Webinar - Challenges and opportunities for Europe’s scientific research in renewable energy technologies by 2020 and beyond

Q&A Session

Q: Do you believe that with BAU (business as usual) in the RES sector we will reach the 20% target by 2020? If not, what else can we realistically do?

A: In order to reach by 2020 the binding target of 20% renewable energy from final energy consumption outlined in the European RES Directive, a shift of paradigm is urgently needed.

During the webinar we discussed how scientific and technological research can contribute to meet the 2020 targets, however it also necessary to enforce this legislative framework at national level in the EU for making 20% renewable energy become a reality.

Administrative barriers are still a major problem for renewable energy development and need to be removed. There are a number of non-cost related options to be integrated for any Member State in its regulatory framework in order to really push renewable energy. This is reflected in planning regulation and administrative procedures. The Directive provides important provisions to further remove administrative and regulatory barriers which must be put in practice to pave the way for a quick and large-scale RES deployment.

Infrastructure development and priority access for renewables to the grid are key for a large-scale penetration of renewables. This should not only apply to electricity networks but should also apply to district heating networks sourced by renewables and gas pipelines for the increased use of biogas.

More efforts are essential in education and vocational training. This includes not only specific studies for renewable energy as a course topic in itself, but more focus on renewable energy topics being included in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics and other traditional technical studies. Post graduate studies, like the European Master in Renewable Energy offered by the EUREC Agency, represent important educational tools not only for young graduates but also to allow retraining to meet the rapidly growing need for skilled personnel in the renewable energy industry.

Q: Are renewables being discussed in relation to the instruments in the Eastern Partnership? Focus on Ukraine.

 A: A reliable energy supply is one of the basic prerequisites for a Country’s economic development and stability. In recent years the European Union’s energy policy has acknowledged the strategic role of its eastern neighbouring countries not only for the geographical transit of the energy imports, but also for the huge potential in terms of sustainable production of electricity and heating from renewable energy sources.

Ukraine has a program of state support for the development of renewable energy sources setting the target of 10 percent of renewable energy by 2010. At present the production of renewable energy in Ukraine is largely related to large hydropower plants, although a great number of areas offer good wind power potential. The Country has also considerable biomass and geothermal resources that could be used for heat supply.

Questions about technologies:

Q: In Solar PV, what is the type of solar cells used-cost effective and efficiency?

A: Different companies have different strategies. Sunpower produces relatively expensive but relatively more efficient monocrystalline silicon solar cells. First Solar produces less efficient cells that also cost less. High efficiency cells can sell for a price that is proportionally greater than the improvement in efficiency compared with less efficient sells because they enable the project developer to make savings in installation costs related to mountings, trackers, land, installers’ time. The magazine Photon International tracks the spot market price (in EUR/W_p) for modules from the US, Far East and Europe.

Q: Is there any research in the use of a garment with a kind of solar air conditioning?

A: at present, we are not aware of any specific research in the application of solar thermal technologies to individual items of clothing for cooling purposes.

Nevertheless, solar thermally driven cooling technologies are set to play a key role in the efficient conversion of energy in the field of building air-conditioning and refrigeration.

The demand for cooling in buildings is rising across the world and notably in southern Europe, in both the residential and tertiary sector. As most cooling and refrigeration systems worldwide are powered by electricity, this has created a massive increase in peak electricity demand, putting a burden on power supply infrastructure and generating capacity and increasing the risk of blackouts. While demand-side management is crucial, on the supply side solar thermal may represent the ideal medium-term solution. Apart from the research activities related to the components of solar thermal systems in general, such as solar collectors and thermal storage, basic research is ongoing to achieve a higher coefficient of performance (COP-values), to make machine more compact and to enable them to operate at lower driving temperatures. One critical long-term objective is to develop stable and cost-efficient new sorption materials, applicable at industrial scale.

Q: What is the potential of Integrated Solar thermal & Photovoltaic power generation systems in Europe ?

Between four fifths and five sixths of the sunlight falling on a module is dissipated as low temperature heat, a proportion of which can be captured. We are not aware of a module that is commercially available that does this. Past research projects have looked at such combinations (search among European Commission-funded projects here http://cordis.europa.eu for the projects “Highly integrated pv / thermal / structural building components” and “Hybrid photovoltaic module for roof integration”). The Fraunhofer ISE is one of probably several research laboratories looking at such technology.

Questions about master:

Q: What particular program would TU Delft potentially be hosting in the Masters program?

A: we are currently exploring both possibilities with the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) to become either “Core” provider or “Specialisation” provider. TU Delft has much research and teaching expertise in several renewable energy sources, so it represents a good candidate to teach the initial “Core” semester of the EUREC Master.

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