SolarWorld Jr. Einstein Award

Recognizing up-and-coming researchers

With his revolutionary explanation of the photoelectric effect, Albert Einstein laid the foundation for an understanding of photovoltaic solar energy as early as 1905. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize for Physics for this achievement.

SolarWorld has been presenting the SolarWorld Einstein Award since 2005 to personalities who have especially advanced the use of solar energy - and have, therefore, helped 'Planet Earth'.

Since 2006 the SolarWorld Jr. Einstein-Award for Up-and-Coming Researchers has also been presented for scientific work in a specialist field of photovoltaics.

Learn more about the SolarWorld Jr. Einstein-Award!

Recent Jr. Einstein-Award Recipients

Award recipient 2008: Bram Hoex
In his doctoral thesis, physicist Bram Hoex investigates alternative coating technologies for the production of silicon-based solar cells. By using aluminum oxide instead of silicon nitride for the passivation of the surface it was possible to reduce the electrical losses which could then be translated into an improvement of the overall efficiency of the solar cell to 23.2 percent in cooperation with some research institutes. Though the positive properties of aluminum oxide have been known for a long time, Hoex was the first to succeed in creating such layers and in putting this idea into industrial practice. It is another step towards making solar power more competitive. More

Award recipients 2007: Tobias Eisenbarth, Caspar Leendertz und Mark Wimmer
The SolarWorld Junior Einstein Award 2007 was awarded to three graduands of the Hahn-Meitner-Institut in Berlin for their work on special electrical properties of crystal grain boundaries. The jury praised in particular the clear and precise approach and the scientific team spirit that the coordinated dissertation shows. More

Award recipients 2006: Axel Herguth and Oliver Schultz
Axel Herguth: In his degree dissertation, Axel Hegruth dealt with the investigation of degradation mechanisms in monocrystalline silicon solar cells, especially in developing a process to avoid such degradations. Hergruth succeeded in developing a process to permanently eliminate this degradation mechanism, which he calls regeneration.


Oliver Schultz: To reduce the costs of solar power further, one needs both low-cost starting material and high efficiency. Oliver Schultz—as a part of his degree project and later at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energy Systems— has thoroughly dealt with the characteristics of polycrystalline silicon for the manufacture of highly efficient solar cells and developed process steps for the manufacture of solar cells that lead finally to an energy conversion efficiency of 20.3%, previously considered to unattainable by many experts. More