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The expected addition of around 73 terawatts of new photovoltaic capacity by 2050 will require large quantities of raw materials, including copper and aluminum. Resource requirements and investment costs can be significantly reduced if the voltage level of the PV system is raised to medium voltage. The “PVgoesMV” project aims to demonstrate, through the construction and operation of two pilot plants, that this step is technically feasible and economically viable for large-scale PV plants. These are the world's first PV plants with a 3 kV string inverter. Manufacturers of all key system components for a PV park are supporting the project, which is scheduled to run for three years.

Under the motto “Driving the transition to renewable and carbon-free energy,” the international EuroSun2026 conference will take place in Freiburg from September 14 to 18, 2026. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, together with Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is the local and scientific host of the conference. Contributions to the conference can be submitted until March 1, 2026 (Call for Abstracts).

Dr. Moritz Kroll, team leader of Battery Data Science at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, will establish the independent junior research group NADINE (Battery Data Science) at the University of Freiburg as part of the “BattFutur – Junior Research Groups in Battery Research” program. The interdisciplinary project will start in February 2026 at INATECH in the Faculty of Engineering and will run for five years. The focus will be on data-based methods for non-destructive quality control of battery cells that reduce the consumption of critical resources in manufacturing.

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.

A variety of German and European manufacturers of industrial heat pumps are technologically well-positioned and preparing for the market breakthrough of the technology. Real laboratories with 'early adopters' could provide a boost for a wide market introduction. This conclusion was reached during a workshop organized by the German Energy Research Network (“Forschungsnetzwerk Energie”), which included over 10 manufacturers of industrial heat pumps and heat pump components, as well as representatives from the manufacturing industry. The recently published results report outlines specific recommendations for policymakers.

The head of the "Hydrogen Technologies" division additionally assumes the representation for institute director Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett as of October 1, 2025.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been awarded the German Sustainability Award (“Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis”) for companies in the "Research and Development" sector. This was announced today by the Foundation for the German Sustainability Award e.V. The award is given to Fraunhofer ISE for its research and development achievements towards sustainability as well as for its commitment to integrating sustainability into operational processes.