iL-CURRENT
October 21, 2025
Industry and politics as a lever for
groundbreaking innovations
The CLEAN TECH INNOVATION DAY & SOLAR TAP INDUSTRY DAY had the character of a symposium and a network meeting. Over 70 participants at the Heidelberg Congress Center greatly appreciated the wide range of topics and the open exchange in the clean tech sector. iL summarizes here the various highlights of the event, three sessions and the accompanying exhibition on the second floor of the HCC.
Dr. Gunter Erfurt set the mood for the event in his keynote speech. The title of his presentation: "How to navigate the clean tech sector, create innovation and succeed in the midst of today's geopolitical situation". Erfurt gave an overview of the status quo and the mechanisms at work in the global economy and politics. Europe, and therefore also Germany, had "missed the boat", leaving China and the USA to dominate in terms of sovereignty, resilience, growth and innovation, while dependencies in terms of raw materials and supply chains were also making the initial situation considerably more difficult. Erfurt: "China's focus is on controlling the supply chains. Europe, on the other hand, looks like a toothless tiger and has no answers."
Dr. Gunter Erfurt, ex-CEO of Meyer & Burger, entrepreneur, investor and start-up promoter, gets the audience at the Heidelberg Congress Center in the mood for the CLEAN TECH INNOVATION DAY & SOLAR TAP INDUSTRY DAY with his keynote speech. Picture: Lukas Adler
Gunter Erfurt calls for the protection of our markets
Despite the introduction of the European Union's Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) and the economic policy strategy paper "Growth Agenda for Germany", there is insufficient protection for our markets. Tariffs are a good instrument for curbing rising deficits. "We need fair market conditions - globally," said Erfurt. He outlined the picture of a strategic market distortion. "While China and the USA are focusing on future technologies for a specific purpose," Erfurt appealed for courage and creativity at the solution level, "we in Germany are having a supposed discussion about openness to technology. We have world-class research institutes, but are lagging behind when it comes to implementation." Europe urgently needs to become clearer in its vision - and accelerate the implementation of ideas. The bottom line is to bring knowledge to industry and effectively introduce a unified scientific perspective into the political debate in order to achieve progress in renewable energies.
Erfurt supports several companies and start-ups as an entrepreneur, investor, business angel and mentor: SpikelyAI, e/Hy elementarhy, PinPoint, SwiftSolar, Agnostic Industries and Clearvolt.
Lin Zheng from Fraunhofer ISI added the German perspective to Erfurt's overall picture. "The role of hydrogen in the energy system: scenarios for Germany's future" was the title of the second keynote speech. The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, based in Karlsruhe, focuses on technological developments (e.g. hydrogen, batteries, energy efficiency) and innovation processes on the one hand, and on political and economic framework conditions and long-term scenarios up to 2045/2050 on the other.
Lin Zheng: "We think long-term"
"We are thinking and working for the long term," said Lin Zheng, and compared electrification and a hydrogen-oriented energy system in several overview tables for Germany. There is undoubtedly a market demand for hydrogen, but the capacities of electrolysers and the high infrastructure costs of the pipelines that will be required need to be defined. "We talk a lot with political representatives," added Lin Zheng, concluding that an expansion of renewable energies would promote industrial innovation, green jobs and cross-border cooperation in the EU. Own production lines, import facilities and the creation of a transportation infrastructure would, of course, require significant capital investment and political framework conditions.
Die Aufgabe des Fraunhofer ISI und den dortigen 350 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeitern ist es, wissenschaftlich fundierte Entscheidungsgrundlagen und ‒empfehlungen für Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft zu liefern. Ein aktuelles Beispiel für das Portfolio des Fraunhofer ISI ist das Arbeitspapier des Projekts „HYPAT – H2 Potential Atlas“.
Good atmosphere: There is plenty of time for professional exchange and networking during the breaks. Picture: Lukas Adler
"Lab to fab" and "Fab to lab"
In the three sessions "Innovative Materials", "Innovative Processes and Equipment" and "Innovative Applications", participants were presented with a wide range of topics. The expert speakers were Henning Richter (Nano-C), Senol Öz (Solaveni), Benjamin Hansberg (BASF), Jürgen Emig and Christoph Rakousky (both Freudenberg), Tobias Stubhahn (Sciprios), Kai Keller (Notion Systems), Sebastian Gatz (VON ARDENNE), Ivo Aretz (SALD), Kevin Stojanovski (hte), Jean-Charles Flores (FLEXOO), Markus Ohnmacht (Bosch), Tomas Österberg (Epishine) and Herrmann Issa (Asca) addressed the expert audience. The first session showed that material production is adapting to the specific requirements of new PV and hydrogen technology. Especially with regard to the parameters of purity, processability and availability. The second session showed that materials are not enough, but that processes and equipment as well as the scalability of innovation play a central role. The "lab to fab" concept offers various dimensions and is primarily geared towards the aspect of technological maturity, while the "fab to lab" concept implies that findings from industry are increasingly finding their way back into laboratories. What both approaches and slogans have in common is that they both generate a stronger link between science and industry, which ultimately has a positive effect on the stability and quality of the materials used and their processes.
During the third session, it became clear that innovation is much more than "just" new technology, but rather a new application of new technologies. "With our scalable production process, we are ready to meet the needs of customers with gigafactories - for example in battery cell production," said Jean-Charles Flores confidently, co-founder and CCO of FLEXOO GmbH, the InnovationLab spin-off. Whether printed sensors for electrolysers, sensor foils, battery cells or very thin, flexible foil sensors - FLEXOO has broadened its focus since the spin-off and is a sought-after partner not only for the automotive sector but also for the clean tech and healthcare sectors as well as in the large field of industrial IoT.
All speakers could be approached directly after their presentations in the "Speaker's Table Sessions". Several longer breaks after the two keynotes and between the three sessions created an atmosphere of networking, which was gladly used by the guests from Germany and abroad.
Trade fair character on the second floor of the HCC: a total of six stands enrich the Clean-Tech Symposium. Here is an impression of the Bosch stand with Kerstin Rittler (center) and Dr. Markus Ohnmacht (2nd from right). Picture: Lukas Adler
Small trade fair at the HCC: Six exhibitors
Good communication was also possible at the six stands at the small trade fair in the Heidelberg Congress Center. Bosch, Notion Systems, Sciprios, Solar TAP, FLEXOO and iL had brought along in-depth information material on their business focus as well as original "give-aways". The following day, Solar TAP, the innovation platform of the Helmholtz Association, organized another meeting with around 30 experts from the solar energy sector in the so-called "iL.Connect.Space" as an event co-partner of iL.
The CLEAN TECH INNOVATION DAY & SOLAR TAP INDUSTRY DAY demonstrated that science and industry are ideal complementary partners and that cooperation across disciplines is the salt in the soup. A bundling of measures, complex technology transfer and concrete advanced solutions seem to be indispensable or without alternative in the hydrogen and solar energy sector in the near future.
What did all attendees take home with them? In view of the geostrategic realities, research, start-ups and companies need the support of politicians more urgently than ever before for the energy transition. Gunter Erfurt said in his keynote speech: "We need to act faster, more aggressively and more clearly." Europe has been an innovation-driven continent for 150 years and Germany has always had research institutes as well as world-class companies.
So it's high time for ground-breaking clean-tech innovations before the "train" threatens to leave the station without us. Let's go ...
In a relaxed mood: Professor Uli Lemmer, Scientific Director at InnovationLab and renowned scientist at KIT. To his left is Dr. Helge Eggers, who was responsible for the content of the three sessions. Picture: Lukas Adler
Joachim Klaehn
Head of Communications
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