Peter Würfel studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe where he attended lectures in the same lecture hall in which Heinrich Hertz discovered the electro-magnetic waves in 1888. He obtained his PhD from the University of Karlsruhe and later became a Professor at the same university himself. His research activities started with ferroelectric thin films, mostly for pyroelectric infrared detectors. He always kept an interest in photovoltaics and has concentrated his efforts in this field over the last 20 years.