Norway has a national goal of producing 8 TWh* of solar energy by 2030. To achieve this, more expertise is needed.
"It is important to have industry-adapted programmes that help develop the necessary expertise for the solar power industry," says Associate Professor Tore Sandnes Vehus at the Faculty of Engineering and Science at UiA.
Flexible programme
The study programme will consist of two flexible modules, allowing them to be taken alongside regular work. The first covers the design and implementation of solar power installations on buildings, as well as energy storage and control systems.
"The second module focuses on ground-mounted solar systems and how they can be integrated into the power grid," Vehus explains.
Vehus is the project manager for the new SOLKRAFT programme, which recently received NOK 2.8 million in support from HKdir (Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills).
The programme is a collaboration between UiA, NTNU, the University of Oslo (UiO), the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Zolw AS (solar energy competence centre) and Fornybar Norge (Renewable Norway). A number of companies in the solar energy sector are also involved.
The solar power industry is a new participant in the government’s industry programme (in Norwegian).
Up-to-date knowledge
"Now even more professionals will receive up-to-date knowledge tailored to a rapidly changing work environment. The industry programmes represent lifelong learning in practice," says Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Aasland (Labour Party) in a press release (in Norwegian).
The programme will be free of charge, with 50 participants planned for each intake: one in 2026 and one in 2027.
This spring marks the beginning of collaboration with stakeholders in the solar power industry to develop the offer.
The planned programme is similar to UiA's flexible wind power programme FLOW (Flexible Learning for Offshore Wind), which is also conducted with support from the same industry programme.
* TWh = terawatt hour, a unit for measuring energy. 1 TWh equals one billion kilowatt hours.