Berlin Science Week: Research Delivers – What is Slowing Down the Expansion of Solar Energy?

Thanks to new technologies from research, solar power does not cost more than coal-based electricity; but why is the expansion simply not getting off the ground?

Solar modules could also cover a considerable proportion of the energy requirements in cities - especially if the surfaces on the facades are also used in future. For this purpose, there are now a large number of aesthetically attractive facade solutions that also convert scattered light into electricity and are available in many colors and shapes. More and more solutions are emerging from research that enable even higher efficiencies and even lower module costs. The technologies are there and the kilowatt hour of solar power is no more expensive than coal-fired power. Yet the expansion is not getting off the ground. What is the reason for this?

Photovoltaics researchers from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) will meet with representatives from politics and industry in a panel discussion. They will discuss research successes, economic aspects, market strategies, political incentives, construction challenges and what is needed to ensure that more solar power soon finds its way into living rooms.

Panel:

  • Samira Jama Aden (Architect at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin | PVcomB | BAIP)
  • Prof. Steve Albrecht (Head of the young investigator group Perowskite Tandem Solar Cells, HZB)
  • Prof. Claudia Kemfert  (German Institute for Economic Research, Head of Department Energy, Transportation, Environment)
  • N.N.

Host: Prof. Rutger Schlatmann (Director of the Competence Centre Photovoltaics Berlin, PVcomB / HZB)

9. November 2020, 17.00 Uhr | Online

sa

  • Copy link

You might also be interested in

  • Solar experts meet in Berlin
    News
    15.06.2026
    Solar experts meet in Berlin
    The sixth tandemPV Workshop will take place in Berlin, Germany from June 17-19, 2026, hosted by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.

  • Superconducting TES array X-ray spectrometer goes into operation at BESSY II
    Science Highlight
    15.06.2026
    Superconducting TES array X-ray spectrometer goes into operation at BESSY II
    Europe's first and only TES-spectrometer at a synchrotron source is now in operation at BESSY II, developed within a collaboration between the HZB, the MPI-CEC (Mühlheim-an-der-Ruhr, Germany) and the NIST (Boulder CO, USA). The photon detection efficiency of the new instrument exceeds that of wavelength-dispersive X-ray emission spectrometers by a factor of 100 to 1000.  It will be used to investigate the electronic properties of atomically thin layers, nanostructures and highly diluted atomic and molecular samples. The team is looking forward to receiving exciting research proposals from the user community.
  • X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbols
    Science Highlight
    08.06.2026
    X-ray analysis reveals overpainted fascist symbols
    Erich Mercker was a successful painter during the Nazi era and in the years that followed. After 1945, he covered up Nazi symbols in at least one of his paintings. With an interdisciplinary team, physicist Dr Ioanna Mantouvalou reports on this study in the Nature Journal Heritage Science.