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Until 2009, German PV system owners hardly used any of the electricity they generated themselves, as the feed-in tariff for photovoltaic electricity was higher than the price of electricity purchased from the grid. Since this ratio has reversed and sector coupling has expanded the possibilities for use, the economically motivated self-consumption of solar power in Germany has risen sharply. Research scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have now developed the first method for quantifying PV self-consumption based on data from the market master data register and transmission system operators. They published their findings in an analysis for the German Federal Environment Agency.

Large capacities of fast-charging infrastructure are being built to electrify the transport sector. Stations with megawatt fast-charging points for heavy-duty vehicles on high-traffic routes require charging capacities equivalent to the power requirements of a small town (30 MW). The “ReNew – Resilient Fast Charging Parks for Heavy Goods Vehicles” project aims to develop system concepts for megawatt charging stations for the first time that pursue a holistic and technically and economically scalable approach. The consortium will develop and build the central medium-voltage components and test them on a laboratory scale. At the heart of the innovation is local energy distribution with direct current at medium-voltage level.

For the energy transition to be successful, 400 GWP of photovoltaic (PV) capacity must be installed in Germany alone by 2045. This goes hand in hand with an enormous demand for valuable resources. In the “SeVen” project, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE aim to make material-intensive components more efficient and cost-effective through innovative medium-voltage technology.

Callum Gannon received the Gerda Ruf Award 2025 for his outstanding master's thesis in the field of solar cell metallization. The juniorscientist conducted his research at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Freiburg and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. Under the title “Development of a Laser Structured Electroplating Mask for III-V//Si Solar Cell Metallization,” Gannon investigated a novel approach to front-side metallization for highly efficient III-V solar cells. The Gerda Ruf Award is funded by the Fritz Hüttinger Foundation.

For their research project on highly efficient solar cells, Prof. Dr. Stefan Glunz from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and the University of Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Christoph Ballif from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and Dr. Stéphane Collin from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris have received a Synergy Grant. The funding from the European Research Council (ERC) supports excellent international research teams.