The physicist, who wrote his thesis at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, has created a confocal microscope, which can be used to measure such things as the lifetime of solar cells and wafer quality.
"Properties crucial to solar cells like electron lifetime or mechanical stresses can now be measured with a significantly higher level of accuracy," said a statement released.
Holger Neuhaus of SolarWorld added, "The solar cells of the future will display very much finer structures in their basic make-up than todays generation.
"To this end, the photovoltaic industry will require more precise measuring methods to be able to characterize the structures and properties comprehensively and locally."
He said that Gundels invention will help to increase solar cell efficiency.
The microscope has combined a number of techniques, such as photoluminescence, meaning it can take high resolution images of solar wafers. In comparison to optical wafer inspection systems, for example, which have a resolution of one micrometer, the new microscope has a resolution of 100.
Speaking to pv magazine, a happy looking Gundel said he will use part of the 5,000 (USD$7,025) award to throw a party for his colleagues at the Fraunhofer institute.
Gundel was selected from a group of six physicists and scientists, all of whom have focused on developing technology for the solar industry. He is now working for German photovoltaic company, Centrotherm.
It was announced that this year in particular, the selection of the Junior award was extremely difficult. SolarWorlds Frank Asbeck further stated that based on the talent available, the photovoltaics industry need not have any worries about the future.
Larry Hagman was on hand to announce the award, which was presented before the main Einstein Award.
Look out for more EU PVSEC news this week.
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
Becky Beetz
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.