"Neville Williams did not invent solar cells, but he has tirelessly promoted them. If two billion people in developing countries one day get electricity, it will be because of the groundwork he has laid. Chasing the Sun engagingly chronicles the author’s enduring effort to build a solar world."
— Lester R. Brown, president, Earth Policy Institute
Neville Williams, is the founder and chairman of Standard Solar Inc. , a solar energy services company based in Maryland that is installing grid-tied residential solarelectric systems in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Williams launched Standard Solar in 2005, drawing on 25 years of executive management, communications, and marketing experience. Mr. Williams first became involved with solar energy during the Carter Administration as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy. He is the author of CHASING THE SUN: Solar Adventures Around The World [New Society Publishers, 2005) , an account of bringing solar power to people without electricity in 11 countries in Asia and Africa.
An Ohio native, Mr. Williams studied at the Universities of Colorado, and Neuchatel, Switzerland. He is the author of a book on the Vietnam War, and of numerous articles published in Nature, Outside, The New Republic, The Nation, the New York Times Magazine, New Times, and other publications. Mr. Williams was a war correspondent in Vietnam (1968-69), and later worked as a writer/producer for WNBC-TV News in New York (1973-74). In 1987, he joined Greenpeace USA as its national media director where he became interested in renewable energy and solutions to global warming.
Mr. Williams has been a consultant/advisor to the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank for which he designed the national solar electrification programs for Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka respectively. He has addressed professional meetings and conferences in New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Berlin, Bonn, Beijing, New York, Vienna, Bangkok, Cairo, Washington, Johannesburg, Swaziland, Harare, Nairobi, Marrakech, Kathmandu, Denver, Boulder, and London (Royal Institute of International Affairs). He has lectured at the business schools of the University of California (Berkeley), the University of North Carolina, and Cornell University. He has lived in Maryland, near Washington DC, since 1987 with his wife, Patricia Forkan, President of Humane Society International (HSUS).
"I really loved your book. It's really a great story. You've done good work. I was like a little kid reading it, telling everyone I knew about it. I told Hillary and Chelsea read it, and made everyone at the Clinton Foundation read it."
— President Bill Clinton
"Chasing the Sun is a fascinating account of the author’s personal odyssey to promote solar energy in the developing world. Reading this book, I was reminded of what my good friend, the late Buckminster Fuller once said - 'There is no shortage of energy on this planet; but there is a serious shortage of intelligence!'. Neville Williams shows how intelligent, local solutions can be found to meet energy needs of communities across Asia and Africa. This should be an eye-opener for donors and policy-makers alike."
— Sir Arthur C Clarke, inventor of the communications satellite
Chasing the Sun is available now through New Society Publishers at:
NewSociety.com/bookid/3899 .
EarthDay.net