Jason Baxter, Drexel University; Jeff Britt, Global Solar; Steven Hegedus, University of Delaware; Christian Den Heijer, Hukseflux; Vahan Garboushian, Arzon Solar; Ronny Gløckner, Elkem Solar; Markus Gloeckler, First Solar; John Lushetsky, US‐DOE; Vijay Modi, Columbia University; Craig Murphy, MEMC Electronic Materials; John Phufas, JFK Solar Enterprises; Thomas Shilling, Photon; Parikhit Sinha, First Solar; and Arnulf Jäger‐Waldau, European Commission Joint Research Centre.

The organization and content of this second edition owe much to my teaching at Columbia University, and I am grateful to many undergraduate and graduate students whose interest in solar energy and the environment created this publishing opportunity. Especially helpful were three of my former doctorate students who are now pursuing auspicious careers in renewable energy: Marc Perez, currently with Clean Power Research; Rob van Haaren, currently with First Solar; and Thomas Nikolakakis, currently with the International Renewable Energy Agency. I also wish to acknowledge my former postdoctoral associates Annick Anctil, currently with Michigan State University; Jun‐Ki Choi, currently with University of Dayton; Chul Hyung Kim, currently with Ford; Damon Turney, currently with City College of New York; and Wenming Wang, currently with First Solar. Their significant contributions are widely cited. Thanks are also due to my current graduate students Samet Ozturk and Zhuoran Zhang for their help with problem solving and elegant schematics.

I have also benefitted immensely by interacting during my tenure at Brookhaven National Laboratory with individuals leading the energy transition to solar in the United States, including Mike Ahearn, Charlie Gay, Larry Kazmerski, and Ken Zweibel with whom I shared the vision of the Solar Grand Plan.

This second edition is dedicated to my wife Christina Georgakopoulos Fthenakis, an accomplished skin research scientist, for her love and encouragement. We both hope that Electricity from Sunlight: Photovoltaic‐Systems Integration and Sustainability succeeds in clearly defining a pragmatic solution to the risks that climate change and conflicts for energy and water resources present to our children and the generations that follow.

It has been a pleasure to work with Paul Lynn on this new edition, a transatlantic link appreciated by us both.