Nobel laureate joins solar-cell firm

Arno Penzias, who won the Nobel Prize for physics with Robert Wilson in 1978 for the discovery of cosmic background radiation and who is a partner at New Enterprise Associates--has joined the board of directors and become a scientific adviser to Konarka, which is developing solar cells that can be assembled from thin films. The company recently received $18 million in funding from, among others NEA, and is one of a growing number of companies promoting alternative energy production.