Renewable Energy Engineering MSc/Diploma/Certificate

This programme is gives an overview of the provision and use of energy in the world today but allows the student to specialise in the rapidly expanding area of renewable energy engineering. The course is aimed at students wishing to develop critical understanding of the significant changes afoot in the energy system due to the development and integration of wind, marine, biomass and solar technologies. The course will provide graduates of a calibre capable of developing and implementing creative solutions to the problems encountered in renewable energy capture, conversion, storage and management.

Programme content

A broad range of disciplines covered by Energy are reflected in this degree which covers Energy Resources, Energy Efficiency, Environmental Legislation, Environmental Impact Assessment and Energy in Buildings. Students may study these courses at their own pace:

Semester 1

Mandatory

Foundations of Energy
This course is designed to give students an overview over all aspects of energy, from the resources and their extraction to energy use, as well as energy within the environmental, social and economic context..

Heat Transfer and Heat Exchangers
Transfer of heat is fundamental to almost all energy conversion processes, this course looks at the mechanisms of heat transfer, how to evaluate the relationships between heat transfer , temperature and geometry and an introduction to the design of heat transfer equipment.

Renewable Energy Technologies
This course provides an introduction to the various technologies which are available to utilise renewable energy resources and to convert them into a form which is useful in a modern community. It gives the student the knowledge to calculate the availability of such resources and evaluate their potential.

Economics of Renewable Energy
This course covers pricing mechanisms applied tod energy, the economics of extracting energy and the cost-efficiency of renewable technologies. It also examines economic instruments for the environment, such as pollution taxes, tradable pollution permits, environmental valuation. and economic incentives.

Semester 2

Mandatory

Advanced Renewable Energy Engineering
This course is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to design a renewable energy system convey this knowledge via a design-based approach, where students will work on developing an on-paper design for an on- or off-grid renewable energy system throughout the term, supported by lectures covering all aspects of the design.

Critical Analysis and Research Preparation
Prior to undertaking the dissertation students learn the fundamentals of undertaking a research project and lay the ground work for their dissertation.

Environmental Impact Assessment
All developments have an impact on the environment, and conventional and renewable energy plant are no exception. This course examines the principles and legal requirements for assessing the environmental impact a development will have.

Demand Management & Energy Storage
Energy supply grids are traditionally designed to meet the demands of all consumers, this requires overcapacity and often the use of inefficient generators, the introduction of novel and often small scale and intermittent energy sources exacerbates the difficulty. In this course methods of managing demand to avoid some of the problems and storing energy to meet peaks in demand, or make up for intermittent supply, are investigated.

Building Energy Management

Summer Session

Mandatory

Masters Dissertation (Masters students only)
A wide range of project options is available, some are suggested by the staff, alternatively students may suggest their own project for the dissertation and agree this with a supervisor and the Programme Director. Students are encouraged to carry out projects within industry.

Careers

Many of the students studying on this programme are in employment and by gaining the Masters degree in Renewable Energy Engineering, they enhance their career prospects with their current employer, both by virtue of the qualification and because they are able to contribute more through application of the knowledge and skills which they have gained. As the importance of the renewable energy sector continues to increase, this programme equips graduates to move from other areas into employment in this exciting field.

Postgraduate Masters level

• Bachelors Honours degree A good first or second class Honours degree in a cognate or semicognate discipline.
• Postgraduate Diploma Attainment of 50% pass level in the MSc Energy examinations.
• Professional/corporate membership Membership of a professional institution in a cognate discipline that normally requires an Honours degree for entry.

Postgraduate Diploma level

• Bachelors degree An Ordinary degree in a cognate or semicognate discipline.
• Higher National Diploma HND or equivalent qualification deemed suitable to third year entry of a cognate Bachelors degree, plus four years' relevant post-qualification work experience.
• Higher National Certificate HNC or equivalent qualification deemed suitable to second year entry of a cognate Bachelors degree, plus six years' relevant post-qualification work experience.
• Professional/associate membership Membership of a professional institution in a cognate discipline that normally requires a degree for entry.

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