Professor Michael Graetzel was born on 11 May 1944, in Dorfchemnitz, Germany. He is a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland) where he works at the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces.
Professor Michael Graetzel created the field of molecular photovoltaics. Photovoltaics is the best-known method for generating power using solar cells to convert solar energy into electricity. In Molecular photovoltaics, engineers alter molecules to convert power more efficiently. He was the first person to discover that mesoscopic photo-systems based on molecular light harvesters that by now can set up a good competition against the performance of regular solar cells. He created a revolutionary cell design called the ”Graetzel cell” which converts dye molecules or pigments into light harvesters. The Graetzel cells are being made for electricity production, battery replacements in electronic devices. He also played a significant role in discovering the perovskite solar cells that directly emerged from dye-sensitized solar cells. These new cells can convert solar energy to electric power with 25% efficiency. This means that twenty-five percent of the absorbed energy is converted into electric power. While this might not sound like a huge number, it is better than any previous opponent. A recent list issued by Stanford University positioned Prof. Graetzel in first place on a list of 100,000 top scientists across every field.
Other Awards:
2007: Harvey Prize in science and technology
2010: millennium technology prize
2012: Albert Einstein World Award of Science
2013: Marcel Benoist Prize
2017: RUSNANOPRIZE for Nanomaterials and Surface Modification
2017: Global Energy Prize
Stay Curious ;)
Love,
Sarah
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