Press

Making perovskite solar cells more sustainable, efficient and durable – these are the goals pursued by 13 European partners in the project SUNREY. The project aims to further push the development of highly-efficient solar cells based on non-critical raw materials and to strengthen the innovation potential of the European industry. SUNREY is funded by the European Union’s research and innovation program Horizon Europe within the framework of the Green Deal Initiative with 4.25 Million Euro. The three-year project started on November 1, 2022, and is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam, Germany.

With the "Offshore Drone Campus Cuxhaven – ODCC for short", Fraunhofer IFAM is creating a test and development infrastructure for unmanned aircraft systems for offshore use. The new location thus offers unique local and technical opportunities to further develop offshore drones together with scientific partners and industry and to participate at regulatory levels. Research focuses on the safe and efficient use of drones for offshore work such as maintenance, inspection, repair or surveying, as well as the development of new propulsion and material protection concepts for the demanding use of the aircraft under offshore conditions.

The building sector offers great potential for reducing primary energy demand, which the German government aims to halve by 2050 compared with 2008. To achieve this, buildings and neighborhoods must be able to respond to fluctuating power generation in the future. As controllable loads or decentralized generators, they will themselves become part of the energy system. In the project "FlexGeber - Demonstration of flexibility options in the building sector and their interaction with the German energy system", the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE conducted three case studies at three different companies. The results are now available in a final report.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer WKI and the Fraunhofer IAP, in collaboration with industrial partners, have achieved initial success in the development of bio-based flame retardants in bioplastics. In the future, it could therefore be possible to utilize plastics in electronics and electrical engineering that consist of 100 percent bio-based materials. Within the framework of the research project, processing was tested by means of compounding, injection molding and additive manufacturing.

In conjunction with the 4th Turkish-German Energy Forum, Kalyon Güneş Teknolojileri Üretim A.Ş. and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action BMWK in Berlin, Germany. In the MoU both parties reaffirm their intent to cooperate in the field of agrivoltaics as well as in other integrated photovoltaic technologies and PV storage technologies. Over the next three years, Kalyon plans to invest at least nine million US dollars in research contracts and joint research projects with Fraunhofer ISE.

Practical and environmentally friendly, e-scooters offer great flexibility. It is no wonder that more and more people are using this form of transport. However, this rise in popularity has been accompanied by an increase in accidents resulting in severe injuries. The risk associated with these speedy runabouts is widely underestimated. In response to this, Fraunhofer researchers studied a typical accident scenario and the associated injuries as part of the HUMAD project. The experts also tested novel materials for helmets and protective gear. These could provide much better protection than conventional products.

Sandblasting – that was yesterday. Laser beams can clean and structure surfaces more precisely, cost-effectively and in environmental friendlier ways than conventional systems. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden has developed the technology “LIGHTblast” for this purpose which is now being transferred to the semiconductor manufacturing, automotive supply and other industries.

Applied research at InnoTrans 2022 in Berlin, Germany: As part of the “Fraunhofer vs. Corona” program, the automation and production technology experts at Fraunhofer IFAM in Stade, together with project partners, developed a prototype mobile robot platform which uses a lightweight robot and steam cleaner to clean and disinfect surfaces of objects in public transport (PT) vehicles with constant quality in an environmentally friendly manner.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS and the Altech Group establish the joint venture Altech Batteries GmbH to commercialize the ceramic solid-state battery cerenergy® developed at Fraunhofer IKTS. In the coming years, a cerenergy® battery factory is to be built at the Schwarze Pumpe site in Saxony.

Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM works on designing more sustainable chemical production processes using its technology portfolio based on (micro)structured reactors, Flow Chemistry and Process Intensification. Electrochemical synthesis also plays a role.