Professor Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister of Education and Research, will visit the Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH) on 11 July, which is of particular importance to the institute’s director, Prof. Dr. -Ing. Rolf Brendel
Although this visit is also related to the tour of the constituency of Michael Vietz, a member of the Bundestag, it is also of particular importance independently, because there is a long-standing connection between the Minister and the research institute at Ohrberg.
“At the time when she was still Lower Saxony’s Minister of Science and Culture, Professor Wanka put a new facility supply system into operation at ISFH’s SolarTeC,” recalls Brendel. This not only involved significant funding from the state for ISFH, but it was also a very important contribution to further research in solar technology and thus also to the successful development of the solar research institute as a whole. “This generous funding has enabled us to carry out important projects in the field of industrial solar cells,” Brendel points out. Of course, we would like to show the minister what we have made of this opportunity,” adds the institute’s director.
In the SolarTeC, production-relevant solar cell concepts are developed and optimized on silicon wafers using screen-printed metal contacts that are typical for industry. With these processes, ISFH succeeded in 2016 in bringing the world record for a photovoltaic module from industry-typical solar cells to Germany. Today, ISFH with its cell concepts is one of the world’s leading research institutes and is therefore a sought-after research partner for equipment and cell manufacturers.
On the occasion of her visit, ISFH staff members will show the minister how the institute has developed since then. In this way, Mrs. Wanka learns more about photovoltaics and solar systems, both of which are at the heart of Ohrberg’s research department, which today employs a total of 150 people.