2022 Böer Medal of Merit For Solar Lifecycle Pioneer

• Columbia University's Vasilis Fthenakis has won the 2022 Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Award
• The prize with $100,000 was awarded to Fthenakis for his work to overcome barriers and perceptions for large-scale deployment of solar systems
• He was nominated by Arnulf Jäger-Waldau of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Varese, Italy
• The brand new award category of Karl Böer Renewable Energy Mid-Career Award has been awarded to Anke Weidenkaff

A global authority on lifecycle sustainability analysis for solar PV technology, Vasilis Fthenakis of the Columbia University of US, has been announced winner of the prestigious Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit for the year 2022, named after the late solar energy pioneer from the University of Delaware, Karl Wolfgang Böer.

Currently a Senior Research Scientist, Adjunct Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Life Cycle Analysis with the Columbia University, Fthenakis was selected for his visionary work that helps overcome barriers and perceptions needed to advance large-scale deployment of solar energy systems.  He also wins $100,000 prize money.

Fthenakis was nominated by Arnulf Jäger-Waldau of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Varese, Italy, for '"pioneering research at the interface of energy and environment that provided the underpinning of energy lifecycle impacts and catalyzed photovoltaic technology advancement and deployment worldwide'.

With this award, Fthenakis has joined the club of the likes of then American President Jimmy Carter; thin film amorphous silicon cell discoverer David E. Carlson; Founder of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) Adolf Goetzberger; crystalline silicon solar cell innovator Martin A. Green; founder and then SunPower Corp President Richard M. Swanson.

From 2022, the award has launched another category, namely Karl Böer Renewable Energy Mid-Career Award with $25,000 prize money. The maiden recipient of this award is the Executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies (IWKS) and a Professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt, both in Germany, Anke Weidenkaff.

She has been adjudged the winner for her work in renewable energy and sustainability technologies. She was nominated by Professor Emeritus at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, David Cahen.

Both the winners will be formally handed over their awards on May 3, 2022 at the University of Delaware.

Karl Wolfgang Böer, in whose honor the awards are named, is recognized for the work on using solar energy for residential use as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil.