AUA at Helm of Solar Technology in Armenia

Yerevan - On May 4, 2004, the American University of Armenia (AUA) conducted opening ceremonies to present its Solar Photovoltaic Power Station, which was built in collaboration with Armenia's State Engineering University (SEUA) Heliotechnics Laboratory and Transistor Plus of Viasphere Technopark. The success of AUA's solar photovoltaic project demonstrates the feasibility of using solar energy as an alternative power source in Armenia.

AUA's Engineering Research Center began design and installation of the photovoltaic power system in Spring 2003, with generous funding by the Turpanjian Family Foundation. This project builds upon the solar heating and cooling system located on AUA's rooftop, developed two years ago with scientists in Portugal, Germany, Russia and Armenia, funded by Mr. Sarkis Acopian and INCO Copernicus of the European Union. This innovative solar station has the highest capacity among similar systems functioning in Armenia and the only one that is integrated into a solar driven heating and cooling system.

The new solar electric power station can operate independent of an external power supply. The system is comprised of solar photovoltaic panels field, a solar battery bank, and a three-phase DC/AC inverter. The 72 solar photovoltaic panels are installed on a special seismic isolated structure on the roof of the University. Each panel has approximately 0.7 square meters of surface and was produced at Heliotechnics Laboratory of the SEUA. The photovoltaic converter cells used in the solar panels were made by Krasnoye Znamye, Russia. The three phase DC/AC inverter was designed and manufactured specifically for this project by Transistor Plus which is a part of ViaSphere Technopark.

The Engineering Research Center is administered by AUA's College of Engineering. Its aim is to conduct basic and applied research on economic and technological problems that are relevant to the industrial development of Armenia and its region. It brings together AUA visiting faculty, local scientists and engineers, and AUA students to collaborate on innovative research projects.