Chris Bales, Lars Broman, Eva Lindberg
Solar Energy Research Center SERC, Dalarna University
SE 781 88 Borlange, SWEDEN
Phone +46 23 778865 Fax +46 23 778701 E-mail eli@du. se

The first group of students was admitted to the European Solar Engineering School, a master’s level two-semester program at Dalarna University in Sweden, in August 1999. Now that the fifth group is all but through their year, some conclusions from our experiences are possible to draw. The paper gives the background of ESES, some information about how the program is arranged, and also some ofthe ESES staffexperiences. Further information on ESES is found on www. eses. org.

1. Introduction

Following the Brundtland Report, Agenda 21 from the Rio Conference, and the EU White Paper on RES (1997) it is obvious that solar energy has gradually to replace non­renewable sources of energy. In this process, university trained engineers play a crucial role. The engineering students of today are the designers of our technological world tomorrow. It is therefore necessary that these young women and men get a good understanding and comprehensive knowledge of renewable energy technology.

In September 1996, we proposed that a European Solar Engineering School ESES should be created, where students from all over Europe can receive appropriate training (Broman etal. 1998). During the summers of 1998and 1999 the first trial courses, in advanced solar thermal engineering and advanced photovoltaic engineering, were given. In November 1998, a curriculum for a one-year master level program in solar energy engineering was sanctioned by the University’s Educational Board. This program has now been run for five years, and a sixth yearwill start in August 2004. The program is open for applications from all over the world. The tuition is free, but living costs have to be covered by the students.

We are sometimes asked "why a master’s solar energy program just in Borlange, out of all places?" The reason is, among others:

* Solar Energy Research Center SERC was started within Dalarna University in 1984 and has since then grown into a center with high academic quality and research in many fields of renewable energy, see www. serc. se.

* John Duffie was guest professor at SERC in 1991 and taught the first master level course in solar thermal engineering here (Boman et. al., 1991).

More on the start of ESES has been presented elsewhere (Broman, 2003).