Greentech Media celebrated the sixty years of the birth of the silicon solar cell. At the time, that photovoltaic solar cell was only six percent efficient, while nowadays efficiency is around 15 to 20 percent.
At the time, the New York Times hailed the invention “as the beginning of a new era, leading eventually to the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams — the harnessing of the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization.”
By the time this invention is a century old it may well power a tremendous share of our civilization.