Second workshop to assemble solar cells
On 4 March 2025, project AURORA team in Aarhus hosted the solar cell workshop for the 1st semester Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) students. About 35 students joined this workshop and tried their hands on to solder and assemble solar cells. Read more here.
Citizen Researcher Meeting 6
On 21 November 2024, project AURORA team in Aarhus joined representatives from other upcoming energy communities in Aarhus for a meaningful workshop. At this meeting, the participants shared the work done by different energy communities and their challenges. The discussion was especially relevant as we focused on the challenges that are specific to the communities in Aarhus and what can be done to improve the situations for the various local solar and wind energy communities.
Hands-on workshop to assemble solar cells
On 26 October 2024, project AURORA team in Aarhus hosted a hands-on workshop at the main library DOKK1. At this workshop, participants soldered and assembled their own solar panels, in addition to learning the basics of solar photovoltaics. Participants were able to test the performance of their solar panels outdoors at the end of the workshop. Read more here.
Citizen Researcher Meeting 5
On 22 June 2024, project AURORA team in Aarhus hosted a workshop together with the local citizen association The Common Good. At this workshop, we shared the challenges of setting up a rooftop solar energy community in Aarhus and how we overcome them, touching on aspects on legal framework, technical design, etc. Gunnar Olesen from VedvarendeEnergi introduced the Danish regulations of energy communities. The participants had a discussion on what could be done from the municipality level to encourage and help the development of energy communities in Aarhus. Last but not lease, we shared the initial findings from the AURORA Energy Tracker App, and had a discussion on the carbon emission from flights.
Movie screening
On 30 May 2024, Universitetets Energifællesskab F.M.B.A (UEF) held its general assembly. AURORA organized a movie screening after the general assembly. The movie We the Power was shown to show stories of community energy movement around Europe.
Visit to Samsø Energy Academy
On 3 May 2024, AURORA organized a visit to Samsø Energy Academy, one of the main players driving the community energy projects the island of Samsø. Samsø is known as Denmark’s Renewable Energy Island and has a long history of community energy projects. A group of students and staff from the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, including visiting researchers from Spain and France, participated in this visit. Read more here.
Thermal photography contest
From March to April, AURORA hosted a thermal photography contest at Aarhus University. The theme of the contest is Hidden Energy Problems, where contest participants can loan smart thermal cameras to observe thermal leakage in buildings, solar photovoltaic installations, to name a few. Three categories were set up in the contest and contest winners were announced after a judging panel reviewed the submissions together with voting on social media.
Fritidsforsker for en dag
On 21 April 2024, AURORA joined the Fritidsforsker for en dag event at DOKK1, the main library in Aarhus. The event featured a number of citizen science projects in Denmark, and the participants get to attend talks by researchers and take part in the various hands-on activities. At the AURORA table, participants were encouraged to use smart thermal cameras to investigate the DOKK1 building and find places with potential thermal leakage. Read more here.
Webinar with IDA
What is macro energy systems modelling and what does it tell us about the different European energy transition scenarios? In a system view, what are the benefits of rooftop solar photovoltaic systems compared to ground-mounted solar farms, despite their higher installation cost? What have we learnt from setting up a community solar project using the Danish cooperative spirit?
AURORA team in Aarhus partnered with the Danish Society of Engineers (IDA) to discuss these topics in a webinar. The recording of the webinar can be found on IDA’s website.
Citizen Researcher Meeting 4
On 3 Feb 2024, AURORA jointly hosted a workshop with Det Fælles Bedste (The Common Good), under the Citizen Driven Transition in Aarhus project. The workshop had a focus on consumption, one of the four themes in the project. Participants discussed different aspects around consumption, electricity, heating, transport, lifestyle, fashion, etc. We introduced the AURORA Energy Tracker and invited citizens to start monitoring their carbon emissions associated with household electricity, heating and transport behaviour, through the algorithm in the App. The partnership between AURORA team and The Common Good will continue to 2025, where more workshops will be hosted under other themes.
Public meeting
On 1 November 2023, we hosted a public meeting at Dokk1. At the meeting, we announced the establishment of the solar cooperative, Universitetets Energiføllesskab F.M.B.A (UEF), and the start of the crowdfunding of rooftop solar installation at Aarhus University. At the meeting, the board of directors of UEF presented the business case and plan for the installation. Read more about the event here.
Roundtable discussion
On 31 May 2023 we held a roundtable discussion titled “What’s your role in the green transition?” AURORA project partners from other demo sites, as well as some citizens in Aarhus, who are interested in crowdfunding the solar cooperative in Aarhus, participated in the discussion.
The session started by a presentation by Erik Christiansen, founder of Copenhagen Solar Cooperative and Middelgrunden Offshore Wind Cooperative. Erik shared the history of different types of energy cooperatives in Denmark and the current Danish legal framework for energy communities. Continue reading here…
Citizen Researcher Meeting 2 and 3
We had another Citizen Researcher Meeting series in March and April. This time, students from AU’s Engineering department were invited to test the beta-version of the AURORA App by providing their electricity, heating and transport data. In March, we asked the students to install the App (only available in iOS) and use it for 30-45 days. All together 21 users registered and provided data. In the second meeting in April, we showed the data to the students and discussed how the carbon footprint associated with their input compare to the baseline. The students also give good suggestions to the improvement of the App.
AURORA X ATU seminar
Together with ATU (Akamediet for Talentfulde Unge) in Aarhus, we met a group of high school students on 1 March 2023 and discussed citizen science and how young people can contribute to the green transition. The seminar was very well received. Click here for more information.
Citizen Researcher Meeting 1
On 13 Dec 2022, the community hosted another public meeting. We gave updates to the community on what has happened the last year. The participants also discussed specific terms in the solar cooperative’s draft statutes. In particular, should we include citizens in Aarhus in the cooperative? What is the maximum number of shares a member can own? Can students and employees keep the shares after leaving AU? In addition, we have got 5 founders who will sign the founders’ agreement to set up the solar cooperative. You can find the summary of the meeting in the Google Group.
Tech Summer Hang Out
Close to 80 colleagues from Faculty of Technical Sciences were present at the poster session, which took place before the Tech Summer Hang Out on 2 Sep. There is a lot of interest on whether the energy community will be implemented in other campuses of AU. We definitely hope the demonstration at the main campus becomes a “flagship” and be replicated elsewhere.
Citizen Science @ AU 2022
“We are citizens, before we are citizen science researchers.” We were at the AU Citizen Science Network meeting on 19 Aug 2022. A lot of interesting discussions on collaboration and better public engagement on science took place. Looking forward to bringing the knowledge learnt to our community.
Engaging Citizen Science Conference 2022
Together with our project partner from INSCICO and Kempley Green Consultants, we attended the Engaging Citizen Science Conference in Aarhus on 25-26 Apr 2022. At the conference, we met not only citizen science researchers and practitioners but also citizens, who are interested in joining the community.
Public discussion and Inno Cafe
What are the short and medium-long term implications for cutting Russian gas? What do you think about the ambitions in the recent Denmark Can Do More II proposal? We had an interesting discussion followed by presentations from student and researcher from AU. Prof. Alexander Gerber also led an Innovation Cafe to talk about individual energy behaviour and how the future AURORA mobile app plans to help to reduce citizens’ carbon emissions that are associated to their energy-related behaviour.
Open Citizens Day
We joined the Open Citizens Day at Steno Museum on 24 Apr 2022. We talked about solar power with museum visitors, while the children visiting our stand enjoyed mini-race of solar-powered cars that were assembled by themselves.
First public meeting
The first public meeting took place on 10 March 2022 at Navitas building. More than 20 participants showed up, comprising students and employees at AU. At the meeting, we introduced the initiative and had an interesting discussion on many questions, for example, “Can I participate if I am not an AU student or employee?”, or “What happens to the community after the project fundings ends?” Comments from the discussion are important for the future development of the cooperative statutes.
