LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students should be able to
- Understand what makes the use of renewable energy sources necessary but challenging.
- Understand the capacity requirements for wind and solar power plant technologies.
- Evaluate and analyze principles of wind and solar power plant operation.
- Evaluate and analyze principles of heat pump operation for heating and cooling purposes.
- Evaluate economical feasibility of these processes including levelized cost of energy.
- Understand the challenges and solutions of coupling renewable energy sources into a future energy systems.
- Analyze the available raw materials, land availability and other resources.
Credits: 5
Schedule: 07.01.2025 - 01.04.2025
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Mika Järvinen
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
In order to decrease the CO2 emissions from energy, transport and buildings sectors, and especially emissions coming from the fossil fuel combustion, we need to increase the share of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. As an integral part, heat pumps will play an important role in future energy systems as they are used to produce heat with affordable renewable electricity, instead of using combustion heat as energy source.
This course gives a compact theory review on the wind and solar power plants and heat pumps for heating and cooling applications, their operation and design principles. In addition to this, we discuss the capacity requirements and critically evaluate the available sources, including material availability issues, land use and other environmental considerations for wind and solar power. We also discuss the challenges when implementing renewable energy into a traditional energy system.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
Personal assignments, projects work.
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
- Contact sessions (lectures, homework tutorials, seminars) 50h
- Interdependent work (video lectures, homework) 70 h
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
- Lecture materials and lecture videos.
- Renewable energy engineering (Wind and Solar parts), Jenkins, N. and Ekanayake, J. Cambridge University Press, ISBN-978-1-107-68022-7.
- Fundamental of Engineering thermodynamics, Moran, M.J. and Shapiro, H.N. John Whiley, ISBN 0-471-59275-7, Chapter 10 - Refrigeration and heat pump systems, pp. 409-439.
- Nikolai, V. Khartchenko, Advanced energy systems, Taylor and Francis, ISBN 1-56032-611-5, all topics (140 copies available to borrow).
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
7 Affordable and Clean Energy
12 Responsible Production and Consumption
13 Climate Action
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Teaching Language: English
Teaching Period: 2024-2025 Spring III - IV
2025-2026 Spring III - IVRegistration:
Registration for the course via Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi).