partners from industry and science, components and complete fuel cell systems are developed for autonomous, portable as well as mobile applications. Service Units Presently the following certified test labs provide testing and calibration services at the laboratories: TestLab Solar Thermal Systems TestLab Solar Facades TestLab PV Modules CalLab PV Cells CalLab PV Modules Other service establishments at the laboratories are: Quality Assurance of PV Power Plants Photovoltaic Power Electronics Inverter Laboratory Battery Testing Laboratory Lighting Laboratory Laboratory for Vapour Compression Heat Pumps Phase Change Materials (PCM) Laboratory Testing Laboratory for Adsorption Materials and Porous Materials TestLab Fuel Cells Cooperation The Institute is one of the founding members and the Member-in-Charge of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance, comprising sixteen Fraunhofer institutes with expertise in energy technology and energy research. The Institute is a member of the ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien (FVEE) and the European Renewable Energy Research Centres Agency (EUREC), as well as other alliances. The Institute maintains a close cooperation with the Material Research Center of the University of Freiburg, which assists the Institute with fundamental research. Th institute director holds a faculty position at that University as professor of physics and applied sciences. Spin-Offs To date, 12 spin-off companies have been founded from the applied research results at Fraunhofer ISE. Among them are the following: In 1999, PSE AG was founded to provide services and expertise on solar energy. In addition to compiling studies and reports, the company provides measurement and control technology and custom-made laboratory equipment. In 2001, Holotools GmbH (now temicon GmbH - holotools) was founded to develop and manufacture functional surfaces for the management of light. One particular expertise, for example, is the production of large-area homogeneous microstructures for optical surfaces. In 2002, SorTech AG (renamed Fahrenheit AG as of March 2017) was spun off to exploit heat sources for producing cold, thus using low temperature heat as an energy source instead of electricity. As a result, Fahrenheit advanced the underlying technology, adsorption cooling, and produces chillers which use residual heat from a variety of sources to economically generate cold. Soitec Solar, founded in 2005, brought an innovative photovoltaic technology using concentrated sunlight to the market. With this technology, photovoltaic power stations from 100 kW up to several megawatts are further developed, manufactured, and installed. In 2014, Enit Energy IT Systems GmbH was spun off to develop and market energy management systems for medium-sized enterprises. These systems help