A brief history of ERC

The Energy Research Centre (ERC) of Eastern Mediterranean University was founded in 1996 with the purpose of conducting and evaluating scientific research, and discussing the country's energy problems at an academic level. One of the most important projects that the Centre carried out was the determination of the components of the residential demand of electrical power in 1996 [1]. This project was sponsored by KIB-TEK, the electricity authority of Northern Cyprus. A similar work was executed, in collaboration with the Tourism Department of TRNC, for the hotel buildings in 1997. In 1999, the feasibility of cogeneration plants for the Turkish industry was examined by carrying out a field research work in Bursa, Turkey. All three of these investigations yielded new methodologies in the fields of energy planning, energy policy and rational use of energy, which were published as original articles in the Energy-the International Journal [2-4].

The Centre went through a re-structuring process after 2004. Dr. Ugur Atikol was appointed as the director of the centre and an executive board was formed. A new draft was prepared to establish the working rules of the Centre. The aim was to create a more efficient research centre with the aim of increasing the participation rate of the faculty members from all units of university in not only the research work but also in decision making on energy research and development of topics.

Development of the Solar Energy Research, Inspection and Training (Sol-ERIT) laboratory

A laboratory building is being constructed for research, inspection and training purposes. It has a floor area of 10m2 and consists of a thermal storage wall and a roof construction allowing installation of solar collectors and photovoltaic panels. A movable platform mechanism is designed and constructed on the roof with the intention of investigating the effect of tracking the sun for improved performance and shading on the thermal storage wall. Although the building is constructed by the financial support and technical services of the university, the photovoltaic panels, the inverter, the sensors, differential thermostat, pumps and other solar collectors are purchased by the resources raised by ERC.

The design of the laboratory makes it possible for inspecting the performance of solar collectors manufactured in the industry. It is envisaged that the ERC can raise funds by performing efficiency tests for these collectors. In Cyprus there are many companies manufacturing solar collectors for the purpose of heating water. However, the quality of these collectors is not meeting with the expectations. The laboratory can be prepared to deliver performance tests and issue energy labels for these collectors in order to create competitiveness between the companies leading to better quality local solar collectors. ERC is organizing courses, trainings and workshops whenever there is a need for it. The laboratory will also serve for the purpose of training the attendees of these events. This can also be a source for raising funds for ERC. The design of the laboratory building incorporates stairs and a walking platform on the roof to allow trainees to get close to the solar collectors and photovoltaic panels where they can see how they are installed and connected to piping and wires.

The most recently completed events and projects are as follows:

1. 10th International Conference on Clean Energy (ICCE-2010) was organized in cooperation with Clean Energy Research Institute (CERI) of University of Miami on 15-17 September 2010. Participants from 35 countries attended to present 235 papers. A special section with 24 papers from the conference was published in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Vol.37, Issue 2 (2012). The conference chair U. Atikol is acting as guest editor in International Journal of Energy Research and International Journal of Green Energy to publish good quality papers from the conference in special issues of these journals.

2. An investigation was carried out for the guest house in the territory of the Techno Park in order to evaluate the possibility of retrofitting it into a "solar house". Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uğur Atikol was the coordinator of the project. Prof. Dr. Uğur Dağlı took part as an architect while Asst. Prof. Dr. Mürüde Çelikağ acted as the expert civil engineer. However, the project which was named "Solar Energy Smart House (SESH) project" was abandoned in February 2011 due to technical difficulties arising from the foundation and structure of the building.
   

3. A web site on energy efficiency and awareness was designed in collaboration with Exergia Ltd. of Greece, as a part of the EU project entitled "DSM and Energy Awareness in the Turkish Cypriot Community". The web site is set up in Turkish and English and is now operational at www.efficient-energy-use.eu. The site will be transferred to EMU Energy Research Centre at the end of 2011.
4. A report was prepared and submitted to Cyprus Turkish Investment Development Agency (YAGA) upon their request on Concentrating Solar Power (CPS) and their possible applications in Cyprus. The report dated 3^rdNovember 2010 advised the investment on such systems since this technology is developing very fast and involvement in technology development at this stage would be advantageous not only for the future of the energy scene of Cyprus but also for a sustainable economy.
5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uğur Atikol is regularly invited to attend and participate in the discussions on the world energy policies by the Crans Montana Forum (CMF) organizers. He attended The CMF in Tirana, Albania from 6^th to 7^th May, 2010 on "Sustainable Development in South Eastern Europe" and also in Vienna, Austria from 28^th to 29^th April, 2011 on "Energy Poverty". 
6. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uğur Atikol was invited by the Energy Professionals Association (EPA) to deliver a speech in the Energy Efficient Buildings Conference on 23 January 2010. The speech was on the performance of Trombe-Wall applications in buildings.
7. A memorandum of understanding was signed on the 4^th February, 2011 between the Energy Systems Engineering Department of Yalova University and the Energy Research Centre of Eastern Mediterranean University with the objective of developing long-term cooperative activities, such as sharing knowledge, developing collaborative research programs, conducting seminars and organizing workshops.
8. The views of the Energy Research Centre on energy policies in Cyprus are frequently expressed on TV programs by the Chair of the Centre, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Uğur Atikol. He recently attended various programs in BRT, Kıbrıs TV and TRT5.
9. A 3-month long TV program was produced and shown on Kıbrıs Genç TV between November 2008 and January 2009. The show, which was presented by U. Atikol, was titled "Modern Life, Modern House" and in general energy-related and environmental topics were covered. Among the experts and government officials invited were six professors from EMU during the course of the program.
10. U. Atikol took part in the USAID sponsored Resource Efficiency Achievement Project (REAP) as a Senior Resource Efficiency Expert between 2005 and 2007. The project ended in 2008. See Appendix C for details of REAP.
11. An Energy-Efficiency Awareness and Demand-Side Management (DSM) campaign was designed and implemented for KIB-TEK, the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Board during the winter season in 2006-2007. The aim was to lower the demand to have a sustainable electricity production for winter. Not only compact fluorescent lamps were distributed to households but also a communication campaign with the aid of TV and radio announcements, newspaper ads, posters and leaflets was carried out. Apart from U. Atikol, Res. Asst. Nilüfer Türksoy from the Faculty of Communications took an active part in the campaign.
    

The ERC project team in a meeting with KIB-TEK and the Ministry of Finance planning the KIB-TEK awareness campaign

12. Two courses were delivered to professional engineers sponsored by the REAP project. These courses were "Renewable Energy Systems" (January 4-6, 2007) and "State-of-the-Art Energy Systems" (January 11-13, 2007) and each one of them were for 3 days. Lecturers were U. Atikol, İ. Sezai, E. Erdil, A. Günyaktı, F. Egelioğlu, M. İlkan, M. Rıza, S. Abbasoğlu from EMU and İlhan Özkal (from Schueco International Turkey), Ufuk Berk (from Wartsilla Enpa Dış Tic. A.Ş.), Orhan Öge (from Ögeler Co. Ltd.).
13. Two certification courses, "Certified Energy Manager" and "Certified Energy Auditor" courses were delivered from 10^th to 17^th September, 2007. The courses were organized by U. Atikol and sponsored by the REAP project and lasted 5 days each. U. Atikol, M. Dağbaşı and F. Egelioğlu from the Department of Mechanical Engineering lectured during these courses.
14. An investigation of the feasibility of designing and building a hybrid solar-hydrogen car (HSHC) was carried out as an A-Type project. A report of the outcomes was submitted to the Coordinator of A-Type projects.
15. A new elective course, Introduction to Energy Management was developed to suit all disciplines of engineering students. This course was offered several times in the department of mechanical engineering.
    

Ongoing Activities

The EMU Energy Research Centre (ERC) is working on several projects, some of which are project proposals that require funding. The Centre is putting a lot of effort in finding funding for these projects from EU, the industry and other funding bodies. The list of ongoing activities of the Centre is given in the following table.

References

[1]    Atikol U., "Residential Energy Consumption Survey" EMU Energy Research Centre Report ERC-96/001. N. Cyprus: Famagusta 1996 (in Turkish).

[2]    Atikol U., Dagbasi M., Guven H., "Identification of Residential End-Use Loads for Demand-Side Planning in N. Cyprus" Energy-the International Journal 1999; 24(3):231-238.

[3]    Atikol U., "A Demand-Side Planning Approach for the Commercial Sector of Developing Countries" Energy-the International Journal 2004; 29(2):257-266.

[4]    Atikol U., Guven H., "Impact of Cogeneration on Integrated Resource Planning of Turkey" Energy-the International Journal 2003; 28(12):1259-1277.