With his groundbreaking explanation of the photoelectric effect, Albert Einstein already laid the foundation for understanding photovoltaic solar energy. He received the Nobel Prize for physics for it in 1921.

Since 2005, SolarWorld awards the SolarWorld Einstein-Award to individuals of outstanding merit who have contributed in a special way to the use of solar energy - and thus for the “Planet Earth”.
In addition, since 2006, scientific work in a field dealing with photovoltaics was honored with the SolarWorld Einstein-Award carried out by young researchers.