Dorota Chwieduk, R. E. Critoph2, Tony Book

1Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Swietokrzyska 21, 00049 Warsaw, dchwied@ippt. gov. pl

2 School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, UK. R. E.Critoph@warwick. ac. uk

3 Riomay Ltd, 1 Birch Road, Eastbourne, BN23 6PL, UK, tonybook@pavilion. co. uk

Educational goals in scientific subjects can best be achieved if theory is backed up by demonstrations of practical applications. To achieve the aim of educating young people in solar energy, a Polish — British project “Solar Energy Educational Demonstration System for Schools — Mini Solar Laboratory" has been undertaken. The UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has supported the project. The main aims of the project are to increase the awareness of renewables in young people through the process of theoretical study and experimental work on solar energy, and to implement environmental protection through renewable energy applications.

The background of the project

A Polish — British project — Solar Energy Educational Demonstration System "Mini Solar Laboratory" for Schools has been undertaken by Polish and British partners representing science, education and business. The prime purpose was to present to young people the principles of renewables and their role in a modern industrial world. In Britain there are many different demonstration and educational projects for young people focused on energy conservation and applications of renewable energy. However, there are not so many such projects in Poland.

In Poland to promote utilisation of solar energy at schools a few active solar systems, equipped with flat plate solar collectors or PV modules have been installed. Most of these systems have been installed thanks to international co-operation and international funds. Some general information about two projects is given below.

The realisation of the first project was made possible due to the Polish — Danish bilateral co-operation and Danish financial support. A solar heating system with 80 m2 of solar collector and a 3 m3 storage tank has been installed in the primary school (nr 173) in the city centre of Lodz [1]. The solar system supplies hot water to the hot water system at the school, the heat surplus being used to warm up the water for the school swimming pool. The other solar school project was realised in Wawer near Warsaw [2]. This is a roof — mounted 1 kWp PV grid connected system (one of the first of its kind in Poland). The system consists of 20 BP Solar double-junction thin-film amorphous silicon PV modules (MST-50 MV) in universal frames. The area of the array is 16 m2The system was built as a result of Polish — American co-operation thanks to US Ecolinks Program. Both these projects are typical demonstration projects and promote the idea of solar energy through the demonstration of the modern solar energy technologies.

The main aim of our project was not only to demonstrate solar technology but also to educate young people in solar energy through a theory and practice. For a good practical education it is important not only to learn about solar energy and other renewables but also to be able to interact with a real solar system, i. e. to alter its operation and control parameters, and to learn from the effect on the system performance and solar energy fraction. The objective of the project was to build a school display, in the form of a "mini solar laboratory" that can demonstrate and teach Solar Energy at the same time. It was decided that the laboratory should consist of two parts: an open — air laboratory on the roof of the school and indoor laboratory inside the school building. The indoor laboratory is
connected by a monitoring and visualisation system with the outside part. This allows pupils to change the system control parameters by the use of computer software.

The realisation of the project was possible thanks to The UK’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which has supported the purchase of a "Mini Solar Laboratory" via its Environmental Assistance Fund.