Ian Marius Peters

Group Lead at Forschungszentrum Jülich

Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

About

Dr. Ian Marius Peters is a physicist whose work combines photovoltaic innovation with a vision for a truly sustainable energy future. With a Ph.D. from the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg and over two decades of experience in solar energy research, he has authored more than 300 scientific publications spanning photovoltaics, artificial intelligence in energy, techno-economics, and renewable energy systems. His career has taken him across leading global institutions — from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg, to the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — where he has helped shape the scientific and technological foundations of modern solar research. Today, Dr. Peters leads the High Throughput Field Inspections and Recycling Group at the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI-ERN), part of Forschungszentrum Jülich, where his team develops concepts for cradle-to-cradle design of photovoltaic modules — reimagining how solar technology can be built for perpetual utility and true circularity. He is the recipient of the 2021 Hamakawa Award for his contributions to photovoltaic energy conversion and the 2023 ERC Consolidator Grant for his groundbreaking research on cradle-to-cradle recycling of PV modules, charting a path toward a solar industry without waste. More about his work can be found at: 👉 https://www.hi-ern.de/en/research/sustainable-photovoltaics

Experience

  • Group Lead at Forschungszentrum Jülich

    Head of team "High Throughput Characterization and Modeling" at HI-ERN www.sustainable-pv.de

  • Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

    Head of group "Accelerated Systems Development" in the MIT PVLab

  • Research Fellow at National University of Singapore

    Head of Simulation Group at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS)

  • Project Manager at Fraunhofer ISE