Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWSThe Fraunhofer CSP cooperates with many renowned companies - from start-ups to SMEs and large corporations - and supports them in developing, optimizing and bringing processes and products to market. Here you will find a few testimonials from customers whom we have already convinced with our competent, structured and successful way of working.
References
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Cooperations
Calyxo GmbH
Dr.-Ing. Michael Bauer, Technical Director / Manager Calyxo GmbH
“We have been working very closely with the research institute ever since the Fraunhofer CSP was founded. It provides us with valuable expertise from which we benefit as an industrial partner both in day-to-day business and in long-term research projects. The continuous dialog, the close integration of research, development and production and the trusting cooperation between science and industry together enable us to generate knowledge and develop new ideas. For us, this is the basis for marketing our leading technologies and reliable products successfully to our international customers in a highly competitive market environment.”
Dr.-Ing. Michael Bauer, Technical Director / Manager Calyxo GmbH
Hanwha Q CELLS GmbH
Dr. Jörg Müller, Head of Research and Development Hanwha Q Cells GmbH
“Our close and trusting cooperation with Fraunhofer is characterized by a close proximity to applications. At the Fraunhofer CSP, the focus is less on basic research than on the development of innovations that can be quickly integrated into industrial production. Hanwha Q CELLS is very interested in such short-term evolutionary developments. Another advantage that is decisive for us: The Fraunhofer CSP also reacts quickly and flexibly to short-term inquiries.”
Dr. Jörg Müller, Head of Research and Development Hanwha Q Cells GmbH
IRESEN
Badr Ikken, Managing Director IRESEN
“The Fraunhofer CSP was an enormously important partner for us in capacity building and technology transfer with the objective of achieving an energy revolution in Morocco. The first time I met them in 2012, I was really impressed by their research facilities, but even more by the professionalism and competence of their managers and employees. The Moroccan Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies is six years old and, thanks to its cooperation with the Fraunhofer CSP, has been able to establish the largest research platform for photovoltaics and solar thermal energy in Africa.”
Badr Ikken, Managing Director IRESEN
Awards
Awards
Here you can see an overview of the prizes won by our scientists.
Year |
Prize |
Award winner |
| 2024 | Innovation Award of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV) Dissertation “Analysis and evaluation of oxygen obtained from electrolysis in the focus of decentralized energy systems” |
Dr. Franziska Hönig |
| 2024 | Innovation prize winner of the ZENITH e.V. network "SOLARcon - Yield-optimized aligned small PV modules in exposed concrete facades", 1st prize |
Fraunhofer CSP |
| 2024 | 39th PV Symposium: Best Poster Presentation Second price for poster presentation “Polymer additives — curse and blessing for the reliability of photovoltaic modules” |
Robert Heidrich |
| 2023 | Heinz Bethge Prize for Materials Science of the Heinz Bethge Foundation for Applied Electron Microscopy Dissertation "Parasitic oxides at buried interfaces in modern silicon solar cells" |
Stefan Lange |
| 2023 | Silicon PV Award der 13th Silicon PV Conference International symposium, award for the paper "Enhancement of NiOx/poly-Si Contact Performance by Insertion of Ultrathin Matallic Ni Interlayer" |
Stefan Lange, David Adner, Christian Hagendorf |
| 2021 | Klemens Ilse honored with Schott AG Materials Award The contamination of solar modules by dust and sand causes significant yield losses in the increasing use of photovoltaic systems in desert regions. In his doctoral thesis, Dr. Klemens Ilse from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS researched the causes, analyzed the magnitudes and developed solution strategies. For this he was awarded the Schott AG Materials Prize. |
Klemens Ilse |
| 2020 | Best Poster Award of the EU PVSEC The Fraunhofer CSP team was awarded for the poster "Novel PV module interconnection design and mounting orientation to reduce inhomogeneous soiling losses in desert regions". |
Hamed Hanifi, Muhammad Zahid Khan, Bengt Jäckel, Christian Hagendorf, Klemens Ilse |
| 2020 | German-African Innovation Award (GAIIA) Development of a pollution sensor for photovoltaic systems in desert areas |
Ralph Gottschlag |
| 2019 | Best Student Oral Award of International Conference on Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment IC-SEWEN 19 awarded to Hamed Hanifi for his presentation on »Optimum PV Module interconnection layout and mounting orientation to reduce inhomogeneous soiling losses in desert environment«. |
Hamed Hanifi |
2019 |
46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC): Best Poster Award Klemens Ilse from the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle was awarded the Best Poster Award at the 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) in Chicago. |
Klemens Ilse, Charlotte Pfau, Paul-Tiberiu Miclea, Stephan Krause and Christian Hagendorf |
| 2019 | Hugo-Junkers Prize of the State of Saxony-Anhalt DENKweit GmbH, founded by Dr. Dominik Lausch, Dr. Kai Kaufmann and Markus Patzold, offers a new solution for measuring the state of health of electronic components such as batteries and solar modules. The team received the award for the most innovative product. |
Dominik Lausch, Kai Kaufmann und Markus Patzold |
2019 |
34th PV Symposium: Second-Best Poster Presentation Matthias Pander, Bengt Jäckel, David Daßler and Matthias Eber were awarded the prize for the second-best poster presentation at the 34th PV Symposium. |
Matthias Pander, Bengt Jäckel, David Daßler and Matthias Ebert |
| 2019 | Hugo-Junkers-Preis DENKweit GmbH, founded by Dr. Dominik Lausch, Dr. Kai Kaufmann and Markus Patzold, offers a new solution for measuring the state of health of electronic components such as batteries and solar modules. The team received the award for the most innovative product. |
Dominik Lausch, Kai Kaufmann and Markus Patzold |
2019 |
VDI Research Award Manuel Meusel was awarded the VDI Research Award for his work on LED sun simulators. |
Manuel Meusel |
| 2018 | SelectMINT-Award to Klemens Ilse for "Investigation of dusting processes on paint surfaces". |
Klemens Ilse |
| 2018 | Hugo-Junkers Prize of the State of Saxony-Anhalt for the 1st place in the category "Product Development/Services/Start-Up" to Dominik Lausch for "DENKweit GmbH, contactless spatially resolved analysis of electrical currents". |
Dominik Lausch |
| 2018 | Best Poster Award in the category »PV Modules & Systems« of the International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Exhibition & Conference (SNEC) for Christian Hagendorf and Volker Naumann for »Rapid PID Testing and Assesment of PID Stability at installed PV Modules«. |
Christian Hagendorf, Volker Naumann |
2017 |
Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE PVSC 44 Conference Klemens Ilse received the Best Student Paper Award for his work “Comparing indoor and outdoor soiling experiments for different glass coatings and microstructural analysis of particle caking processes”. In it, the doctoral student in physics presents the results of pollution simulations in the laboratory compared to five-month surveys in the Atacama Desert in Chile, which can replicate the pollution characteristics of solar modules in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner. |
Klemens Ilse |
| 2017 | Hugo-Junkers Prize of the State of Saxony Anhalt
|
Jens Schneider |
2017 |
2017 Materials Prize of Scott AG Rico Meier was awarded the Materials Prize of Schott AG for his contribution to the non-destructive manufacture of copper strips in the production chain. The physicist succeeded in developing characterization methods using sound waves (Lamb waves) that monitor the mechanical properties of copper during the manufacturing process in order to make reliable statements about its quality. This process results in an enormous increase in quality and continuity in the production chain for copper strips and is thus an example of the added value for industry and society that an excellent knowledge of the microstructural level can provide. |
Rico Meier |
2017 |
DIN Innovation Award For the development of a test method for a frequently occurring defect in silicon solar cells, Volker Naumann has received the DIN Innovation Award, worth 3000 euros, from the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP. |
Volker Naumann |
| 2016 | Best Poster Presentation Volker Naumann was awarded the prize for Best Poster Presentation in the PVSEC-26's photovoltaic module category for his presentation on "Outdoor PID Testing of Modules in PV Systems". |
Volker Naumann |
2016 |
Young Talent Award of the Heinz-Bethge-Foundation for Applied Electron Microscopy For her dissertation entitled “Origin and characterization of non-metallic foreign phases in silicon crystallization processes for photovoltaics”, Susanne Richter was awarded the Young Talent Award of the Heinz Bethge Foundation for Applied Electron Microscopy. The findings contribute to the early detection of defective material |
Susanne Richter |
2016 |
PhotoVoltaica Recognition Award 2016 for “Services to the development of renewable energy in Morocco” The Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP was recognized for its services in developing renewable energy in Morocco at the PhotoVoltaica trade fair in Casablanca. The Fraunhofer CSP has cooperated closely with partners in Morocco since 2012, especially on topics concerning module reliability and solutions for photovoltaics in desert regions. |
Jörg Bagdahn und Team des Fraunhofer CSP |
2016 |
Sponsorship award of the VDI Leipzig district association for “Development of load introduction elements for a light vehicle with a natural fiber-reinforced sandwich structure”. Young engineers Florian Wallburg and Patrick Funke were honored for their outstanding master theses by the Leipzig district association of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) with the sponsorship award. Florian Wallburg, 2nd prize winner, dedicated himself to questions concerning the industrial production of crystalline solar cells in the work “Evaluation of the strength of polycrystalline silicon in the area of grain boundaries”. Patrick Funke, winner of the 3rd prize, examined the use of renewable raw materials for the development of new hybrid materials in his thesis “Development of load introduction elements for a light vehicle with a natural fiber-reinforced sandwich structure”. |
Patrick Funke, Florian Wallburg |
2016 |
2016 Materials Prize of Scott AG Volker Naumann was awarded the Material Prize 2016 of Schott AG for elucidating a frequent defect in silicon solar cells. The physicist received the prize, worth 1500 euros, for his research results on “Potential induced degradation (PID) of Silicon Solar Cells”. His work helps to improve the life and efficiency of solar modules. |
Volker Naumann |
2015 |
Recognition Award of the City of Halle at the Central German IQ Innovation Prize Volker Naumann and his colleagues at the Fraunhofer CSP were awarded the Recognition Award of the City of Halle for their development of a test device for the quality control of solar cells and modules. The team succeeded in elucidating the physical bases of potential-induced degradation (PID) through investigations on the nanoscopic level, in developing an efficient testing method and in making this available to producers in the test device, the PIDCon. The defect is a frequent cause of performance losses in photovoltaic modules and a consequent risk for producers. |
Volker Naumann |
2015 |
Luther Certificate of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg Volker Naumann and his colleagues at the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP in Halle were awarded the Luther Certificate of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg for their development of a test device for the quality control of solar cells and modules. The team was able to elucidate the physical bases of potential-induced degradation (PID) and to develop an efficient test method with which the susceptibility of cells to this defect can be tested. |
Volker Naumann |
2015 |
Green Photonics Young Talent Award Torsten Büchner from the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP was awarded 1st prize in the category “Bachelor's, Master's and Diploma Theses” in the Green Photonics Young Talent Competition. In his master thesis, he investigated a method with which solar cells can also use incident light, which was previously unusable |
Torsten Büchner |
2015 |
SiliconPV Award Susanne Richter received the SiliconPV Award for her work “High-resolution Structural Investigation of Passivated Interfaces of Silicon Solar Cells”. |
Susanne Richter |
2013 |
Silicon-Award of the 3rd International Conference on Silicon Photovoltaics Volker Naumann and Felix Kaule beat 190 competitors to win the Silicon Award for their research into the causes of potential-induced degradation and the strength of solar cells. |
Volker Naumann und Felix Kaule |
2013 |
Poster Award of the East Bavarian Technology Transfer Institute OTTI Sylke Meyer received the poster award of the East Bavarian Technology Transfer Institute OTTI for her contribution entitled “Snail Traces: Cause Analysis and Test Methods”. |
Sylke Meyer |
2012 |
Best Student Paper Award at the 164th Conference of the Acoustical Society of America Rico Meier has received the Best Student Paper Award in the category “Structural Acoustics and Vibration” for his presentation “Guided wave approach for inline photovoltaic module component inspection”. The scientist utilized the scattering properties of guided ultrasonic waves known as Lamb waves to determine the elastic properties of solar cell connectors. The results of his paper can be used to monitor the manufacturing process of the cell connectors non-destructively and continuously. |
Rico Meier |
2012 |
Best Poster Award at the PV Asia Pacific Conference For his paper “Elemental evolution of the SiO x F y self-masking layer of plasma textured silicon and its modification during air exposure”, Volker Naumann received the Best Poster Award of the PV Asia Pacific Conference
|
Volker Naumann |
2012 |
Student Award at the EU-PVSEC Physicist Dominik Lausch of the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP was awarded the Student Award for his work “Classification and Investigation of Recombination of Active Defects in Multicrystalline Silicon Solar Cells”. He investigated “recombination-active defects” in multicrystalline silicon solar cells, which significantly reduce the efficiency of solar cells. |
Dominik Lausch |
2011 |
FAHL Prize 2011: Prize for the Best Poster Contribution Dominik Lausch from the Fraunhofer CSP has received the 2011 FAHL Prize for “Best Poster”. The prize is awarded annually by the Working Group on Semiconductor Research Leipzig (Fächerübergreifende Arbeitsgemeinschaft Halbleiterforschung Leipzig, FAHL) for outstanding scientific work. Lausch's work represents a first-time basis for the systematic investigation of “recombination-active defects” in multicrystalline silicon solar cells. Material quality plays a crucial role in solar cells. For this reason, the analysis of electrically active defects generated during wafer production or during the solar cell process is of central importance. The goal is to increase the efficiency of solar cells. The international jury praised the high quality of the groundbreaking work. |
Dominik Lausch |
2011 |
Prize for the Best Poster Contribution at the Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop |
Matthias Ebert |
2011 |
Sponsorship Award of the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences Mechanical engineer Matthias Pander from the Fraunhofer CSP was awarded the sponsorship award of HTWK Leipzig for his thesis “Mechanical investigations of solar cells in solar modules using finite element modeling”. In his thesis, he thoroughly investigated the mechanical stresses that can act on solar cells. Among other things, Pander developed a model for calculating the residual stress state of a standard solar cell after burning in the metalization pastes. |
Matthias Pander |
2010 |
Best Poster Award, 5th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference At the European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference PVSEC, Marko Turek and Jan Lich were presented with the Best Poster Award for their contribution “Comparison of carrier-lifetime measurement methods on mc-Sci blocks”.
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Marko Turek und Jan Lich
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2010 |
Best Poster Award, E-MRS 2010, Spring Meeting Stephan Schönfelder was honored with the Best Poster Award for his contribution “Infrared birefringence imaging of residual stress and bulk defects in multicrystalline silicon”. |
Stephan Schönfelder |