Finland’s Technology Academy awards a Millennium Technology Prize every two years. This year the three finalists included a solar energy invention which eventually won the top prize. A Professor from the Lausanne Federal Technology Institute in Switzerland won the top prize of 800,000 euros. The prize-winning innovation involves a low-cost solar energy producer.
Professor Michael Gratzel, the award winner, developed his solar technology through analyzing how plants create energy. Gratzel stated: “I was always intrigued by the way plants capture sunlight and turn it into fuels like sugar. Natural photosynthesis was the inspiration, and our solar cell is the only one that mimics the natural photosynthetic process.”
Professor Gratzel’s innovation uses nanocrystal films. Gratzel has stated that this technology causes the light not to scatter and therefore not lose energy potential. Gratzel stated: “You can imagine using those cells as electricity producing windows. What’s very exciting is that you collect light from all sides, so you can capture electricity from the inside as well as the outside. You could think that the glass of all high-rises in New York would be electricity generating panels.”
The president of Finland’s Technology Academy, Dr. Ainomaija Haarla, stated: “The constraint of solar energy has traditionally been its price. ‘Gratzel cells’ provide a more affordable way of harnessing solar energy. Gratzel’s innovation is likely to have an important role in low-cost, large-scale solutions for renewable energy.”
Professor Gratzel has stated that the will use the contest money in order to advance his research further. Gratzel’s innovation is already available on the market, such as a battery charging backpack. More innovative items are expected to arrive on the market on a large and small scale due to Gratzel’s research.
