Australian scientist created the world’s most efficient solar cell technology

Australian Professor Martin Green wins world’s best technology prize, Mr. Green has been awarded the 2022 Millennium Technology Prize for his leadership in the development the the world’s most commercially viable and efficient silicon solar cell technology.
Presented by Technology Academy Finland, the biennial prize highlights the impact of science and innovation on society and is worth 1 million euros. Prize patron and President of Finland Sauli Niinistö conferred the prize upon Prof. Green at a ceremony in Helsinki

Martin Green is Scientia Professor at the University of New South Wales, Sydney and Director of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, involving several other Australian Universities and research groups. His group’s contributions to photovoltaics are well known and include holding the record for silicon solar cell efficiency for 30 of the last 39 years, described as one of the “Top Ten” Milestones in the history of solar photovoltaics. The PERC solar cell that he invented in 1983 and his team developed to its full potential accounted for 91.2% of worldwide silicon solar module production in 2021.

The New awarded was presented by Technology Academy Finland, the biennial prize highlights the impact of science and innovation on society and is worth 1 million euros.President of Finland Sauli Niinistö issued the prize for Prof. Martin Green at a ceremony in Helsinki.

Prof. Green said he was honoured to receive the prestigious prize. “The Millennium Prize not only recognises my contribution to photovoltaics [the conversion of light into electrical power], but also the achievements of my students and research colleagues at UNSW, as well as those of the broader photovoltaic (PV) research and commercial community.

“I believe the Prize will increase my credibility as a spokesperson for what needs to be done to address climate change. We need to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to sustain the trajectory of human civilisation on our shared planet. The pace of change is accelerating and the world will shift to solar and wind energy over the coming decade. I believe a huge transformation of historic significance is underway.”

The 2022 Prize drew 40 nominations from the fields of life sciences, energy and the environment, ICT and smart systems, and new materials, processes and manufacturing. A record number of women were nominated this year. It is regarded as one of the world’s top academic awards rated by the IREG List of International Academic Awards and has a reputation score of 0.5 compared to a Nobel Prize.

Prof. Green is often described as “the father of modern photovoltaics” and was recently referred to by Australia’s federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, as a “national treasure”.