Scientia Professor Martin Green is recognised with a major international honour for his outstanding achievements in solar photovoltaics and driving the global shift to renewables.
UNSW Sydney's Scientia Professor Martin Green, known worldwide as the "father of modern photovoltaics", has received the Faraday Medal from the UK's Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) - the organisation's most prestigious honour. The medal recognises Prof. Green's outstanding achievements in transforming solar power from a prohibitively expensive and niche technology to the world's cheapest and most scalable source of electricity.
Prof. Green said it was a great honour to be awarded the Faraday Medal, arguably one of the world's top gongs for engineering.
"Thank you to the IET for this wonderful recognition. I'm exceptionally proud of the work my students, colleagues and I have accomplished throughout my 50 years at UNSW, and the achievements of everyone who has helped make solar energy the most practical and affordable weapon to combat global warming," Prof. Green said.
"I'm delighted to join the ranks of earlier medallists such as Oliver Heaviside, George Thomson, Rookes Crompton, Ernest Rutherford, William Bragg, Irving Langmuir and Nevill Mott - names that have populated my textbooks throughout my engineering career."
UNSW Dean of Engineering Professor Julien Epps congratulated Prof. Green on his selection for the Medal.
"Through five decades of his own research, mentorship of students and colleagues and collaboration with industry to commercialise solar technology, Martin has been the constant driving force to deliver the world's lowest-cost energy source - a vital tool in the global fight against climate change.
"This award affirms his place among the greatest engineers and scientists of our time," he said.
Maximising energy from the sun
Prof. Green led the UNSW teams that developed Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) technology. PERC helped increase the efficiency of standard solar cells by more than 50% from just 16.5% in the early 1980s to 25% in the early 2000s. His teams' innovations and advances in solar technology are considered instrumental in the global transition to renewable energy, with solar now the lowest-cost option for bulk electricity supply.
Prof. Green and his team were also the first to demonstrate and report on 'TOPCon' (tunnel-oxide polysilicon contact) solar cells, and together with PERC, these cells account for more than 90% of the world's solar cells. Teams at UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and its Solar Industrial Research Facility (SIRF) continue to produce world-leading research on silicon cells, as well as investigating the next generation of solar technologies.
Prof. Green believes their current research could boost cell efficiency to more than 40%.
"Silicon cells are very good at converting red photons from sunlight but not so efficient at converting blue ones, since they waste a lot of their energy.
"We are working on stacking solar cells on top of each other, so they work in tandem to convert different parts of the solar spectrum into electricity.
"Solar energy is already the cheapest electricity in history, but there's still enormous scope for improvement. I'm determined to make it even more affordable and accessible for everyone so we can accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels and create a healthier, more sustainable future for all."
Prof. Green has previously been awarded the Japan Prize, Millennium Technology Prize, Global Energy Prize and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, shared with three of his former students.
