Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences commissions additional PV system

Generating electricity for own use

The energy sector is one of the main sources of harmful greenhouse gases. It is therefore particularly important to switch to renewable energies in order to achieve the climate targets. Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is also working towards climate neutrality and is endeavouring to cover as much of its electricity requirements as possible with solar energy. As a further step, the photovoltaic system on the roof of Building Z has now been put into operation. This was financed with funds from the state of Bremen's climate protection programme and third-party funds from the federal government via the municipal guidelines. The project was implemented with the help of Bremerhaven-based I+P Planungsbüro für Energie- und Gebäudetechnik GmbH, EWE AG, HMB GmbH and the company Sasse.

The first PV systems were installed and commissioned on buildings T and S of the university back in 2020. Climate Manager Julian Fricke has investigated and identified that the roof of Building Z is also a suitable location. ‘According to the solar potential analysis, several roofs on the Bremerhaven University campus are suitable for retrofitting a PV system. The south-facing pitched roof of Building Z was an obvious choice due to its particularly favourable structural situation. In the long term, however, we would like to equip all potential roof areas on the campus with PV modules,’ he explains. The university currently generates around 7 per cent of its electricity requirements itself and could increase this to an estimated 20 per cent with additional systems. However, this requires economic, energy and technical feasibility.