It’s the first time UNSW academics have been honoured with the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science, the Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation and the Prize for New Innovators in the same year.
Light-weight, cheap and ultra-thin perovskite crystals have promised to shake-up renewable energy for some time. Research led by Professor Anita Ho-Baillie means they are ready to take the next steps towards commercialisation.
UNSW is mourning the passing of Professor Stuart Wenham, director of the Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, and a pioneering researcher and inventor of solar cell technologies.
Australian solar cell research has received a $29.2 million boost from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and UNSW captured the lion’s share with 11 of the 22 projects.
Leading scientists have called on both major political parties not to ‘unintentionally kill’ solar cell research in Australia by cutting off grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told ABC Q&A viewers that Australia has more household solar panels, per head of population, than anywhere in the world. Anna Bruce and Iain McGill examine this claim.