The Integrated Master’s degree on Energy and Environment Engineering is a 5 year program that graduates professionals with capacity of intervention in the areas of renewable energies, energy efficiency, and mitigation of the environmental impacts of conventional energy production technologies. Conclusion of the first three years of the program (180 ECTS) gives the student a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Sciences, with specificity in Energy and Environment. Although this graduation degree allows for a straight access to the labour market, it is mainly a mobility

diploma, permitting to apply for second cycles (Master’s degrees), namely, in other Engineering areas. Reciprocally, the 4th year of the course provides an access point for students with other first cycle backgrounds.

The first three years of the Master program are similar to any other mainstream Engineering programs, like Mechanical, Electrical or Electronic Engineering, but include a few “flavour” short courses like, for instance, “Earth, Environment and Climate”, “Energy Sustainability”, “Climate Change”, or “Solar Radiation and Energy”. During the first three semesters of the last two years, the students attend 6_ECTS mandatory courses on “Energy Efficiency”, “Electrical Distribution Networks”, “Combustion Technologies”, “Energy and Environment”, “Climate Changes and Emission Trading”, “Hydrogen and New Energy Vectors” and “International Energy and Environment Law”. During this period the students also attend six 6ECTS optional courses to be chosen from the following group: “Photovoltaic Energy”, “Solar Thermal Energy”, “Wind Energy”, “Heat Transfer in Buildings”, “Energy Systems in Buildings”, “Geothermal Energy”, “Biomass Energy” and “Ocean Energy”. Two of the six optional courses can be substituted by professional activity in a relevant area for the Master program.

The Master’s course is organized by the Department of Geographic Engineering, Geophysics and Energy (DEGGE), a teaching and research unit of the Faculty of Science of the University of Lisbon, with competences in the areas of Geophysics, Geographical Information Systems and Renewable Energies, in particular, Solar Photovoltaic and Energy in Buildings. Teaching is further supported by research developed by the following groups: SESUL-Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems of the University of Lisbon (http://sesul. fc. ul. pt/), CGUL-Centre of Geophysics of the University of Lisbon (http://www. igidl. ul. pt/), the Department of Renewable Energies (DER — http://www. ineti. pt/uo/uo/7uoM43) and the Department of Energy Engineering and Environmental Control (DEECA — http://www. ineti. pt/uo/uo/7uoM41) of INETI.

Since the first graduations will take place by the end of the 2008/09 academic year, information about the acceptance of these students by the labour market isn’t yet available. However, a significant number of successful summer internships in companies were carried out this year by the most advanced students. The result of these first contacts seem to be positive, since the companies involved are now clearly open to maintain the contact with these students, creating an opportunity for them to develop their Master Thesis in a company environment.

Moreover, the foreseen growth of the renewable energy industry in Europe, such as estimates by the European Renewable Energy Council, forecasts that that by 2010 their will be about 1 million jobs in the area of the renewable energies, and doubling by 2020. In order to ease integration in the labour market of recently formed students, connections with leading companies in the areas of this Master’s degree are being actively promoted.

In order to produce trainers who have technical dept as well as an appreciation for the poor rural peoples need for cost effective energy supply, the Project designed a series of training modules to include intensive hands-on activities on the design, installation and trouble shooting of PV systems and solar hot water systems and solar cookers. A manual for training technicians on the installation, maintenance and operation of photovoltaic systems and another on passive solar for

home applications were developed. A course based on these manuals was delivered to EMU faculty and a cadre of educators involved in technical and vocational training through out the country. CARITAS led the process for selecting participants and ensured substantial, if not dominant, women representation. This course ran for two weeks and have been delivered many times. It was based on a model that had been successfully used by REFAD in Southern Africa and the Carrebean. Participants’ kits will include both laboratory manuals and lecture notes that could be used for training technicians. Training of Technicians approach has been proven to be a cost effective model for building a large capacity of competent solar energy equipment technicians in developing economies.

E. Lindberg*, F. Fiedler, C. Bales, M. Ronnelid

Solar Energy Research Center SERC, Dalarna University College, 78188 Borlange, Sweden

Corresponding Author, eli@du. se

Abstract

The European Solar Engineering School ESES is a one-year master programme that started in 1999 at the Solar Energy Research Center, SERC, Dalarna University College. The programme, run in English, consists of courses which cover passive and active solar thermal, solar energy for tropical climates, PV and PV/Hybrid system design, and have sections on topics such as economy and social aspects as well as other renewable energy sources. ESES is then finished with a research project as thesis work. Over the years the contents have been evolved and improved, and new experimental work has been introduced.

The programme has been growing in popularity over the years, with over 20 students each year. Approximately half of the students come from Europe, the rest coming from all over the globe. This paper describes the contents and experiences from eight years of running the programme. The majority of the students from ESES have found work in the solar industry, energy industry or taken up PhD positions. An alumni group has been started that actively gives support to past, present and potential future students.

Keywords: Solar education, master’s programme

1. Introduction

Nowadays it is widely accepted among scientists and common people that direct solar energy is an important energy source which will contribute in gradually replacing non-renewable sources of energy. In this process, university trained engineers play a crucial role. It is therefore necessary that these young women and men get a good understanding and comprehensive knowledge of renewable energy technology.

In 1996 the formation of European Solar Engineering School ESES was proposed, in which students from all over Europe could receive appropriate training (1). Such a school should preferably be placed somewhere in Europe where the climate is stable, with clear skies during most of the year, so laboratory work and hands-on experience could be regular parts of the curricula. An ESES Initiative Group was formed in 1997, and ESES was started at the Solar Energy Research Center SERC, Dalarna University College, in Borlange (Sweden) until another suitable site could be found. This site has not been found, and in fact the search has been stopped as the programme has been found to work well in its current form and location.

During the summers of 1998 and 1999 the first trial courses in solar thermal and photovoltaic engineering were given. In autumn 1998, a curriculum for a one-year master level programme in solar energy engineering was sanctioned by the University’s Educational Board. In autumn 2007 a completely restructured one-year programme started.

The number of students has slowly increased over the years from a modest 6 students in the first full year to over 20 students in the last years. The students come from a wide range of countries from around the world.

Not all students intend to study the whole programme. They may choose single courses as part of studies in other programmes or are interested in getting knowledge in a specific field i. e. photovoltaics. Many students are exchange students in partnership with other universities, for example the Erasmus programme.

Quantitative results;

• Centres for measuring the solar energy that can be collected from tilted surfaces (unique in Romania);

• Modernization and installation, by applying the project’s energy concepts, at the terrace of West University of Timisoara, and at a terrace of the University of Architecture and Urban Planning “Ion Mincu” — Bucharest; Solar windows in The BIPV Laboratory from Polytechnic University of Bucharest

• Project website, containing: software and guide, accessible online, for: estimation of the solar energy that can be collected from tilted surfaces; PV system design; architectural solutions;

• Database containing measurements of solar energy collectable from tilted surfaces;

• Submission to the authorities of the legal requirements related to the authorisation of the operation of distributed electric power sources;

• Organisation of a thematic competition („Solar house”) for students;

• Organisation of workshop for discussing the results of the project with representatives of the target groups;

• Brochures, guidelines, bibliographies for the different target groups Estimated profits and profitableness:

• Development of specialisation, in the solar architecture with great opportunities within EU market;

• Achievement of important steps in the development of the photovoltaic industry in Romania;

• Possibility of capitalization on the results obtained by the project in Romania’s neighbouring countries;

• Achievement of important steps in fulfilling Romania’s commitments as future member of the EU, as regards Chapters Environment and Energy.

Dissemination plan:

Logical Diagram of the project dissemination activities is presented in Fig. 1. Main points of this dissemination plan are considered to be the following:

• Organisation the visiting of the demo PV installations for interested public;

• Promoting the idea of solar architecture to the specialists, both through the web-site and through roundtables, conferences and colloquiums addressed to both local authorities and the large public. Editing a Newsletter for presenting the results of the project and elaboration of brochures for dissemination to the large public;

• Creation and administration of a specialised website dedicated to all project activities. The website will include two sections, one public (including users form the EU states) and one for the partners’ use;

• Organisation of a workshop on aspects related to solar radiation measuring on tilted surfaces;

• Organisation of a competition of projects/models of “Solar houses” for students of architecture and engineering universities;

• Elaboration of a guide on BIPV systems and on the new technologies, for architects, and of materials for building daylighting as well as a bibliography for specialists;

■ Presentation of the results of the project at national and European scientific events;

• Participation (by models and posters) to national exhibitions specialized in building construction: Constructexpo and Windoor.

To gather information about the heat and power plants the following methods have been used:

• internet search at the website of the plant operator

• contact via fax and e-mail (with a special questionnaire)

• telephone calls

• pictures of the plants via Google Earth

• in some cases also on site visits

For a general overview of the existing heat and power plants, an internet search was carried out. This proved to be very effective because almost all heat and power plant operators have web sites[2]. Some technical parameters like installed power and heat capacity or produced energy can also be found in the internet. However, no information about the district heating net hydraulics (open, closed or mix systems), flow rate of cold water to be refilled, temperature level or operation mode can be obtained in this way. Thus, internet search alone does not provide sufficient information for an evaluation.

In a second step, heat and power plant operators were contacted via fax or mail with a special questionnaire about technical parameters. Unfortunately, but not completely surprising, no email or fax has been answered. With a telephone survey it was possible to obtain further technical information (like net hydraulic and summer operation) about the heat and power plant and district heating net. In general, it was unlikely to get information about the cold water flow rate, operation mode and energy generation or fuel costs.

Additionally, Google Earth was used to estimate the available area for installation of uncovered collectors. However, in all cases an on-site visit was found to be inevitable in order to gather all data required for a full evaluation. Figure 2 shows a comparison of the data collection methods used with regard to the data obtained.

The PV is sized according with the electric final energy demand, shown in Table 4. For each user/solar thermal scenario we have different electricity demand and consequently different PV areas. The reference PV system considered in this study has a total efficiency of 10.7%, with south facing panels, 35 ° inclination. The yearly production of the PV is 1363 Wh/Wp installed. The PV system is connected to the supply grid, without the support of any store devices. When there is a surplus on the production, the excess electricity is injected into the grid, if the electricity produced on-site is not enough to meet demand, electricity is purchased from the grid.

3. Results

Table 4 and 5 show the total energy electrical energy demand and the system characteristics for the twenty scenarios considered. As previous addressed in section 4, the difference between the groups BAU and BEST is electrical appliance efficiency and usage patterns.

As expected, when the ST heats the house, less PV is required, as shown in table 5.

4. Financial Analysis

To estimate the initial investment cost for renewable energy systems we considered a cost of 700€/m2 for solar thermal system and 5€/Wp for the PV [8]. In the BEST group case we also accounted for an extra cost of 250€ for each machine of class A, for total of 750€ for the three machines.

Renewables reduce the house final electricity net yearly demand and costs to zero. The 10 year simple net cost is based on a house with the same envelope, but without renewables or efficient appliances. The 10 years cumulative cost of the electricity is deducted from the initial investment cost, see table 7.

For the 10 years cost two scenarios were considered: 0.1€/kWh that is the price of electricity in Portugal and 0.2€/kWh, a conservative estimate of the “real ” price of electricity if it had followed the price rises of oil during the last years [9].

The Portuguese micro-generation law [10] gives the possibility to sell PV electricity at a subsidized price. The difference between the purchase and the subsidized price of electricity works as a financial incentive to the implementation of micro-generation. To estimate the 10 years simple net cost for the subsidized scenario we deducted from the initial investment cost, the cost of electricity that we had to buy during those 10 years, if the house didn’t have any renewable sources available, see Table 6 (price of 0.1€/kWh). In addition we also deducted the PV electricity that was not consumed in the house at the price of the difference between the purchase and the subsidized price (0.1-0.5€/kWh).

5. Conclusions

As can be seen in Table 3 from energy saving and financial perspective the best option is a house heated by the ST system with 5m2 of panel and a reservoir of 400l. Since the electrical appliances represent by far the biggest share of final energy use, for the same solar thermal configuration the BEST group always performed considerably better.

The cost and performance of the NZEB system shows low sensitivity to the size of the ST, whenever solar hot water is used to its maximum, with the best cases occurring in a wide range of panel areas: 4-8m2. In this case, the total panel (ST+PV) area is approximately constant (15m2). Clearly the infinite reservoir that the PV system has (the grid) in conjunction with the mismatch between demand and supply of the ST systems (less heat provided in winter) even the “competition” between the two systems in our NZEB scenario.

However in the subsidized micro generation scenario significant changes occur; the best scenarios are the ones where more final energy is used. This is a direct consequence of the NZEB approach, where increased energy consumption leads to more PV, and consequently more electricity sold to the grid. Clearly, if feasible, the micro generation scheme should have a variable rate, with higher rewards for the most energy efficient consumers (in our case the “BEST” consumer scenario).

Overall the results are encouraging, it is possible to make an NZEB single family house with an investment payback of ten years or less. The initial investment is approximately 100€/m2 (5-10% of the typical total house price).

6. References

[1] Green paper — Facts sheet: A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, 8.3.2006

[2] European Energy and Transports — trends to 2030, European Commission, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 2003

[3] Karsten Voss; keynote: “ Net Zero Energy Buildings”; University Wuppertal; Building Physics and Technical Building Service; Zero Energy Buildings — IEA SHCP task definition Workshop, Washington DC, USA, January 2008.

[4] Paredes, P. — "Aplicagao a uma casa unifamiliar", Optimizagao Energetica nos edificios, 2006 , Portugal.

[5] Carrilho da Graga, G.; Lerer, Maria M. and Paredes, Pedro C. — WP 2, System and Component Characterisation REPORT — Passive House, NaturalWorks, 2006, Portugal.

[6] EnergyPlus, Version 2.1, October 2007.

[7] Report: “Eficiencia energetica em equipamentos e sistemas electricos no sector residential”; Portuguese ministry of economy, April 2004. [13] [14] [15]

The received requests for funding cover a wide capacity range, as shown in figure 3. 14 formal ques­tionnaires on participation were received and initial consultation was made in some further requests. The concepts were screened with respect to their potential in saving primary energy (compared to the existing air-conditioning installation, or, in case of new buildings, to a conventional cold supply sys­tem) and suggestions were made on improvements regarding the system configuration and size, where necessary. For some requests, simulation calculations were applied in the pre-design phase, in order to estimate the primary energy savings for both, heating and cooling.

However, the current number of realisations is smaller than expected for different reasons. One of the reasons may be seen in the limited funding of the collector system cost only (approx. 30% to 50% investment grants), which is finally not far from the funding rate, provided by the market incentive programme for solar thermal applications.

Furthermore, reasons for non-realisation of proposed projects can be summarised as follows:

— in principle agreed for funding, but no further interest by the applicant

— not in accordance with formal requirements or objectives of Solarthermie 2000plus

— rejected for later participation, since no budget for funding available by the time of request

— rejection due to daubts in the concept or due to missing multiplication effects.

Three systems are currently installed or close to installation, two other systems may possibly be installed by the end of 2008 or in the beginning of 2009. Nevertheless, these systems cover a large capactity range; promising concepts are applied and new types of thermally driven chillers will be installed, demonstrating the wide range of applicability of solar thermally driven cooling.

Solarthermie 2000plus: Demonstration

Standardised apprach: Questionnaire on participation,
Accompanying research, Monitoring

Project Management Organisation PtJ *

*on behalf of the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Figure 1 Overview of the application fields in Solarthermie 2000plus.

Figure 3 Capacity range of the requests for solar cooling installations. Two of the systems are installed, a third
system is expected to be installed by the end of summer 2008.

2. Examples on installations

Two commercial companies decided to support this initiative and donated solar heating panels. One company (AES Ltd) is the only Scottish manufacturer of flat plate solar water heating collectors. The other (Solar Twin Ltd) markets a Scottish invented system which uses a freeze-tolerant flat plate collector and a PV driven circulating pump. Both these panels(about 3m2area) were mounted on a hinged framework on a side of the van so they can be hinged out to face the sun. They are connected to a thermal storage tank (about 500litres) made of galvanised steel inside the van and insulated with polystyrene foam. The tank has an internal heat exchanger which allows fresh water to be heated before being delivered to a hot water tap and a shower. The hot water in the tank can also be circulated through an underfloor heater in the main room in the van. The underfloor heater is of a novel design which uses a flexible rubber EPDM pipe laid against an aluminium sheet located under the carpet. All the pumps are 12V direct current type. The van body is well insulated using wool from Scottish sheep so heat loss is quite low.

A self sufficient and secure water supply system is also provided, using the rainwater collected from the roofs, which is stored in shallow aquifers, through a system of drains, percolation pits, trenches and wells.

In the network are two universities: Faculty of Architectures and Urbanism of Sao Paulo University (FAU-USP) and Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife.

The University of Sao Paulo undertook a study on the ambient comfort conditions and energetic efficiency in social flats [1]. After the survey, cooperation was established with the Company of Housing of Sao Paulo Municipality — COHAB, having been simulated, by request of COHAB, the replacement of fibro concrete tile by clay tile, wall of concrete blocks by brick walls, application of thermal insulation on the roofs and the increase of solar gain areas (window area). The research team

simulated also the solar protection by adopting solar shading devices on the transparent areas. The increase of window areas was studied in terms of thermal-energetic aspects, also in terms of day lighting [2].

In Brazil, the electrical consumption reduction in social housing can be achieved by the reduction of energy consumption for bathing hot water, actually is around 30% of the Brazilian mean consumption. With the adaptation of solar collectors on the roofs is expected a reduction of 50% in this final use, which corresponds a 15% of final reduction in the electrical energy bill of each habitation.

The University of Pernambuco identified some buildings incorporating bioclimatic concepts:

Ministerio da Educa? ao e Cultura (Rio de Janeiro), Santo Antonio (Recife) Building, Superintendencia do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste, Centro de Tecnologia da Rede Sarah (Salvador e Fortaleza) e o Nhcleo de Pesquisa Multidisciplinar da UFAL [1]. Since 2006 that have been analyzing the bioclimatic design contribution and correlating urban planning and urban climate, Fig.6..

Fig. 6. Temperature profile in Recife.