Dr. Henning Helmers

Dr. Henning Helmers is an expert in photovoltaics. He joined Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg in 2008. In 2013, he established a new business area on optical power transfer. Since 2019, he is co-heading the department »III-V Photovoltaics and Concentrator Technology«. His research interests include high efficiency device design for III-V solar cells and photonic power converters, multi-junction device architectures, thin-film processing and back reflector technology, micro-concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), power-by-light systems, and combined power and data transmission. In 2021, a team led by Dr. Helmers demonstrated a record breaking photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 68.9% for 858 nm monochromatic light. 

Dr. Helmers holds a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Oldenburg. He has authored more than 100 scientific publications, and has been plenary and invited speaker at various conferences (incl. SPIE PW2025, OWPT2025, SPIE PW2024: OE102, APC2022, OWPT2022, OWPT2021, OWPT2019). At SPIE Photonics West, he co-chaired the Photovoltaic Device Conference (OE102), and served on the programme committee for the Optical Power Delivery (LA406) conference, on the programme committee for the Optical Wireless and Fiber Power Transmission Conference at OPIC, and as reviewer for the IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference. He is a reviewer for various scientific journals.

Dr. Helmers is married with four children. Apart from his professional endeavors, he enjoys outdoor activities and spending time in the natural surroundings around Freiburg in the Black Forest and the Upper Rhine Plain.