The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has chosen “Energy of the Future” as the theme for 2025. We at Helmholtz Energy are taking part in the Science Year and will be highlighting the topic of future energy in all its facets and providing exciting insights into the work of our researchers.

Energy plays a central role in our lives. Without energy, our cars wouldn't run, industry wouldn't be able to manufacture products and our homes would be freezing cold in winter. In future, energy should come from renewable, climate-friendly sources such as solar and wind instead of coal, gas or oil. 

The energy transition is a Herculean task that affects us all and that we can all influence. We need new ideas and solutions, especially new technologies, in order to create a climate-friendly and affordable energy system. Science plays a central role in shaping the energy system of the future. It researches innovative technologies to reduce climate-damaging emissions. At the same time, it aims to ensure that society and the economy benefit from the change. At Helmholtz Energy, we pursue an interdisciplinary approach in our research, i.e. various scientific disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and computer science work together to shape the energy system of the future.

As part of the Science Year 2025, we would like to take a closer look at our research and show what contribution we are making to the topic of future energies. In the first quarter, we will be presenting renewable energies and, in particular, the development of new technologies. We start with the topics of solar energy and wind energy.

These renewable energies were the most important sources of energy for the electricity supply in Germany in 2024. Wind power and photovoltaic systems together generated more than 200 TWh, which corresponds to 46.5% of total electricity generation in Germany (Bundesnetzagentur). Innovations in these areas continue to be important in order to drive forward the transformation of the energy system and achieve climate neutrality.

In the field of solar energy, researchers at Helmholtz Energy are working on the development and scaling of perovskite solar cells, which are considered to be the future of the photovoltaic industry. The aim of these research projects is to develop highly efficient and fully recyclable solar cells and modules in order to increase the sustainability of the energy system.