Graham Foster ’21: Multicultural Learning Competency

A European Perspective on Solar Energy

I developed a strong interest in solar energy during the summer of 2017 while I was working for the Helena Parks and Recreation department as a seasonal laborer. I spent most of every day collecting garbage, covering up graffiti, or trimming grass, and I almost always had headphones in, listening to either music or podcasts. One of the podcasts that I listened to gave a brief overview of something called “Dyson spheres,” an idea for harnessing an immense amount of solar energy from the sun that was proposed by Freeman Dyson. This broad, seemingly unfeasible method of harnessing power from the sun started my interest in solar power once I realized that all the power that the human race needs and could ever need comes from a source that we don’t even need to travel to—it sends what’s useful directly to us.

However, on a (relatively) more local scale, in the spring of my sophomore year, I had the chance to study abroad in Salzburg, Austria, and through that experience gained some perspective about solar energy and renewable energy in Europe. One of the five objectives of the Global Grand Challenge Scholars Program is multicultural competency, and although my experience did not necessarily include specific classroom work on energy, I feel that it provided first-hand knowledge of the workings of energy in Europe.  I was able to talk to two people about renewable energy at FH Wels, Helmut Hüttmansberger, a laboratory technology assistant, and Luca Benedek, an engineering student from Hungary studying renewable energy sources. I was also able to observe aspects of European lifestyle that focused on renewable energy through interaction with a variety of different cultures.

One of the biggest differences that I noticed between the United States and Austria, the country that I spent the majority of my time in, was the sheer number of solar panels. Every Monday morning my fellow engineers and I would take a train from Salzburg to Wels for our engineering courses, and a large number of houses in every village and city we passed had solar panels on the roof (one day I tried to count the number of houses with solar panels I saw; I got to fifty, then got distracted and didn’t try to count again). A lot of the towns we passed were small villages with populations barely in the thousands, and still I saw more solar panels there than I ever do in Portland.  This informal research led me to start questioning some other things regarding energy that I found strange. How fuel is viewed in Europe had the biggest impression on me, specifically how much more expensive gasoline/petrol or diesel was. For example, in May of 2019, a gallon of gasoline cost $5.77 in Austria and a gallon of diesel cost $5.54, while the same fuel was just $3.25 and $3.21 respectively in the US. [1]. With gas prices above five dollars, it provides more of an incentive to focus on renewable energy, despite the high starting price point. It’s important to realize though, that Austria is a wealthy, central-European country, and can’t be used as an example for all of Europe; I spent some time in southern European countries like Croatia, Bosnia, Greece, and Italy, and there was definitely a decline in the number of solar panels and renewable energy sources. When the wealth of these countries is considered it isn’t surprising though, due to the high initial cost of installing renewable energy infrastructure.

Regardless of the country I was in however, it was clear that energy is an important issue to Europe, and that the focus on renewables in countries like Austria, Germany, or Norway is something supported by both citizens and the government. One of the commitments that the government has made towards investing in cleaner energy sources is the 20-20-20 targets, a program started by the European Commission that Luca brought to my attention. The goal of the program is threefold: to achieve a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, draw 20% of European Union energy from renewable sources, and be 20% more energy efficient, all by the year 2020 [2]. As previously discussed, not all countries have the infrastructure to adequately tackle this challenge, so the results are aggregated so that the wealthiest countries have more of an onus to drastically decrease their energy dependence on fossil fuels, while less-affluent countries simply need to focus on not increasing their emissions too much. The goal is that as a continent this initiative will lead to a 20% decrease on fossil fuels, and therefore increased energy security.

Governments in Europe are big proponents for renewable energy, and there are certain subsidies that make access to renewable power more affordable. For direct consumers in Austria, there are governmental incentives that reward people who integrate solar energy into their home. For single installations, the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund gives 275 euros per kilowattpeak (kWp) for up to five kWp annually for roof-top or ground mounted installations, while building-integrated installations receive 375 euros per kWp for up to five kWp per year. There is also the option to install a photovoltaic array jointly, and that corresponds to 200 euros per kWp for roof-top or ground mounted installatons, or 300 euros per kWp for building-integrated installations, for up to 30 kWp, but not more than 5 kWp per applicant [3] . So, on top of the free energy that is being produced, the government incentivizes people who are investing in clean solar power. Most new homes in Austria are built with solar panels on them, and many older homes are integrating PV arrays into their power supply. It’s interesting, because Austria doesn’t receive an exceptional amount of sunlight, but even still people have realized the importance of solar energy.

The European Union as a whole has started to invest more heavily in renewables in recent years indicated by the energy distribution from 2017 [4].

As shown by the pie chart, more energy came from renewables than from coal, and renewable energy has almost surpassed fossil fuels as a whole with this goal being achievable in the next few years. The low percentage of PV solar in the graph is discouraging, but advancements in technology in the cells, as well as energy storage, should rise due to a substantial drop in photovoltaic power over the next few years, as according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). All of the people that I talked to about energy all stressed that nuclear energy should be avoided due to the potential risks that it has, and so it seems likely that as renewable energies like wind and solar grow, the distribution of energy will come more from renewables than either fossil fuels or nuclear energy. One of the biggest roadblocks in the way of dominance for renewables is the subsidies that fossil fuels still receive in Europe. Although prices are still very high for gas and coal as compared to the US, there still are subsidies that support the fossil industry [4].  As solar, wind, and other renewable power sources continue to do well both for industry and for people at home, the subsidies for fossil fuels will likely decrease, and it seems to be only a matter of time until renewable power will become the most widely used form of energy in Europe.

Probably the most valuable experience I had in regard to renewable energy while abroad was being able to tour FH Wels renewable energy system. Helmut Hüttmansberger, the laboratory technical assistant in charge of monitoring the solar arrays, showed me around the facilities and provided me with tremendous insight for this project. Before I toured the facilities, I was under the impression that there was one type of solar panel, that was used for one purpose. That is not the case. Helmut started by taking me to the roof of the university and showed me the assortment of different solar panels that they have. The first array that he showed me was designed to heat water, while the rest of the arrays on the roof were the more typical photovoltaic (PV) panels. However, there were differences within the PV panels themselves, as some are monocrystalline and some are polycrystalline, and they are composed of different raw materials, the most common being silicon and cadmium telluride. The monocrystalline panels are much more expensive and wasteful to produce, but are the most efficient, while the polycrystalline PVs are less efficient but more cost-effective. Cadmium and silicon are used for different purposes and depending on availability, however using cadmium leads to a much more toxic waste product in production and they are not very efficient. The efficiencies for the panels on the roof ranged from 2kWp to 9kWp, depending on the material. Most of the PVs on the roof were fixed in an ideal position, but there was one array that tracked the sun throughout the day in order to maximize the amount of sunlight that it received. Inside, there was a room with an entire wall of hardware and batteries dedicated to energy storage and conversion, and the energy that the solar panels on the roof produces goes directly into the energy consumption of the university and powers about 10% of the building’s power consumption. The most immediate disadvantage of PV panels is that even though you are producing free power, it takes about ten years to offset the costs of building the panel, although as manufacturing gets more efficient it will take less time.  

After having the opportunity to live in Europe and observe the European perspective on power, my understanding of power, and recognizing where it comes from, has deepened significantly. The level of urgency regarding climate change is much higher, and the push for renewable energy sources is more widely accepted throughout the continent, especially in wealthier countries. A major obstacle is the feasibility of integrating solar power into existing technologies, like cars and the power grid, when a viable option like fossil fuels that has been established for so long. However, it was inspiring to see how passionate the majority of people that I talked to were about the environment, and how they were willing to make certain concessions in their lives in order to accommodate the needs of the planet along with their own. I think that there is such a deep connection with land in Europe and especially in Austria, and people want to keep their country clean and preserve it for the future. For this reason, I believe that the EU can contribute heavily to solving the world energy crisis, and that they will meet their goals in regard to renewable energy. Moving forward, I think that this multicultural experience will broaden my understanding of the other aspects of the Grand Challenges and allow me to evaluate future engineering problems from a more global perspective. A lot of things seem unachievable in the United States right now, but maybe the solution to our power problems won’t come directly from innovation in the US, maybe they’ll come from looking in from outside the box. 

Works Cited

[1]  "GlobalPetrolPrices.com," 10 1 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/.

[2]  E. Union, "2020 Climate and Energy Package," 2021. [Online]. Available: https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/strategies/2020_en.

[3]  "Legal Sources on Renewable Energy," 2018. [Online]. Available: http://www.res-legal.eu/search-by-country/austria/single/s/res-e/t/promotion/aid/subsidy-iii-investment-subsidy-for-small-pv/lastp/94/.

[4]  "Europe Breaks own renewables record," DW.com, [Online]. Available: https://www.dw.com/en/europe-breaks-own-renewables-record-but-cant-keep-up-with-china/a-42386502.