Darcom Energy and Victron Energy develop a state-of-the-art photovoltaic laboratory and a micro-grid of energy distribution at Politehnica University Timișoara

Darcom Energy, a Romanian company with 15 years of experience in the renewable energy sector, is collaborating with Victron Energy to develop a state-of-the-art photovoltaic laboratory at the Politehnica University of Timisoara (UPT), supporting innovation in education and the transition to green energy sources, a press release shows.

The laboratory, equipped with cutting-edge technology, will offer students access to real equipment, thus facilitating practical learning in the field of renewable energy. In fact, the Darcom Energy team is actively involved in educational projects, with a Training and Excellence Center dedicated to specialists in the field of renewable energy.

“This is already the third system we are donating, because we want to offer students access to professional equipment and create a microgrid to demonstrate our solutions. In Romania, there are big challenges related to the national grid, and we are meeting these problems with our systems. We want students to have access to real, modern equipment, and to become familiar with technologies already used in the industry. We are open to extending these collaborations to other technical universities in the country. The goal is to actively contribute to the training of future specialists, to encourage applied research and to support the transition to a modern and sustainable energy system.” – Cornel Eftenoiu, founder and CEO of Darcom Energy

The realization of this project was coordinated by the Darcom Energy team, consisting of Silviu Lupu, Cristian Vasilica and Cristian Pîrvu. The laboratory is composed of 12 photovoltaic panels with an installed power of almost 5 kWp and two 12.8V lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, configured in a fully functional hybrid system.

Energy microgrids represent the future of Europe

The laboratory operates as a demonstration microgrid, integrating the production, storage and intelligent management of energy in an independent local network. Students can simulate real scenarios of operation in off-grid or grid-tied mode, with automatic switching between sources and management of energy flows. In the current European context, microgrids represent a strategic direction in the transformation of energy distribution. They do not completely replace the national grid, but complement it and make it more flexible, providing energy autonomy to communities, stability in the event of interruptions and optimization of consumption at local level. This laboratory offers students an applied learning framework in the field of the future.

The laboratory will be used by third and fourth year students, as well as by those in the master’s program, and several hundred students will be able to be trained each semester. This collaboration between academia and the renewable energy industry adds concrete value to the educational process, contributing to the training of specialists prepared for the transition to a decentralized and sustainable energy system.

“We have the opportunity to show students what happens to photovoltaic panels, how many can be put in series, how many in parallel, how they can be integrated into systems and how energy is converted from direct current to alternating current. We want students to become familiar with state-of-the-art equipment, so that they are prepared for the challenges in the industry,” said Associate Professor Dr. Eng. Florin Molnar-Matei, from UPT.

In the coming period, Darcom Energy will focus on developing maintenance and upkeep services dedicated to the thousands of systems already installed, to ensure their operation at optimal parameters, in the long term. This service is addressed to both direct customers and partners who do not have the internal resources necessary to efficiently manage these processes, offering them specialized, fast and reliable support.

With over 15 years of experience in the field of renewable energy, Darcom Energy is part of the Darcom group, a company with 100% Romanian capital, founded in 1992. The company has a team of over 120 employees and carries out annual business of over 100 million lei. Through its complete internal infrastructure — from solution design, to execution, maintenance and technical education — Darcom Energy positions itself as a genuine One Stop Shop in the photovoltaic energy sector in Romania.

The services offered cover the entire life cycle of a project: consultancy and planning, technical design, installation, predictive maintenance, professional cleaning, as well as training and technical support for customers and partners. The proposed solutions are based on high-performance technologies, and the hybrid systems delivered are designed to provide quality energy, uninterrupted continuity and balancing consumption in relation to the public grid.