Markus Real

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Markus G. Real (* 1949 ) is a Swiss engineer .

biography

Markus G. Real was born in 1949 as the son of an engineer. His father, together with W. Traupel, played a key role in the development of the modern steam turbine and led the development of steam turbine coal-fired power plants for BBC (now ABB ). Markus Real studied engineering at the ETH from 1969 to 1974, did his doctorate with Peter Baccini , and began his first position in 1975 at the Federal Reactor Research Institute (EIR), now the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), with the planning of large solar power plants.

Pioneering work in the solar power plant sector

From 1975 to 1981, Real set up the solar power plant department at EIR under the direction of Paul Kesselring and Heinrich Gränicher . Influenced by the 1973 oil crisis and the reports of the Club of Rome, Real came to the conclusion that only solar energy, with its diverse uses, could meet mankind's energy needs in the long term.

In 1975 the International Energy Agency IEA initiated the development of the first solar power plants in Almería / Spain ( Plataforma Solar de Almería ). On behalf of the Swiss Federal Office for Energy , Real represented the burgeoning Swiss industrial interests in solar power plant construction. Sulzer was able to build the first sodium-cooled solar receiver for a test facility in Almería. In 1978, Real, with the help of Claus Fröhlich , head of the World Radiation Center (pmodwrc) in Davos, developed a simple apparatus with which not only the relative distribution of the strongly concentrated solar radiation in the MW / m² range could be determined, but also its 1, Absolute values ​​accurate to 5%, a development that earned the former EIR several measurement orders for solar tower power plants.

The simplicity of the technology was convincing. Real was able to convince the management of the institute and his superior Kesselring to give him a free hand for the development of photovoltaic system technology and for the purchase of solar cells. The 1.5 kW solar modules from Arco were still very expensive back then. Georg von Tobel , who developed the first European solar inverter to feed into the grid, was part of Real's team . In November 1979, the first solar system, installed on the tool shed in front of the canteen, was connected to the grid and for the first time fed photovoltaic solar power into a European power grid.

Wind power plants

The EIR was a thermally oriented research facility that had little in common with the direct conversion of solar radiation into semiconductor materials. With the aim of further developing photovoltaics and wind power plants, Real founded Alpha Real AG in 1982. In 1986, Alpha Real put its first wind power plant into operation in the Pontrut area in the canton of Jura. A year later, under the management of Stefan Kessler and Robert Käser, another optimized system followed in Martigny in the canton of Valais, which at the time was Europe's largest operational wind power plant with a 300 kW rotor. For the financing of the wind technology, Alpha Real took an unusual approach for Swiss standards at the time and carried out a successful IPO . The procedure of such a small company was so unusual for Switzerland as a financial center at the time that initially no bank could be found in Zurich that wanted to provide a deposit account for the public offering. The money was to be used to bring solar and wind technology to market maturity. On February 26, 1986, the solar power generated in a private house was fed back into the grid for the first time.

Decentralized consumption

In the summer of 1986 Real launched the “Megawatt - Alpha Real is looking for 333 3kW power plant owners” project. The project was a success under the direction of Georg Hefti. Within a year, the 333 solar systems with an output of one MW were connected to the grid. For the first time worldwide, the large-scale implementation of building-integrated solar systems was demonstrated. The smart grid , the concept of decentralized consumers and producers, was born and the controversy over reimbursement of the energy fed back into the grid broke out.

Director Jules Peter of Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke CKW solved the problem pragmatically and created a world first: forward and reverse counting energy meters ensured that consumption and generation were billed at the same tariffs. A simple model that sparked international impetus under the name of Net Net Metering . Two months later, under the direction of Peter Toggweiler, another world first was presented to the press: the first solar facade power plant. Client Walter Schmid was impressed by the possibilities of renewable energies and founded Kompogas AG four years later . In 1992 Glas Trösch Solar AG was founded, a joint venture with Glas Trösch AG in order to gain access to the sales network and glass technology.

Building integration

Under the direction of Christian Meier, thanks to support from the Swiss Federal Office for Energy, the Swiss National Energy Research Fund NEFF and cantonal energy agencies, additional building blocks were developed for building integration: the first commercial plug-in contacts for simple and safe wiring, intelligent solar roof tiles, and fast assembly systems. The global photovoltaic community was small enough to take advantage of Alpha Real's pioneering work.

Solar vehicle

In 1985 the young company succeeded in forming a joint venture with Mercedes Benz AG in order to win the first international solar car race, the Tour de Sol , with the jointly developed solar car "Mercedes Benz solarpowered by Alpha Real" . The vehicle became the standard and is now in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

Further career

In 1994, Real founded Edisun Power AG with Hans Peter Eicher, which plans, finances and operates solar power plants. Edisun Power secured capital-intensive growth through a successful IPO.

At the end of 2007 Real resigned as chairman of the working group for photovoltaic systems of the international IEC standards commission , which he chaired for 25 years. Real received the IEC Award in 2009. On this occasion, Real organized a conference on the arc detector he invented , which can detect dangerous line faults in solar systems. Heinrich Häberlin from the Bern University of Applied Sciences developed his idea for the market.

In 1995 Real decided to withdraw from the development of photovoltaics, anticipating that federal energy policy would inhibit further implementation. In 1997, Real, together with Peter Varadi and with the help of the World Bank, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), founded the NGO Photovoltaic Global Approval Program (PVGAP), based in Geneva, in order to obtain an internationally recognized seal of approval ( PVGAP) for photovoltaics. The quality label was adopted by the IECEE in 2007 for further distribution.

In 1998, Real installed the first heat pump for hot water generation in the Brazilian state of Bahia , which, thanks to ambient temperatures of around 30 ° C , achieves a coefficient of performance of 10 and performs better in terms of energy than solar collector systems with electrical backup in tropical climates. In 2002 he founded Bagasse Biorefining AG with Andre Reynier and Stefan Grass to produce high-quality industrial fibers from sugar cane waste. In 2009 Real also started a joint venture with Pierre Landolt for the realization of solar power plants in Brazil.

Prices

  • 1985: Winner Tour de Sol with "Mercedes-Benz Alpha Real"
  • 1994: Inventor Award for Technology Location Switzerland, Hanover Exhibition Center
  • 1995: SATW Renewable Energy Prize
  • 1996: Swiss Solar Prize
  • 2009: IEC Award 2009

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Real, Markus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Real, Markus G.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer
DATE OF BIRTH 1949