The "self-learning photovoltaic factory" project aims to produce more efficient cell concepts in networked manufacturing systems. New technologies and methods for digitizing the photovoltaic industry make it possible to set up a self-learning factory whose integration and networking far surpass conventional approaches. "The networking and self-optimization of industry-4.0-capable plants will make it possible to identify and implement previously untapped potential for photovoltaic machine engineering," explains Baden-Wuerttemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, whose ministry is funding the project with 1.98 million euros. The approaches developed by the self-learning photovoltaic factory could also be applied to other sectors in the future, which is why an industrial advisory council is supervising the research.

The project is being implemented by the Fraunhofer Institutes for Production Engineering and Automation (IPA) and Solar Energy Systems (ISE), the Institute for Photovoltaics at the University of Stuttgart (ipv) , the International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz e. V. (ISC) and the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) .