Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE

Characterization of components for hydrogen technology

Fuel cell laboratory to test laboratory-scale single cells, fuel cell components and peripheral aggregates.

Center for Fuel Cells, Electrolysis and Synthetic Fuels

In the “Center for Fuel Cells, Electrolysis and Synthetic Fuels”, components and sub-systems for hydrogen technology are tested and characterized with scientifically based methods for applications in the fields of PEM electrolysis, PEM fuel cells (particularly for automotive applications), Power-to-Gas (PtG), Power-to-Liquid (PtL) and Power-to-Chemicals (PtC).

360° - Virtual Tours

Virtual tours of our labs and research infrastructure

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Virtual Tour of our Fraunhofer ISE Fuel Cell Lab

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Virtual Tour of our Fraunhofer ISE Electrolysis Lab

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Virtual Tour of our Fraunhofer ISE Labs for Thermochemical Processes

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Virtual Tour of our Fraunhofer ISE Hydrogen Refueling Station

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Technical Facilities

PEM-Electrolysis

Two test stands to characterize electrolyser stacks (200 kW und 1 MW)

Hydrogen feed-in system for a natural gas pipeline to investigate PtG technology

Several single-cell measurement rigs and test stands for short stacks, for fully automatic characterization of PEM electrolyser cells in a wide range of operating conditions

Hydrogen filling station as a research platform to test new sensors and processes


PEM Fuel Cell Systems (Portfolio of our R&D-Services)

30 bar PEM electrolyser for long-term testing of fuel cell systems up to 30 kW continuous output

Fully automated test stand to characterize (automotive) short stacks up to 20 kW / 1000 A with the option to connect peripheral components for system-relevant tests

System for multi-channel impedance spectroscopy for spatially resolved characterization of (automotive) single cells

Several high-quality, fully automated single cell test benches for in-situ characterization (i-V, EIS, CV, LSV, limit current density) of fuel cell components and single cells

Differential test cell for material and component characterization (in-house development)

Along-the-channel test cell for validation of flow fields and selection of suitable fuel cell components

Multichannel impedance spectroscopy system for the spatially resolved characterization of (automotive) single cells

Walk-in climatic chamber with a temperature range of -50 °C to +80 °C (fuel cell stack and system tests from -20 °C to +60 °C) and a humidity range of 5 to 95 percent relative humidity

Climatic chamber with test chamber volume of 0.34 Nm³, a temperature range from -40 °C to +95 °C and a humidity range from 10 to 95 percent relative humidity

Diaphragm compressor for hydrogen with an inlet pressure up to 3 bar (g) and an outlet pressure up to 13 bar (g) and a delivery rate of approx. 8 Nm³ / h

Test stand for insulation testing and short-circuit tests for a max. short-circuit current up to 5000 ADC for 20 ms and a max. open circuit voltage of 20 VDC and a max. recording rate of 100 kHz

Electrochemical cells made of PTFE with electrical heating for corrosion current tests, e.g. on bipolar plates

Contact resistance/conductivity measuring device with determination of the force-displacement behaviour of mechanically compressible media and in-plane and through-plane conductivity measurement (2-point and 4-point)

ICP-MS for element analysis of liquid samples (e.g. product water or electrolyte of corrosion current measurements)

ESEM with EDX for surface analysis of samples


Synthetic Fuels

Determination of ignition delay times for liquid and/or gaseous fuels

Fully automated miniature plant including recycling of unreacted educts to synthesize liquid fuels such as methanol from CO2-rich input gases and hydrogen

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