R2B-Techpitch

Five scientists presented their current research projects to the audience in short three-minute talks. The aim was not only to present their technologies, but also to attract the attention of cooperation and industry partners. All speakers were represented with a booth in the technology exhibition and were available to answer questions from interested visitors.

The solar glasses: photovoltaics with perspective

Organic solar cells are mechanically flexible, transparent and lightweight - and they can be manufactured in any shape and color using environmentally friendly printing technologies. As a result, they offer a wealth of possible applications that cannot be realized with conventional silicon solar cells. The solar glasses developed at the Materials Science Center in the Organic Photovoltaics group vividly demonstrate how solar energy can be used in the future for self-powered mobile electronics and in "smart wearables". ...

For example, semi-transparent organic solar cells are integrated into the lenses of the solar glasses, protecting the user's eye from sunlight while supplying electrical energy to an electronic circuit and two displays. The organic solar cells enable reliable operation even in low light conditions without the need for batteries to store energy.

Contact:
PD. Dr. Alexander Colsmann, Holger Röhm, Tobias Leonhard
Light Technology Institute (LTI)
E-Mail: alexander.colsmann@kit.edu
Website: www.lti.kit.edu/opv

More efficient, reliable and long-lasting LED luminaires.

LEDs promise efficient and cost-effective luminaires. Mid-power LEDs currently on the market, LEDs with moderate power density, achieve the best efficiencies at low cost. However, for a large luminaire, many individual of the small mid-power LEDs must be connected. With a pure series connection, the limit of the safety extra-low voltage is quickly reached, and a parallel connection requires active regulation of the currents in the individual strings. The new circuit divides the total current of an LED current source evenly among the individual strings of the parallel circuit. ...

This enables the interconnection of very many small and efficient mid-power LEDs to form a large, high-intensity lamp. The circuit causes only low losses and can be integrated directly on the LED board at low cost. With the help of the new circuit, large, high-intensity luminaires can be constructed with mid-power LEDs and significantly higher luminous efficacies can be achieved. For example, the luminous efficacy of a street light could be increased by 40%.

Contact person:
Michael Heidinger
Light Technology Institute (LTI)
E-Mail: michael.heidinger@kit.edu

HTS CroCo - a superconducting high current conductor

Superconductors are materials whose electrical DC resistance completely disappears below its transition temperature. Therefore, low-loss power transmission cables can be realized with superconducting materials. Due to the high transition temperature of REBCO superconductor and its high current carrying capacity, this material is suitable for energy-efficient transmission of high currents in the range of 10,000 amps and beyond. ...

HTS CroCo is a superconducting high-current conductor concept of high current carrying capacity and current density developed at KIT. The newly developed manufacturing process allows easy production of long lengths and different sizes. Depending on the required current carrying capacity, the HTS CroCo can be used individually or as a multicore cable to produce scalable high-current cables for DC energy transport or compact high-current conductors for large high-field magnets.

Contact persons:
Dr. Michael Wolf and Dr. Walter Fietz
Institute of Technical Physics (ITEP)
E-Mail: michael.wolf@kit.edu

ProLemo - Production of efficient lightweight motors

Electric motors currently used in vehicles are too heavy, too large and too expensive. In order to be able to use them nevertheless for the mass market of electromobility, innovative series production and lightweight construction technologies were developed in the joint project ProLemo. Through the targeted use of lightweight materials (fiber-reinforced composites, soft magnetic compounds) and a particularly compact, automatically produced copper wire winding, weight savings totaling around 20% were achieved compared with a reference motor of the same performance class. ...

Savings were realized primarily in rotor weight, which also reduced the moment of inertia by around 15%.
In particular, the development of a production process for manufacturing CFRP-steel hybrid shafts and a two-component injection molding process for the scalable manufacture of lightweight rotor disks made of soft magnetic compound (SMC) contributed to the weight savings achieved.

Contact persons:
Wilken Wößner and Janna Hofmann
Institute of Production Engineering (wbk)
E-Mail: wilken.woessner@kit.edu

Hybrid adhesive joints for structural components

A hybrid adhesive bond for plug-in and lap joints has been developed at the KIT Research Institute for Steel, Wood and Stone (VAKA). By combining inorganic with organic adhesive layers, the novel bond opens up new dimensions in the joining technology of structural components made of steel, light metals, or plastics. The hybrid bonded joint is significantly more cost-effective and load-bearing, as well as easier to execute than conventional bonded joints. In addition, the hybrid bonded joint has the advantage of two-dimensional load transfer without harmful heat input (as with welding) and without cross-sectional weakening (as with bolting). ...

The high performance of this hybrid bonding technology has been proven in extensive investigations at the KIT Test Institute. KIT is looking for cooperation partners for further development and application of the new bonding technology as well as for pilot use. Contact

Contact person:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Ummenhofer and Dr. Matthias Albiez (VAKA).
E-Mail: thomas.ummenhofer@kit.edu, matthias.albiez@kit.edu

Further Link

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