Page 114 - ISES SWC50

Richard Swanson
Country: USA
Year Started Research: 1974
Research Topic: Semiconductor properties of silicon relevant for better
understanding the operation of silicon solar cells.
Institute: Stanford University
Still Active in Research :

In 1974, Prof. Swanson received an IBM post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University to study techniques for
solar-electric power generation. In 1976, he joined the faculty at Stanford as assistant professor of Electrical
Engineering and obtained funding from the Electric Power Research Institute to investigate thermophotovoltaic
energy conversion for solar applications. Since then, he has been actively involved in photovoltaic research and
industrialization. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1982. At Stanford Prof. Swanson supervised 13
doctoral students, many of whom are active in the photovoltaics industry. His areas of research have generally
involved investigation into the semiconductor properties of silicon relevant for better understanding the operation
of silicon solar cells. This has included studies of heavy doping effects, surface recombination, minority carrier
transport, gettering, defect recombination kinetics, Auger recombination, and light-trapping. These studies helped
pave the way for steady improvement in silicon solar cell performance. Prof. Swanson and his group conceived and
developed the point-contact solar cell. Laboratory version of these cells achieved 28 percent conversion efficiency
in concentrator cells and 23 percent large-area one-sun cells. In 1991 Prof. Swanson resigned from his faculty
position to devote full time to SunPower Corporation, a company he founded to develop and commercialize cost-
effective photovoltaic power systems. Prof. Swanson has received widespread recognition for his work. In 2002,
he was awarded the William R. Cherry award by the IEEE for outstanding contributions to the photovoltaic field, in
2006 he was awarded the Becquerel Award from European Commission and in 2011 the Karl Boer Solar Energy
Medal of Merit.
Yiannis Tripanagnostopoulos

Country: Greece
Year Started Research: 1978
Title of Research: Novel Solar Collector
University: University of Patras / Solar Energy Laboratory
Still Active in Research: No

Dr. Tripanagnostopoulos started work as an Assistant at the University of Patras in 1978 and, after open
elections, was elected a Professor in the Physics Department at the University of Patras and Director of the
Environmental Sciences Department for post-graduate studies in 2014. Yiannis was a long standing member
of ISES, ASES, ISHS and the Greek Societies of Solar Energy and Wind Energy, and in 2015 he was made a
member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republic of SPRSKA. Throughout his more than 35 year
research career, his work spanned in the fields of Solar Energy Systems, Renewable Energy Sources (RES)
and the Environmental Impact of RES. His particular interests included: liquid and air solar thermal collectors,
thermosiphonic and Integrated Collector Storage (ICS) solar water heaters, solar air collectors, Compound
Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) collectors, concentrating systems e.g. Fresnel lens, and passive solar energy
systems. His research later expanded to cover: photovoltaics, hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar energy
systems, concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), and concentrating PV/T systems (CPVT). There was also an
applied element to his work: combined solar energy and wind energy systems, integration aspects of RES in
buildings and on the energy control of building atria and greenhouses, and applications of RES to industrial
and agricultural sectors. In many of these areas, his contributions are considered pioneering. He published 40
journal papers, 114 international conference papers, and 45 national conference papers; work which received
more than 1800 citations. Alongside his own publication activities, he contributed substantially to the peer-
review system and reviewed many papers for international scientific journals such as Renewable Energy,
Solar Energy, Energy, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Applied Thermal Engineering, and for many
international and national conferences.

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