A Sutherland Shire resident, who was a leading inventor of solar technology and one of the world’s pioneers of renewable energy, has died at the age of 60.
Stuart Wenham invented groundbreaking technology that significantly increased the efficiency of solar panels while cutting their cost.
Professor Wenham died on December 23 from malignant melanoma, for which he had been receiving treatment since August last year.
His daughter, Dr Alison Ciesla, noted at the memorial service, held at UNSW’s Sir John Clancy Auditoriumon on January 8: “The ironic thing is he dedicated his life to harnessing the sun’s energy and more recently the sun's degradation of solar cells, and in the end it was a sun related cancer that took him from us.”
Professor Wenham grew up in Kingsgrove and moved to Sutherland Shire in 1984, living for many years in Illawong and Menai, and, recently, at Cronulla.
He was a member of the Menai-Illawong Uniting Church and well-known in tennis circles as an A grade player.
Professor Wenham was the director of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Photovoltaics and Photonics at the University of NSW and was awarded the British Institution of Engineering and Technology’s A.F. Harvey Engineering Prize in 2013.
“His influence as an Australian engineer on the world's transition to renewable energy was considerable,” UNSW's dean of engineering Mark Hoffman said.
“In an incredible career spanning more than a quarter century, he invented or co-invented suites of solar cell technologies that have been licensed to solar cell makers around the world and have had a major impact on renewable energy generation.”
Professor Wenham invented advanced “hydrogenation hydrogen passivation” technology – which uses lasers to control the charge state of hydrogen atoms in silicon wafers that are used in solar panels.
The technology is estimated to increase the amount of the sun’s energy that can be converted into electricity by commercial solar cells from up to 19 per cent to as much as 23 per cent.
Professor Wenham's technologies have been licensed to companies including Samsung and BP Solar, and two of the world's largest producers of silicon, Golden Concord and Xi'an LONGi Silicon Materials.
World-leading photovoltaics researcher Martin Green, under whom Professor Wenham studied, described Professor Wenham as a “wonderful and very positive person ... lightening the mood of even the tensest situation by his insightful humour”.
"He was also a brilliant and creative researcher, able to see patterns in results that eluded most of us, and new ways of capitalising on these," Professor Green said.
"He made huge contributions to the recent emergence of solar as the cheapest option for bulk electricity supply."
Matt Edwards, his work colleague, posted on Facebook:
“He is the Einstein of the solar world and it's hard to put into words his contribution to the planet: held the photovoltaic efficiency world record for decades, responsible for taking solar from the lab to large scale manufacture, minting the first billion dollar solar company with Martin Green and Zhengrong Shi, taking students to Nepal and Nicaragua to set up solar for communities in need of clean water and power, wrote fundamental solar textbooks, started the first and still only specialized photovoltaic degree in the world, has UNSW graduates in management positions at pretty much every major solar company globally- you name it Stuey had a hand in it. If you never heard of him, it was because he was the most unassuming man you could meet- known and loved for his Crocodile Dundee persona and his colour - Stuey loved to party and embodied UNSW's renown crazy energy.”
The cost of making solar panels fell by a factor of 10 in the early 2000s as companies such as Suntech Power, where Professor Wenham was chief technology officer at the time, adopted large-scale manufacturing, according to the University of NSW.
“Stuart Wenham will be remembered for his selfless and continuous efforts to make the world a better place to live,” Professor Hoffman said.
Professor Wenham’s team at UNSW won a $7.83 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in December to further advance solar cell technology.
His daughter, Dr Ciesla, as well as his partner Ran Chen, were part of Professor Wenham’s team, leading some of his new ARENA funded projects.
“He loved to brainstorm his work with us,” Dr Ciesla said.
“Many of the genius thoughts he had were never documented or published but we are lucky enough to have heard and discussed them with him.
“We plan to present a major hydrogen discovery/theory of his at the world conference in June in Hawaii on his behalf, and will work with his team to continue his ARENA projects to completion.”
Mr Wenham’s former wife Michelle said Stuart’s legacy would be carried on by the many people he inspired in life, church and at work.
“In the last few years he made some amazing scientific discoveries not yet published and was just awarded almost $8 million record funding from ARENA for his team for projects that officially commenced the day he was rushed to hospital,” she said.
“Fortunately, he loved to talk about his ideas. Although it might take an industry of people to do what he alone could have, thanks to him we are lucky to have an industry of solar engineers and a great team of researchers, who like our daughter Alison, are more motivated than ever to publish his discoveries and continue his work.”
Mrs Wenham said their three children, Alison, Paul and Laura, are raising funds for Melanoma Institute Australia in order to eradicate the suffering of people from the disease.
Alison, and her husband Michael, as well as Paul, had their heads shaved on New Year’s Eve to help raise awareness of their cause, and have raised more than $34,000 towards their target of $60,000.”
The family would like to give others the opportunity to donate to this research.
