NEWS
IK4-TEKNIKER recently had a visit from a group of eight scientists from the Egyptian engineering centre Nile Valley Engineering and the University of Alexandria with the aim of gaining in-depth knowledge in the fields of coating chemistry and heliostat design. This visit comes within the framework of the EuroSunMed project.
A group comprising eight scientists from Egyptian centres of scientific excellence were on a three-week stay at the IK4-TEKNIKER Basque R&D centre. The aim was to stimulate co-operation in research applied to solar energy, to strengthen exchange in the countries of the Mediterranean and to go further into ways of cutting the costs of renewable sources.
The visit, which started on 23 February, took place in the framework of the EuroSunMed international project, an initiative that is seeking to drive forward the exchange between Europe and North Africa in the field of renewables and which is being funded by the EU's 7th Framework Programme.
The visiting scientists were divided into two groups in order to cover heliostat design under the coordination of the researcher David Olasolo, and the field of coatings with the specialist in surface chemistry Estíbaliz Gómez.
The EuroSunMed project, which has funding to the tune of 5 million euros, has been designed with the purpose of coming up with formulas for making the most of solar energy which constitute an alternative of fossil energy sources.
The initiative, in which IK4-TEKNIKER is participating, is led by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and has the participation of 17 universities and top research centres in the European Union, Egypt and Morocco.
The main aims of the project are technical and technological development applied to photovoltaic and solar concentration energies, as well as the integration of electrical power grids. What is more, it is seeking to use innovative elements like cells or heliostats capable of functioning under the specific conditions of Mediterranean countries characterised by heat, the abundance of light and where there are problems with the desert sand.
Encouraging the exchange of students and engineers is another of the key elements in this initiative, in which IK4-TEKNIKER, the only Spanish participant alongside the National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER), is working to cut the costs of solar thermal systems.
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under grant agreement n° [608593].
