Interview with Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz, Dan David Prize Laureates (Text Version)

The following text script describes a video of NREL scientists Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz discussing their pioneering work on super-efficient solar cells for which they will be named Dan David Prize Laureates on March 8, 2006.

Jerry Olson, NREL Principal Scientist: "I had a pretty good idea that this was going to be a winner."

Narrator: *LONG* BEFORE JERRY OLSON AND SARAH KURTZ WERE EARNING INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR THEIR INNOVATIONS IN SOLAR RESEARCH... THEY WERE MARCHING TO A MUCH DIFFERENT TUNE.

Olson: "Quite frankly, I didn't even know what a solar cell was."

Narrator: OLSON WAS ORIGINALLY A MUSIC MAJOR, AND KURTZ SHARED A SIMILAR DREAM.

Sarah Kurtz, NREL Principal Scientist: "When I was my daughter's age, I assumed I would be a housewife and teaching piano or something like that."

Olson: "I had a teacher who basically told me to keep my day job... LAUGH"

Narrator: OLSON'S FOCUS SHIFTED TO SOLAR ENERGY...

Olson: "This is the laboratory, you know, where we make the devices that are over 40% efficient."

Narrator: HE STARTED WORKING ON SILICON CELLS AT THE NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY IN THE LATE 19-70s... BUT TOOK AN INTEREST IN GALLIUM-ARSENIDE SOLAR CELLS.

In Lab Olson: "This is what we call a gallium-arsenide substrate..."

Narrator: IT WAS TRULY TRIAL AND ERROR AS OLSON AND A SMALL TEAM OF SCIENTISTS PIONEERED THE FIELD.

Olson: "One of my mistakes turned out to be a real gold mine and that was this solar cell."

Kurtz: "We would make progress one day and then the next day, it might be three steps back."

Narrator: KURTZ JOINED THE LAB IN THE MID 80s — JUST AFTER OLSON INVENTED THE MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL.

Kurtz with model: "You'll see it alternate between the indium and the gallium."

Olson in lab: "How those individual atoms are arranged on the surface is very important."

Narrator: NREL SCIENTISTS NOW USE A REACTOR TO VERY PRECISELY PLACE LAYERS OF ATOMS ONTO EACH GALLIUM-ARSENIDE WAFER. THE FINAL TOUCHES TAKE PLACE IN THE PROCESSING LAB...

Olson: "where we would convert it into little tiny devices that look like this."

Narrator: THE MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL IS THE WORLD'S *MOST* EFFICIENT.

Narrator: IT NOW POWERS NEARLY ALL SPACE SATELLITES AS WELL AS THE MARS ROVERS... SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY.

Olson: "If it'll work on Mars, we could make it work anywhere."

Narrator: MAKING IT WORK HERE ON EARTH... THAT'S THE NEXT FRONTIER. THE MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL IS EXPENSIVE TO CREATE, BUT ADD A LENS TO FOCUS THE SUNLIGHT... AND IT TAKES JUST A SMALL WAFER TO GENERATE GREAT POWER. KURTZ CAMPAIGNED FOR THE CONCENTRATOR ELEMENT...

Kurtz: "and DOE listened and increased funding, started a whole new program."

Narrator: THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TOOK NOTE. JERRY OLSON AND SARAH KURTZ ARE THIS YEAR'S WINNERS OF THE PRESTIGIOUS DAN DAVID PRIZE, HONORED IN THE "FUTURE: QUEST FOR ENERGY" CATEGORY. THE LAUREATES ARE RECOGNIZED AS VISIONARIES IN THEIR FIELDS.

Kurtz: "It represents to me a vote of confidence by the Dan David committee in the potential for this particular approach."

Narrator: THIS AWARD-WINNING DUO ATTRIBUTES THE ACHIEVEMENT TO THEIR TALENTED COLLEGUES AT NREL, TO CONSISTENT FUNDING FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, AND TO EXCELLENT IMPLEMENTATION AT SPECTROLAB AND EMCORE.

Olson: "It's probably been one of the most satisfying parts of my career... are the people I've worked with."

Narrator: THE LAB IS ALREADY TAKING THE MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL TO ANOTHER LEVEL...

Olson: "And now, we're working on four-junction solar cells with efficiencies that could go as high as 50%."

Narrator: OLSON AND KURTZ ARE IN HOT PURSUIT OF THAT NEXT BREAK-THROUGH, EVEN AS THEY SAVOR THIS SOLAR CELL SUCCESS.

Olson: "Everything came together... I mean, the stars, the heavens, all of it."