Award recipient 2009

The 70-year-old Dr. Rupert Neudeck, with his organization the “Green Helmets”, has demonstrated by installing a solar-powered educational center in Rwanda, among other things, that solar power enables sustainable development in rural regions. Rupert Neudeck recognized that there can be no development without an adequate supply of energy and water.

“It is always the individuals who set out to change and move things. Creating a worldwide movement from one single idea, however, requires scores of people. Rupert Neudeck, with his commitment over the decades, initiated such a movement”, said Frank H. Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld AG, on the occasion of the award ceremony. The sun is the raw material of the 21st century and Africa has an abundant supply. Rupert Neudeck sets an example of mobilizing this solar abundance and distributing the wealth of energy. At any given moment, the sun is providing us with 10,000 times more energy than we currently need. Through their work, Rupert Neudeck and the “Green Helmets” are combining a social vision with an ecological vision, for which Dr. Rupert Neudeck is being honored with the Einstein Award 2009. Instead of prize money, the “Green Helmets” organization is receiving a solar power system for a social center on the Mauritanian coast, which is also to serve for training solar technicians.