The SolaGrAm project has reached the final of EFRE.Stars NRW 2026 – vote now

A panel of experts has selected SolaGrAm for the final round of the EFRE.Stars NRW 2026 competition, and the project is now in the online voting stage for the People’s Choice Award. Voting remains open until 23 November 2026.

In a short project video, the project leaders, Dr Lena Klaas and Dr Nicole Neumann, present the initiative. The aim is to produce sustainable ammonia efficiently using air and sunlight. The objective of the SolaGrAm project is to demonstrate that pure nitrogen – a component of ammonia – can be produced successfully using solar energy. This is important because ammonia is a raw material for fertilisers and is also becoming increasingly significant as a fuel, for example in shipping. However, its conventional production accounts for one of the largest shares of CO₂ emissions in the chemical industry. SolaGrAm aims to create an alternative to this by energy-efficiently separating nitrogen from the air in a thermochemical cycle.

SolaGrAm is a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE). This is co-financed by the NRW Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy and the European Union.