NGlobal Magazin 01-2010

Niedersachsen Global www.nglobal.de Energy 33 services ranging from hailstones hitting specific spots of the panel to the enormous weight of a blanket of snow covering the entire panel. Alongside the ladies there is also a male figure, Uwe, supporting the scien- tists’ work. The testing device measures the U-value, i.e. the value referring to the insulation capacity of windows. Tapping Hot Energy First implementations of the innovative energy sys- tem are already under way. In Nordstemmen, for ex- ample, solar energy is being tapped along principles that were developed in Hameln. The roof of the local outdoor swimming pool is ornamented with a pilot facility testing the use of metal roofs as sun collectors. The solar cells are not only to be found on roofs in Niedersachsen but worldwide. The thin photovoltaics cells with contacts on their back sides who owe their existence to research done in Hameln are already be- ing mass-produced by the American company Advent Solar. Tiny laser borings are responsible for minute holes in the cells through which contacts to the back side are laid. Loss of energy due to the metal on the front side are now a thing of the past. On the Sunny Side of Research The building of the institute founded 22 years ago seems to belong to another time. It leans against the Ohrberg hill which cuts through the structure diago- nally. As a result there are hardly any right angles to be found in the laboratories. On the other side size- able glass fronts offer the staff a glorious view of the Weserbergland landscape. Nearly 9.8 million euros are given annually to ISFH, of which almost half stems from economic and business partners, one fourth comes from the state of Niedersachsen. It took quite a while to build up the Institute of Solar Research to its current size. It was founded in 1987, at a time when nuclear energy was the talk of the town. Photo voltaics, solar thermal and photocatalysis were its three basic units then. In the early 90s the pho- tocatalysis section, not being sufficiently application- oriented, was separated and transferred as a research group to Leibniz University Hannover. ISFH has been attached to the University as ISFH An-Institute since then. In the 1990s, with the foundation of the scien- tific services department, the Institute started to focus on today’s core competencies. Last year a new “tech- nology hall” was completed, it does make ISFH feel braced for the future and scientists are confidently looking forward to sunny spells in the solar arena. www.isfh.de Above: With the help of artificial sun Susi I the scientist checks the performance of the solar pan- els. Her ‘colleague’ Susi II exposes the panels to higher temperatures as well as to even more inten- sive UV radiation. Right: Cameras help to under- stand the material influence on the panels’ qualities. Photos: Ulf Salzmann