Integrating charging stations for electric vehicles into street lamps is an approach that saves costs. What makes the idea so enticing is that the intelligent billing technology is not integrated into the charging station, as is usually the case, but in the car. In the first project stage a mobile measurement data recording system within the electric vehicle – the on-board metering system – has been developed to the pilot stage.  more...

The construction of an inner-city pilot route for superconductive cable has begun. The superconductive cable has hardly any electrical resistance. As a 10,000-volt cable, it can therefore transport just as much electricity as a 110,000-volt high-voltage cable. That saves space and simplifies the distribution networks. If the pilot project is successful, this can transform the electricity grids in urban areas.  more...

How will electromobility influence traffic in the future? The Institute for Transport Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is developing a model designed to illustrate the effects of electromobility on road traffic. A particular focus is on the mobility behaviour of people using electric cars.  more...

A dense network of electric charging stations will need to be created if electric cars are to become more attractive. Until now there has been no uniform interface and sequence control system for charging electric cars. Using funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, a solution for communicating between the charging columns and the electric cars is now being developed. This should make it possible to recharge all types of cars at any charging column.  more...

How can storage systems be optimally operated? How can the incorporation of renewable energies in the supply grid be supported? These questions are being examined in the "green2store" project. The aim is to unite decentralised storage systems in a virtual cloud and make them accessible.  more...

It is planned to temporarily store surplus electricity from renewable energies using Power-to-Gas. This process uses electrolysis to convert the electricity into hydrogen, which can then be easily stored like natural gas. Although previous electrolysis systems have not been economically efficient. A new design should now enable the technology to be produced cheaply on a megawatt scale.  more...

The "Future-oriented electricity grids" funding initiative gives new impetus for research in Germany. As part of the scheme, technologies and concepts for extending the grid infrastructure are being investigated. Three federal government ministers today gave the starting signal for the funding initiative. Researchers are invited to submit their project plans by 27 March 2013.  more...

What potential is provided by thermochemical storage systems? Researchers at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have been pursuing this question. With a new test plant they are investigating the extent to which solar heat can be stored thermochemically for industrial processes and solar power plants.  more...

Redeveloping an urban district represents not just an architectural challenge - the tenants behind the facades must also be taken into account. Those involved in the "Weingarten 2020" research project are aiming to meet both demands. With the involvement of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, they have created the first passive high-rise building in a district of Freiburg. A further important milestone was the optimisation of the energy supplies.  more...

When it comes to transporting heat from boilers to heating surfaces or supplying cooling energy to cooling ceilings, water has proved to be an excellent heat transfer medium. However, in some application areas it is now facing competition: various research groups are working on heat transfer fluids that have at least double the energy density. Phase change materials such as paraffin, which are finely distributed in water, store heat when they melt and release it again when they solidify.  more...