Special Issue Editorial:Crystal-Gazing Special Issue

The photovoltaics industry is booming, with companies growing quickly and manufacturing processes evolving

rapidly. In this environment, Dr Paul Lynn, the founding Managing Editor of Progress in Photovoltaics,

canvassed the idea of a Special Issue for 2006 with me, ‘PV Crystal-Gazing: The Next Ten Years for Solar Cells’,

containing ‘rather speculative’ articles looking ahead at likely developments over this period. He saw the need to

find authors ‘of high reputation who are also imaginative’ to give their views.Wewere very pleased that Michael

Gratzel (dye-sensitised cells), Steven Hegedus (CIS/CdTe), Antonio Luque, Gabriel Sala and Ignacio Luque-

Heredia (concentrators), as well as Richard Swanson (crystalline silicon) accepted our invitation to contribute.

We suggested to these authors that they be not only speculative but partisan, so we are to blame when they have

heeded our advice. I also took the opportunity to contribute an article on thin-film cells, in general, where I have

tried conscientiously to meet both criteria.

I found it exciting to read the contributions we had solicited, although I worked on the Special Issue with a

tinge of regret. This was indeed a special issue for me in that it may be one of the last projects in which I am

involved with our founding editor, who retired from the Journal in early 2006. Paul Lynn contacted me back in

1991 with the idea of starting a new journal dealing solely with photovoltaics. With the then imminent

disappearance of an earlier specialised journal, Solar Cells, I thought the timing was perfect. Paul steered the

journal through its start-up phase to its present position, as one of the most highly regarded journals in the solar

field. I think one of the many outstanding features of the journal under Paul’s leadership has been the combined

quality and speed of the reviewing process, which surpasses that of any other journal with which I have had

contact. I extend my personal thanks to Paul for his contributions and for the grace and charm he has brought to

the Managing Editor position.

However, as if to prove the homily that every cloud has a silver lining, there is also some good news. Dr Bryce

Richards has agreed to take over the position of Managing Editor. Many in the photovoltaic community would

already know Bryce. As a New Zealander, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Victoria

in Wellington and his postgraduate studies at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. He has

worked in photovoltaics or related areas in Australia, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Until July 2006, he was

employed at the Australian National University. From July 2006 he has taken up an academic position at Heriot-

Watt University in Edinburgh. Bryce has published extensively in this field, including in Progress in

Photovoltaics. Over the past 4 years, he has edited the Literature Survey, a highly regarded and frequently

accessed feature of the Journal. I take the opportunity to welcome Bryce to a different role at Progress in

Photovoltaics and wish him well in this new role as Managing Editor. Dr Avi Shalav (UNSW) has agreed to take

over from Bryce as the Editor of the Literature Survey.

Martin Green

University of New South Wales, Sydney

PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS

Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. 2006; 14:381

Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/pip.721

Copyright # 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.