Experts

Prof. Dr. Andreas Bett is one of two institute directors of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE in Freiburg.

Andreas Bett received the diploma degree in mathematics and the diploma degree in physics from the Albert Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany. He received the PhD degree in physics from the University in Konstanz, Germany in 1992. He joined the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, ISE in Freiburg in 1987. Since 2020 he is also professor for "Solar Energy - Materials and Technologies" at Freiburg University. His main areas of research include silicon and III-V materials for solar cells as well as the fabrication and characterization of solar cells.

Maximilian Bruch is working at the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems ISE in the Battery Technology Group since 2013.

He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Augsburg and received his Master of Science in the course of studies SENCE (Sustainable Energy Competence) at the University of Applied Sciences Ulm. In his current position he focuses mostly on the manufacture of lithium ion cells, the characterization of half and full lithium ion cells as well as consulting and measurement services. Currently he is head of the European research project JOSPEL, in which battery systems with optimized operating management are being developed.

Prof. Bruno Burger is department head of "New Devices and Technologies” at Fraunhofer ISE

He studied Electronics at the University of Karlsruhe and received his doctorate from the same university in 2001. Since 2001, he works at Fraunhofer ISE where he set up the Department of Power Electronics, serving as department head up to 2013. Since 2011, he performs research on the visualization of energy data. Since 2014 he maintains and further develops the energy-charts.de, a site providing the current energy data, updated on an hourly basis, and visualized in user-friendly graphs and tables for public use.

Since 2018, Frank Dinter is the new director of the Fraunhofer Center for Solar Energy Technologies CSET within the Fraunhofer Chile Research Foundation.

Fraunhofer CSET was founded in 2015 and is doing application orientated research in the field of solar power in Chile.

José Fernandez is a physicist and has worked in both Spanish and German companies in different areas, e.g. satellite construction and telecommunications. Lastly he was an airplane engineer by Airbus and there made connections with Fraunhofer researchers in many research projects.

As an enthusiastic bike rider, it was easy for him to renew his contact to Fraunhofer after he reached retirement. Through this joint effort, the idea evolved to develop a fuel cell to replace the battery in a conventional pedelec.

Hannes Fugmann is working at Fraunhofer ISE since 2012 in the Heating and Cooling Department.

He studied Mathematics at the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. His focus lies on the development of compact and efficient heat exchangers for heating and air conditioning of buildings.

Estelle Gervais is a research associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany. She specializes in raw material criticality, sustainability strategies and circularity for current and future PV technologies.

Robin Grab arbeitet seit 2010 am Fraunhofer ISE in der Abteilung „Wechselrichter in Netzen“.

Zuvor hat er am Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Elektrotechnik mit der Vertiefungsrichtung „Regenerative Energiesysteme“ studiert. Seine inhaltlichen Schwerpunkte sind die Systemtechnik von Photovoltaiksystemen sowie die Integration von Solarenergie und anderen Formen von erneuerbaren Energien in die Stromnetze.

Dr. Klaus Heidler is a physicist and communication trainer in Freiburg/Breisgau in Germany.

From the institute’s start 1981 until 1997 he was a researcher at Fraunhofer ISE, and in 1986 he founded the calibration laboratory which today is CalLab PV Cells. Later on he switched from research to PR for Fraunhofer ISE and in 1998 he left the institute and started his own company ‘Solar Consulting – PR and training for Renewables’. He still regularly writes articles on solar energy R&D for Fraunhofer ISE.

Dr. Henning Helmers is responsible for the research topic “Power-by-Light” carried out within the business area Photovoltaics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.

His research interests cover epitaxy of III-V compound semiconductors, processing and microsystem technology for advanced PV cell architectures, PV cell design and modelling, characterization under monochromatic light, and holistic analysis of Power-by-Light systems (including electrical performance, optical coupling, thermal management, downstream electronics, packaging and assembly, reliability).

Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Henning ist einer der beiden Institutsleiter am Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE. An der Universität Freiburg ist er außerdem Professor für Solare Energiesysteme im Institut für Nachhaltige Technische Systeme der Technischen Fakultät. Seit 2020 ist er Mitglied und Vorsitzender des Expertenrats für Klimafragen der Bundesregierung.

Sina Herceg is an Environmental Scientist and has been working at ISE since 2017. As a research associate, she is the Coordinator for Sustainability Assessment at ISE since 2021.

Dr. Andreas Hinsch holds a Fellow position at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg. He is coordinating activities and national projects on perovskite solar cells.

In 1992 he made his PhD in physics at University of Freiburg. From 1993 on he is involved in the research on dye and organic solar cells. He has worked as post-doc, project leader and senior scientist in Switzerland (EPFL-Lausanne), Japan (NIRIN) and the Netherlands (ECN). In 2001 he had established a group at Fraunhofer ISE on the topic and has been the coordinator in several European and national projects in the field.

Prof. Petra Högy works at the Department of Agricultural Science at the University of Hohenheim in Plant Ecology and Ecotoxicology.

Among other topics, she focuses on the effects of climate change on agricultural ecosystems.

The editorial team of Innovation4E maintains this blog.

We support our bloggers in the identification of topics, conduct interviews and garner ideas for further contents. We are looking forward to questions, suggestions, comments and constructive criticism.

Ismail Kaaya is fellow at Fraunhofer ISE.

Ismail Kaaya is of Ugandan origin and works as a fellow in the“SOLAR-TRAIN” project in the field of thermal engineering at Fraunhofer ISE since April 2017. In his doctoral research, he focusses on the topic of „Service life model of PV moduls”. Before his career at Fraunhofer, he has worked on modelling spatial inhomogeneties in solar cells at EDF in France.

Kumar Abhishek is working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE for one year as a German Chancellor Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. He has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the IIMT College of Engineering in Greater Noida, India, and a Master of Engineering in Energy Systems and Technology from the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University in Ganghinagar, India. He worked for several solar companies and as a Technical Officer and Project Associate at the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Delhi, India.

Sebastian Kaiser has been working at Fraunhofer ISE since 2018 after studying electrical engineering and information technology at KIT Karlsruhe. His work focuses on voltage quality, grid integration of PV systems, laboratory activities (investigating, measuring, evaluating, testing) and the grid connection guidelines. Since 2020, he has been project manager for "OVRTuere".

Dr. Karl-Anders Weiß is industrial physicist and business developer of Service Life and Sustainability at Fraunhofer ISE, where he has been working since 2005. His main areas of expertise include service life assessment, material aging, life cycle assessment (LCA), service life prediction (SLP), modeling and climatic effects. He is actively involved in various national and international projects, e.g., the International Energy Agency, and standardization bodies.

Dr.-Ing. Sven Killinger works as Senior Scientist in the Department of Smart Grids at Fraunhofer ISE.

He studied industrial engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and completed his doctoral degree in 2017 on “Methodical developments for a system-specific upscaling approach of PV power based on reference measurements and geodata.”

Since 2012 he is working at Fraunhofer ISE on the simulation of photovoltaic and wind power plants, providing assistance on the integration of renewable energy primarily to grid operators.

Dr. Joachim Koschikowski is head of the “Water Treatment and Separation” workgroup at Fraunhofer ISE.

He studied mechanical engineering at the Gerhard Mercator University in Duisburg with a focus on construction and renewable energies. He works at the Fraunhofer ISE since 1996. Since 1999, he focuses on the field of solar desalination technologies, on the development, construction and simulation of membrane distillation systems. This topic was also the main subject of his dissertation.

Dr. Christoph Kost is head of the group Energy Systems and Energy Economics at Fraunhofer ISE. He does research on the integration of renewable energies in energy systems.

Dr. Korbinian Kramer is Head of the TestLab Solar Thermal Systems at Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg.

He studied Mechanical Engineering with specialties in Environment and Process Technology in Augsburg and joined the institute as a graduate student in 2005. He has always been fascinated by the interaction between quality assurance, standardization, and innovation. That is why he completed his doctoral thesis on "The Influence of Standardization and Quality Assurance Processes on Innovation and Diffusion in the Solar Thermal Energy Industry".

Dr. Thomas Kroyer is head of the team "Innovative Coatings" at Fraunhofer ISE.

His research focuses on optical functional surfaces for the application in photovoltaics, solar thermal technologies and energy-efficient buildings.

Dr. Timo Kurz is a mechanical engineer, with a focus on energy and environmental technology. He has always been interested in renewable energy.

Since completing his diploma thesis, he has worked on fuel cells and has worked at Fraunhofer ISE since 2006, including his doctoral thesis. He is fascinated by projects that are somewhat unconventional, i.e. special types of fuel cells or applications

Dr. Lilli Frison has been working in the Energy Efficient Buildings department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE since 2018. After studying computer science and applied mathematics in Paderborn, London and Lausanne, she completed her doctorate in scientific computing at the University of Heidelberg. Her research at Fraunhofer ISE focuses on the application of artificial intelligence to increase the energy efficiency of buildings through optimized operational monitoring and control.

Stephan Liese is Head of Department "Power Converter Systems".

He studied Energy and Automation Technology at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe. At the Fraunhofer ISE he focuses on the modeling and regulation of converter systems and already successfully managed several industrial and public projects in the past.

Djamel Mansour is a postgraduate Visiting Scientist at Fraunhofer ISE.

He grew up in Algeria and later studied at the École polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne, Switzerland. His interest lies in the field of Photovoltaic Modules and Systems. Since April 2017, Djamel Mansour is working on his doctoral research within the “SOLAR-TRAIN” project at Fraunhofer ISE. He focusses on the field of „Analysis of PV modules parameters and their correlation to degradation models“.

Christoph Maurer has been Head of Group Solar Thermal Façades in the Department of Energy Efficient Buildings at Fraunhofer ISE since 2011 .

After completing his degree in physics at the University of Tübingen, he carried out his doctoral work on partially transparent façade collectors at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and at Fraunhofer ISE.
In his work as head of the Arkol project, he is especially excited about combining the aspects of aesthetics, sustainability and economic efficiency. His main research themes are technologies that save both costs and energy and digital methods that make energy efficient buildings more economical.

Amantin-Panos Mehilli is visiting scientist at Fraunhofer ISE.

He grew up in Albania and Greece. After graduating in a Master’s degree in „Sustainable Energy Systems” at the University of Applied Sciences in Wels, Austria, he came to Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Since April 2017, he is doing his research on the topic of „Climate factor identification for PV modules degradation“.

Marek Miara has many years of experience in the field of renewable energies. He has been working at Fraunhofer ISE for 18 years, currently as "Business Developer Heat Pumps". He holds a Master's degree from the Wroclaw University of Technology (2000) and the University of Kassel (2004). In 2014, he received his PhD from the Wroclaw University of Technology. In addition to national projects, he supervised international EU projects and activities within IEA - Heat Pump Technologies. For Annex 50 (Heat Pumps in Multi-Family Buildings for Space Heating and DHW) he was entrusted with the role of "Operating Agent[s]". He is also a member of several committees of the VDI (Association of German Engineers), board member of the German Society for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (DKV), board member of the European Heat Pump Association (ehpa) and co-founder of the Polish Heat Pump Association (PORT PC).

Max Mittag, industrial engineer, works as scientific staff in the group “Photovoltaic Modules“ at Fraunhofer ISE.

He came to ISE in 2009 for his diploma work and since then is part of the solar module research team. Max Mittag is responsible for the development of new module concepts and production processes. Besides this, he also works on module efficiency and cost analysis.

Marc Kissling arbeitet seit 2017 als Projektleiter und wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Fraunhofer ISE. Sein Ingenieurs-Diplom erlangte er an der TU Dresden im Studiengang regenerative Energiesysteme.
Neben der Projektierung von Batterieforschungseinrichtungen gehören zu seinen Schwerpunkten die techno-ökonomische Bewertung, Life Cycle Analysis entlang der Batteriewertschöpfungskette, sowie die Prozesstechnik, Infrastruktur und Gebäudetechnik für die Batteriezellproduktion.

Mona Mühlich has been working on her doctoral thesis in the Department of Energy Efficient Buildings at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy ISE since September 2023. She conducts research in the field of digitalization and automation of building planning processes. After a B.Sc. in Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Stuttgart, she continued her studies there and completed the M.Sc. program "Integrative Technologies & Architectural Design Research" (ITECH). Before she came to Fraunhofer ISE she worked in the field of adaptive façade systems as a research assistant at the Institute for Load-bearing Structures and Constructive Design itke.

Sören Nungesser has been employed at Fraunhofer ISE since Fall 2017, where he worked on the contact mechanism for solar thermal blinds as part of his bachelor thesis.

As a scientific assistant at Fraunhofer ISE, he works on the assembly of solar thermal blinds, carries out public relations work and performs economic calculations for the Arkol project.
He completed a course of studies in bionics at the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences. In Fall 2018, he begins his masters in environmental science at the University of Freiburg with a concentration in modeling and geo-information systems.

Tabea Obergfell is scientific staff member in the agrophotovoltaic (APV) research team.

She is a geoecologist and renewable energy engineer. Tabea Obergfell first came to Fraunhofer ISE in 2010 to work on her Masters thesis. In the APV research team she is responsible for the technical topics. Besides APV, she also carries out research on solar radiation simulation and public acceptance of renewable energy.

Dr. Peter Engelmann leitet die Gruppe Gebäudesystemtechnik in der Abteilung Energieeffiziente Gebäude am Fraunhofer ISE. Nach Abschluss des Studiums der Energietechnik war er am Lehrstuhl Architektur im Fachbereich Bauphysik und TGA an der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal tätig, wo er 2010 promovierte. Im Anschluss arbeitete er als Postdoc am Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, bevor er 2011 ans Fraunhofer ISE wechselte.

Andrea Pfreundt is a scientist in the Module Simulation team, where she is responsible for the development of physical-technical models for loss analysis in PV modules.

She studied physics in Marburg and nanoscience in Lund, Sweden and received her PhD in 2015 at the Danish Technical University in Copenhagen in the field of biosensors. Since 2017 she has been at Fraunhofer ISE, in the Department of Module Technology, where she is mainly involved in the development of models for module efficiency analysis, module and material characterization and the analysis of new module concepts.

Ralf Preu is Director Division Photovoltaics (Production Technology) at the Fraunhofer ISE, which he joined in 1993. He received a diploma degree in physics in 1996 from the University of Freiburg, Germany, a PhD degree in electrical engineering in 2000 and a diploma degree in economics in 2003 from the University of Hagen. He is in charge of the Photovoltaic Technology Evaluation Center in Freiburg, the largest non-for-profit laboratory for crystalline silicon solar cells development.

Dr. Noha Saad Hussein is one of the project managers of the Flexgeber project at Fraunhofer ISE. Her research focus is the optimization of decentralized energy systems, especially coupling the heat and electricity sectors and evaluating the effect of building retrofits on decentralized energy systems.

Stephan Schindele is Diplom-Betriebswirt. He is working on his doctoral degree about the innovation processes of agrophotovoltaics and their political support. He is project manager of Agrophotovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE.

Dr. Martin C. Schubert is currently head of the Department for Quality Assurance, Simulation and Characterization in the Division Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE. The department is focused on the characterization of silicon wafers and solar cells.

He studied physics at the University of Montpellier, France, and the University of Freiburg, Germany. He received the Ph.D. degree from Fraunhofer ISE and the University of Konstanz, Germany, in 2008. Since then, he has been a scientist at the institute. His research interests include the development of novel luminescence-based analysis techniques and the study of impurities in solar cells.

Marlene Steppeler is studying in the Bachelor’s Programme »Renewable Energies« at the technical university in Cologne.

At the moment she is doing an internship at the Fraunhofer Center for Solar Energy Technologies CSET in the department for photovoltaic systems. Fraunhofer CSET was founded in 2015 and is doing application orientated research in the field of solar power in Chile.

André Sternberg works at Fraunhofer ISE on the economic and ecological evaluation of processes for the production of renewable hydrogen as well as processes that convert hydrogen into synthetic fuels (power-to-liquid).

Alexander Theis is an IT administrator in a medium-sized insurance company and also a passionate pedelec fan.

In his free time, he delves into themes related to pedelecs and electric bikes. Since 2014 he publishes information daily online on VeloStrom with the goal of supporting this type of electric mobility for the benefit of the environment, health and quality of life.

Dr. Jessica Thomsen arbeitet seit 2011 am Fraunhofer ISE und leitet das Team Dezentrale Energieversorgung und Märkte.
Sie hat Maschinenbau mit Schwerpunkt Internationales Projektmanagement an der Universität Siegen und der Universidad de Talca, Chile, studiert. Anschließend hat sie im Bereich Energiewirtschaft promoviert, ihre Promotion mit dem Titel „Modeling and evaluation of regional
electricity systems with high shares of renewable energy and flexibility technologies„ hat sie 2018 an der Universität Duisburg-Essen abgeschlossen. Seit 2019 leitet sie das Team Dezentrale Energieversorgung und Märkte. Während ihrer Zeit am ISE hat sie an mehreren Forschungsprojekten zu Themen rund um Erneuerbare Energien, Flexibilitätstechnologien und den Einfluss ökonomischer und regulatorischer Faktoren in lokalen Energiesystemen gearbeitet und das Energiesystemmodell DISTRICT mit entwickelt.

Professor Eicke R. Weber was the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE and Professor for Physics / Solar Energy at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and at the Faculty of Engineering at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany from 2006 -2016. From 1983-2006 he lectured at the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of California, Berkeley - since 1991 as Professor of Materials Science. In 2006 he received the Award of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande) of the German President. In January 2014, he received the Zayed Future Energy Prize from the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Fraunhofer ISE.