Cherry Award presentation at PVSC 33

[San Diego, California USA]

On Tuesday evening, May 13, 2008, at the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC 33), the Cherry Award was presented to Dr. Masafumi Yamaguchi after introductions by Conference Chair, Timothy J. Coutts, and WILLIAM R. CHERRY COMMITTEE Awards Chair, Ajeet Rohatgi.

About the Cherry Award per PVSC 33:

This award is named in honor of William R. Cherry, a founder of the photovoltaic community. In the 1950's, he was instrumental in establishing solar cells as the ideal power source for space satellites and for recognizing, advocating, and nurturing the use of photovoltaic systems for terrestrial applications. The William R. Cherry award was instituted in l980, shortly after his death.

Eight (8) significant Scientific Contributions to Photovoltaics accomplished by Dr. Yamaguchi were outlined in his introduction by Dr. Rohatgi:

1. Discovered minority-carrier injection-enhanced annealing of radiation-induced defects in InP in 1984.
2. Developed radiation-resistant InP cells with efficiencies of 17% at AM0 in 1984, which led to the launch of the MUSES-A Lunar Orbiter solely powered by InP solar cells in 1990.
3. Proposed a double-hetero structure tunnel junction for realizing a high performance and stable multi-junction cell interconnection in 1987.
4. Developed record high-efficiency (20.2% at AM1.5G) AlGaAs/GaAs dual-junction solar cells in 1987.
5. Demonstrated record high 20% AM1.5G GaAs cells on Si through dislocation density reduction in 1989.
6. Discovered superior radiation-resistance of InGaP materials and top cells in 1997.
7. Developed world-record efficiency (33.3% at AM1.5G) InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 3-junction cells in collaboration with Japan Energy and Sumitomo Electric in 1997.
8. Developed high efficiency InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells with efficiencies of 38.9% (500-suns AM1.5) in collaboration with Sharp Co., Daido Steel Co. and Daido Metal Co. in 2004.

After the award presentation, Dr. Yamaguchi conducted a “lecture” to review his photovoltaic career and accomplishments. I defer to the comprehensive bio for Dr. Yamaguchi on the PVSC 33 website.

Before the Cherry Award Reception, Masafumi Yamaguchi took the time to pose for photos with friends, colleagues, and conference attendees.