8:44 a.m., June 12, 2012--The University of Delaware invites nominations for the 2013 Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit. Nomination forms are available at this website. Nominations are due by Sept. 11.

The bronze medal and $50,000 cash prize, funded by the Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Trust, will be awarded to an individual who has made significant pioneering contributions to the promotion of solar energy as an alternate source of energy through research, development or economic enterprise, or to an individual who has made extraordinarily valuable and enduring contributions to the field of solar energy in other ways.

The announcement was made by George Hadjipanayis, Richard B. Murray Professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UD, who serves as the executive director of the Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit Trust, and David Renné, president of the International Solar Energy Society and vice chairman of the award selection committee.

The award, presented every two years, is named in honor of Karl Wolfgang Böer, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physics and Solar Energy at UD and founder of the Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC). The IEC was designated a University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education by the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 1992.

The award selection committee includes representatives from the International Solar Energy Society, American Solar Energy Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Physical Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the U.S. Department of Energy's NREL; a representative of the Böer family; and the executive director of the trust.

The first Karl W. Böer Solar Energy Medal of Merit was presented in 1993 to former President Jimmy Carter. The most recent awardee, in 2011, was Richard M. Swanson, solar innovator and president emeritus of SunPower Corp. For a complete list of past award recipients, see this website.