Dr. Gunter Erfurt receives the award for his engagement in re-establishing advanced manufacturing of silicon solar cells and modules in Europe, with his company Meyer Burger. Gunter Erfurt has lead the transformation of the company from an equipment supplier to a main European producer of solar cells and modules, ramping up highly automatized proprietary manufacturing solutions for silicon heterojunction technology with smart-wire contacting, all this under the constraint of the COVID crisis. He has been a tireless advocate for a renaissance of PV production in Europe, giving numerous talks in conferences, taking part in debates, and contributing in the media. He also regularly represented the industry in many meetings with the institutions in Europe where he became truly the “face” and "voice" for more local manufacturing. Through his actions, positions, and leadership, Dr. Erfurt is an outstanding individual in the community.
The awardee received his Phd in Physics from TU Freiberg, Germany in 2003. Then, he joined Solarworld, where he occupied various positions in USA and Germany, including as director of Solarworld Innovations. In 2015 he moved to become a director of Meyer Burger Germany, before being appointed group CTO in 2017 and CEO since April 2020. He serves on the scientific or advisory board of several institutes and associations.
On behalf of the Becquerel Prize Committee, we cordially congratulate Dr. Gunter Erfurt for this well-deserved recognition.
Christophe Ballif, Chair Becquerel Committee.
The prize was given during the opening session of the 40th European Photovoltaic Conference, which took place from 18 – 22nd September 2023 in Lisbon.
The Laudatio speech was given by Dr. Shubham Duttagupta, Vice-President & Head of R&D, New Energy Business at Reliance Industries Limited.
The Alexandre Edmond Becquerel Prize was established in 1989 by the European Commission at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Becquerel’s classical experiment in which he discovered the photovoltaic effect.
Its purpose is to honour scientific, technical or managerial merit in the development of photovoltaic solar energy, attained over a long period of continuous achievements, or very exceptionally, for some extraordinary invention or discovery.
It is primarily a European Award but not restricted exclusively to European citizens. The Prize is awarded periodically to a single individual. The Prize cannot be shared nor given to an institution or team.
The Becquerel Prize Committee selects the individual to be honoured with the prize. The committee is formed by:
(a) all the past awardees,
(b) the Chairperson of the Solar Energy Conference where the prize will be awarded,
(c) one representative of the European Commission,
(d) the organiser of the conference where the prize will be awarded.
The Becquerel Prize is named after Alexandre Edmond Becquereli (24 March 1820 – 11 May 1891).
Alexandre Edmond Becquerel was born in Paris and was the assistant and later the successor of his father, Antoine Cesar Becquerel, at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle.
In 1839, at the age of 19, he created and analyzed the world´s first photovoltaic cellii,iii in the laboratory of his father. The photovoltaic cell consisted of two electrodes in an acidic solution,
separated by a thin membrane. He illuminated one of the electrodes. Especially when the electrodes were coated with AgCl or AgBr, he could observe a significant generation of electricity.
Since he could exclude that this effect was due to temperature effects (induced by the illumination), he concluded that the light itself was the reason for his observation.
Furthermore Becquerel already discovered the influence of the spectrum of light on the photovoltaic effect; he noted that blue light yielded the highest current generation.
Alexandre Edmond Becquerel was also very active in other research related to the effects of light like photography and phosphorescence. In 1867/68 he published the important book: “La lumière, ses causes et ses effets (Light, its causes and effects)”.
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i not to be confused with his son Henri Becquerel who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of radioactivity
ii A.E. Becquerel, "Recherches sur les effets de la radiation chimique de la lumiere solaire au moyen des courants electriques", Comptes Rendus de L'Academie des Sciences, Vol. 9, pp. 145-149, 1839; also Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Vol. 54, pp. 18-34, 1841.
iii A.E. Becquerel, "Memoire sur les effects electriques produits sous I'influence des rayons solaires", Comptes Rendus de L'Academie des Sciences, Vol. 9, pp. 561- 567, 1839; also Annalen der Physik und Chemie, Vol. 54, pp. 35-42, 1841.
(You may find a translation of publication iii into English here )
Find out more about the history of the Becquerel Prize here
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2022Marko Topič |
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2021Ulrike Jahn |
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2020Prof. Henry Snaith |
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2019Dr. Pierre Verlinden |
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2018Prof. Peter Würfel |
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2017Dr. Stefan Nowak |
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2016Prof. Christophe Ballif |
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2015Prof. Andrés Cuevas |
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2014Dr. Stefan Glunz |
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2013Prof. Gabriel Sala |
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2012Dr. Winfried Hoffmann |
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2011Prof. Wim Sinke |
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2010Prof. Hans-Werner Schock Diploma - Becquerel Prize 2010 |
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2009Dr. Andreas W. Bett |
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2008Mechtild Rothe |
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2007Prof. Arvind Shah Diploma - Becquerel Prize 2007 |
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2006Dr. Richard M. Swanson |
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2006Dr. Dieter Bonnet |
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2005Prof. Joachim Luther |
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2004Prof. Masafumi Yamaguchi |
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2003Dr. Wolfgang Palz |
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2001Prof. Viacheslav Andreev |
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2000Frederick C. Treble |
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1998Dr. Walter Sandtner |
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1997Prof. Adolf Goetzberger Diploma - Becquerel Prize 1997 |
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1995Dr. Karlheinz Krebs |
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1994Dr. Morton Prince |
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1992Prof. Antonio Luque |
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1991Prof. Werner Bloss |
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1989Prof. Roger Van Overstraeten |
Please download the bylaws of the Becquerel Prize committee here
The Chairman of the Becquerel Committee is Prof. Christophe Ballif at EPFL and CSEM.
Should you need additional information, please don't hesitate to contact Ms. Karine Frossard at EPFL, Switzerland (karine.frossard (at) epfl.ch).
