An introductory course to energy, reserves and resources

Energy and Resources is an introductory course to energy, reserves and resources which covers the social, economical, environmental and technological background of renewable energy generation. Also, a comprehensive comparison with world oil and gas reserves will take place. The goal of the course is to review the technological potential of renewable energy. At the end of the course the students will learn: How to reduce air pollution, how to decrease the dependence on coal, fossil fuels and nuclear, how to start, design and build a renewable energy system.

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Renewable energy

The goal of the course is to review and assess the technological potential of renewable energy. At the end of the course the students will have learned: (a) the importance of renewable energy resources potential, (b) the main technological pathways for renewable resources exploitation, (c) the impact of renewable resources penetration in the energy system (environmental vs. economic) and (d) how to perform an energy system design based on economic and environmental considerations.

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Solar energy into useful energy

The objective of this course is the students to have an overview of Photovoltaic (PV) technology. PV technology involves the use of semiconductor devices to directly convert solar radiation into electricity. This technology uses solar panels made up of several solar cells having PV material. There are various semiconductor materials used to make a PV system including: Silicon (monocrystalline, polycrystalline and amorphous), silicon and cadmium telluride among others.

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Organic/Perovskite PV

The goal of the course is to give students awareness of the largest alternative form of energy and how organic and Perovskites solar cells can harvest this energy. The course provides an insight into the theory behind organic solar cells and describes the three main research areas within the field i.e. materials, stability and processing.

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Organic materials for photovoltaic applications

Molecular design plays a critical role in determining the electron transport and electronic properties of a material; such as : the alignment of molecular energy levels, the intermolecular interactions and molecular packing in the solid state, amongst others.

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Autonomous and grid-connected PV Systems

PV systems can be grid-connected (work together with the local electrical grid) or work as standalone systems (autonomous). This course will introduce the design process for several complete self-contained and grid-tied PV systems.

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An overview of the software dedicated to solar energy

Modelling and simulation is a powerful tool for the conceptual design, operational analysis and optimization of energy engineering components, systems and processes. Modelling and simulation activities can reduce product design time and time to market and improve product performance, efficiency, and quality.

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A comprehensive overview of PV systems.

Today, the installed power capacity of PV systems/installations worldwide exceeds 770 GWp, while by 2023 it is expected to reach the 1 TWp milestone. Typical PV systems have a 20- or 25-year service lifetime, during which high performance and reliability are key requirements to ensure maximum PV energy yield and guarantee the expected return-on-investment (ROI).

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Design, model, simulate and present a PVS

The CSTE course offers the students the unique chance to use their gained knowledge in order to design, model, simulate and present a PVS. In the first part of the course, students are called to think as a professional renewable energy advisor, design the power plant, address the load, size the solar plant including type and number of cells, the battery storage and provide a cost estimation of the plant.

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