One of the biggest foundation universities, Yeditepe University has taken a first step and built a solar energy system on the rooftops in the campus. The biggest rooftop energy system in Istanbul has a capacity one 1MW.
The system which is built on the rooftop of the Fine Arts Building and four student dormitories consists of 3850 260 MV solar panels.
Pointing out that anyone dealing with energy should not take the sun for granted, Yeditepe University Founder Bedrettin Dalan said that today the reason for all energy sources was the sun.
Emphasizing the importance of clean sources in using efficient energy, Yeditepe University can only supply 10% of the energy needed at the university with its 1MW system. Stating that this is only a start, Bedrettin Dalan said “In Şile we have started a working 1 MW wind energy investment belonging to the university. We will see which system is more efficient and take further steps according to the results. Our solar energy investments will continue until we reach 10 MW. An area has been allocated for the 10 MW system. At the end of 2017, we will have finished the 10 MW solar system project. We didn’t receive any monetary incentive for this investment; however, if we continue with these investments we will look for various financial aids”.
Pointing out that there are two main issues in terms of energy,
Dalan continued “The first one is using clean energy, and the second one is encouraging energy saving. We as the university took this step during the construction of this university. We applied measures of energy saving in the construction of our buildings in the conditions of those days. Our buildings were built taking volume and front into consideration. We have built bulky buildings. This way it was possible to get sunlight into the buildings. We have used a courtyard system in our buildings. They take light from the center and this way the interiors receive natural light. We used excessive exterior wall insulations for maximum heat saving. For warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer we used Ünye marbles and for heating panels we used polyurethane. The advantage of this in Istanbul means heating 40 calories per square meter. We literally use 5 calories for heating. We took these steps 20 years ago. Our first job is to minimize energy consumption. In addition to this, we have completed our thermal solar project. Warm water inside the university is provided via our thermal solar system.”