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PhD Summer School Mont-Soleil 2019 (en anglais)

(12.08.2019)

12TH - 16TH/17TH AUGUST 2019 ON MONT-SOLEIL

Field-Based Insights into the Implementation of Renewable Energies

Switzerland has a long tradition in renewable energies. On Mont-Soleil (located above the city of Saint-Imier in the Western part of Switzerland) the production, distribution and application of renewable energies can be shown in a directly perceptible way since all adequate facilities are concentrated on and around Mont-Soleil in a unique manner. Workshops will take place in the visitor center on Mont-Soleil together with lectures given by top experts from internationally renowned universities (as e.g. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL or Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH) as well as from global industries in the field of renewable energies.

Solar energy

The photovoltaic (PV) plant on Mont-Soleil was built in 1992. With its rated capacity of 560 kWp it was the largest PV plant in Europe at that time. Today the Mont-Soleil plant is the only PV plant worldwide of this kind in operation over such a long time. This yields valuable insights into the aging of solar components from which a number of interesting technical, ecological and economic models can be derived. The PV plant was planned, built and has been operated ever since by the SOCIÉTÉ MONT-SOLEIL with its main partners BKW Energy Ltd. and ABB Switzerland Ltd. Another aim of SOCIÉTÉ MONT-SOLEIL consists of scientific research. One of the focal points being thereby the monitoring and scientific analysis of the long-term operation of its PV plant. Many of these research programs were conducted in cooperation with the University of Applied Science in Burgdorf, including for example the investigation of the Mont-Soleil PV plant with a thermal imaging multicopter being able to scan the whole plant in as little as 16 minutes. Finally, an integral part of the Mont-Soleil PV plant consists of the visitor center, where around 1 million people interested in renewable energies have been received in all the years from 1992 until now. The visitor center has been rebuilt in 2017. It has a fully equipped exhibition space and a conference room allowing up to about 50 persons having conferences and workshops.

Wind Energy

Switzerland’s largest wind power plant is located on Mont-Soleil and its neighboring Mont-Crosin. The wind power plant was developed by the JUVENT company in 1996. In the following years the wind power plant has been continuously enlarged from its original 3 wind turbines to 16 turbines with a total rated capacity of 37 MW. Switzerland is a relatively densely populated country whilst it is famous for its wonderful landscape. When developing its wind power plant JUVENT was therefore particularly challenged to find a way to deal with the often quite different demands of the many stakeholders. The way JUVENT did that and especially the model scheme JUVENT developed in cooperation with the Swiss landscape protection has gained international acclaim. The above cited framework conditions in Switzerland require that the wind resources in Switzerland are used in the most effective manner, that is above all with the latest wind turbine generation. JUVENT has already carried out two repowering projects in its wind farm thereby gaining profound expertise in this increasingly important question. One repowering project e.g. involved the reinstallation of a JUVENT wind turbine in New Zealand. Of course, Switzerland is also famous for its mountains. In terms of wind energy this often leads to a so-called complex terrain though, which entails particularly high demands in wind measurements. JUVENT therefore also acquired with the support of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich a high expertise in the wind resource mapping in complex terrain. For example, in one of the projects researchers of the ETH Zurich performed the first-ever measurements of the wake of a full-scale wind turbine using an autonomous drone equipped with a fast response aerodynamic probe.

Hydropower

The yearly electricity production of all hydropower plants in Switzerland amounts to 37 TWh accounting for 60% of Switzerland’s electricity production. Quite obviously a summer school on renewable energies in Switzerland would not be complete without covering that very essential renewable energy source. There are various hydropower stations close to Mont-Soleil which can be visited, for example those situated at the scenic Doubs river. These hydropower plants are operated by the SOCIÉTÉ DES FORCES ELECTRIQUES DE LA GOULE having a very long tradition in renewable energies.

Smart Grid

Feeding renewable energies into the electricity grid poses some new challenges inasmuch as this power production mostly comes from decentralized and fluctuating sources. This can lead to excessive grid loads all the more when the grid is increasingly used in a bi-directional mode by so-called prosumers, meaning consumers who also feed power into the grid e.g. from their own PV system. In many cases a conventional grid reinforcement is not the appropriate way to address this new challenge. On the one hand economic reasons speak against such a conventional approach, and on the other hand the often lengthy building permit procedure related to a classical grid extension. Rather, new ways of compensating load peaks should be explored making grid extensions unnecessary. This can be done using so-called smart grids including power storage devices, smart meters, controllable district transformers etc. A very nice smart grid is actually implemented in the region surrounding Mont-Soleil, constituting the SWISS ENERGYPARK founded in 2015.

Applications

One of the most interesting application of renewable energies probably lies in the sustainable mobility. This can be achieved by e-mobility, where the required electricity comes from renewable sources. In scientific teaching e-mobility is also a good starting point for the discussion of life cycle assessments. In 2005 SOCIÉTÉ MONT-SOLEIL therefore teamed up with Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg who made the first solar-powered flight around the world in their SOLAR IMPULSE airplane. In 2015 Bertrand Piccard delivered the following message of greeting on the occasion of the 25year anniversary of SOCIÉTÉ MONT-SOLEIL: «When André and I are piloting the Solar Impulse 2 airplane around the world, I am often thinking of the Mont-Soleil solar plant. After all, it served as an orientation point during my first test flights from Payerne. It is also the origin of a valuable and wonderful collaboration. Société Mont-Soleil and its main partners BKW and ABB have made a substantial contribution towards the successful development of our solar airplane. On behalf of the over ten-year-long project Solar Impulse, I would like to express my sincere gratitude, formulating at the same time best wishes to Société Mont-Soleil for its 25year anniversary as well as for its further development work!»

Venue

The summer school on renewable energies in Switzerland will be held on Mont-Soleil above the city of Saint-Imier in the Western part of Switzerland. Mont-Soleil is lying in the middle of an area where many of the factories are located producing goods Switzerland is so famous for, such as watches, cheese and chocolate. All these factories offer guided tours through their facilities creating a lasting impression of the Swiss craftsmanship. Accommodations can be arranged in reasonably-priced hotels on Mont-Soleil or in its neighborhood.