Dr. Mihaela Dudita-Kauffeld

In this applied Research Project the SPF Institute for Solar Technology carried out a feasibility study for the storage of solar energy in an aluminum redox cycle. Alumina (aluminum oxide) can be converted to elementary aluminum with an electrolysis smelter process that consumes electricity from solar or other renewable sources, and this elementary…

We combine solar energy with innovative water treatment technologies to enable communities or institutions to purify water on-site. This includes the design of suitable PV systems in conjunction with water treatment methods such as Gravity Driven Membranes (GDM) or solar water disinfection (SoWaDis).

There is a lack of knowledge on the lifetime assessment of modern solar selective absorbers. In the project ColourAge, the performance and durability of different aluminium based coatings are studied. The combined effect of high humidity, condensation and temperature on the degradation of optical and chemical properties is assessed. Advanced…

Clean water, a reliable power supply and cooling systems for medicines and vaccines are not a given in many rural hospitals in Africa. To ensure better healthcare also in remote regions, the EU is supporting SophiA project, which relies on modular containers to produce drinking water, heat, cold and electricity using solar energy. SPF Institute for…

The storage of larger amounts of renewable energy over longer periods of time can be considered one of the last unsolved problems of the energy transition. In the HePostAl and HybridStock projects, it was shown that aluminium enables the seasonal storage of renewable energy by means of a redox cycle and that the annual demand for electricity and…

The overall goal of the TRI-HP project is the development and demonstration of flexible energy-efficient and affordable trigeneration systems. The systems will be based on electrically driven natural refrigerant heat pumps coupled with renewable electricity generators (PV), using cold (ice slurry), heat and electricity storages to provide heating,…

Seasonal energy storage is one of the largest challenges of the energy turnaround. In the project HybridStock, the seasonal storage of renewable energy in aluminium is investigated. At times of high availability of electricity from renewable sources, this energy is converted to chemical energy and stored in elementary aluminium. In winter, chemical…

A 1 kW closed sorption thermal energy storage system (TES) prototype is set-up and tested at HSR-SPF. This can be charged in summer with heat from solar thermal collectors or with electricity from photovoltaic modules. The system can achieve a significantly higher volumetric energy density compared to sensible hot water storage. The closed sorption…