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Can Germany meet its electricity demand with renewables? How much electricity is imported from nuclear and coal-fired power plants? Will a solar eclipse lead to a blackout? Ten years ago, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE launched the "Energy Charts" data platform to objectify the debate on the energy transition. Today, the website offers detailed interactive data not only on electricity generation, climate data, emissions and exchange prices for Germany but also on the electricity generation for 42 Eu-ropean countries and the European electricity exchange. This makes it one of the most comprehensive data platforms on the European energy market today.

At 140 terawatt hours, more renewable electricity was generated in Germany in the first half of 2024 than ever before, accounting for 65% of net public electricity generation. Generation from fossil fuels continues to decline as do the electricity prices on the exchange. These are the findings of the half-year data on net public electricity generation presented today by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. The analysis is based on the data platform energy-charts.info.

Representatives from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Germany), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL (USA), the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology AIST (Japan), as well as other leading solar research institutes and international participants from industry came together at the 4th Terawatt Workshop of the Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes (GA-SERI) from June 6-8 in Asilomar, CA, USA. The discussions focused on the progress of photovoltaic (PV) technology but also on the shared challenges of achieving sustainability and circularity in the rapidly growing multi-terawatt PV market. Approximately 70 participants from 14 countries attended the event.

Enormous quantities of raw materials are required for the conversion of the energy system, for example, in the form of copper and aluminum cables to connect renewable generators to the grid. One promising approach to save raw materials is to move from the low to the medium-voltage level in renewable energy power plants. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE sees a huge potential for savings with higher system voltages, especially in large PV power plants. The institute is planning first pilot power plants with this technology and is aiming for a broad market launch together with industry. To kick-off its new research topic "Medium Voltage – A Resource-Efficient Way to Interconnect", Fraunhofer ISE will be presenting the world's first medium-voltage PV string inverter and a medium-voltage battery inverter at the Smarter E trade fair in Munich (June 19-21).

The year 2024 is characterised by a substantial reduction in federal funding for project research. Energy research is particularly affected by this. A 30% reduction in available funding for new projects is looming, compared to the previous year. Against this backdrop, the Fraunhofer-Group »Energy Technologies and Climate Protection« is warning of a massive decline in German industry's ability to innovate in technologies for the energy transition. Nine institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are organised in the group, which play a key role in driving forward application-oriented energy research.