Move over Elon: global energy prize goes to Australia's solar guru

UNSW professor Martin Green, who revolutionised photovoltaics, says sun's power is 'the best option out there'

The "father of PV" - University of New South Wales professor Martin Green - has become the first Australian to win the global energy prize from a shortlist that included Tesla's Elon Musk.

UNSW said Green had been selected from 44 contenders from 14 countries by a committee of leading scientists to share the $820,000 prize with Russian scientist Sergey Alekseenko, an expert in thermal power engineering.