Press Releases 2025

In the future, charging stations along freeways, in parking lots or at logistics centers will have to deliver much more power in a short space of time than they do today. For this reason, new charging stations can no longer simply be connected to the low voltage power grid. In the project "MS-Tankstelle", Fraunhofer ISE and partners from industry therefore developed the medium voltage system technology for fast charging stations that will enable peak loads of several megawatts in the future. The technology, which uses efficient silicon carbide semiconductors and higher voltages, leads to lower material use and lower costs for fast charging stations. At the same time, the system is very efficient and can be flexibly applied to charging stations of different sizes and different vehicle types. A demonstrator of one charging point can be viewed at the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance booth at the E-World from 11-13 February in Essen, Germany (hall 5, D 126).

In Germany, net public electricity generation from renewable energy sources reached a record share of 62.7 percent in 2024. Solar power generation reached a new record of 72.2 terawatt hours in 2024, and the expansion of photovoltaics continued to exceed the federal government's targets. As the share of electricity generation from lignite (-8.4%) and hard coal (-27.6%) continued to fall sharply, the carbon dioxide emissions in the German electricity mix were lower than ever before. The balance of imported electricity rose to 24.9 terawatt hours. These figures are the results of an analysis presented by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. The analysis is based on the data available on the platform energy-charts.info.