Minimalistic approach of a complex and flexible teaching laboratory for photovoltaic energy conversion: experience from courses at the Kasetsart University in Bangkok and at GPEsolar (Technical University Berlin)

A complex of more than ten laboratory tasks was developed complementary to lectures and seminars for teaching of principles of solar cells and their applications. The laboratory covers topics of basic characteristics, materials and types of solar cells as well as of characterization methods and applications in solar energy conversion and can be extended to research aspects. Students with different background can independently discover a certain aspect in the field of photovoltaic energy conversion within four hours. Tasks can be easily applied at universities in developed and developing countries and most of them can be reproduced at low cost. The mobile laboratory can be setup in a short time and is well suitable for changing places of teaching. The vision to implement related laboratory tasks into experimental interdisciplinary teaching centers for renewable energy at universities has been drawn.