Research Projects

The agricultural sector is facing new challenges. In the wake of climate change, strategies must be developed to avoid negative impacts on harvests. Orcharding in Germany is already affected by the consequences of climate change: rising temperatures, changes in precipitation distribution and increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as hail and heavy rain. As a result, commercial fruit growers are increasingly using hail protection nets and foil roofing to prevent quality and yield losses. The project "APV-Obstbau" (Agrivoltaic Orcharding) will investigate to what extent agrivoltaics can replace these protective measures in apple cultivation, which system design makes sense for this crop and in which way the agrivoltaic system affects crop yields. | Duration: 04/2020 - 03/2025

The "BetterBat" project addresses the interface between battery technology and its potential use in an application. "BetterBat" thus explicitly focuses on the user side and its systemic application-specific requirements, enabling target-oriented research and development, shortening the time-to-market accordingly and reducing the risk of failing to meet market requirements. "BetterBat" is intended to provide answers to the following questions, for example: For which applications can battery-electric solutions be considered today or in the future? Which battery technology is suitable for which application? What are the strengths and weaknesses and where might further research or funding be required? The work packages required to answer these questions are shown schematically in the figure below. | Duration: 03/2021 - 02/2024

The spread of electric vehicles is regarded as an essential instrument for significantly reducing pollutant and CO2 emissions in the transport sector. The aim of this "EMILAS" project is to make used vehicle batteries usable as stationary buffer storages for charging stations in apartment blocks (from a technical and economic point of view). On the one hand, this approach prevents a grid connection with higher output; on the other hand, the CO2 balance is being improved by the second use of vehicle batteries. Security and normative issues are particularly important for the integration in underground garages. Furthermore, the integration of local "electric carsharing fleets" in underground garages will be investigated, which enables a feedback from the vehicle battery into the building’s grid. As the residential quarters are equipped with photovoltaic systems and cogeneration units, the smart charge management of the buffer storage and the building energy management enables optimized solutions to increase the internal consumption. | Duration: 09/2019 - 02/2024

As the appreciable growth in charging infrastructure for electric vehicles can lead to local supply shortages in the distribution grids, particularly fast charging stations are increasingly being equipped with local storage buffers. In a solar carport with integrated buffer storage and fast charging infrastructure, the DC electricity generated by the PV system can be inverted and rectified up to four times on its route from the PV module via the buffer storage unit to the DC charging point, generating unnecessary conversion losses. | Duration: 01/2017 - 12/2022

FEDECOM is developing the technical and business ecosystem to demonstrate the advantages of energy sector coupling across European energy communities. Integrating the local energy systems across the federation of communities will bring economic benefits, improve grid stability and reliability, as well as reduce the overall carbon footprint. FEDECOM aims to create and validate a solution bridging across technical, social and market impact: Technical innovation: Integration of existing and emerging information and communication tools Boundary conditions: Overcoming socio-economic and policy barriers Business innovation: Innovative business models ready for large-scale replication | Duration: 10/2023 - 09/2027

Many villages, cities, islands, and industrial operations in regions worldwide without grid connection are supplied with electricity from diesel generators. The dropping PV price and the constantly increasing price of diesel fuel make the PV integration into diesel grids economically highly interesting. However, the drop in diesel price in the last two years triggered a stagnation. Due to engine-related boundary conditions, the diesel generator load must not drop below 30 to 50 %. In order to achieve a high PV portion in systems without battery, so-called “fuel savers” are used that reduce the PV inverter output in the case of low loads or high solar irradiation. | Duration: 10/2014 - 09/2019

Project in the Business Area: Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage, Topic: Applied Storage Systems, Battery System Technology, Duration: 12/2019 - 12/2021

Project in the Business Area: Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage; Topic: Battery Cell Technology, Battery Engineering, Applied Storage Systems; Duration: 01/2020 - 06/2024

Project in the Business Areas: Photovoltaics, Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage Topics: Photovoltaic Modules and Power Plants, Applied Storage Systems Fields of Work: PV for Mobility, Module Technology, Duration: 07/2019 - 06/2022

Project in the Business Area Power Electronics, Grids and Smart Systems; Topics: Smart Grids, Battery Systems for Stationary and Mobile Applications, System Integration - Electricity, Heat, Gas; Duration: 2013 - 2016