News

As part of the “LAENDLE” project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, in collaboration with an industry partner, has developed a new dry-coating process for electrodes in sodium-ion batteries. This process does not require solvents or PFAS chemicals (so-called “forever chemicals”) and reduces production costs and resource consumption. This presents an opportunity for domestic companies to enter a new industry.

Silicon-rich lithium-ion batteries promise high energy densities for applications in electric mobility, aerospace, and stationary energy storage. However, their industrial application has so far been limited primarily by their limited cycle life. In the project “StrOboBatt,” researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE succeeded in operating in-house-manufactured 25-Ah pouch cells with silicon-rich anodes for more than 1,000 full cycles. The full cells subsequently retained over 83 percent of their original capacity, with a gravimetric energy density of 280 Wh/kg in a non-optimized research cell format. This marks an important step toward the application of silicon-rich anodes in high-energy batteries.

At high discharge currents, the temperature inside a lithium-ion cell is usually inaccessible to measurement; measurements are typically taken at the cell casing. Yet the heat generated during discharge is critical to safety and service life—and thus also to the design of the battery management system. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, in collaboration with Hilti AG, have developed a minimally invasive method for retrofitting thermocouples into the electrode core of commercial pouch cells. The results have been published as open access in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society.

Lithium has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, yet its extraction takes a toll on the environment and local livelihoods. This is where the German-Chilean research project “PaNaBat” comes in: a joint networking platform aims to strengthen collaboration in research, education, technology transfer, and industrial cooperation in the areas of sustainable battery raw materials, lithium extraction, and battery recycling. Fraunhofer ISE is contributing its extensive laboratory and research infrastructure for the development of battery materials and cell technologies.

Researchers from the Early-Career Research Group on Optoelectronic Thin-Film Materials at the Institute for Sustainable Technical Systems (INATECH) at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed a new process chain for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells that operates entirely without solvents. The research findings have now been published in the renowned journal Joule.

Researchers from the Early-Career Research Group on Optoelectronic Thin-Film Materials at the Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH) at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have developed a new process chain for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells that operates entirely without solvents. The research findings have been recently published in the renowned science journal Joule.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) in Shimla, India. The goal is to collaborate on research projects in the field of renewable energy, to facilitate the joint supervision of master’s and PhD students and to offer exchange programs. The collaboration will focus in particular on research into floating photovoltaic systems as well as agrivoltaics.

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.

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.

The European Union aims to reduce its dependence on raw material imports while securing the supply of materials needed for the energy transition. This is where the newly launched European project “M-BAT” comes in: It will develop chemical processes for recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite and carry out pilot projects in Spain, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Fraunhofer ISE is contributing its expertise in the field of direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines to the project.