A leading Australian inventor of solar technology, and one of the world's pioneers of renewable energy, has died at the age of 60.

Stuart Wenham, who invented groundbreaking technology that significantly increased the efficiency of solar panels while cutting their cost, died on Saturday from malignant melanoma.

Inventor Stuart Wenham 'made huge contributions to the recent emergence of solar as the cheapest option for bulk electricity supply'. Credit:Dan White

Professor Wenham was the director of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Photovoltaics and Photonics at the University of NSW and was awarded the British Institution of Engineering and Technology's A.F. Harvey Engineering Prize in 2013.

"His influence as an Australian engineer on the world's transition to renewable energy was considerable," UNSW's dean of engineering Mark Hoffman said.