Fraunhofer Gesellschaft teams with Masdar for future PV development

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company – representing the Masdar City Project – that aims to embark on a collaborative deal to establish renewable energy projects for the region. Masdar City will be located on an area of six square kilometres approximately 30 kilometres east of Abu Dhabi, and is being designed to be a carbon-neutral city, powered entirely by renewable energy sources.

Acting as partner in the agreement are the Fraunhofer Institutes for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), Industrial Engineering (IAO) and Building Physics (IBP). Each of the Institutes will send a representative to form a project group in Masdar City and will set about planning project acquisitions and taking the first steps toward founding a Centre for the effort.

The involved parties will also look to setting up a joint institute for sustainable urban development in cooperation with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which is currently under construction.

“Our mission is to accelerate innovation in clean and renewable technologies and make these available and affordable on a global scale”, said Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. “We believe global collaboration is essential to achieving this mission and our partnerships with MIT, DLR, Imperial College and the Tokyo Institute of Technology are proof of this. The collaboration with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will also ensure Masdar plays a key role in the development of Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy sector; driving continual innovation and commercialisation of clean and sustainable energy technologies.”

Fraunhofer ISE is currently working with Masdar on various solar climatisation and solar-thermal projects. Three spin-off companies of ISE, Mirroxx, Concentrix Solar and Solar Spring, have expressed an interest in involvement with the Masdar project.