Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

What Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid does

Instituto de Energía Solar (IES) is a university-affiliated research institute operating within Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Spain's largest technical university. Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Madrid with 61 employees, IES is a public, non-profit academic entity wholly owned by UPM and operating under the Spanish public university system. Its core mission is photovoltaic (PV) solar energy research and education, covering the full stack of the domain — from solar cell technology and module performance to system integration and grid-connected applications. The institute runs dedicated research groups, maintains specialized testing facilities, and engages in applied research collaborations with industry and other academic institutions.

IES commercializes its outputs through two postgraduate educational programs (a Master of Science in Photovoltaic Solar Energy and a PhD in Photovoltaic Solar Energy), research services and consulting for industry partners, technology transfer via spin-off companies, and competitive grant capture. Pricing follows UPM's standard public university fee structure for degree programs; industry services and grants are contracted bilaterally. Notable customers and partners include Trinasolar (with whom IES inaugurated a Demo Center in 2025), QPV (10-year partnership), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, IM2NP, and the Spanish Space Agency. Recent recognition includes an ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to researcher I. Ramiro, the III Premio Fundación Naturgy-CSIC for the APE2SOL project, and the appointment of Prof. Carlos del Cañizo as General Chair of EUPVSEC 2025. IES operates primarily in Spain with European and global research collaborations.

Name

Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Legal name

Instituto de Energía Solar - Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Website

https://ies.upm.es

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Instituto de Energía Solar is a university research institute within Universidad Politécnica de Madrid that conducts photovoltaic solar energy research, offers Master and PhD programs in PV, and partners with industry on technology transfer and spin-offs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Photovoltaic Research and Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Solar Design, Engineering & Performance Software (PV Modeling, Digital Twins, Monitoring) (EUAMABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Solar Quality, Testing, Certification & Standards (Lab Testing, Inspections, Compliance) (EUAMABAN)

Keywords

• Photovoltaic research
• Solar energy education
• PV systems integration
• Solar cell development
• Renewable energy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IES conducts applied research in photovoltaic solar energy covering solar cells, modules, systems, indoor PV, and solar mobility, and delivers graduate education through a Master of Science in Photovoltaic Solar Energy and a PhD in Photovoltaic Solar Energy. It also provides industry research services, testing and characterization facilities, joint projects with universities and firms, and commercializes innovations via spin-off companies.

Product overview

Instituto de Energía Solar (IES) is a solar energy research institute that offers educational programs and conducts research in photovoltaics. The primary offerings are two academic programs: a Master of Science in Photovoltaic Solar Energy (a postgraduate course focused on PV technology) and a PhD in Photovoltaic Solar Energy (the pinnacle of academic excellence in photovoltaics research). The institute also provides research services, facilitates spin-offs, and conducts R&D in various solar energy areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Master of Science in Photovoltaic Solar Energy A postgraduate course fully centered in photovoltaics, providing comprehensive academic training in solar energy technology and PV systems for graduate students.
• PhD in Photovoltaic Solar Energy The pinnacle of academic excellence in photovoltaics research groups, offering doctoral-level research opportunities in solar energy for aspiring PhD researchers.
• Photovoltaic R&D Services Applied research services in photovoltaic solar energy covering solar cell technology, module performance, system integration, grid-connected applications, indoor PV, and solar mobility, delivered to industry partners and academic collaborators.
• PV Testing and Characterization Services Technical testing facilities and characterization services for PV devices and modules, made available to industry partners for validation and demonstration purposes.
• Spin-off Technology Transfer Technology transfer to the market through spin-off companies commercializing photovoltaic innovations developed at IES-UPM.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• QPVcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026QPV and IES mark a decade of innovation with a seminar on photovoltaic optimization, celebrating 10 years of collaborative work in PV research and development.
• CHIPNATION / FOTOPLATminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 September 2025IES participates in the CHIPNATION conference and FOTOPLAT annual assembly, representing collaboration within the Spanish photovoltaic research community.
• TrinasolarcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2025Trinasolar and IES-UPM strengthened their partnership with the inauguration of a Demo Center, establishing a physical demonstration facility for photovoltaic technology collaboration and testing.
• Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2025Joint development of the APE2SOL project with UAM, which won the III Premio Fundación Naturgy-CSIC, demonstrating successful inter-university research collaboration.
• Spanish Space AgencyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2025IES Participates in the Spanish Space Agency's Science & Industry Forum, representing engagement with the aerospace sector for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• ENEA - Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development: Italian national research agency with PV research programs. Comparable as a public-sector PV research institute in Southern Europe with industry-partnered applied research, though broader in mandate than IES.
• CEA INES (Institut National de l'Énergie Solaire): France's national solar energy research institute, combining CEA research labs with academic partners. Comparable in mission and structure to IES, though not a direct competitor in Spain/Europe geography overlap is partial.

Direct peers

• CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology): Swiss applied research center with active PV and solar systems programs. Comparable in industry-partnered applied research model, technology transfer via spin-offs, and lab-to-pilot services.
• imec: Belgium-based semiconductor and photovoltaics research center with deep industry partnerships. Comparable in pairing cutting-edge cell/device research with industry services and spin-off activity.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): U.S. national lab and the world's largest dedicated renewable energy research facility. Directly comparable in PV research depth, graduate training, and industry partnerships, albeit with a much larger government-funded mandate.
• EPFL PV-Lab: Photovoltaics laboratory at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne. Closely matches IES in academic positioning (university-embedded PV lab), research breadth across cell technologies, and graduate program offerings.
• Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB): German research center operating major PV research infrastructure, including synchrotron-based characterization. Comparable to IES in the breadth of its PV research portfolio and degree-granting activity.
• Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE: Germany's largest solar energy research institute. Fraunhofer ISE is the closest peer to IES-UPM in mission (applied PV R&D across cells, modules, systems) and scale, though it has a significantly larger budget and broader industry footprint.
• UNSW Sydney - School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering: World-leading university PV research and teaching program. Directly comparable in graduate education focus and PV research depth, with the added distinction of being credited with the PERC cell architecture.

Emerging players

• Tyndall National Institute: Ireland-based ICT and semiconductor research institute with growing PV activity. Similar university-affiliated research institute model with graduate training and industry spin-outs, though smaller in PV-specific scope than IES.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSs_iN4Db0D43kVwY0JBCgg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ies-upm
• Instagraminstagram.com/ies_upm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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