Press Releases 2016

Research and industry invest lots of know-how in improving solar cell efficiency. In order that PV modules benefit from the advances in cell efficiency, the cell-to-module integration process must be performed reliably with low losses. With this in mind, the photovoltaic module group at Fraunhofer ISE developed the software SmartCalc.CTM, which enables manufacturers of PV modules and materials to optimize the assembly and material combination in a PV module, before fabricating a prototype.

The efficiency of power electronic systems is not solely dependent on electrical efficiency but also on weight, for example, in mobile systems. When the weight of relevant components and devices in airplanes, for instance, is reduced, fuel savings can be achieved and correspondingly greenhouse gas emissions decreased. New materials and components based on gallium nitride (GaN) can help to reduce weight and increase the efficiency. With these new materials, power electronic switches can be operated at higher switching frequency, resulting in higher power density and lower material costs. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE together with partners have investigated how these materials can be used to make power electronic systems in aviation applications more efficient.

On November 11, 2016 at the Konzerthaus in Freiburg, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE honored Prof. Eicke R. Weber’s achievements at a scientific symposium on the global energy transformation. Having reached retirement age, Prof. Weber will step down from his position as Institute Director at the end of the year. Weber gave the German solar research a voice that is observed worldwide. With great enthusiasm he supported the energy transformation on both the scientific and political arenas. At the Institute, he organized the structure and business areas to optimally meet the demands of the energy transformation. From 2006 to 2016, he was able to double the number of employees to 1100 today. Over the same time period, the operating budget, based primarily on self-acquired projects, grew from ca. 25 million euros up to 73 million euros (2015).

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE together with the Austrian company EV Group (EVG) have successfully manufactured a silicon-based multi-junction solar cell with two contacts and an efficiency exceeding the theoretical limit of silicon solar cells. For this achievement, the researchers used a “direct wafer bonding” process to transfer a few micrometers of III-V semiconductor material to silicon, a well-known process in the microelectronics industry. After plasma activation, the subcell surfaces are bonded together in vacuum by applying pressure. The atoms on the surface of the III-V subcell form bonds with the silicon atoms, creating a monolithic device. The efficiency achieved by the researchers presents a firsttime result for this type of fully integrated silicon-based multi-junction solar cell. The complexity of its inner structure is not evident from its outer appearance: the cell has a simple front and rear contact just as a conventional silicon solar cell and therefore can be integrated into photovoltaic modules in the same manner.

Freiburg/Mumbai, October 20, 2016. The Canopus Foundation and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, who collaboratively organized the 2nd »Solar for All« Contest for Innovative Community Solar Electrification Solutions 2016, yesterday announced the winners. For the past nine months, »Solar for All« was running the Contest to find the best innovations in providing rural low income communities in remote regions without access to energy with affordable and clean solutions, focusing on scalability, technical standards and a developed market approach. The Award Ceremony took place in Mumbai and was hosted by Intersolar India.

In 1981, an article by Prof. Adolf Goetzberger titled "Potatoes under the Collector" was published in the German magazine “Sonnenenergie”. The article proposed a particularly favorable setup for solar energy systems in combination with agricultural land use. After smoldering on the backburner for a couple of years, the concept of agrophotovoltaics (APV), that is, the dual usage of land for crop and electricity production, was again taken up by researchers at Fraunhofer ISE in 2011. Now the scientists at Fraunhofer ISE together with their partners in the project "APV-Resola" are reaping the benefits from Goetzberger’s original article: On September 18, 2016 an operating APV pilot system – the largest research project of its kind in Germany – was inaugurated on location at Lake Constance. On this occasion the project was also presented with a prize from the "Germany – Land of Ideas" initiative.

In 2016 more than 35 percent of our electricity will come from renewable energy sources. Increasing the flexibility of the energy system through storage systems is therefore being addressed by science and industry at all levels. One focus is the development of storage solutions based on lithium-ion batteries for private households. These batteries are especially efficient and durable. To date, however, adequate standards and testing procedures do not exist for this technology. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is now working on two research projects which address the aspects related to the acceptance and dissemination of the technology. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) provides funding for both projects.

More than one billion people still have no reliable access to electricity, particularly in rural areas in developing countries. The cost for photovoltaic (PV) technology has been dropping continuously in the past years, making solar electricity an even more viable solution for these regions. Reliable PV systems for community electrification that are well adapted and scalable are required.

In order to meet the European climate targets, namely reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 80 percent by 2050, the share of renewables in the energy supply must increase substantially. In the cooperative project RES-DEGREE, researchers from the Fraunhofer ISE and from the E3MLab at the National Technical University of Athens investigated how European climate targets can be met. Above all, they analyzed how this endeavor affects the share of renewable energy on the European electricity market and the cross-border electricity transfer between countries. The project results have been published in a final report.

For the eleventh year in a row, SolarWorld’s prestigious Junior Einstein Award has been awarded to excellent young scientists and engineers. At the award ceremony, which took place during the Intersolar Europe in Munich on June 22, 2016, the German solar company presented this year’s award to two young scientists: Dr. Frank Feldmann of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and his scientific colleague Dr. Udo Roemer of the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hameln. The jury of the international competition honored both researchers for their groundbreaking work on passivated contacts, which enables considerably higher silicon solar cell efficiencies.

This year, CalLab PV Cells, the calibration laboratory at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, celebrates its 30th jubilee. For the past three decades, precisely measured reference solar cells – and for almost 25 years reference modules – have been sent from Freiburg throughout the world. The cell reference provides a measure of comparison for photovoltaics on an international scale, allowing manufacturers and researchers to make efficiency values globally comparable and legally accepted. When the Fraunhofer ISE CalLab PV Cells began operation in 1986, it was the only facility of its kind in Europe. Since then, the lab enjoys international prestige. At CalLab PV Cells today, thirty employees are busy calibrating around 2500 solar cells and 5000 solar modules per year.

The EDF Energies Nouvelles and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE celebrate their long-standing cooperation. Over the past ten years, EDF Energies Nouvelles has counted on Fraunhofer ISE’s expertise in precise calibration services and quality assurance for its solar photovoltaic (PV) modules installed in solar photovoltaic power plants worldwide.

Photovoltaics and wind energy are major building blocks in the energy transformation, which is one of the biggest challenges society faces in the coming decades. “The total amount of electric energy from photovoltaic sources is more than 250 terawatt hours, approximately equivalent to the amount produced by 30 nuclear power plants. In order to help meet international climate objectives, the amount of photovoltaic power newly installed each year will have to increase by ten times over the next 15 years. On the whole, solar technology will have to become more efficient and cost-effective in order to meet the demands of this market,” explains Dr.-Ing. Ralf Preu, Division Director of PV Production Technology and Quality Assurance, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg. The researcher and his colleague Dr. Jan Nekarda have already made an important contribution to climate protection with the development of Laser-Fired Contact (LFC) technology, enabling the manufacture of more efficient solar cells at lower cost. At the annual meeting of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft on May 10, 2016 in Essen, the Joseph von Fraunhofer Prize was presented to Ralf Preu and Jan Nekarda for their innovative development. “We are delighted to receive this distinguished prize, which is not only a recognition of our work but also shows the innovative strength of the German and European photovoltaic industry,” says Ralf Preu obviously pleased.

The percentage of renewables in the electricity supply is steadily growing worldwide. Using a combination of different renewable sources, an ecological and economical electricity mix can be realized across national borders. Decisive here is the reliable supply, storage and distribution of renewable electricity. In the Supergrid project, several Fraunhofer institutes joined together to research just how such an electricity and transmission grid between North Africa and Europe could function. They developed scenarios for a renewable energy system in the MENA region and compared potential technologies. Detailed solutions were proposed and regulatory mechanisms were evaluated. The results of the Supergrid study are now available in a final report.

When the Fraunhofer ISE Photovoltaic Technology Evaluation Center PV-TEC was inaugurated in Spring 2006, it was the first research-based pilot line for crystalline silicon solar cells. Back then with support from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Fraunhofer ISE PV-TEC was able to build a new, unique service center for the photovoltaic (PV) industry. With laboratory facilities stretching over 1200 m², PV-TEC continues to offer research, development and services on an industrial production level. Through its pioneering work in the field, the technology transfer to PV industry began to grow at an accelerated rate. Germany soon became a leading nation in the area of solar cell production and production technology, the latter still holding today. PV-TEC’s ten year jubilee was celebrated in Freiburg on April 13, 2016 in the presence of high-level representatives of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry for the Environment as well as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as well as more than 50 leading representatives of PV industry. The location of the event – and also a reason for celebration – is the new laboratory addition “PV-TEC Select.” With its new infrastructure in place, the lab’s aim is to realize solar cell efficiencies of 25 percent. PV-TEC Select will be officially inaugurated at the jubilee.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE presents its newest results on grid-supportive buildings and urban quarters at the Berlin ENERGY DAYS on April 12, 2016. Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning, deputy director of Fraunhofer ISE, will give a talk demonstrating how building mass and technical storage help to smooth out the fluctuations from renewable energy. This presentation is part of a workshop, organized by Fraunhofer ISE, Fraunhofer IBP and RWTH Aachen. More information about the workshop can be found under the following link: www.energietage.de/details/va/2016-504.html

From April 28-29, 2016, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE will hold the sixth SOPHIA PV Module Reliability Workshop hosted by the Austrian Institute of Technology AIT in Vienna, Austria. International experts from research and industry will speak about innovations in materials, module reliability on the system level and PV module integration in buildings, among other topics. After the talks, time for questions and profound discussions will round off the presentations. Registrations for the workshop are being accepted up to April 20 at the following address: https://www.conftool.net/pv-module-reliability-workshop-2016/

Prof. Dr. Joachim Luther, director of Fraunhofer ISE from 1993 to 2006, celebrates his 75th birthday on March 31, 2016. For decades, his commitment to the field of solar energy has been impressive. In 1993 he took over as director of Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg upon the retirement of its founder Prof. Dr. Adolf Goetzberger. For twelve years, Prof. Luther headed Fraunhofer ISE, the largest institute for applied solar energy research in Europe. He led the Institute during a decisive phase in its history. Under his leadership, the number of employees doubled, reaching 450 employees in 2006. Today the staff totals about 1100.

The “Global Alliance for Solar Energy Research Institutes (GA-SERI)” convened a worldwide gathering of experts from Germany, Japan, the USA and beyond to discuss the future of photovoltaics (PV). With annual global PV installations reaching 60 GW in 2015, approaching global production capacity, 50 participants gathered in Freiburg, Germany, on March 17 and 18, 2016 for the initial “GA-SERI Terawatt Workshop” which was supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). Representatives from research institutes, industry and funding and financial organizations discussed the contributions of photovoltaics to energy security, prosperity and climate change mitigation and announced the transition to a new stage that will carry PV to the terawatt scale.

The highest efficiencies for the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity are reached with concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, and the technology still promises room for improvement. After announcing their world record solar cell two years ago, Fraunhofer ISE now reports that they have just achieved a new highest efficiency on the module level. A mini-module comprised of four-junction solar cells reached a newly confirmed world record of 43.4 percent. “This value is a new milestone in the history of CPV technology and demonstrates the potential available for industrial implementation,” says a pleased Dr. Andreas Bett, Deputy Director of the Institute and Division Director of Materials, Solar Cells and Technology at Fraunhofer ISE.