Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems
| Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE |
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|---|---|
 Institute building of Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg |
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| Category: | research Institute |
| Carrier: | Fraunhofer Society |
| Legal form of the carrier: | Registered association |
| Seat of the wearer: | Munich |
| Facility location: | Freiburg in Breisgau |
| Branch offices: | Gelsenkirchen |
| Type of research: | Applied research |
| Subjects: | Engineering , natural sciences |
| Areas of expertise: | Solar technology , photovoltaics , building technology , electrical engineering , hydrogen technology |
| Basic funding: | Federal government (90%), states (10%); Share of basic funding in the operating budget: 5% |
| Management: | Hans-Martin Henning and Andreas Bett |
| Employee: | 1,163 |
| Homepage: | www.ise.fraunhofer.de |
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE , also known as “Fraunhofer ISE” for short, is an institution of the Fraunhofer Society for the Promotion of Applied Research eV (FhG) and is located in Freiburg im Breisgau . Its activities can be assigned to applied research and development in the fields of engineering and natural science in the field of solar technology and photovoltaics . The Fraunhofer ISE laboratory and service center in Gelsenkirchen is an external location of the institute, which is dedicated to the production-related manufacture of solar cells .
The institute has been headed by Hans-Martin Henning and Andreas Bett since January 2017. Predecessors as institute directors were Eicke R. Weber from 2006 to 2016 , Joachim Luther from 1993 to 2005 and institute founder Adolf Goetzberger from 1981 to 1993. With over 1100 employees, Fraunhofer ISE is the largest solar research institute in Europe. The budget is 72.9 million euros.
history
The institute was founded in 1981 and was the first non-university solar research institute in Europe. The early focal points were: the fluorescence collector FLUKO, transparent thermal insulation and the first steps towards highly efficient silicon and III-V solar cells , thin-film cells and solar silicon.
As early as 1983, the development of the first fully electronic ISE inverter with a previously unattained degree of efficiency for use in autonomous photovoltaic systems succeeded. In 1986 the first series product with a fluorescence collector for energy supply was created. As part of the small PV device program, numerous other successful products are created in cooperation with medium-sized industry. With the commissioning of the clean room laboratory in 1989, the production of highly efficient solar cells began. Selective solar absorber layers developed by ISE for thermal solar collectors will go into industrial production in 1998.
In January 2014 the Institute was of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi advertised Zayed Future Energy Prize 2014 awarded in the category NGO. The award is endowed with 1.5 million US dollars.
Research and Development
Research at Fraunhofer ISE creates the technical prerequisites for an efficient and environmentally friendly energy supply, both in industrialized countries and in emerging and developing countries. To this end, the institute develops materials, components, systems and processes and, in addition to basic research, deals with the development of production techniques and prototypes as well as the implementation of demonstration systems and the operation of test centers.
The business areas of the institute reflect the main areas of work described here:
- Energy-efficient buildings and building technology
At Fraunhofer ISE, buildings and their technical equipment are a central topic. In a team with architects, specialist planners and industry, today's buildings are optimized and buildings for tomorrow are developed. Optimized concepts are implemented in terms of economy, energy efficiency and user comfort. The international framework for this is created through collaboration in projects of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Many disciplines work together for these tasks - from materials research and layer development to component and system development, including the necessary tests. - Applied optics and functional surfaces
Solar energy systems convert solar energy that hits the earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation into thermal , electrical or chemical energy . In order to better transmit, reflect, absorb, filter, direct or concentrate solar radiation depending on the requirements, Fraunhofer ISE is developing optical components and systems. The area “Applied Optics and Functional Surfaces” covers several segments of solar technology as a cross-sectional topic: windows and facades, solar thermal collectors , concentrator systems for photovoltaics and solar power plants as well as photovoltaic module technology. -
Solar thermal
The field of business covers the market from low to high temperature applications: Solar thermal collectors and collector systems with flat and vacuum tube collectors have a wide range of applications, from domestic water and solar heating systems to cooling and air conditioning to seawater-proof desalination systems. Façade-integrated collectors and window collectors are also used. With linear concentrating collectors, operating temperatures of 150 ° C to over 400 ° C can be achieved. Both parabolic trough and Fresnel collectors are used not only for the solar thermal power supply of large power plants, but also in often simpler and more cost-effective variants for the generation of process heat, process steam and drive heat from absorption chillers. -
Silicon photovoltaics
Over 90% of the solar cells produced consist of crystalline silicon . Price-performance ratio, long-term stability and resilient cost-reduction potentials suggest that this terrestrial photovoltaic service provider will remain dominant in the market for much longer than the next ten years. Research and development at Fraunhofer ISE covers the entire value chain of crystalline silicon photovoltaics, from material development and crystallization to solar cell development and module technology. - Photovoltaic modules and systems Module
technology transforms solar cells into a durable product for safe operation in PV power plants. Fraunhofer ISE supports product developments in the direction of optimal efficiency, reduced costs and maximum reliability. The institute also offers quality assurance services for modules and power plants. - Alternative photovoltaic technologies
In addition to silicon photovoltaics, the institute's solar cell research extends to other photovoltaic technologies: By using III-V-based semiconductors such as gallium indium phosphide , aluminum gallium arsenide or gallium arsenide , the highest levels of efficiency for solar cells can be achieved today. The technology of dye solar cells has developed well beyond the laboratory scale in recent years and organic solar cells are particularly attractive due to the expected low production costs. - Regenerative power supply
The construction of grid-connected systems is the world's largest market for the photovoltaic industry today. The institute provides advice on system planning, characterizes solar modules and carries out the technical assessment and performance testing of photovoltaic systems. - Hydrogen technology
In the field of hydrogen technology, innovative technologies for the production and highly efficient conversion of hydrogen into electricity and heat are researched. Together with partners from industry and science, components up to complete fuel cell systems are developed, mainly for off-grid, portable and mobile applications.
Service areas
Fraunhofer ISE currently has four accredited test facilities:
- TestLab Solar Thermal Systems
- TestLab Solar Façades
- TestLab PV Modules
- CalLab PV Cells / CalLab PV Modules
Further service facilities:
- Quality assurance of PV power plants
- Photovoltaic power electronics
- Inverter laboratory
- Battery test laboratory
- Light laboratory
- Ventilation devices and heat pumps
- PCM laboratory
- Test laboratory for adsorption materials and porous materials
- Fuel cell test center
Cooperations
The institute is a founding member and office of the “Fraunhofer Energy Alliance”. In this alliance, 16 Fraunhofer Institutes bundle their competencies in energy technologies and research in order to be able to offer research and development work to industry and the energy sector from a single source.
The institute is also part of a network of national and international collaborations. a. Member of the Solar Energy Research Association (FVS) and the European Renewable Energy Centers Agency (EUREC) .
In the university area, there is close cooperation with the materials research center of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg , which covers the basic research needs of Fraunhofer ISE and is favored by the double functions of the institute director (who also holds a chair).
Spin-offs
Spin-offs from research institutions are part of a strategy wanted by the federal government and the federal states to utilize marketable research results that have been funded from public funds (keyword: results not in a drawer, but rather in Germany as a business location). As a rule, employees of the facilities and, if necessary, the institutes themselves participate in such spin-offs.
So far, Fraunhofer ISE has had seven such spin-offs, also known as “spin-offs”.
Examples:
- PSE AG was founded in 1999 to offer services related to solar energy. In addition to studies and expert reports, the company also offers measurement and control technology and custom-made laboratory equipment.
- A company founded in 2001, Holotools GmbH (today temicon GmbH - holotools), deals with the development and manufacture of functionalized surfaces for light management. A particular specialization is the large-scale, homogeneous structuring of optical surfaces.
- Another company founded in 2002, SorTech AG (since March 2017 Fahrenheit AG), develops heat sources for cooling and can thus make low-temperature heat usable as an energy source instead of electricity. For this purpose, the adsorption technology has been further developed, with which, especially in summer, heat that cannot be used from a large number of sources can be used for economical cooling.
- A newly founded technology company, Concentrix Solar GmbH (today Soitec Solar), has set itself the goal of introducing innovative photovoltaic technology to the market. Photovoltaic power plants with an output of 100 kW to several megawatts will possibly determine the future of photovoltaics. The company aims at large photovoltaic installations in sunny countries.
- The company Enit Energy IT Systems GmbH, founded in 2014, develops and sells energy management systems for medium-sized companies. Customers gain more transparency about electricity, heat and gas consumption and can control systems intelligently and operate them more efficiently.
Personnel, infrastructure and financing
The institute employs 1,163 people. These include 124 doctoral students, 115 diploma students, 20 guest researchers, 33 interns and 250 research assistants (as of December 31, 2016).
Over 27,000 m² of offices, laboratories, workshops and meeting rooms are available for research and development activities.
The operating budget in the 2016 financial year was 72.9 million euros. Around 84% of the operating budget was income from contract research by the private sector, the remaining funds came from public and other income. In addition, the institute made investments of 8.2 million euros in 2016. (As of December 2016)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fraunhofer ISE Laboratory and Service Center LSC Gelsenkirchen. Accessed July 31, 2020 .
- ↑ About us - Fraunhofer ISE
- ↑ Data and facts - Fraunhofer ISE. Retrieved May 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Sheikh honors solar researchers , suedkurier.de, January 24, 2014, accessed on January 25, 2014
- ↑ Spin-offs - Fraunhofer ISE. In: www.ise.fraunhofer.de. Retrieved April 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Fraunhofer ISE annual report 2016/2017. Fraunhofer ISE, March 2017, accessed on April 21, 2017 .
Coordinates: 48 ° 0 '32.4 " N , 7 ° 50' 4.9" E