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Booms and busts characterize the long-term history of PV. And while several countries have played key roles in the development of solar, a recurring theme in this story is the volatility of each country’s interest in solar. R&D funding is the most direct representation of that changing prioritization. One can see this volatility clearly in PV R&D funding in the US (Nemet and Kammen, 2007). This R&D volatility is not unique to PV, it has affected energy overall (Schuelke-Leech, 2014). Recurring waves of investment and disinvestment have passed. For many years Japan was held as a model, espousing the opposite of US R&D volatility. Indeed, its funding was quite stable from 1980 to 2004. But over the complete time horizon even Japan was challenged by unstable funding.