He received the award in honour of his groundbreaking work on solar cells based on organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites. On the occasion of the prize ceremony, Prof. Snaith gave a key note talk on "Metal halide perovskites: From curiosity driven research to mainstream PV production." The laudatio was held by Prof. Pierre Verlinden, Becquerel Prize Winner 2019.

“Professor Snaith has pioneered the development of organic-inorganic hybrid materials through a combination of material synthesis, device development, and theoretical studies. The rapid discovery of both extremely efficient single junction thin-film solar cells and tandem solar cells manufactured using perovskites has created a great and enduring stimulus within the photovoltaics community”, explained the jury of the Becquerel Prize.  

Prof Snaith is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of Oxford PV, a successful start-up company founded to commercialize the perovskite solar cell technology. This shows his commitment not only to achieve excellent scientific results but also to make significant contributions to the advancement of photovoltaics as a major global energy technology.

To mark the 150^th anniversary of Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel’s discovery of the photovoltaic effect in 1839, the European Commission founded in 1989 the European Becquerel Prize for outstanding contributions to the development of Photovoltaic Solar Energy. Prof. Dr. Joachim Luther, former Fraunhofer ISE director (from 1993 to 2006), is currently Chairman of the Becquerel Prize Committee.

For more information please visit www.becquerel-prize.org