Press Releases

In order to be able to manufacture more efficient solar modules, the photovoltaic industry is increasingly switching its production to larger wafer formats. Being able to guarantee the production of these solar cells with an edge length of up to 210 millimeters with consistent quality and cycle rate poses new challenges for equipment manufacturers. A research team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy System ISE has now succeeded in implementing a novel system concept, whereby large-format solar cells are continually processed as they move at high speed under the laser scanner. The new system for solar cell processing can laser half a million contact openings per second and has an effective throughput of over 15,000 solar wafers per hour. Visitors to LASER World of PHOTONICS 2022 (April 26-29, Messe München) can learn more about the system concept at the Fraunhofer booth 441 in Hall A6.

The conversion of renewable power into chemical energy sources through so-called Power-to-X processes is taking on an increasingly important role in Germany’s energy transition. As long-term storable, easy-to-transport, high-capacity energy sources, PtX maximize the potential of renewable energy utilization and enable the complete transformation of all sectors (power/transportation/ agriculture/ buildings). Future PtX plants will be built primarily in remote regions offering high potential for renewable energies, or ultimately offshore. For these chemical processes to be possible under such challenging conditions, innovative synthesis reactors and operating strategies are necessary. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, a universally applicable test stand for kinetic investigations has been developed to analyze catalytic fixed-bed reactions under dynamic operating conditions. The compact, mobile “KISS” system can also be used for technology demonstration on location in remote regions.

Currently, flatbed screen printing is the standard process used for the metallization of silicon solar cells and many other electronic components. Using a new production machine developed jointly with ASYS Automatisierungssysteme GmbH, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have now managed to increase the print throughput by a factor of 1.5. In order to achieve this, rotation screen printing and flexographic printing were used for the first time. With the new machine, the research team achieved a cycle time of just 0.6 seconds per solar cell. The new process can also be used for functional printing in the areas of hydrogen technology, sensor technology and power electronics. Visitors to the LOPEC 2022 (March 23–24, 2022, International Congress Center Munich) can learn about the concept at the research institute's booth (FO.10).

While electric vehicles currently dominate the trend in new car purchases, liquid fuels will continue to be widely used in heavy-duty transport, shipping, aviation and stationary operations for some time to come. In this context, oxymethylene ethers (OMEs) as e-fuels can significantly reduce soot and nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines. One hurdle to large-scale industrial production has been water management in the synthesis process. In the project "COMET- Clean OME Technology", the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and the industrial partners ChemCom Industries B.V. and ASG Analytik-Service AG have now successfully developed a technical solution that enables an OME production process on an industrial scale.

The production of green hydrogen by water electrolysis has gained enormous interest in recent years and considerable efforts are being made in the electrolysis industry to scale up cells and stacks and to significantly increase manufacturing capacities. Along with this, the current debate on the costs of electrolysis systems is characterized by contradictory statements with a wide range of price projections, making a reliable assessment of electrolyzers difficult. To provide the necessary transparency in this discussion on the investment costs of water electrolysis, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has set up a bottom-up cost model and performed a cost study on behalf of the NGO Clean Air Task Force (CATF). It can be used to build up a broad understanding of the cost structures of low temperature water electrolysis systems.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has reached out-of-court settlements with leading inverter manufacturers in seven patent infringement cases to date. The sued companies from China, Taiwan and Germany had infringed the patent on the HERIC® topology invented at the Institute in 2002.

Around ten thousand tons of silicon in discarded photovoltaic modules end up on the recycling market annually in Germany. This figure will rise to several hundred thousand tons per year by 2029. Currently, the aluminum, glass and copper of the discarded modules are reprocessed, however, the silicon solar cells are not. In order to be able to reuse the silicon, researchers from the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE together with the largest German recycling company for PV modules, Reiling GmbH & Co. KG, have developed a solution, in which the silicon in the discarded modules was recycled on an industrial scale and reused to produce new PERC solar cells.

Following the Bundestag’s decision of June 2021 on the Climate Protection Act (KSG), which tightened climate regulations and moved the goal for climate neutrality in Germany to 2045, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE recalculated the results of its study "Pathways to a Climate-Neutral Energy System" with its energy system model REMod. The Institute works with four scenarios to analyze the effects of societal trends on achieving the climate targets. The results show that the reduction targets are still achievable by 2045, but along different paths and at different costs.

This year the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE celebrates its 40th anniversary. As the largest solar research institute in Europe with currently around 1300 employees, Fraunhofer ISE has been contributing to Germany’s energy transition since it was founded in 1981. Today, the institute has become a major global trailblazer and research partner for an energy supply based on 100 percent renewable energy.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is developing refrigeration circuits for heat pumps which shall operate as efficiently as possible with low amounts of the climate-friendly refrigerant propane. This research is carried out in project “LC150 - Development of a Refrigerant-reduced Heat Pump Module with Propane”, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi. In an automated cross-evaluation, a team from the institute is testing various components of heat pumps on the large scale, in which dozens of component combinations under different operating parameters are investigated. The main objectives are to further reduce the volume of required refrigerant, to identify methodological correlations and to obtain data for the simulation of heat pump design. The measurement campaign collects an abundance of parameter variations 24/7 over one year, thus generating a unique database.