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About us

Organization of ISFH

At the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH), we are working on innovative components for the photovoltaic as well as solar thermal utilization of solar energy. Our main focus is the physical understanding of individual components and the development of cost-effective fabrication processes. As a single component may behave differently on its own than integrated into a system, single components fabricated at ISFH are also tested as part of energy systems.

We support the utilization of solar energy in collaboration with our partners from industry and our students through research and innovations.

ISFH is a research institute of the state of Lower Saxony and a non-profit limited liability company. We are an associated research institute of the “Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover” and also cooperate with other universities and universities of applied sciences in Lower Saxony as well as other federal states. The director of ISFH is Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Rolf Brendel, who is also a university professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Leibniz Universität Hannover. Professor Brendel is the head of the department Solar Energy at the Institute of Solid State Physics.

ISFH has three departments: “Photovoltaics”, “Solar Energy Systems”, and the calibration and test center “ISFH CalTeC”.

Our field of work in photovoltaics includes fundamental material research as well as development of processes and tools needed for the fabrication of solar cells and modules. The main focus is the development of novel silicon solar cells and the corresponding module technology to achieve energy conversion efficiencies above 20% on module level. Our superior goal is the reduction of levelized costs of electricity of solar energy conversion.

The department “Solar Energy Systems” focuses on the integrated energy supply of decentralized units such as buildings and housing estates with electricity and heat. The goal is to achieve a low-cost and low-carbon supply of energy in high-quality systems. To that end, ISFH is developing, assessing, and optimizing, among other things, solar thermal collectors, new coating processes and storage concepts, and new applications for and combinations of energy systems.

ISFH CalTeC (Calibration and Test Center) is offering independent and accredited calibration of silicon solar cells as well as assessment of solar absorber coatings, spectroradiometers, and solar thermal systems as well as components.

The institute is a member of the “Renewable Energy Research Association” (ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien, FVEE), a nationwide cooperation structure of institutes researching and developing technologies for renewable energy.

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board appoints, controls and advises the Managing Director. According to the Institute’s statutes it consists of up to nine members. Some of the members are directly appointed by the State of Lower Saxony, the rest being elected by a shareholders’ general meeting. The Supervisory Board also regularly invites guests to its meetings who perform an advisory function. The members of the Board were:

Ministerialrat Dr. Sebastian Huster (Head of the Supervisory Board), Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur Hannover
Regierungsdirektorin Dr. Nina Eidam (Deputy Head of the Supervisory Board), Niedersächsisches Finanzministerium, Hannover
Landrat Tjark Bartels, Landkreis Hameln-Pyrmont
Physikoberrat Dr. Heiko Stanzick, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Klimaschutz, Hannover
Prof. Dr. Rolf Haug, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Dr. Ulrich Stiebel, Stiebel Eltron GmbH & Co. KG, Holzminden
Dr. Peter Wohlfart, SINGULUS Technologies AG, Kahl am Main

Scientific Advisory Board

The Scientific Board advises the Director and the Supervisory Board of the ISFH on all scientific, technical and organizational issues. Board members were nominated by the Lower Saxon Minister for Science and Culture.

The Board members are respected scientists from universities and industry as well as other personalities who, through their professionals experience, are familiar with the research topics of the ISFH.

This year’s general meeting of the Board was held at ISFH on 2 December 2016. The members of the Scientific Advisory Board were:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Wriggers (Head of the Scientific Advisory Board), Vizepräsident Forschung der Leibniz Universität Hannover
Prof. Dr. Günter Bräuer, (Deputy Head of the Scientific Advisory Board), Fraunhofer-Institut für Schicht- und Oberflächentechnik, Braunschweig
Prof. Dr. H. Jörg Osten, (Deputy Head of the Scientific Advisory Board), Institut für Materialien und Bauelemente der Elektronik, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Prof. Dr. Silke Christiansen, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Denz, REG LAS Ingenieurbüro, Lehrte
Dr. Elimar Frank, Forma Futura Invest AG, Zürich
Dr. Bernd Hafner, Viessmann Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Allendorf (Eder)
Dipl.-Ing. Helmut Jäger, SOLVIS GmbH & Co. KG, Braunschweig
Prof. Dr. Stephan Kabelac, Institut für Thermodynamik an der Leibniz Universität Hannover
Dr. Dirk Holger Neuhaus, SolarWorld Industries GmbH, Freiberg
Dr. Erik Sauar, Differ Group, Oslo
Dr. Kai Schiefelbein, Stiebel-Eltron GmbH & Co. KG, Holzminden
Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß, Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW), Stuttgart
Dr. Marc Vermeersch, QEERI (Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar