The Institute for Solar Research attaches great importance to contact and exchange with universities and students. Both heads of the institute and other employees pass on their experience and knowledge as university lecturers to students.
There is cooperation with the following universities:
RWTH Aachen University
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal, Director at the Institute of Solar Research is Head of the Chair for Solar Technology at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. His teaching activities focus on concentrating solar systems and their integration into conventional power plants as well as their use for the generation of process heat, the production of fuels and the purification of waste water. Professor Pitz-Paal places this technology in particular in the context of photovoltaics and discusses economic aspects. The students are offered a practical reference to the subject matter by the visit to the research location Cologne. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Hoffschmidt, Director at the Institute for Solar Research, is Head of the Chair for Solar Components, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The main focus of his teaching activities is the detailed examination of the individual components in solar thermal power plants, such as solar high-temperature receivers and the characterisation of flow and heat transfer in porous structures. In his lectures he especially deals with the thermodynamic and optical basics. During a visit to the Jülich Solar Towers, students can see in practice what they have learned.
Cologne University of Applied Sciences (TH Köln)
Dr.-Ing. Gerd Dibowski, head of DLR's solar furnace and solar simulator in Cologne, teaches at the Faculty of Plants, Energy and Machine Systems. His teaching activities include lecturing and carrying out exercises in the subject "Heat Transfer" for the Bachelor's degree course in the major subjects “Renewable Energies” and "Technical Building Services" within the degree programme Mechanical Engineering . Within the Master's degree course “Renewable Energies” he lectures the subject "Technology of Solar Thermal Energy". The lecture deepens the contents of the corresponding Bachelor course and presents current trends and technological developments. A further focus is on the communication of strategic-technological connections.
University of Stuttgart
Dr.-Ing. Tobias Hirsch, group leader in the department of line-focussing systems, has a teaching assignment for the lecture "Solar Thermal Power Plants" at the University of Stuttgart, which is attended by students of various technical courses. The lecture teaches the basics of concentrating solar technology, its technical application in line- and point-focusing power plants and its economic aspects.
University of Technology Dresden
Prof. Dr.-Ing. rer. nat. Christian Sattler, Head of the Department of Solar Process Engineering, has been Professor for Solar Fuel Generation at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering since November 2015. The focus of his research and teaching at the TU Dresden is the conversion of solar energy into fuels. The networking of the TU Dresden with the Institute of Solar Research intends to contribute to the further development of this research topic. He also teaches the subject "Solar Thermal Power Plants" in the course of studies "Renewable Energy Systems".