Renewable Energy Sources Facility

The Renewable Energy Sources Facility of the PHAETHON Centre of Excellence, located at the University of Cyprus, is a cutting-edge and adaptable research and development (R&D) facility dedicated to advancing next-generation renewable energy systems. The facility integrates state-of-the-art solar technology testing infrastructure designed to support the validation and demonstration of renewable energy (focus on photovoltaics) and smart grid innovations under real-world conditions.

The facility supports the following research areas:

  • Renewable energy technologies, with a focus on solar photovoltaics.
  • Distributed generation and grid flexibility solutions for modern power systems.
  • Energy storage systems and their integration into smart grids.
  • Intelligent energy management and smart electricity networks.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) applications and advanced energy data analytics.
  • Real-time simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing of smart grid components.
  • Energy policy analysis and techno-economic evaluation of renewable energy systems.

Solar Indoor and Outdoor Test Infrastructure

The solar indoor and outdoor test infrastructure is an advanced laboratory for the characterisation, monitoring and end-of-life management of photovoltaic (PV) and thermal technologies. More specifically, the outdoor test infrastructure consists of grid-connected PV system test-beds (nominal capacity 30 kW), smart weather stations and an advanced monitoring system for the acquisition of high resolution environmental and PV operational parameters. All the installed sensors and data-acquisition equipment is in accordance to the monitoring specifications set by the IEC 61724. Accordingly, the indoor test infrastructure comprises of environmental and UV exposure chambers, solar simulator (pulse type) and electroluminescence imaging apparatus for standardised tests based on the requirements of IEC 61215.

Outdoor PV system performance and reliability test-beds and indoor PV characterisation equipment.

Services offered by the infrastructure

The following services are offered by the infrastructure and its research environment:

  • Indoor and outdoor performance evaluation and characterisation of solar PV cells, modules and systems as per the requirements of IEC 61215.
  • Qualification testing/conformity assessment of PV according to diverse national standards and recommendations.
  • Verification and actual-environment demonstration of smart energy technologies and tools.
  • Testing renewable integration technologies against requirements of standards and grid codes.
  • Power quality (lab test/field monitoring) and impact evaluation of DER components on power quality (e.g., voltage levels and harmonics).
  • PV production forecasting (day- and hour-ahead) and energy analytics.