Learning with solar power

Education project brings photovoltaics to schools in Russia

Russia may not be the first country one thinks of when it comes to solar energy. But the fact, that this energy source is more than abundantly available there, is shown by a project involving the construction of solar systems in Russian schools – together with the pupils. Seven schools are already taking part and more will follow.

The project aims to educate young people about the advantages of renewable energy and gives them the opportunity to gain theoretical and practical experience by operating solar power systems themselves as well as utilizing the energy generated by those systems. For the project, the NGO ideas into energy and the initiative “Schools: Partners for the Future” (PASCH) of the Goethe-Institut Moscow have joined forces, supported by the companies eclareon and Solar23, the German Solar Association and the Russian section of EUROSOLAR from Moscow, financially, the project is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.

“The ‘solar schools’ give pupils the opportunity to become part of the global movement for a greener energy and sustainable development”, says the initiator of the project, Christoph Urbschat from ideas into energy in Berlin.

For this purpose, small solar systems are installed on the roofs of the “solar schools”. These systems provide the electricity generated for the school’s local power grid. In addition to the solar modules on the roof, battery storage, inverters, charge controllers and a monitoring system with a communication centre are also being installed inside the buildings. The systems are supplied by the German solar EPC company Solar23 from Ulm.

Following the successfully completed pilot project at a Moscow school in September 2019, the concept has been extended to six other Russian cities and regions within the recent months. The project idea has now developed into a lasting cooperation between the project partners. Information on the ongoing activities and on networking between the schools is available at www.solarschools.ru.

“We want to show how affordable solar power has become today and, together with the pupils, lay the foundation for a future with greater use of renewable energy by making them tangible,” says David Wedepohl, Managing Director International Affairs at the German Solar Association.

Within the framework of the project, pupils receive information material and educational films from the Goethe-Institut in Moscow. Teachers at the schools will be trained in Moscow in order to integrate the installed solar system into school lessons in the best possible way and to train the pupils as effectively as possible in the application of solar energy. “Here we are fulfilling an important educational task through a project that can become a pioneer for other regions, including not only Russia,” believes Ulrike Würz of the Moscow Goethe-Institut.

There is already a great need for a stable and at the same time environmentally friendly energy supply in Russia in many remote regions where often diesel generators provide the required electricity. This frequently means a high logistical effort and correspondingly high costs. “Solar energy can be used particularly cost-effectively in distant regions, for example in Siberia and the Far East,” says Matthias Dehner from the German Embassy in Moscow. Since January 2020, Russian consumers have for the first time been granted the legal right to operate the private grid-connected rooftop PV systems with an installed capacity of up to 15 kW. However, before this new law actually comes into effect, technical regulations still have to be put in place, which are expected to come into force this summer.