Joachim Luther was originally a professor of nuclear physics at the University of Oldenburg in the 1970s, who later became interested in renewable energy

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

 sources like solar power

Solar power

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...

 and wind power

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

. In 1993, Luther became head of the renowned Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, Germany. Professor Luther retired from ISE in 2006, and became the head of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS).

In 2005, Luther was awarded the German Environment Foundation

Environment Prize (German Environment Foundation)

The Bundesstiftung Umwelt Environment Prize is a prize awarded in Germany. Worth 500000 € it is the most valuable in Europe from an environmental foundation....

 prize. In 2008, he was named a Heroes of the Environment (2008)

Heroes of the Environment (2008)

Heroes of the Environment is a list published in Time magazine. After the inaugural list of 2007, the next list was published in September 2008...

 by Time magazine.

External links

• Photovoltaics Guidebook for Decision-makers