The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has selected UoPs School of Energy Studies (SES) as one of the 11 institutions in the country to be developed as the Center of Excellence for renewable energy. The main objective of the Centre of Excellence will be to nurture students to become potential entrepreneurs,researchers,service providers and consultants in renewable energy, said V B Gaikwad,director,Board of College and University Development,UoP The MNRE will provide one-time grant-in-aid support of Rs 50 lakh to upgrade the laboratory and library required for renewable energy courses at SES. There is also a provision of fellowships for M.Tech,M.Sc and Ph.D courses in renewable energy. Considering the progress of the centres,an endowment fund of Rs 1.5 crore can be made available for creating a dedicated renewable energy chair for the centre. Presently,the SES is conducting a full-time two year M.Tech (Energy) programme for engineering graduates and M.Sc in collaboration with various industries and professionals consultants. SES has also undertaken various research activities related to renewable energy sources in photovoltaic and photothermal energy. Rs 53-lakh special grant for SES MNRE recently approved a special grant of Rs 53 lakh for SES to establish a testing facility to gauge the quality of evacuated tubes used in solar water heaters. The university will help in setting up a similar test facility at the Solar Energy Center in Gurgaon.
