Solar Universities in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

Through the “Solar Universities” initiative launched by ideas into energy in 2021, ideas into energy is supporting universities in Central Asia and the South Caucasus as key drivers of the energy transition. To this end, the project brings together technical universities, other academic institutions and companies in the solar industry to strengthen collaboration between teaching, research and industry practice. The initiative is aimed at students, lecturers and industry experts, offering information on educational programmes, solar-related course content and joint university projects in the region.

A key component of the project is the regular online exchange among lecturers and students from the partner universities, through seminars and workshops on the central themes of the energy transition using solar energy for the region. These include aspects of a smart grid infrastructure, the optimisation of PV system solutions and their components for operation under challenging climatic conditions, issues of system cybersecurity, and certain, as yet underdeveloped PV applications with high potential for use. Since 2025, the network has been developing joint research proposals on these topics, which are to be implemented gradually from autumn 2026 onwards.

ideas into energy has been coordinating the project since its inception, continuously developing it in collaboration with the universities and other partners, thereby creating a growing network for application-oriented academic training aimed at expanding solar energy.