Press Release

What would happen to the price of electricity if significantly more battery storage systems were traded on the market? The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is releasing a price simulator today on its Energy-Charts.info platform that answers this question using real market data. The tool uses the actual buy and sell bids from the daily electricity exchange auction and adds a freely selectable number of battery storage units. For each quarter-hour, users can see how the exchange electricity price would have changed, how the batteries charge and discharge, and what their charge levels are. The freely accessible simulator is updated daily with the latest electricity trading results.

With the construction of a new prototyping centre, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM in Dresden is expanding its research infrastructure in the field of hydrogen technologies. The new building, situated within the Fraunhofer Institute Centre Dresden, will in future provide the facilities needed to manufacture, further develop and test electrodes for alkaline water electrolysis (AEL/AEM) on an industrially relevant scale under conditions close to real-world applications. The build-ing is scheduled for completion in summer 2028.

A new technical report by Fraunhofer ISI and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) provides a detailed picture of where and when charging demand for battery electric trucks is likely to arise across Europe through 2045. Using the newly developed VESUVIO model, the researchers show that charging demand will grow strongly in the coming decades, remain highly concentrated in a limited number of locations, and differ substantially across countries.

Researchers at Fraunhofer ISE have developed a prototype of a manufacturer-neutral app for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing contractors that enables the virtual planning of heating systems. Unlike software tools already available, the “Heat Pump PlanAR” app combines various steps of the planning and installation process into a single application. The software prototype is the result of the “WESPE” collaborative project led by the Zentralverband Sanitär Heizung Klima (Central Asso-ciation for Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning) ZVSHK and was designed in close collaboration with trades businesses. The application is now set to be further developed in collaboration with interested software companies and brought to market.

In its annual study for Interzero, Fraunhofer UMSICHT examined how circular economy practices can help protect the climate and conserve resources: Compared to primary production, 900,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and 7.2 million metric tons of resources were saved in 2025. A particular focus this year was on plastics recycling.

Since 1986, the calibration laboratory at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has been measuring solar cells, and since 1991, photo-voltaic (PV) modules as well. Over the course of its forty-year history, it has calibrated the performance of thousands of solar cells and modules using a wide variety of technologies. To date, the “CalLab” has confirmed 152 record results. Sixty-six of these records were for PV modules—primarily silicon modules—while 86 referred to solar cells. The first record was set in 1992 by a mini silicon solar module with an efficiency of 16.4 percent, submitted by Deutsche Aerospace Aktiengesellschaft and featuring Bayer silicon wafers. The most recent record measured by CalLab confirmed that a module from AZUR SPACE, temicon and Fraunhofer ISE, with an efficiency of 34.4 percent, is currently the world’s most efficient solar module.

For the energy transition to succeed, practical solutions are needed that connect different sectors such as electricity, heating, and mobility. To provide a new home for this research, the cornerstone for the Demonstration Center for Sector Coupling (Demonstrationszentrums für Sektorkopplung, DZS) was laid today at the HAW Hamburg Energy Campus in Bergedorf, Germany. The new research building will serve as a shared space for the Competence Center for Energy Transition (CC4E) at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES. There, scientists will work together with industry partners to develop and test innovative technologies for the energy transition and make them accessible to the public.

Hydrogen use is a key component of decarbonization, but ensuring the long-term operation of electrolysers and fuel cells is challenging. Fluctuating operating conditions lead to wear and performance losses. Fraunhofer IFAM has now achieved a decisive breakthrough with dynamic impedance spectroscopy: This diagnostic method enables precise analysis during operation, detects overloads in real time, and identifies weak points at an early stage. This allows for the targeted optimization of resilience and efficiency, extends the service life of the systems, and reduces operating costs – a technological leap with enormous potential for the hydrogen economy.

Importing green hydrogen via international supply chains from overseas to North Rhine-Westphalia is technically feasible, potentially competitive and logistically viable. This is demonstrated by the RE-Chain study (“Building Resilient Energy Supply Chains”) conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT. The study was commissioned by the Port of Amsterdam and Duisburger Hafen AG (duisport).

Together with partners from research and industry, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has modified the structure of battery electrodes so that the battery cells can store 10 to 15 percent more energy at the same weight. They achieved this by more than tripling the coating thickness of the battery electrodes—for example, in lithium-ion batteries—which simultaneously reduces the number of current collectors in the battery cell. The research team implemented the new electrode architecture in lithium-ion pouch cells manufactured using industry-standard processes. Furthermore, they successfully applied the concept to zinc-ion and sodium-ion battery cells.