Research Projects

Project in the Business Area Photovoltaics; Topic: Photovoltaic Modules and Power Plants; Fields of Work: Module Characterization, Service Life of Modules and Materials, Photovoltaic Power Plants; Duration: 09/2018 - 12/2021

Lithium-ion batteries used as energy storage are a key element of the energy transition. This type of battery is being used in ever greater numbers, especially in electromobility. At the end of their life in the vehicle, the batteries can continue to be used in stationary storage before being recycled. Even though this significantly minimizes the CO2 footprint and makes the recycling economy more effective, many new questions arise, e.g. about the qualification of the cells, cooling and the integration of stationary storage into the infrastructure. These issues are being investigated in detail in the ecoLEPuS project. | Duration: 09/2022 - 08/2025

During the “follow-e demo” research project transparent solar control and thermal protection coatings on ETFE film for use in membrane buildings will be investigated. It proceeds and builds upon the project “follow-e2”. The functional solar control coatings, developed in “follow-e2” will be further developed in terms of their selectivity. Another aspect is to examine the influence of the layer thicknesses on colour and colour stability. | Duration: 05/2021 - 04/2024

Project in the Business Area Power Electronics, Grids and Smart Systems; Topic: Energy System Analysis Field of Work: Energy System Analysis Duration: September 2017 - February 2020

Project in the Business Area Photovoltaics; Topics: Silicon Photovoltaics, Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies; Fields of Work: Epitaxy, Si-Foils and SiC Deposition, Tandem Solar Cells on Crystalline Silicon; Duration: April 2014 - March 2015

Project in the Business Area: Energy Efficient Buildings, Topics: Heat Pumps, Low Temperature Solar Thermal, Duration: 12/2019 - 11/2024

The “integraTE-XL” project focuses on important monitoring findings from PVT collectors and heat pumps in the building sector. The project is a BMWI-funded initiative in which Fraunhofer ISE has been conducting research together with its partners IGTE (University of Stuttgart) and ISFH since 2019. Metrological monitoring of building energy supply with PVT collectors will take place at up to nine demonstration plants, including buildings from all sectors, such as apartment buildings, commercial, office buildings and industry. The aim is to ensure quality assurance and improve the quality of these energy-efficient technologies, as these systems are now technically and economically attractive for thermal and electrical energy supply and should therefore be established in existing large apartment buildings and commercial properties. By implementing PVT systems, it is expected that a total saving of around 560 million tons of CO2 can be achieved over the next 25 years with a technology share of PVT of just five percent in all newly renovated apartment buildings. | Duration: 12/2024 - 11/2028

Project in the Business Area: Power Electronics, Grids and Smart Systems, Hydrogen Technologies and Electrical Energy Storage; Topic: Power Electronics and Grid Integration, Elektrolysis and Power-to-Gas, Smart Grids​; Laufzeit: 11/2022 - 10/2024

Innovative manufacturing technologies, e.g. for large-area displays, enable the cost-effective production of units consisting of thousands of interconnected semiconductor devices by miniaturization, additive manufacturing, parallelization and self-alignment. The objective of the "micro-CPV" joint project is to develop a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) module based on these technologies. This shall enable high PV performance while at the same time exploiting cost reduction potentials in production. | Duration: 04/2020 - 12/2024

Aiming at steadily reducing the levelized cost of electricity of PV power plants, state-of-the-art research and development in silicon photovoltaics must focus on material quality: This relates to feedstock quality, to the impact of the crystallization and wafering processes, and to the impact of the individual solar cell process on material quality. This focus requires accurate analysis techniques of efficiency-limiting electrical characteristics in all stages of solar cell production – ranging from crystallization to metallization. With “modulum”, Fraunhofer ISE launched a versatile characterization tool for accurate material and cell analyses based on harmonically modulated luminescence, thereby assisting customers in meeting future challenges in silicon PV research and development.