The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Meyer Burger Technology AG, Dr Gunter Erfurt has been declared the winner of Becquerel Prize 2023 for his efforts towards re-establishing advanced manufacturing of silicon solar cells and modules in Europe.  

“Gunter Erfurt has led 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,” stated the Becquerel Prize Committee.   

Erfurt has become the ‘face’ and voice’ for local European solar manufacturing, having represented the industry at various forums. According to the committee, he has been a tireless advocate for a renaissance of PV production in Europe and contributing in the media.   

A PhD in Physics from TU Freiberg, Germany, Erfurt joined the Meyer Burger group as a director in 2015 and rose to become the CEO in 2020.  

The award will be officially handed over during the opening session of the 40th European Photovoltaic Conference in September 2023 in Lisbon where the Vice President and Head of R&D, New Energy Business at India’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Dr. Shubham Duttagupta will present the Laudatio speech.  

Named after the French Physicist Alexandre Edmond Becquerel and one of the most prestigious awards in the solar world, the Becquerel Prize is awarded annually to honor scientific, technical or managerial merit of an individual for the development of solar PV technology.  

The winner of Becquerel Prize 2022 was University of Ljubljana, Slovenia’s Marko Topič who won the prize for his academic and experimental work with numerous optical and electrical software and measurement systems used extensively today (see Becquerel Prize 2022 Winner Is Marko Topič).