Press / Newsroom

The Port of Rotterdam and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE are working with Australian partners to investigate opportunities for Western Australia to become a world-class producer, user and exporter of renewable hydrogen. Western Australia could provide for a substantial portion of the European demand for hydrogen in 2050. The TrHyHub Study, a collaboration between key stakeholders in Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, analyzed the critical components that could deliver a supply chain from the Mid West Hydrogen Hub in Oakajee to Germany via the Port of Rotterdam. In the short term, ammonia is the most suitable option, with substantial cost savings to be anticipated in the future.

As part of the "SPHINX" research project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has set up a pilot line for PV roof tiles at Module-TEC in Freiburg. The flexible, automated production allows the project partner Freesuns, a Swiss solar roof manufacturer, to produce its newly developed matrix shingle roof tiles on a pilot scale before moving into mass production. The production line will manufacture a total of 4,000 solar roof tiles using the matrix shingle technology. Since March 2025 the first 800 modules have been produced. Freesuns is currently installing the first roof systems into 5 existing buildings in Switzerland. The new solar roof tiles are on exhibit from May 7 - 9 at Smarter E Europe / Intersolar at the Fraunhofer ISE booth in Hall A1.

Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed a measurement method that allows the performance of back-contacted solar cells to be determined without contact in the production line. Measuring the current-voltage characteristic curve is the most important test in solar cell quality control. Eliminating physical contact with the solar cell saves time and thus allows significantly higher throughput rates in production. It also eliminates mechanical stress on the solar cells during measurement and reduces the maintenance costs of the measuring system. The researchers tested the method for the first time in 2022 and have now successfully transferred it to IBC (interdigitated back contact) cell architectures in a production-related environment.

Without a significant reduction in silver content, the global demand for photovoltaics to ensure a sustainable, climate-neutral energy system cannot be met. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have now produced silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) with a total silver consumption of just 1.4 milligrams per watt peak. This is about one tenth of the current standard in industrial production. To achieve this, they strongly reduced the silver content in the metallization paste for the front side metallization and completely replaced silver with copper paste on the rear side. An optimized printing process also ensured very fine electrical contacts. The copper-metallized SHJ solar cells even achieved a higher efficiency than their reference cells with traditional silver contacts.

Wall chargers for charging electric vehicles can be found on more and more homes. But how can the solar power from your own roof be used as smartly as possible? In the “Wallbox Inspektion” project, a consortium consisting of Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, HTW Berlin and ADAC e.V. developed the first test procedure for solar-optimized controlled charging and used it to test wall chargers available on the market. Together with an industry advisory board, a test guideline for unidirectional and solar charging was developed and the test results are quantified in a score that is easy to understand for end users. The intention is to increase transparency for consumers in the wall chargers market and establish a quality standard for the industry. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.