Using solar energy to cool wine? Optimising the output of photovoltaics by changing their inclination by a few degrees? Turning the sea into a floating PV farm? This is all research by the University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy.
University studies on changing the tilt of solar photovoltaic panels from the ‘optimum’ 30 degrees to maximise available roof area have found at 20 degrees they could increase a rooftop’s overall output and avoid losing more spacing between the rows of PVs.
The University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, which this year marks its 25th anniversary, has also concluded through its research that a number of materials may be suitably used as reflectors, translating into an increase of four to 15 per cent in PV output, depending on the seasons and the angle of reflection.
Apart from maximising PV utilisation, the institute, under an EU-funded project, La Vigna Energetica, is also looking into the design, installation and testing of two systems that use solar energy to cool wine.
Besides measuring and collecting different solar radiation data, it is monitoring Malta’s UVA and UVB radiation, while it has collaborated with Valladolid University in Spain on the effect of the Sahara Desert sand on the levels of UV in the Central Mediterranean.
As a partner in the Renewable Energy Scenarios in Islands (RESI) project, funded by the Operative Programme Italy-Malta 2007-2013, the institute was responsible for the creation of a renewable energy atlas that can be downloaded at www.resiproject.eu.
It documents electricity output data and other characteristics of solar energy installations in Malta and Sicily, including residential and utility-size PV plants.
Under the SolAqua project, the institute is also researching ways of deploying PVs at sea, as well as panels made specifically for floatation, to determine the best option for using the sea as a floating PV farm.
The studies – a three-year Malta Council for Science and Technology Research and Innovation-funded programme, led by the institute with Pandia Ltd and General Membrane (Malta) Ltd – could lead to a technically feasible and commercially viable solution to the commercialisation of the most promising results, said engineer and assistant lecturer Charles Yousif.
The Institute for Sustainable Energy, whose main centre operates from Marsaxlokk, has an part-time MSc in Sustainable Energy with two years of evening lectures and a third dedicated to research and a dissertation.
It also offers training courses for solar water heater and solar photovoltaic installers, which are recognised by the Malta Resources Authority certification courses in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
Applications for the October 2013 intake open in August. E-mail charles.yousif@um.edu.mt for details.
The institute also offers free advice to the public in solar heating and photovoltaic systems, and technical visits to check and report on system performance. Call 2165 0675 or 2165 2249, or see www.um.edu.mt/ise.