Inside ASES
ASES Honors Solar Excellence
The American Solar Energy Society presented its annual awards for
outstanding achievement in the solar and renewable energy field at
its National Solar Energy Conference, SOLAR 2008, held in May in
San Diego. Read on to learn more about this year’s award winners.
Charles Greeley Abbot Award
HONORS: An individual who has made a
significant contribution to ASES or to the
solar energy field.
RECIPIENT: Lawrence Kazmerski, Ph.D.
Known as “Kaz” in the solar energy community, Lawrence Kazmerski is a leading
researcher and visionary in the field of photovoltaics. He is the director of the National
Center for Photovoltaics at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where
he has worked for more than 30 years. He’s
worked in the lab and the classroom, and has
reached out to government officials and business leaders to promote the development of
PV. Among numerous accomplishments are
four R&D 100 Awards, the IEEE Cherry
Award, the Karl W. Böer Medal and the World
Solar PV Prize. Kazmerski is also a member of
the National Academy of Engineering.
Passive Solar Pioneer Award
HONORS: A person whose pioneering
work in the passive solar energy field has set
the stage for others to follow.
RECIPIENT: David Wright
David Wright began his career in low-ener-gy buildings with service in the Peace Corps.
One of the first passive homes that he
designed was built in Santa Fe, N.M., in the
late 1970s — a direct-gain building utilizing
distributed thermal mass (adobe) with exterior insulation and movable insulation systems.
He has since authored Natural Solar Architecture: A Passive Primer and designed and built
more than 300 residences and commercial
buildings, incorporating the ideals of environmentally sound land use and planning
and a commitment to resource conservation.
Rebecca Vories Award
HONORS: A person whose volunteer efforts
on behalf of ASES have significantly advanced
the society’s ability to meet its mission.
RECIPIENT: Glen Friedman
Kazmerski
Friedman
Wright
Harding
DAN BIHN
Burkholder
Kwok
King
Glen Friedman began volunteering at
ASES conferences in the 1980s. He was instrumental in developing the volunteer coordinator position and was the first person to step
into that role. He has helped ASES with grant
proposals, chaired the ASES Buildings Division and ASES Ethics and Member Concerns
Committee and served on the ASES Board of
Directors. Friedman is also co-founder of the
Potomac Region Solar Energy Association,
an ASES chapter. He has been a steady, reliable voice of reason and good humor.
Hoyt Clarke Hottel Award
HONORS: Someone who has made a sig-
nificant contribution to the technology in
any area of the solar energy field.
RECIPIENT: Geoffrey Harding, Ph.D.
Geoffrey Harding is an evacuated-tube-solar-collector consultant in Sydney, Australia. His multinational contributions have
helped pioneer the solar thermal industry
by bringing affordable water heating to Chinese citizens. His development of DC magnetron sputtering technology enabled rapid
and reproducible coating of selective surfaces that are used on all-glass evacuated collectors. He is respected for his innovation,
attitude and precise working style.
John and Barbara Yellott Award
HONORS: A graduate student concentrating on solar energy in a recognized institution of higher learning.
RECIPIENT: Frank Burkholder
Frank Burkholder is a doctorate student
in the civil engineering department at the
University of Colorado-Boulder. His thesis
topic is “Transition regime gas mixture heat
conduction in parabolic trough receivers.”
Burkholder was one of the engineering leads
for the university’s award-winning 2005
Solar Decathlon Team and is a researcher in
the concentrating solar power program at
NREL. He also spent two years as a Peace
