PERC pioneers awarded 2023 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering

Professor Martin Green, Professor Andrew Blakers, Dr Aihua Wang and Dr Jianhua Zhao have been acknowledged for their research and development work that led to PERC and its role in underpinning the growth of high performance, low-cost solar electricity.

“It is a privilege to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside Martin Green, Aihua Wang and Jianhua Zhao. The QEPrize aims to inspire a new generation of engineers and I hope that this year these engineers will be inspired, like me, to create solutions that can help us tackle the biggest challenges faced by humanity, such as climate change,” said Professor Blakers.

The 2023 Laureates improved the energy conversion efficiency of silicon cells by improving the quality of the top and the rear surface of standard silicon solar cells. PERC introduced an additional layer on the back surface that helped prevent recombination and further, reflected unused photons back into the silicon to generate more electrons.

In 1983, Green and Blakers at the University of New South Wales produced solar cells with 18 per cent efficiency, surpassing the 16.5 per cent recorded previously. They went onto publish cell results of 19 per cent and 20 per cent efficiency, and theoretically determined the maximum achievable efficiency to be close to 30 per cent. Green’s lab held the global record for efficiency from 1983 to 2023, with Wang and Zhao leading the work which eventually reached Green’s 25 per cent efficiency target.

The awardees published their findings with no patent, encouraging further developments and driving down the cost of production to the benefit of wider society.

Through continued research and development, and international collaboration, the 2023 laureates have reduced the costs of solar panels, with the cost of solar power generation falling by over 80 per cent in the past decade. PERC technology is now the most commercially viable and efficient silicon solar cell technology used in solar panels and large-scale electricity production, accounting for almost 90 per cent of the global solar cell market.

“Achievements in engineering can have a remarkable impact all over the world and we are very grateful that the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has selected PERC technology among many global innovations. It is my pleasure to share this award among friends and colleagues who each played a critical role in achieving the energy efficiency target,” said Dr Wang.

The IEA estimates global solar PV capacity to almost triple between 2022-2027, becoming the largest source of power capacity globally. Solar is currently providing about half of new-build electricity generation capacity worldwide.

Away from national electricity grids, solar is being utilised also in microgrids for communities across global low- and middle-income countries.

Awarded annually, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is presented to engineers responsible for ground-breaking innovations that have been of global benefit to humanity. Celebrating its tenth year in 2023, the Prize announcement was made on February 7, 2023 by Lord Browne of Madingley, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation.

“Over the last ten years, the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has highlighted the importance of engineering to better society,” said Professor Dame Lynn Gladden, chair of the QEPrize judging panel.  “This year’s winners…encapsulate the aims of the QEPrize perfectly. They are behind the development and commercialisation of PERC technology, which has helped to drive the supply of clean energy around the world as part of the drive to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The future of solar cells is enormous and could make major contribution to delivering net zero emissions.”