News

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.

The Center for Solar Energy Research and Applications of Middle East Technical University ODTÜ-GÜNAM in Ankara, Türkiye, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 42. European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC 2025). The two research organizations strengthen their collaboration in applied solar PV research. The goal is to facilitate technology transfer and the industrialization of PV products in Europe across the full value chain.

A research team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has won 1st prize in the "Research" category at the INNOspace Masters competition organized by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The team led by Dr. Jonas De Rose and Dr. David Lackner received the award for their approach to transferring established production technologies from terrestrial silicon photovoltaics to III-V high-efficiency solar cells for use in space.