Press Releases 2024

Fraunhofer ISE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT have developed a prefabricated façade element with integrated photovoltaics for buildings that combines power generation, weather protection and thermal insulation. By eliminating the need for an additional substructure for the solar modules, this element can save large amounts of building materials, while speeding up installation during retrofits at the same time. Visitors to the BAU, the world's leading trade show held in Munich from January 13 to 17, 2025, can view two variants of the BIPV façade elements at the Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance's stand. The façade element was developed as part of the Fraunhofer flagship project "BAU-DNS".

Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps heat pumps to operate more efficiently, by avoiding incorrect device settings and optimizing system operation. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is researching a new generation of smart heat pumps that use artificial neural networks to adapt to environmental conditions and to learn as conditions change. This increases both the energy efficiency and user comfort. Extensive simulations showed promising potential energy savings from 5 to 13 percent in addition to increased comfort. These results have been confirmed by measurements in an initial field test in a real building.

Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells made of stable materials and manufactured using scalable production processes are the prerequisite for the next technological leap in the photovoltaic industry. Over the past five years, six Fraunhofer Institutes combined their expertise in the Fraunhofer lighthouse project "MaNiTU" to identify the most sustainable paths for the market launch of such tandem solar cells. They were able to show for one that high cell efficiencies can be achieved using industry-oriented processes, however, that such high efficiencies were only currently achievable with lead perovskite materials. Based on these findings, the researchers developed suitable recycling concepts to ensure sustainability.

In the long term, Germany will have to import a large proportion of its green hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthesis products to meet its future needs. In the "HYPAT" project, a consortium of scientists and development workers have created a global hydrogen potential atlas that identifies and analyzes sustainable locations for the green hydrogen economy of the future. For the first time, a comprehensive overview of potential partner countries for coop-erative development with Germany is presented in detail, including potential trade volumes, production and transportation costs for 2030 and 2050.

The Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE conducted a joint study on the social acceptance of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The conclusions showed that the acceptance of integrated photovoltaics in urban areas is generally very high and that PV on modern buildings is viewed more positively than on historic buildings. The study also showed, however, that when PV modules are colored to match the building's roof or façade so that they are practically invisible, then the social acceptance is increased to the point where no difference is detected between the different building types.

A new study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE shows potential technological transformation paths towards climate neutrality by 2045 at the state level in Germany. The cross-sectoral energy system model "REMod" was used to quantify cost-optimized development paths for the energy, transport, industry and building sectors - including their necessary infrastructures. A variety of possible scenarios were considered. The study confirms the central role of electrification in a cost-efficient transformation, yet also the supplementary role of hydrogen for the industry, transport sector and power plants. The results indicate that a significant grid expansion is needed to transport electricity and hydrogen from northern Germany to the main consumption centers in western and southern Germany. In an energy system based largely on renewable energy, both energy generation and energy consumption must be made more flexible.

Batteries are a key building block for a successful energy transition, whether for the electrification of transport, the stabilization of the power grid or balancing fluctuations in green electricity. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been conducting research along the entire battery value chain for many years. Now with today’s inauguration of the Center for Electrical Energy Storage, the institute has access to state-of-the-art laboratories which enable cutting-edge international research. Currently the institute’s research focus is on improving the sustainability, safety and performance of battery storage systems.

Large amounts of green hydrogen and power-to-X (PtX) products are indispensable for the industry’s transformation to climate-neutral processes. To guarantee the competitiveness of these industries in Germany, not only is hydrogen production within Germany necessary but also the cost-efficient import of PtX products. On behalf of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the World Energy Council (WEC), the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has investigated the production and supply costs of hydrogen in and from Colombia. The study that was published today focuses on three promising regions: Cartagena/Barranquilla, La Guajira, Valle del Cauca. Besides the technological conditions, environmentally and socially relevant criteria such as protected areas or indigenous communities were also considered.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is developing easy-to-use and reproducible solutions for replacing gas and oil heating systems in existing multi-family homes with partners in the project “LC R290”. The research focus is on heat pumps that use the refrigerant propane (R290). With a consortium of twenty companies from the heating and housing industries, the research institute has developed initial implementation concepts for heating systems that will be presented to a specialist audience at the Chillventa trade fair in Nuremberg from October 8 to 10.

The newest edition of the study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE on the electricity generation costs of various power plants shows that photovoltaic systems now produce electricity much more cheaply than either coal or gas-fired power plants, even in combination with battery storage. Fraunhofer ISE has been calculating the so-called electricity generation costs (LCOE), the average generation costs per kilowatt hour of electricity, for Germany at regular intervals since 2010. For the first time, the new analysis also includes the LCOE for agrivoltaics, hydrogen power plants and new nuclear power plants. In addition to the current situation for 2024, the researchers also provide a forecast for cost trends up to 2045.