Abstract. The growth of the U. S. and glob­al solar ener­gy indus­try depends on a strong relationship

between sci­ence and engi­neer­ing inno­va­tion, man­u­fac­tur­ing, and cycles of pol­i­cy design and advancement.

The mix­ture of the aca­d­e­m­ic and indus­tri­al engine of inno­va­tion that is Sil­i­con Val­ley, and the strong suite

of envi­ron­men­tal poli­cies for which Cal­i­for­nia is a leader work togeth­er to both dri­ve the solar ener­gy industry,

and keep Sil­i­con Val­ley com­pet­i­tive as Chi­na, Europe and oth­er area of solar ener­gy strength con­tin­ue to

build their clean ener­gy sectors.

Key­words: Pho­voltaics; inno­va­tion; tech­nol­o­gy trans­fer; green jobs