Professor Andrew Blakers recognised for lifetime contribution to renewable energy

Preserving the planet from destructive global warming has been the driving force behind Professor Andrew Blakers's career. On the 20 October, his decades of research to advance solar technology and develop pathways to a renewable energy future were recognised with one of the energy industry's major international honours.

ACAP Technical Advisor Professor Blakers of The Australian National University (ANU) received the 2026 Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Award for the Advancement of Renewables at a ceremony in Doha, Qatar.

Professor Blakers of The Australian National University (ANU) received the 2026 Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Award for the Advancement of Renewables at a ceremony in Doha, Qatar, on 20 October.

A pioneer of modern silicon solar cell technology, Professor Blakers worked alongside UNSW's Professor Martin Green and fellow researchers to achieve breakthroughs that helped transform the performance and commercial potential of silicon solar cells. Their work contributed to the foundations of today's global solar industry, helping make solar power one of the cheapest sources of electricity in history. The significance of that achievement extends well beyond the technology itself.

“After decades of work by thousands of people, we now have everything we need to rapidly remove fossil fuels from the global economy,” he says, pointing to the availability of affordable solar, wind, batteries and pumped hydro. "Solar and wind won the global energy race. I was privileged to be part of the development of the silicon solar cell." His more recent research has focused on 100 per cent renewable energy systems, particularly the potential of off-river pumped hydro to provide long-duration energy storage.

"Solar and wind won the global energy race." Professor Andrew Blakers (ANU) has spent his career developing silicon solar technology and 100% renewable energy pathways that can preserve the planet from destructive global warming.

"Solar energy is indefinitely sustainable. There are almost no environmental or social or security downsides or weapons spin-offs.

"Solarisation of nearly everything is simply a good thing to do."

Professor Andrew Blakers AO FAA FTSE FRSN is Professor of Engineering at The Australian National University (ANU), where he has led pioneering research in solar photovoltaics since 1991. An internationally recognised leader in renewable energy, he was joint recipient of the 2023 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his contribution to PERC silicon solar cell technology, now used in approximately half of the world's solar panels. Other honours include the 2024 Clunies Ross Technology Innovation Award and the 2018 Eureka Prize for Environmental Research. Professor Blakers is an Officer of the Order of Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the Royal Society of New South Wales. He and his team developed a global atlas of a million off-river pumped hydro energy storage sites which is highly influential in the renewable energy storage industry, with projects stemming from the atlas worth tens of billions of dollars.