Swiss solar innovator wins Millennium Technology prize (BBC)

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The inventor of a low-cost solar cell that could be used to build electricity generating windows has been awarded this year's Millennium Technology Prize.

Professor Michael Gratzel of the Lausanne Federal Technology Institute received the €800,000 (£660,000) prize at a ceremony in Helsinki.
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Gratzel cells have recently been launched in consumer products, including as battery charging backpacks, and Professor Gratzel said that the €800,000 prize would benefit his research and go back into science.
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Professor Sir Richard Friend of the University of Cambridge invented organic Light Emitting Diodes, which Finland's Technology Academy said was "a crucial milestone in plastic electronics".
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And Professor Stephen Furber of Manchester University is the principal designer of the ARM 32-bit RISC microprocessor, an innovation found in gadgets ranging from Apple's iPhone to Microsoft's Zune. The Academy said it "revolutionised mobile electronics".
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10276652.stm