MIT, Fraunhofer set up energy research center

Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems announced the formation of a new research center in Massachusetts, part of a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fraunhofer said the new Center for Sustainable Energy Systems would receive start-up funding of $5 million from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and $1 million from U.K. utility National Grid, which has operations in the northeastern U.S.

"Under Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts intends to be a world leader in clean energy technology," said Ian Bowles, Massachusetts' secretary of energy and environmental affairs. "The MIT-Fraunhofer Center will be a vital asset in that quest going forward."

The center will be located adjacent to the MIT campus, with an initial focus on solar, green buildings and energy device prototyping.

Professor Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute, said "The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems has been highly successful over 25 years in developing technologies in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and transferring these innovations to industry."

"I expect that our new Center for Sustainable Energy Systems at MIT will be as successful here in Massachusetts and help achieve the state's goals in climate protection."

Last year, the Fraunhofer Institute said it increased efficiency in multi-crystalline solar cells using what it calls a Metal Wrap Through process (see Germany's Fraunhofer boosts solar efficiency).

Fraunhofer said the new research center's goal in solar is to significantly reduce the cost of over the next five years by employing advanced materials and smart electronics to research, design and build better plug-and-play solar modules.

In green building, Fraunhofer said the center hopes to substantially reduce the energy consumption of new and retrofitted structures by adapting state of the art building technology on both sides of the Atlantic to local needs.