MoreSarah Kurtz and Jerry Olson, solar power innovators at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., will share this year’s $1 million Dan David Future Prize with NASA climate scientist James Hansen. The prizes are granted to individuals or institutions that have made an outstanding contribution to humanity.
The NREL scientists pioneered the highly-efficient multi-junction solar cell, which uses layers of semiconductor material to gain extremely high efficiencies in converting sunlight to electricity. Already in wide use in space exploration, including powering the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the scientists hope the multi-junction devices will help meet electrical needs on Earth through the use of lenses and mirrors that concentrate sunlight on the highly-efficient solar cells.
More information is available at www.nrel.gov.
The NREL scientists pioneered the highly-efficient multi-junction solar cell, which uses layers of semiconductor material to gain extremely high efficiencies in converting sunlight to electricity. Already in wide use in space exploration, including powering the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the scientists hope the multi-junction devices will help meet electrical needs on Earth through the use of lenses and mirrors that concentrate sunlight on the highly-efficient solar cells.
More information is available at www.nrel.gov.
With access to over one million professionals and more than 60 industry-specific publications,
