SolarWorld this year honoured Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus by presenting him 2010 SolarWorld Einstein Award.

Prof Yunus received the award in Valencia, Spain, in recognition of the work of "Grameen Shakti,” a company he founded in 1996 for providing solar energy to rural homes throughout Bangladesh, said a press release yesterday.

Grameen Shakti has brought electricity to more than 400,000 rural homes by installing small solar home systems (SHS).

This renewable energy enables rural residents to work after dark, makes it convenient for students study

at night, operate electric machines, TVs and mobile phones.

At the same time, it reduces climate and health hazards emanating from kerosene lamps. Thousands of women have been trained in the installation and maintenance of these SHS, providing women with reliable income.

Grameen Shakti currently installs over a 1,000 SHS per day and hopes to reach a total of 1 million solar power systems installed within next year.

Grameen Shakti also installs biogas plants and improved cooking stoves in the villages.

"Prof Yunus stands for radically new thinking in economics and banking. He has recognised the potential of the poorest of this world who manage to make a decent living on the basis of a small starting credit, a lot of creativity and the sun as the source of energy. This is more than exemplary,” Dr Ing H C Frank Asbeck, chairman and CEO of SolarWorld AG said.

The SolarWorld Einstein Award 2010 was held on the occasion of the 25th European Photovoltaic Conference in Valencia, Spain, on September 6,2010.

Prof Yunus joins a distinguished group of recipients of SolarWorld Einstein Award including Dr Rupert Neudeck (founder of Green Helmets), Prof Antonio Luque-Lopez (Spanish photovoltaic pioneer), Prof Martin Green (developer of the most efficient mono-crystalline solar cell), Prof Adolf Goetzberger (founder of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems), Prof Dr Klaus Topfer (former German environment minister and former executive director of the United Nations Environment Program) and Dr Hermann Scheer (one of the spiritual fathers of the German law on renewable energy sources).