Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISEEditorial – Annual Report 2025/26
Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett
Director Fraunhofer ISE
© Fraunhofer ISE
Research for the Energy Transition
Innovation 2025 in Figures
Scientific publications
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Lectures and conference contributions
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Scientific awards
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Initial patent applications
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Patent cases
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Current Research Topics and Projects
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Photovoltaics: Materials, Cells and Modules
© University of Freiburg, Photo: Silvia Wolff -
Photovoltaics: Production Technology and Transfer
© Fraunhofer ISE -
Solar Power Plants and Integrated Photovoltaics
© Fraunhofer ISE, Photo: Andreas Steinhüser -
Power Electronics and Grids
© istock.com/YoungNH -
Electrical Energy Storage
© Fraunhofer ISE, Photo: Michael Spiegelhalter -
Climate-Neutral Heat and Buildings
© BEW Berliner Energie und Wärme -
Hydrogen Technologies
© Fraunhofer ISE, Photo: Joscha Feuerstein -
System Integration
© istock.com/primeimages
Our Highlights 2025
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February Study: Transformation strategies for industry
In the study “Transformation Pathways for Industry: Energy Systems, Flexibility, and Stakeholders”, researchers at Fraunhofer ISE identified cost-effective transformation pathways for a sustainable industry. The results were confirmed by a comprehensive survey of companies.
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© shutterstock.com /urbansErgebnisbericht zu Transformationsstrategien und Systemeffekten in der Industrie. -
April Research funding by the Werner Siemens Foundation
Funding is being provided for the project “Sustainable Energy Transition through Highly Efficient Tandem Photovoltaics” (14 million euros until 2032).
more Info
© Fraunhofer ISE / Foto: Dirk MahlerFörderung der Forschung zu höchsteffizienter Tandem-Photovoltaik. -
May Hydrogen potential atlas
The online atlas “PoWerD”, developed in collaboration with Fraunhofer ISE, supports companies in identifying suitable locations for power-to-hydrogen plants.
more Info
© Fraunhofer ISEDer Online-Atlas »PoWerD« visualisiert Potenziale für grünen Wasserstoff. -
ISE children’s computer game is app of the month
The German Academy for Children’s and Youth Literature has named the computer game “Little Impacts” App of the Month for May. Fraunhofer ISE, in collaboration with the software manufacturer Quantumfrog, developed the app, which has been proven to promote environmental awareness.
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© Quantumfrog»Little Impacts« als App des Monats fördert Umweltbewusstsein bei Kindern. -
5th Freiburg Energy Talks
International leaders and experts from politics, research, and business discussed the challenges of global energy transformation. The focus was on the impact of new geopolitical realities.
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© Fraunhofer ISEVideobeitrag zu den Freiburg Energy Talks. -
June Fraunhofer Prize “Innovations for a Better Future”
Together with Fraunhofer IST, ISE was honored for the development of a PV-powered mobile health platform for use in African countries.
more Info
© Fraunhofer IST / Frank NeumannAuszeichnung für eine mobile, PV-betriebene Gesundheitsplattform. -
July Groundbreaking ceremony for the Engineering Center for Sustainability
In July, Fraunhofer celebrated the groundbreaking ceremony for the Engineering Center for Sustainability (IZN) on the Flugplatz campus in Freiburg, with numerous guests. The center is intended to strengthen the intensive cooperation between the five Fraunhofer Institutes in Freiburg and the University of Freiburg.
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© Kai-Uwe WudtkeGemeinsamer Spatenstich von Fraunhofer und Universität Freiburg für das IZN. -
Test procedure for more stable grid operation
ISE has developed a test procedure for grid-forming inverters that enables manufacturers to obtain certification at the European level.
more Info
© Fraunhofer ISENeuer Teststand zur Zertifizierung netzbildender Wechselrichter. -
September MorphoColor® technology on the roof of FC St. Pauli stadium
Colored PV modules as a sign of diversity: In September, a rainbow-colored PV installation was installed on the roof of the FC St. Pauli stadium. The colorful spectrum was made possible by MorphoColor® technology developed at Fraunhofer ISE.
mehr Info
© LichtBlickRegenbogenfarbene PV-Module mit MorphoColor®-Technologie auf dem Stadiondach. -
1st place in the INNOspace Masters competition
Dr. Henning Helmers, Dr. David Lackner, Dr. Jonas De Rose, and Tadeo Schweigstill (from left to right) received the award from the German Space Agency for their research on the use of highly efficient solar cells in space.
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© Fraunhofer ISEAuszeichnung beim INNOspace Masters für Hocheffizienz-Solarzellen. -
October Symposium “The German Energy Transition – A Model of Success?”«
Prof. Hans-Martin Henning headed Fraunhofer ISE from 2017 to 2025 in a dual leadership role with Prof. Andreas Bett. During the symposium, guests from politics, research, and industry paid tribute to Henning’s work at the institute and beyond.
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© Fraunhofer ISE / Foto: Michael SpiegelhalterSymposium zur Würdigung von Prof. Hans-Martin Hennings Wirken am Fraunhofer ISE. -
November Study on heat pumps in existing buildings
As part of the field measurement “WP-QS in existing buildings”, ISE was able to demonstrate the efficiency and climate-friendly effect of heat pumps in existing buildings.
more Info
© Fraunhofer ISEFeldmessung bestätigt die klimafreundliche Wirkung von Wärmepumpen im Bestand. -
December New committee membership for Prof. Andreas Bett
The director of ISE has been appointed to the Net-Zero Regulatory Burden Scientific Advisory Group of the European Commission.
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© Fraunhofer ISEProf. Dr. Andreas Bett als Mitglied einer europäischen Expertengruppe.
Finances and Financial Structure
© Fraunhofer ISE
Personnel
© Fraunhofer ISE
Doctoral Theses 2025
| University of Freiburg | Universities throughout Germany and internationally | ||
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Peter Brailovsky Signoret »Circular Production Strategies and Sustainable Design Criteria in PV Manufacturing« Adrian Callies »Structured Interfaces in Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells« David Chojniak »Kalibrierung großflächiger Perowskit-Silizium Tandem-Module mit Mehrfachsolarzellen« Oussama Er-Raji »Advancing Fully-Textured Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells Using the Hybrid Evaporation/Wet-Chemical Route: From Fabrication to Scalable Fabrication« Klaus René Garcia Rosas »KI-basierte Prozessmodellierung zur automatisierten Diagnostik von industriellen Anlagen« Salome Hauger »GIS-basierte Potential-Analyse für Agrarphotovoltaik« Georg Hoppe »Entwicklung einer On-the-Fly-Laserprozessierung mit gesteuerter Strahlnachführung« |
Ershuai Jiang »Organic Photovoltaics for Indoor and High-Voltage Applications« Oliver John »Laser Metal Bonding & Contacting – Ein neuer Ansatz für die Folienmetallisierung von Solarzellenrückseiten« Elisa Kaiser »High-Efficiency Concentrating PV Modules – Miniaturization and Advanced Manufacturing Technologies« Thomas Kraft »Improvement of Concentrating Solar Field Operation Through Mass Flow Determination Using Operational Data Analysis« Philipp Kunze »Machine Learning for Fast Inline Solar Cell Characterization and Semantic Compression of Solar Cell Measurement Images« Felix Maischner »Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation: Defect Engineering in Boron- and Gallium-Doped Silicon Solar Cells« |
Friedrich Mendler »Modelling of Regional Hydrogen Supply Chains – Spatially Resolved Optimisation from Electricity Generation to Hydrogen Application Under Consideration of Import and Export Possibilities« Tobias Neumann »Design of Slurry Processed Electrodes and Separators for the Integration in Sulfide-Based All-Solid-State Batteries« Leonie Pap »Development, Optimization and Characterization of Organic Solar Cells with High Visual Transparency« Clara Rittmann »Material Quality of Epitaxially Grown Silicon Wafers for Highly Efficient Solar Cells« Julius Weiss »Charakterisierung von thermischen Schichtspeichern mit Füllkörpern und Salzschmelze« |
Lukas Alexander Dold »Entwicklung von Silicium-basierten Anodenaktivmaterialien für Lithium-Ionen-basierte Batterien«, Universität Stuttgart Esther Fokul »Photovoltaic Module Reliability Testing in the Context of Carrier-Induced Degradation«, Technische Universität Dresden Estelle Gervais »Towards Secure and Sustainable Supply Chains: A Multi-Perspective Risk Assessment for Photovoltaics«, Leiden University Robin Grab »Dezentrale Blindleistungsquellen für die Spannungshaltung in Hoch- und Höchstspannungsnetzen«, Technische Universität Braunschweig Niklas Hensle »Understanding Along the Channel Phenomena in PEM Water Electrolysis«, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) Franziska Klünder »Methodenentwicklung zur beschleunigten Alterung von organischen Phasenwechselmaterialien«, Technische Universität Darmstadt Maike Wiesenfarth »Numerische Analyse des thermischen Verhaltens von Solarzellen in Modulen der Konzentratorphotovoltaik«, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) |
Prizes and Awards 2025
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Prof. Dr. Bruno Burger “Golden Tree”, Foundation for Ecology and Democracy e.V. Daniel Burkhardt EU PVSEC Student Award for the paper “PV Tracking Optimization via Machine Learned Dynamic Tracking” Matthieu Chaigneau Best Poster Award for the topic “Environmental impacts of heat pumps with dynamic emission factors”, symposium “Future Heat”, Bad Staffelstein Callum Gannon Gerda Ruf Prize 2025 for the master’s thesis “Development of a Laser Structured Electroplating Mask for III-V//Si Solar Cell Metallization” |
Dr. Henning Helmers, Dr. David Lackner, Dr. Jonas De Rose and Tadeo Schweigstill 1st prize in the “Research” category of the INNOspace Masters competition of the German Space Agency Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning Fraunhofer Medal Anup Premaraj Kamath 1st Bruno Scrosati Prize Dr. Joachim Koschikowski, Ricarda-Laura Sack “Innovations for a Better Future” award of the Fraunhofer Future Foundation for the project “PreCare” |
Mohamed A. A. Mahmoud EU PVSEC Student Award for the paper “Impact of Substrate Topography on Sequentially Evaporated Perovskite Film Growth: a Comparative Study of Planar and Textured Silicon Substrates for Tandem Application” TandemPV 2025 Poster Award, topic “Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells via Sequential Evaporation” Dr. Jakob Ungerland UMSICHT Science Award 2025, science category, for the publication “Evaluation of Equivalent Dynamic Active Distribution Network Models with Individual and Aggregated Consideration of Grid Forming Converters” in the journal Energy Technology |
Discover More in the Annual Report
This page only provides a small insight into the wide range of topics we work on at Fraunhofer ISE. In the full annual report you will also find an interview with our institute director Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett, information and research projects on the lead topic “Climate-neutral industry”, a concise overview of our R&D infrastructure and many other in-depth background details.
We hope you enjoy reading it!