Dr. Konagai is a professor of Physical Electronics at Tokyo Institute of Technology. He received the B.E., M.E and Ph.D degrees in Electronic Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1972, 1974 and 1977, respectively. Since 1977, he has been with Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he has been engaged in the development of solar cell materials and devices. He is currently working on amorphous Si, microcrystalline Si, Cu(InGa)Se2 and cast Si solar cells. He has authored over 300 publications in international journals and over 400 international presentations. Dr. Konagai has made many key contributions to the promotion of photovoltaic research and development, especially in Asian countries. He organized PVSEC-9 in 1996. He is currently the chairman of the International Advisory Committee of the PVSEC and also the chairman of the JSPS, The 175th Committee on Innovative Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems. Dr. Konagai has received a number of awards including the PVSEC Award (PVSEC-11, 1999) and Pioneers Award (World Renewable Energy Network, 2002).