24 years postgraduate program renewable energy

Starting in 1987 with 6 students the Postgraduate Programme Renewable Energy (PPRE) has developed to an accredited master program with almost 400 actively networking alumni from more than 80 countries. Fields of study are wind energy, solar electric and solar thermal, energy meteorology, hydropower, storage technology, biomass and economics of Renewable Energy. The Programme 1 aims at engineers and natural scientists. Apart from lecturing, emphasis is put on an eight-week internship in research institutes or companies and intensive hands-on lab courses. Furthermore, we establish contacts to companies, research institutes, consultants and organisations for international development for students within excursions and master thesis. A case study on a real-life project visited by the students allows the comparison of students' research results with the experience of the system's operator. This paper will present 24 years of experience in operation and development of an international master's program on Renewable Energy.