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Heat pumps can replace existing gas and oil heating systems in multi-family houses when the entire system is designed to match the building. This is the core finding of the "LC R290" research project, in which the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE worked with a consortium of twenty companies from the heating industry and housing sector to develop typical solution concepts for heating system replacement. The project team used the refrigerant propane (R290) for this purpose.

At the “From Lab to Market Challenge” event held in Leverkusen at the end of June, the “ESILIB” team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE took second place. The researchers are developing anode materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries, focusing on a silicon-carbon composite that is sustainable and can increase the range of electric vehicles by up to 40 percent.

The share of renewable energy in Germany’s net public electricity genera-tion—the actual mix of electricity coming from the outlet—stood at 61.8 percent in the first half of 2026. Wind power increased its generation by 12.2 percent compared to the previous year, while the electricity feed-in from photovoltaics reached a new record of 43.2 terawatt-hours. Strong generation from renewable sources ensured that electricity prices in the spring were largely decoupled from the rise in gas prices caused by the war in Iran. This is according to an analysis by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE based on data from the energy-charts.info platform.

Splitting hydrogen from water molecules via electrolysis requires energy, which ideally comes from renewable energy sources. Scientists at the Fraun-hofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed a combined pho-tovoltaic/electrolysis module that efficiently produces hydrogen directly from solar energy. To do this, the water molecule is split using the high photo-voltage of multi-junction solar cells, which in turn are electrically and ther-mally connected to electrolyzer cells. A demonstrator from the research team tested outdoors converted up to 31.3 percent of solar energy into chemical energy, based on the higher heating value of hydrogen.

Road freight transport accounts for 7.5 percent of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the electrification of this sector is a key lever for climate protection. The expansion of a high-performance charging infrastructure is crucial for the acceptance and everyday usability of fully electric commercial vehicles. In the “NEFTON” project, a charging current of 3,000 amperes was achieved for the first time, paving the way for charging capacities of more than one megawatt in the future. To this end, in addition to a highly efficient, bidirectional megawatt charging station, components capable of handling charging currents of up to 3,000 amperes were developed and successfully tested. The consortium has summarized the results in a report.