Australian National University (ANU) Professor of Engineering Andrew Blakers who co-invented the passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) silicon solar cell technology has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) given for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large.
Blakers said it’s been a privilege to work in solar energy since 1979 and watch the industry grow from tiny deployments on satellites back-of-Bourke into a global juggernaut.
“Nowadays, global solar and wind power stations are being deployed five times faster than fossil and nuclear power stations combined because they are so cheap. At current growth rates, global solar and wind generation will pass fossil and nuclear generation in 2032,” Blakers said.
“Solar and wind are the solution to global warming and provide cheap smog-free energy forever.”
Blakers also co-invented the Sliver solar cell, is a lead developer of a global atlas of pumped hydro energy storage and a leader for the 100% renewable energy futures research group.
He was Node Director for the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for a decade to 2023 and is now Emeritus Professor, ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics and member of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions.
Sylvia Tulloch
The co-founder and former director of Halocell, which is developing the commercialisation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) Sylvia Tullock was appointed an Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the renewable energy, innovation and technology commercialisation sectors.
Among the many accolades of the materials scientist, Tulloch, is currently a director of Queensland-based battery minerals company Lava Blue and New South Wales (NSW)-headquartered solar technology company, SunDrive.
Professor Veena Sahajwalla
University of NSW Founding Director Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Professor Veena Sahajwalla was also awarded an AO for distinguished service to science as an engineer and inventor, to sustainable materials research and technology and waste management.
Appointed one of Australia’s Top 100 most influential engineers in 2015, Sahajwalla’s first SMaRT Lab micro-factory focused on recycling e-waste from old technology, salvaging gold, electrical conductors, and rare earth materials.
“The feeling of leading a scientific field is profound, but this sort of recognition is next level. This just motivates me even more,” Sahajwalla said.
“What drives me and the team at the UNSW SMaRT Centre is developing solutions for real world materials sustainability challenges that help deliver better social, environmental and economic outcomes.”
Professor Stuart White
University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Institute for Sustainable Futures Director Professor Stuart White received an Order of Australia (AM).
Among an extensive lives of achievements, since 2001 White has been a member of the Reliable Affordable Clean Energy for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre (Race for 2030 CRC) and since 2020, a researcher and team member of the Strategic Electric Vehicle Integration research team at Climate-KIC Australia.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.