Buildings hold massive energy-saving potential. About one third of the energy consumed in Germany is used for the heating and air-conditioning of homes and offices. With intelligent building technology, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 40 percent. Houses built before 1983 are particularly profligate energy-wasters – they need more than 20 liters of heating oil per square meter and year. Houses built today need just one third of that. The low-energy and ‘three-liter’ houses developed by Fraunhofer scientists and engineers consume even less energy.

 

Fuel cells work extremely efficiently. They convert chemical energy directly into power and heat – with hardly any emissions and an electrical yield in the region of 50 percent. If the fuel cells are installed inside a house, the heat they generate can also be used, which increases the total efficiency to 80 percent.

Using energy sparingly is one step towards achieving a sustainable energy supply. Over the long term, however, renewable energy sources such as the sun, wind and biomass must be used as direct sources. Wind power is currently the most important form of renewable energy used in power generation. But at which sites does enough wind blow? How should the turbines be designed? What stresses will they have to withstand? What requirements will offshore facilities have to meet? Our engineers and scientists provide answers to these questions.

 

The sun is a gigantic and virtually inexhaustible power source. In just one hour it delivers as much energy as is consumed on Earth in one year. Photovoltaic systems and solar thermal power plants make it possible to utilize the sun’s energy. Our scientists and engineers have conducted extensive research on the fundamental principles. Now they are developing new, even more powerful and economical systems, such as highly efficient solar cells, and are also studying the use of metallurgical silicon.

Wind and solar facilities have one disadvantage: They produce ‘uncontrolled’ energy. To ensure an uninterrupted supply of energy, even when there is no wind or sunshine, new systems are required which store energy as it is generated and deliver it when it is needed. Intelligent energy management is also needed. New information and communication technologies offer many and varied opportunities to this end.