Ongoing Research Project

Meeting European climate targets demands a dramatic surge in renewable energy adoption. Although photovoltaic (PV) costs have decreased, integrated PV (IPV) remains a niche market due to persistent barriers. The EU-funded MASS-IPV project brings together key players to demonstrate how innovative tools and technologies can pave the way for the mass integration of cost-effective IPV systems in buildings and infrastructure. Through five distinct construction projects, the initiative showcases the potential of multifunctional and cost-effective IPV systems. | Duration: 11/2023 - 10/2027

The heating and cooling supply systems of buildings are usually documented in schematics. These documents contain important information about the topology and the components of the systems that are useful for designers, building managers, and technical monitoring service providers along the complete building life cycle. However, these schematics are often only available in paper form, as CAD or pdf files and the information that they contain is almost not accessible digitally. This situation makes the data collection tedious and hampers the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of refurbishment or a technical monitoring projects. | Duration: 01/2023 - 12/2025

The project supports a team of scientists from the three Fraunhofer Institutes ISE, IBP and ISI in their accompanying research on energy transition construction. This joint effort focuses on several areas: Firstly, cross-evaluations of completed and ongoing research projects from the Energy Transition Buildings funding programme are being carried out, which aim to bring together the results from the many individual projects and place them in a broader context. These cross-evaluations cover topics related to the energy transition in the areas of buildings and neighbourhoods, renovation, heating network expansion, integration of renewable energies and others. The cross-sectional evaluations also provide the basis for identifying new research topics and impetus for the further development of the BMWE's 8th Energy Research Programme. In addition, the PTJ is supported in the planning and implementation of events. | Duration: 09/2025 - 08/2029

How economically viable is solar thermal process heat in Germany? What role do investment grants from the EEW funding program play, and what is the economic viability compared to fossil fuel heat production? These questions were the focus of our study on the decarbonization of industrial heat through solar thermal process heat. Various collector technologies, temperature ranges and locations were evaluated using dynamic simulations and detailed cost models. The results show under which conditions solar thermal energy can already today provide a competitive and climate-friendly alternative to conventional heat generation. | Duration: 07/2024 - 12/2024

Technical monitoring (TMon) can reduce the energy consumption of buildings by up to 20%. However, a shortage of skilled workers and manual steps are slowing down widespread implementation. In the R&D project ‘GraphEET’, Fraunhofer ISE and Offenburg University of Applied Sciences are working with industry partners to develop a data-based TMon workflow. The aim is to develop hybrid AI methods for the recognition of data points and plant topologies and to map the recognised objects and structures in digital twins as knowledge graphs. This should enable test templates, fault diagnoses and mobile measurement tasks to be applied automatically. | Duration: 07/2025 - 06/2028

Multi-family buildings offer largely untapped potential for energy savings and grid services in the US and in Europe. Against the backdrop of rapid electrification, the rise of heat pumps, and increasing regulatory pressure, the project "ABLM: Automated Building Load Modeling" project is developing physics-informed neural networks that can accurately predict the load flexibility of central consumers (heating, domestic hot water, cooling, e-mobility) with just a few input data. The hybrid approach overcomes the limitations of classic simulation and pure AI models and enables scalable, robust demand-side management. | Duration: 06/2025 - 06/2027

As part of the “FoFeBat” project, a research production facility for battery cells is being set up. This covers all production steps from mixing the electrode materials to forming the cells. In sub-project 1, Fraunhofer ISE is supporting the development of research production in areas such as forming and end-of-line quality assurance as well as in the fields of energy-efficient building operation management, dry room design and the techno-economic evaluation of operating scenarios. In sub-project 2, Fraunhofer ISE is involved in technology screening for future innovation modules and the development of the pipeline process for their implementation. In sub-project 3, Fraunhofer ISE is planning and setting up a mini-environment test stand that will enable investigations into optimized air flow and energy-optimized operation. | Duration: 10/2019 - 12/2027

By 2050, a global increase of approximately 73 terawatts of installed photovoltaic capacity is expected. This planned expansion will require significant amounts of raw materials, including copper and aluminum for cables and transformers. Raising the PV system to medium voltage has the potential to significantly reduce resource use and investment costs. The project aims to demonstrate with two pilot plants that the transition to medium voltage for PV large-scale systems is technically feasible and economically viable. The team is supported by manufacturers for all key system components, from medium voltage cables to PV connectors. | Duration: 10/2025 - 09/2028

The European Space Agency examines the possibilities of an independent space solar cell supply for their activities. In light of this, Fraunhofer ISE conducts a combined theoretical and experimental study. The primary goal of SPITERSOL-SPACE is to identify the opportunities to establish a short-term supply chain for space solar cells based on terrestrial technology, targeting low-cost and high-volume manufacturing potential. Moreover, adjustments of such solar cells for space applications will be explored, targeting end-of-life performance and other parameters as part of a technology roadmap. | Duration: 10/2025 - 10/2026

Perovskite solar cells promise maximum efficiency. However, large-scale industrial production has so far failed due to the complexity of the spraying process. A reproducible, scalable process is intended to remedy this situation for the industry. In the “INTERVENTION” project, we investigated the optimization of spray coating by means of digital simulation of the process and experimental characterization of the materials. A research team developed data-driven solutions for systematic parameter optimization. The aim of the project was to achieve more efficient production on large wafer formats and faster optimization without time-consuming test series – a decisive step towards economically viable high-performance solar cells. | Duration: 01/2023 - 12/2026