Development of an open access remote photovoltaics laboratory and associated open educational resources for online training and education. Erasmus Project

Project Title

Development of an open access remote photovoltaics laboratory and associated open educational resources for online training and education.

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

This project refers to the development of an open access remote photovoltaics (PV) laboratory for educational purposes. The remote PV laboratory is currently installed outdoors at the facilities of the TEI of Athens, Greece. The TEI of Athens is located in a geographical region characterized by a large number of annual sunshine hours, thus offering superior uptime for the laboratory’s users to perform real-world tests and experiments with photovoltaic panels over the internet in real time. At any time, including during the experiments, the student can have a live view of the system through a web camera, offering him/her a sense of personal presence at the place where the experiment takes place. The system is accessible by everyone on the planet with internet access. It is also accompanied by appropriate openly accessible educational material, in five languages. These open educational resources were developed with several target groups in mind, including but not limited to, students, postgraduates, professionals, and educators, thus allowing it to be used by a broad variety of users directly. Moreover, the remote laboratory could help students with disabilities increase their participation in a laboratory environment.
A specialized website has been created as the host of the aforementioned OERs and remote PV laboratory that is openly accessible by anyone on the planet with internet access, acting as the basis of all educational and training activities. The OERs that were developed to accompany the remote laboratory include educational texts, tests, and documentation, all developed for various types of users. In addition to OERs, a series of experimental exercises have been developed on photovoltaic systems that could be adapted for courses currently present in higher education curricula by making use of the innovative, openly accessible remote photovoltaics laboratory. These remote experiments could also be used for distance education, professional training, and part-time study. Thus, students from Europe and around the world, whose institutes/schools do not have physical laboratories or their countries do not have a high annual number of sunshine hours, can perform experiments and then analyze the results according to the taught theory. Classroom courses can also benefit from the developed system by letting the teachers demonstrate the behavior and analyze the characteristics of a photovoltaic panel under real-life conditions. This approach opens new ways in the teaching and educational process by giving students the feel of an almost direct experience with the experimental device and providing an excellent context for developing remote collaboration skills that will be important in their future careers. The developed remote PV laboratory combined with the ample OERs can also be integrated into related distance learning and eLearning programmes of any educational institution worldwide, allowing the enhancement of the educational quality of such programmes, significantly refining education and training in photovoltaic systems, for the benefit of humanity.
Five well-recognized European Universities were involved in the project, as well as the Technical Chamber of Greece. Each partner had a series of specific roles in the project and their expertise provided the means to a successfully implemented complementary collaboration between the partners. The duration of the project was three years. The first two years were devoted to the design, sizing, and installation of the remote PV laboratory, as well as for the development of open educational resources and experimental exercises. During the last year, the system was evaluated as an adapted module within the curricula of the partner universities studies.
A number of workshops have been organized to disseminate the project and train the interested parties. Seminars were provided to local professional organizations, such as the Technical Chamber of Greece, so as for their members to be informed of, use and provide feedback on the proposed system. In order to disseminate the system towards other scientists with expertise in the fields of online/remote education and for the opportunity to receive feedback from them, the system and some of its capabilities were presented in relevant peer-reviewed scientific conferences.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 131404,33 Eur

Project Coordinator

TECHNOLOGIKO EKPAIDEFTIKO IDRYMA ATHINAS & Country: EL

Project Partners

• THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
• BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDON
• UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX
• UNIVERSITE SAVOIE MONT BLANC
• Technical Chamber of Greece Section of Western Crete