The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany was founded in 1981 by Prof. Adolf Goetzberger. It was the first solar research institute in Europe that operated independent of a university. 1993, Prof. Joachim Luther became the Director of the Institute which has developed into a leading international research institute in the field of solar energy. On July 1, 2006 Joachim Luther handed over the direction of the Institute to Prof. Eicke R. Weber.

2001 a new Institute Building
At present the Institute has a steadily increasing staff of over 500 employees, for whom the workplaces were distributed throughout several rented buildings. In 2001 Europe´s largest solar energy research institute has moved into its own building. The energy concept of this new building has been constructed with the research and development themes of the user in mind. The group Solar Buildings at Fraunhofer ISE, which offers clients and planners innovative engineering services for building with the sun, has worked closely with the architects and building services consultants on this project.

1981

• Fraunhofer ISE is founded under the direction of Professor Adolf Goetzberger, then director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solid State Physics IAF.

• Early fields of research were: the FLUKO fluorescent concentrators, transparent insulation as well as first steps towards highly efficient silicon and III-V solar cells, thin-film solar cells and solar-grade silicon, and systems technology research and development for buildings and electric systems.

• First work in the field of energy storage (redox-batteries) and material development for fuel cells.

• Work on solar systems (regulation and controls, efficiency) begins.

1988

• The Institute’s calibration laboratory – today »ISE CalLab« – enters into the group of the seven best photovoltaic calibration laboratories in the world.

1992

• Opening of the first completely Self-Sufficient Solar House in Germany. For the first time, a fuel cell system has been integrated into the energy supply system of a residential house. It is complimented by a membrane pressure electrolyser developed at Fraunhofer ISE. The Self-Sufficient Solar House is the foundation for many further developments geared towards energy efficient buildings by the working group »Solar Building«. Today the ISE researchers use the house as a platform for testing procedures.

1994

• World record efficiency value for Cz silicon solar cell: 21,3%.

1996

• Thin-film solar cell of crystalline silicon on an insulating substrate achieves an efficiency value of 19, 2%, a world record for this innovative technology.

1998

• Industrial production starts of selective absorber coatings for solar thermal collectors developed by Fraunhofer ISE.

2001

• Monolithic tandem concentrator cell of Ga _0.35 In _0.65 P/Ga0.83In _0.17 As achieves a world record efficiency value of 31.1 % for 300x solar concentration.

• First autonomous solar air-conditoning system in Germany developed and established. It cools the conference rooms of the Chamber of Trade and Industry Südlicher Oberrhein in Freiburg.

2002

• Rendering plaster with integrated, micro-encapsulated paraffins developed as a heat-storing component for buildings without air-conditioning, and brought to market maturity.

2003

• 37 μm thin monocrystalline Si solar cell produced with an area of 2 cm x 2 cm and an efficiency value of 20,2 %.
• First quintuple-junction solar cell in the world fabricated with 4,8 V cell voltage.

2004

• Selective absorber coatings for parabolic trough power stations – developed at ISE – prove themselves in the first practical tests.
• Nano-structured functional surfaces produced over an area exceeding 1 m² for the first time.
• World record efficiency value (20,3%) achieved for 1x1 cm² multi-crystalline silicon solar cell.

2005

• Organic solar cells with »inverted configuration« and an efficiency value of 3% represents an essential step towards producible wrap-through solar cells applying a roll-to-roll process
• Institute Director, Professor Joachim Luther, receives the German Environment Prize.

2006

• Inauguration of the “Photovoltaic Technology Evaluation Center” PV-TEC. On a floor area of 1200 m², this service center, which was financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU), offers research, development and services on a production scale, over a floor area  of 1200 m ² and thereby helps to accelerate technology transfer to the industry.
• 21% efficiency on back-contact silicon solar cells with industrially relevant mask technology (laser ablation and screen printing)
• The first FLATCON® PV concentrator system (1 kW) feeds electricity into the public grid. The spin-off company Concentrix Solar GmbH brings the technology onto the market.

• collector testing system for measuring efficiency curves under conditions up to 200 °C successfully developed and put into operation
• 2.4% increase in efficiency for a three phase inverter
• Record efficiency of 98.5% achieved for a single-phase 5kW inverter using SiC MOSFETS
• Industry-relevant crystallization and wafering technology center established.
• 10 µm narrow slits realized by applying inkjet masking technology
• GaAs solar cells manufactured with an efficiency of 25.4% (AM1.5g). Efficiency measured by ISE CalLab.
• With the construction of the Fresnel demonstration collector in Almería, a milestone was achieved in transferring the Fresnel concept developed at ISE to applications in solar thermal power stations.
• Laser Chemical Processing (LCP) successfully applied for manufacturing selective emitters for high efficiency silicon solar cells.

• Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) brought to the market as approved building material by industry partners
• Switchable gasochromic demonstration façade installed for sun protection.
• n-type silicon solar cell with front side boron emitter reaches efficiency of 23.2%
• 41.1 % world record efficiency achieved for III-V concentrator solar cell under a concentration of 454 suns.
• World record for fluorescent collectors with 6.7% electrical efficiency.
• 98.8 % efficiency for photovoltaic inverter with silicon carbide components
• Direct ethanol fuel cell demonstrated.
• VDE-Fraunhofer ISE Test Center for Photovoltaics (TZPV) providing services in standardized quality assurance opened for testing and certifying photovoltaic modules according to the internationally recognized IEC Norms
• SIMTEC – Silicon Material Technology Evaluation Center opened. Main focus: silicon crystallization, wafer technology as well as crystalline thin film technology.
• ConTEC – Concentrator Technology and Evaluation Center opened. Main focus: Testing of concentrator solar cells and modules, development of connection technology, carrying out aging tests.
• 20.6% p-type silicon solar cell with printed front side contact (aerosol + galvanic)
• 20.3% p-type silicon solar cell with deposited nickel contacts
• 20.1% n-type silicon solar cell with Al-alloyed back-side emitter
• 23.2% n-type silicon solar cell with front-side boron emitter

2009

• Efficient tools for diagnosing and analysing the building operation
• Energy concept for plus energy single family houses from the company “Sonnenkraft”
• Development and validation of a procedure for dynamically determining daylighting glare
• Determination of the solar energy potential on roofs based on laser scan data
• Projection screen for 3-D displays with 50” screen diagonal manufactured with interference lithography
• Development of cost-effective silver-based transparent electrodes
• New solar collector with static reflector for high efficiencies at operating temperatures > 100 °C
• Improved photovoltaic-thermal collector for simultaneous production of electricity and heat
• Founding the company “SolarSpring” in the area of solar thermal driven desalination systems based on membrane distillation
• Crystallisation of first multi-crystalline silicon block (for feedstock evaluation) with a weight of 15 kg
• 17.1 % efficiency for a large area (156 x 156 mm²) MWT solar cell from multi-crystalline silicon at the PV-TEC demonstration level
• 18.8 % efficiency for a screen printed EWT solar cell
• 20.6 % efficiency for solar cell with printed front and backsurface contacts and laser-fired contacts
• 23.5 % efficiency for an n-type silicon solar cell with a boron front-surface emitter
• 18.2 % efficiency for a large area (148 cm²) n-type solar cell with a screen printed aluminium back-surface emitter
• 18.5 % efficiency for an a-SiC/c-Si heterojunction solar cell on p-type silicon
• 6.9 % efficiency for fluorescent collector system
• Building up the Photovoltaic Module Technology Center (MTC)
• 41.1 % world record efficiency for a III-V concentrator solar cell with 454 x solar radiation
• 29.6 % efficiency for concentrator module under real operating conditions
• 5.4 % efficiency for organic solar cell
• 5 % efficiency over the active area for dye solar cell module (30 cm x 30 cm) sealed with glass frit
• 99.03 % world record efficiency for PV inverter using silicon carbide JFET transistors from the company “SemiSouth”
• Coordination of the Fraunhofer Group project to develop innovative battery systems for electric vehicles
• Involved in area of electric mobility: determining the potential for the integration of electric vehicles in fleets, developing intelligent control concepts for a balanced load, storage and energy management
• Smart Metering concept for Smart Grids: InnoNet cooperative project DEMAX (Dezentrales Energie- und Netz MAnagement mit fleXiblen Stromtarifen), innovative energy management and communication systems, where decentralised suppliers and loads from the commercial and private sector can participate in the energy market
• Planar fuel cell in multi-layer ceramic realised
• Reformer fuel cell system: electricity generation from bioethanol
• Successful operation of a commercial gas burner using heating oil vapour from a patented catalytic oil evaporator
• Mobile, fully automated reformer fuel cell system to generate electricity with bioethanol presented at the Hannover Trade Fair
• Fluid gas reformer integrated into a mobile electrical power supply system with a high-temperature fuel cell (SOFC) and put in operation
• CalLab PV Cells: significantly reduced uncertainty in the calibration of solar cells after issuance of the accreditation as calibration laboratory according to ISO 17025 by the German Calibration Service (Deutscher Kalibrierdienst DKD).
• Expansion of the battery testing laboratory: tests up to 250 kW now possible
• New system test stand for solar thermal systems put into operation
• New hail test for PV modules and solar thermal collectors
• New mechanical load test for PV modules
• New test chamber for simultaneous weathering of entire PV modules and collectors under UV radiation and higher humidity at high temperatures