Rolf Brendel

Rolf Brendel studied in Freiburg and Heidelberg, Germany, and at the University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K. He received the Physics Diploma degree in nuclear fusion research in 1987, and the degree for school teaching in physics and mathematics in 1988, both from the Heidelberg University. He received the Ph.D. degree in infrared spectroscopy from the University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany, in 1992. He then joined the Max-Planck-Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart to study the physics of thin-film silicon solar cells and the thermodynamics of photovoltaic power conversion. In 1997, he became the Head of the Division for Thermosensorics and Photovoltaics with the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research, Wuerzburg, Germany, where he worked on imaging diagnostics of solar cells. In 2004, he joined the Institute of Solid State Physics of the Leibniz University of Hannover as a Full Professor and became the Director of the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH).