Fraunhofer Solar Institute, IRENA sign memorandum for global energy transformation

IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin (left) at the MOU signing with Prof Eicke R. Weber, Director of Fraunhofer ISE. 

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 17 January with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to accelerate energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions globally.

Europe’s largest solar research institute, Fraunhofer ISE provides technologies for the transformation of the global energy system with the ultimate goal of efficient, 100 per cent renewable, energy use. IRENA, the global hub for renewable energy policy, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, promotes the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy worldwide. 

“By joining forces we intend to create synergies and accelerate the deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions on a global level,” said Fraunhofer ISE’s Director, Prof Eicke R. Weber.

The signing ceremony took place at the IRENA exhibition booth on the final day of the three-day World Future Energy Summit, a global gathering of policy makers and industry leaders and one of the highlights of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates capital.

Fraunhofer ISE, based in Freiburg, Germany, has been closely associated with IRENA since the Agency’s founding conference in Bonn in 2009. IRENA was established in Abu Dhabi in 2011 and subsequently opened a Bonn-based division, the IRENA Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC). Fraunhofer solar experts have contributed to ground-breaking IRENA cost studies on renewable energy, the development of global and national policy frameworks for renewable energy deployment, and strategies to spur innovation and the uptake of state-of-the-art solar technologies.

Current collaboration is focused on grid integration and off-grid solutions based on solar photovoltaic (PV) hybrid systems for rural areas in developing countries. Fraunhofer ISE also plans to work with IRENA on renewable energy storage solutions and share the latest finding on this sector with IRENA member states.

For more information on Fraunhofer ISE and its work, see: www.ise.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer ISE press release, 17 January 2013