Weekend-Seminar Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies, 26 27 November 2011 at EARTH University, Costa Rica Program

Saturday, 26 November 2011 4 hours PV (off-grid) Basics of off-grid PV-Systems Different technologies and components Operation and maintenance Applications and project examples Economic aspects 2 hours Solar Thermal Basics of solar thermal systems Different technologies and components Operation and maintenance Applications and project examples Economic aspects 2 hours Wind Energy Basics of wind power systems Different technologies and components Operation and maintenance Applications and project examples Economic aspects Volker Jaensch Katie Brown, RENAC Frank Jackson, RENAC

Sunday, 27 November 2011 2 hours Bioenergy Liquid Biofuels Vegetable Oils Biodiesel Bioethanol Thermochemical Biofuels Economic and environmental aspects 2 hours Bioenergy Biogas Basics Biogas Yield Biogas Technologies Biogas Residues Energy Conversion Technologies 2 hours Small Hydro Basics of hydro power Technology und components Operation and maintenance Applications and project examples Economic aspects 2 hours Economics of RE projects Investment requirements Operating costs and revenues Sensitivity analysis: Important sensitive parameters Project finance including Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Calculation tools & exercise (example Biogas) Volker Jaensch Katie Brown Volkhard Scholz Volkhard Scholz

Information on Lecturers Frank Jackson Frank Jackson has been involved in the solar energy industry since the early 1990s, running courses and seminars, and designing and installing systems. He has worked in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia. Besides training activities, he has designed and installed numerous photovoltaic systems. He also is involved in running courses for people entering the renewable energies industry. He is editor of the Earthscan Expert series, a new series of books designed to providing clear, practical information for people who want to work with environmentally friendly low-carbon technologies; the books range from specific handbooks to more general guides.

Volker Jaensch Volker Jaensch joined RENAC in August 2010. He has ten years professional experience in project development, due diligence, financing and implementation of renewable energy projects with focus on biomass and wind-energy (at daughter companies of Veolia Environment and Gamesa Energia). He also gained experience in the political arena of renewable energies at German Energy Agency. Before joining RENAC, Volker was active for four years in the development and implementation of sustainable Carbon Credit generating projects (according to the Kyoto Protocol and the Gold Standard) in developing countries. Volker holds degrees in Environmental Engineering and Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Katie Brown Katie Brown studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. After obtaining her Masters in Mechanical Engineering in 1999 she worked for Arup Engineering Consultants for two years as a building services engineer on heating and ventilation system design, in particular on the New Justice Building in Antwerp, Belgium. In between times she has been involved with a development charity, working with street children in Nairobi and being involved in water projects in Kenya and Nepal. From 2002 to 2008 Katie worked with renewable energy systems at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, UK (www.cat.org.uk) installing and maintaining small-scale solar thermal, wood-fuelled, hydro, wind and pv systems as well as doing consultancy and teaching work. Since mid-2008 Katie has been living and working in Berlin. As a freelancer she has been teaching at RENAC in the areas of solar thermal and hydro and doing consultancy work with projects including, for example, a large pv installation in Rostock, Northern Germany, and carrying out a feasibility study on solar thermal for space heating provision in rural Mongolia.

Dr. Volkhard Scholz Dr. Volkhard Scholz works in agricultural engineering research at ATB Potsdam-Bornim. For the last 20 years, he has worked predominately in the area of renewable energy in rural areas. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Tropical Agriculture and a PhD in Engineering Sciences. He has specialized in sustainable production and use of bioenergy sources such as energy crops, biogas and other biofuels. He managed projects in research and in industrial practice and published about 100 articles in journals and books. Aside from his R&D activities, he continues to work as consultant and lecturer in more than 10 different countries. In the last few years, he delivered lecture series in renewable energy at universities in Germany, Nigeria, Brazil and Costa Rica. Currently, he is lecturing at EARTH University in the frame of the REN@EARTH project.