For the past seven years UMN Morris has hosted student interns and scholars from the Muenster University of Applied Sciences (MUAS), in Muenster, Germany, to work on sustainability projects in the community.
During 2022, the city of Morris installed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on four public buildings.
In spring 2023, members of the Morris Model partnership, including UMN Morris, city of Morris, UMN Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (Southwest RSDP), and UMN Institute on the Environment Climate Smart Municipalities asked the question: Would other communities in Minnesota benefit from learning more about the solar installations in the city of Morris?
In April 2023, Felix Luecken arrived from Germany and began his work with the city of Morris. The goal of the project was to develop an easy-to-read report that explained how the solar PV systems were performing on city buildings, including details about the energy production from each PV system and the total energy use of each building.
Southwest RSDP Executive Director, Anne Dybsetter shared, “Our board values our partnership with the Morris Model team and our shared goals of working with communities to consider how they can build and benefit from clean energy projects. We are excited about the progress Morris is making.”
In September 2023, Luecken ended his internship in Morris and prepared for his return to Germany. Luecken shared, “I really enjoyed my time in Morris. I was excited to share the results of my report with the Morris city council and other audiences during my time in Minnesota. This internship solidified my interest in working in the energy sector when I return to Germany.”
The title of the report is, “Performance of solar photovoltaic installations in the city of Morris,” and can be found here at the Morris Model website.
Felix is the fifth student from the MUAS to participate in an internship at UMN Morris Office of Sustainability. Other German interns include Jan Brommelhaus (community district-heating analysis), Britta Fuengers (solar at public schools analysis), Marc Brosius (campus thermal-load analysis), and Michael Abbing. The most recent report from Michael Abbing focused on the performance of the new freshwater treatment plant in Morris and can be found here at the West Central Minnesota We Are Water website.