Multicrystalline silicon solar cell with 21.9 % efficiency - world record back at Fraunhofer ISE
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The potential of photovoltaics (PV) has not yet been exhausted; industry and research are working intensively on further increasing the efficiency and reducing the costs of solar cells, the heart of PV power plants. For multicrystalline silicon, the workhorse of the solar cell industry, researchers at Fraunhofer ISE have now achieved an efficiency of 21.9 percent, bringing the world record back to Freiburg.
Higher efficiencies and optimised process steps are crucial to lower the price of solar electricity even further. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is working on both. The Freiburg researchers have now set a new world record for efficiency. A multicrystalline silicon solar cell converts 21.9 percent of sunlight into electrical energy. This means that Fraunhofer ISE once again holds the world record for multicrystalline silicon solar cells, which it already held from 2004 to 2015. The solar cell is made of n-type high performance (HP) multicrystalline silicon, which has a higher tolerance to important impurities, especially iron, compared to p-type. Today, multicrystalline p-type silicon material is used in industrial production and the average efficiencies are 19 percent. The new material and technology approach adopted by Fraunhofer ISE has the potential to improve the efficiency of multicrystalline silicon even further in the near future.
The number of CarSharing customers in Germany rose to 2.46 million over the course of last year. Above-average percentage growth was recorded by station-based CarSharing services. Station-based CarSharing also remains the backbone of the expansion in terms of area and is now available at 740 locations in Germany.
At the beginning of 2019, 2.46 million customers in Germany are registered with a car-sharing service, 350,000 more than in the previous year. Station-based car sharing providers are experiencing above-average growth with an increase of 21.5 percent. In free-floating CarSharing, customer growth is slowing somewhat and amounts to 14.9 percent. Overall, CarSharing in Germany continues to be on a clear growth path.
Graphic: bcs
Gunnar Nehrke, Managing Director of Bundesverband CarSharing e.V., comments:
"The positive development in the German CarSharing market over the past years shows: More and more people want to deal responsibly with the resource car and practically shape the traffic turnaround."
The association is particularly pleased with the strong growth in the area of station-based CarSharing services, as several scientific studies had shown in 2018 that this variant has a particularly high traffic-relieving effect. Association Managing Director Nehrke explains:
"In station-based CarSharing, 70 to 80 percent of customers no longer own a car. Cities and municipalities should specifically promote this variant by setting up CarSharing stations in public areas.
In connection with CarSharing funding, the association criticises the Federal Ministry of Transport: "Even one and a half years after the Carsharing Act (CsgG) came into force, cities and municipalities cannot practically apply this law in all points because the Ministry does not present the ordinances that are the basis for it.
Christian Hochfeld, Director of Agora Verkehrswende, explains the current development of CarSharing:
"It is important that CarSharing becomes visible and available in public spaces. However, CarSharing should not be seen as an individual measure, but as an integral part of a municipal mobility strategy. After all, the right traffic policy framework conditions - such as comprehensive parking space management and the expansion of environmental zones - can further strengthen the positive effects of CarSharing services."
Strong growth also on the supply side
20,200 CarSharing vehicles will be available in Germany at the beginning of 2019, 2,250 more than in the previous year. Station-based providers account for more than half of the supply with 11,200 vehicles, while 9,000 vehicles will be used in free-floating CarSharing.
In the "free-floating" market segment, 890 vehicles belong to combined station-based/free-floating offerings. This new form of offering is used by some formerly purely station-based providers in order to be able to offer the advantages of both CarSharing variants from a single source. New combined systems were launched in 2018 in Leipzig and Karlsruhe, for example.
Station-based CarSharing remains the backbone of CarSharing expansion
Graphic: bcs
Station-based CarSharing is currently available at 740 locations in Germany. This is 63 locations more than in the previous year. Pure free-floating services are currently available in seven metropolitan areas and a few surrounding communities of these major cities.
E-share stagnates at a high level, more e-vehicles in the fleets of station-based providers
Graphic: bcs
The number of electric vehicles in the German CarSharing fleet remained almost unchanged in 2018. However, there are shifts in the number of electric vehicles in the individual fleet segments: The number of electric vehicles in the free-floating fleets of car manufacturers remained largely unchanged at 1,025 vehicles. The medium-sized CarSharing providers in the station-based sector were able to increase the number of electric vehicles from 321 to 498.
On the other hand, the operators of pure e-car sharing projects recorded declines. Here, the number of vehicles fell from 431 to 304. This is mainly due to the fact that the period of public funding or the leasing contracts for a high number of vehicles expired in 2018. As the vehicles had not reached the threshold for economic viability, they were removed from the fleet. Gunnar Nehrke explains:
"The electric share in CarSharing is 50 times higher than in the national car fleet. This shows: The providers want to switch to emission-free drives. But the framework conditions are not yet right: the vehicles are still too expensive. And there is still no funding concept for the installation of charging infrastructure at car sharing stations."
With the targets for the Climate Action Plan 2050, the German government is pursuing ambitious plans. For the building sector, this means that a virtually climate-neutral building stock is to be achieved by 2050. The Federal Building Ministry has launched pilot projects, such as Efficiency Houses Plus in existing buildings, which are investigating ways to achieve this goal in a practical manner. By 2030, the political framework conditions should be designed in such a way that the requirements for a virtually climate-neutral building stock are already in place. The energy standard for the construction of new residential and non-residential buildings must be further developed by 2030. Likewise, from 2030, the energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings must largely fulfil the requirement of a virtually climate-neutral building stock.
To ensure that the necessary energy-efficient refurbishment and new construction measures are sustainable, the focus must be on holistic planning approaches that combine forward-looking architectural design and utilisation quality with energy-efficient measures. Special care must be taken with energy refurbishment measures to protect our building fabric that is worth preserving, including those that are not subject to protection under monument protection legislation. The diversity of façades must be protected.
For all buildings, whether new or old, the following applies: The compatibility with the building culture must be examined on a case-by-case basis, and various ecological, economic, technical and design solutions must be sought. Standardisation, shapelessness and arbitrariness should be avoided. They lead to a loss of identity-forming building culture.
Objectives: Extract from the fields of action
The Climate Action Plan is based on the guiding principle of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by the middle of the century. For the year 2030, it reaffirms the overall target of a greenhouse gas reduction of at least 55 per cent compared to 1990, while at the same time breaking this overall target down into individual sectors for the first time. The plan thus provides clear guidance for all sectors.
Of central importance is the reorganisation of the Energy industry. Important steps have already been taken in this sector with the energy transition. Renewable electricity will also enable other sectors - such as transport - to move away from climate-damaging fossil fuels. Renewable energies will be further expanded and coal-fired power generation will be reduced accordingly. A new "Growth, Structural Change and Regional Development" commission is to develop a mix of instruments. This is intended to help the regions and sectors that are particularly affected by the structural change associated with the energy transition.
At Buildings there is a "roadmap for a virtually climate-neutral building stock". Buildings are particularly durable, which is why the course for 2050 must be set early on. The reduction should be 66-67 per cent by 2030. This will be achieved through ambitious new building standards, long-term refurbishment strategies and the gradual phasing out of fossil-fuelled heating systems.
The Transport sector will contribute 40 to 42 per cent to the 2030 climate target. A series of climate protection concepts will identify measures to achieve this, such as a climate protection concept for road transport. Alternative drive systems, local public transport, rail transport and cycling and walking will play an important role, as will a digitalisation strategy.
In the area of Industry the reduction should be 49 to 51 per cent. The German government will launch a research, development and market launch programme to reduce previously unavoidable industrial process emissions.
For land use and Forestrywhich are not included in the assessment of target fulfilment, the focus is on maintaining and improving the sink capacity of the forest. In addition, sustainable forest management and the associated use of wood, the preservation of permanent grassland, the protection of peat soils and the climate potential of natural forest development.
The cities propose to strengthen and accelerate local climate protection through a new financial support system. The German Association of Cities today published a concept and a publication on its website. The Chief Executive of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) for a report on 6 June:
"We think it is good and important that the federal government also wants to promote municipal climate protection more strongly. From the cities' point of view, there have been far too many short-sighted and cumbersome federal funding programmes so far, which at best have caused a flash in the pan. This is no longer appropriate, because we need to act quickly and effectively to achieve climate neutrality. The German Association of Cities has therefore developed a concept for how the federal and state governments can wisely promote municipal climate protection. Municipalities should receive fixed budgets for climate protection for at least 10 years. This creates planning security at the local level, for example to renovate school buildings to make them more energy efficient or to achieve a heat supply without fossil fuels.
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