“Grameen has given me an unshakeable faith in human creativity and the firm belief that human beings are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty,” declared Professor Muhammad Yunus on receiving the 2010 SolarWorld Einstein Award in Valencia (Spain) earlier this month. Micro-credits have so far made possible among many other things the installation of more than 400,000 small solar power systems that ensure the energy supply to people in rural regions of Bangladesh that are far from the national grid.
Prof. Muhammad Yunus was born in Chittagong (Bangladesh) in 1940. After studying economics, he worked as an assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University in the United States, returning to Bangladesh in 1974. There, he was appointed head of the Economics Department of Chittagong University. The key experience that triggered his idea of the micro-loans came in a visit to the village of Jobra, where he saw at close quarters how difficult it was for poor people to get startup capital for even the smallest enterprises. He worked intensively on the problem, eventually developing the system of micro-loans, which, unlike conventional loans, are granted to people who have no money or collateral. As a result, poor people no longer must take out loans at exorbitant interest rates.
“A key against poverty is decentrally available energy. With the help of the micro-credits families can afford small solar power systems to secure their incomes. Prof. Muhammad Yunus has shown how with an idea and a great deal of courage people are given a future,” said Dr.-Ing. E. h. Frank Asbeck, chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG, during the festive award ceremony on the occasion of the 25th European Photovoltaic Conference in Valencia.
Since 2005, the group has been presenting this prestigious award of the solar industry to personalities who have acquired merits in photovoltaic technology. Since 2006, the group has additionally presented the SolarWorld Junior Einstein Award to young scientists in solar technology.
Junior Einstein goes to Fraunhofer scientist
The prize winner of SolarWorld Junior Einstein Award 2010 is the young scientist Dr. Christian Reimann of Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Building Element Technology (IISB) in Erlangen. In his thesis, the mineralogist deals with the formation of silicon crystals and the prevention of impurities in silicon melt. This can increase the degree of efficiency of solar cells and thus reduce the costs for solar power.
Honorary award for Walt Ratterman
Meanwhile, for his solar commitment, the group posthumously bestowed an Honorary SolarWorld Einstein Award upon Walt Ratterman, thus honouring in a very special way the solar pioneer so tragically killed in the disastrous earthquake in Haiti in January. As a co-founder of the US organization SunEnergy Power, he passionately dedicated himself to spadework in the poorest countries of the world. Ratterman was a cooperation partner in the Solar2World program run by SolarWorld AG and was responsible among other things for the solar electrification of hospitals in Haiti. The award was personally received by his family.
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