Research Highlights
We work every day with full commitment on solutions for the future of our energy supply.
With research from the basics to application, we create the scientific conditions for a sustainable energy supply that is economically and socially viable in the long term. Helmholtz Energy is characterized by a unique combination of a systemic perspective, broad-based research and extensive research infrastructures.
In interdisciplinary programs, our more than 2,200 researchers are developing pioneering solutions for the sustainable transformation of the energy system in Germany and worldwide. To this end, they research, develop and evaluate innovative conversion, distribution and storage technologies - from material development to innovative solutions. Including all relevant process chains for an affordable, secure and sustainable energy supply, Helmholtz Energy develops holistic, cross-sectoral concepts and solutions for an energy system of the future.
Some highlights from this research are presented below.
An integrated approach to the energy transition
The creation and analysis of energy scenarios - an essential methodology for supporting the necessary sustainable transformation of the energy system - must do justice to the complex socio-technical nature of this system. Therefore, technical, ecological, economic, institutional, organizational and social aspects - also in their interactions - must be considered in equal measure. In the Helmholtz research program Energy System Design (ESD), researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed an integrative scenario approach that meets these requirements better than most of the energy scenarios that have dominated discussions to date. The approach essentially consists of two elements: 1) the development of so-called socio-technical energy scenarios and 2) the assessment of the effects of these energy scenarios with regard to sustainability indicators. The aim is to improve the decision-making basis for the sustainable transformation of the energy system.
picture: by Foundry via Pixabay
A sustainable energy supply requires the expansion of power grids. However, new lines can also lead to grids becoming more unstable rather than more stable as expected. The phenomenon is called the Braess paradox. An international team, including experts from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), has now simulated this phenomenon in detail for power grids for the first time, demonstrated it on a larger scale, and developed a prediction tool. It is intended to support grid operators in their decision-making.
Solar hydrogen
The Innovation Pool project "Solar hydrogen: high purity and compressed" aims to improve both the scientific knowledge and the technological maturity of various viable technologies for the conversion of solar energy into hydrogen.
Building-integrated photovoltaics
Everyone knows the blue-tiled photovoltaic panels on the roofs of houses. But a house has many more surfaces at its disposal. Facades, for example. Solar modules become building elements and fulfill both the function as facade element and that of sustainable power generation. But how well does this work? And what does photovoltaics in the facade actually look like? Researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) present their research.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Forschungsbau mit bauwerkintegrierter Photovoltaik. Copyright Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin](/assets/energy/_processed_/e/3/csm_Forschungshaus_Photovoltaik_403805fe5f.jpg)