JUMP2Excel Workshops

JUMP2Excel Workshops

Three workshops organised by JUMP2Excel Partners in the United Kingdom (Online), Spain (Online) and France. In-person workshops will follow after July 2021 in the United Kingdom and Spain. Join us?
These in-person workshops are open to MCAST academics, staff, early-stage researchers, students as well as other interested researchers from Malta.  Interested candidates are to send their interest to energy@mcast.edu.mt by the latest 15th July 2021.


Workshop 3

Date: Tuesday 1st June (all times below  are UK based time, i.e., CET-1 hour)

Host Partner: The University of Manchester
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom

AGENDA
9:40-10:00 Introduction                                  Prof JV Milanovic (The University of Manchester) & Dr Brian Azzopardi (MCAST Energy)

10:00-11:00 Lecture 1                                      Dr Robert L.Z. Hoye (Imperial College London)

11:00-12:00 Lecture 2                                      Prof Matthew Halsall (The University of Manchester)

12:00-13:00 Lunch break 

13:00-14:00 Lecture 3                                      Dr Alessandra Parisio  (The University of Manchester)

14:00-15:00 Lecture 4                                      Dr Chiara Candelise (Imperial College London)

15:00-16:00 Lecture 5                                      Dr Berclin Solomon (The University of Manchester)

16:00-16:15 closing remarks                          Prof JV Milanovic (The University of Manchester)


(10:00-11:00) Lecture 1: Photovoltaic materials systems for the energy transition – Dr Robert Hoye

Abstract: The UK has committed to legislation to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. This will require a substantial increase in investment in renewable technologies in order to decarbonise the power generation sector, as well as account for the future electrification of surface transport. Solar photovoltaics (PV) are one of the most promising renewable technologies, and the UK has solar capacity two orders of magnitude larger than its current usage of PV. Recently, the UK PV community discussed the challenges facing established and emerging solar absorbers to create a roadmap as part of the ‘Materials for the Energy Transition’ series, which was led by the Henry Royce Institute.[1] This talk discusses some of the findings from this PV roadmap, focusing in particular on the challenges facing established silicon PV and the emerging lead-halide perovskite PV, in terms of manufacturing and stability. Furthermore, this talk discusses the important role of the discovery non-toxic, stable and defect tolerant solar absorbers simultaneous to the higher TRL work on existing PV systems, and the critical questions this more fundamental work faces.

Bio: Dr. Robert Hoye is a Lecturer and Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. He leads the Energy Materials & Devices Group, which focuses on the development of thin film semiconductors for clean energy conversion. Dr. Hoye completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge (2012-2014), before being a Postdoctoral Research Associate at MIT (2015-2016). In 2016-2019, he returned to the University of Cambridge as a College Research Fellow. From 2018, he took-up the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, initially at Cambridge, before moving to Imperial College as a Lecturer in Jan. 2020.

Presentation: Photovoltaic materials systems for the energy transition


(11:00-12:00) Lecture 2: Solar PV Technology stability and efficiency, current and future trends – Prof Matthew Halsall

Abstract: The speaker will discuss the recent rapid growth in solar PV energy. They will give a resource and materials-based overview of what is possible in terms of continued growth of this power source. In particular he will concentrate on the efficiency and stability of the current generation of cells and opportunities for future technologies. Currently silicon Photovoltaics dominate the market providing 90% of PV generation across the planet. Silicon and the metals used in silicon PV manufacture are Earth abundant, however it is a high melting point material, and it takes typically 1-2 years to recover the energy in the form of solar power that was needed to manufacture them. There are also two poorly understood degradation mechanisms, Boron Oxygen Degradation and Light Enhanced Thermally Induced degradation, together these reduce the efficiency of cells by up to 20% over the lifetime of the cell. The speaker will discuss the research in his group aimed at understanding and then eliminating these processes. Finally he will talk about new technologies and the prospects for Perovskite Hybrid cells.

Bio: Prof. Matthew Halsall holds the Manchester Chair in Photonics within the photon science institute. Prof. Halsall has worked extensively on the optical and electronic spectroscopy of a wide range of electronic materials and his 180 papers include the discovery publication for graphane (>3000 citations), the first measurement of strain in carbon nanotubes by Raman scattering (>450 citations) and the first observation of piezoelectric field in wurtzite superlattices, He currently holds an EPSRC grant on the role of defects in solar silicon and a grant to develop a new instrument to measure defects in nitride semiconductors He has worked on semiconductor and insulator materials for over 20 years and held/co-held multiple previous UK government grants on defects in silicon and on nitride materials for LEDs In 2006 he won a Global Research Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering to fund a one-year sabbatical on nitride materials work at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is an active member of the UK Nitride Consortium UKNC.

Presentation: Solar PV Technology stability and efficiency, current and future trends


(13:00-14:00) Lecture 3: Distributed battery energy storage coordination for improved power network support – Dr Alessandra Parisio

Abstract: A very large number of electrical energy storage devices, especially battery energy storage systems (BESS), is expected to be connected to the power grid, in particular considering the increasing number of end-users relying on energy production by photovoltaic panels. These storage devices have the huge potential to provide multiple network services, e.g., primary frequency response, to the grid as a whole and facilitate the penetration of renewable energy sources (RES). Novel control strategies and schemes are needed to harness their unique potential. In this talk, the potential benefits that distributed BESS can bring about are outlined with a particular focus on fast frequency response. Promising distributed control approaches to coordinate a large number of BESS geographically spread across different locations in the grid are discussed. When optimally controlled BESS can help the grid maintain balance between generation and load under RES uncertainty. Illustrative case studies showing how BESS can effectively support the operation of networks with high penetration of renewable generation.

Bio: Dr Alessandra Parisio is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Manchester, UK, where she is/has been principal or co-investigator on research projects supported by EPSRC, Innovate UK, EC H2020 and industrial partners in the areas of building energy management and distributed control for flexibility service and grid support provision, totalling about £4 million as University of Manchester share. Dr Parisio is IEEE senior member, vice-Chair for Education of the IFAC Technical Committee 9.3. Control for Smart Cities, and member of IEEE Technical Committees on Smart Grids and Smart Cities. She has been in the program committees of several international conferences and serves as editor of Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks (SEGAN), Results in Control and Optimisation (RICO) and IEEE Transactions on Automation and Science Engineering. Dr Parisio received the IEEE PES Outstanding Engineer Award in January 2021 and the Energy and Buildings Best Paper Award for (for a ten-year period between 2008-2017) in January 2019. Her main research interests include the areas of energy management systems under uncertainty, model predictive control, stochastic constrained control and distributed optimisation for power systems.

Presentation: Distributed battery energy storage coordination for improved power network support


(14:00-15:00) Lecture 4: PV technologies application to improve energy access, a focus on microgrids – Dr Chiara Candelise

Abstract: Universal access to electricity, that is a target for the Sustainable Development Goal 7 ‘‘Affordable and Clean Energy”, has been improving over the years, approaching a world coverage close to 90%. However, if some countries made considerable progress in increasing the electricity access rate of their population, others still lag behind, such as many South Asian and Sub-Saharan African countries, where a significant share of population remains excluded from it. PV based electricity provision solutions, such as minigrids and solar home systems, are increasingly adopted to improve access to electricity, in particular in rural contexts.  They can couple energy access with CO2 emission reduction targets, tend to have lower costs than other off grid alternatives, e.g. diesel, and can be quickly deployed to serve a smart and fast rural electrification. Moreover, mini grids can provide community scale access to power, thus encompassing energy provision to support community services, such as productive uses in agriculture, small business development, health facilities deployment as well as wider community enhancement through education and skills development.

Bio: Dr Chiara Candelise is an experienced energy economist and policy specialist, at ICEPT, Imperial Centre for Energy Policy and Technology (Imperial College London) and at GREEN, Centre for Research on Geography, Resources, Environment, Energy & Networks, (Bocconi University). Leading expert on techno-economic, market and policy analysis of solar technologies, and on community energy and crowdfunding as innovative alternative finance in the energy sector. In her background work experience as economist at both private and public institutions, including the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), United Nation Development Programme. She holds a PhD in Energy Economics from Imperial College London (UK), an MSc in Economics, University College London (UK). She is the founder of the first Italian energy crowdfunding platform dedicated to energy.

Presentation: PV technologies application to improve energy access, a focus on microgrids


(15:00-16:00) Lecture 5: Optimal architecture and management of an isolated microgrid – Dr Berclin Jeyaprabha

Description: In remote and sparsely populated areas, considering the power losses the isolated mode of operation is beneficial in microgrid. But, the implementation of isolated microgrid requires the selection of optimal architecture, optimal sizing of the distributed generation systems, optimal placement of the different components including the energy storage system and their management. This session will be focused on the selection of optimal architecture based on the available renewable resources like solar and wind, the load demand and the power converters. The share of different distributed generation systems plays a vital role along with the power converter efficiency in selecting the architecture for a specific location. Then the energy management system will also be discussed for the same optimal architecture for higher reliability and efficiency. The efficient control of the microgrid through the energy management system will also increase the lifetime of energy storage systems along with the reduction of renewable energy curtailment.

Bio: Dr. Berclin Jeyaprabha is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the University of Manchester since Feb’21. She completed her Ph.D. in Karunya University, India in the year 2017 and her doctoral research was on “Optimal utilization of solar PV based Hybrid Energy systems”. Her Masters was on Power Electronics and Drives from Karunya University, India in 2005. She has teaching experience in Karunya University, Coimbatore and CHRIST University, Bangalore, India. She is a certified Energy Manager by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, India from 2019. Her area of research are effect of partial shading in solar PV systems, Maximum Power Point Tracking, Energy Management systems and Microgrids.

Presentation: Optimal architecture and management of an isolated microgrid

REGISTRATION


Workshop 2

Dates: 22 – 25 Sep 2020

Host Partner: CENER
Location: Spain

Topics
Focused PV integration technical solutions
Flexible technologies such as energy storage
PV modules, inverters and batteries – standards and testing
Examining Energy Pathways in the Mediterranean
Renewable energy and its interconnectivity
Energy Mix

Session 1: Electroluminescence
Session 2 Part 1: Standards
Session 2 Part 2: Standards
Session 3: PV Plants
Session 4: PID


Workshop 1

Dates: 21 – 23 May 2019

Host Partner: CEA
Location: CEA Cadarache, Cadarache, 13115 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France

Topics
Focused PV integration technical solutions: Smart-grid structures and tools including micro-grids
Future Electricity Markets with PVs: Smart grids and ancillary services