PV center opened

HTL in the Weinviertel region as the “cradle of solar technology”

The training center in Hollabrunn offers many types of modules and roof mounting forms.(Bild: Peter Buchgraber)

Not only students, but also many electricians come to the new solar energy training center in Hollabrunn and learn in practice how to install systems - and that they also work in the event of a blackout. A teacher at the school actually laid the foundations for this back in 1999.

At that time, due to a lack of local training, students still had to travel to Germany to obtain a certificate for solar systems and photovoltaics: And that is exactly what Peter Spannbruckner from Hollabrunn, who died the previous year, did. The former workshop manager recognized the potential of the technology and had already created training units in Hollabrunn to pass on his knowledge after completing a course in Bavaria: "Electricians from Lake Constance to Lake Neusiedl came to us for this," recalls Director Wolfgang Bodei.

The sun doesn't charge us. One of our teachers was a pioneer and we have now "completed" his plan.

HTL-Direktor Wolfgang Bodei

Cooperation with electrical engineering training providers
With the opening of the photovoltaic practice center, the HTL has now opened a new chapter: in cooperation with the electricians' guild, the Chamber of Commerce as well as the WIFI and BFI, the school for electronics and electrical engineers will not only train students in the center itself, but will also become a place for training practice for prospective electricians: they will find a wide range of equipment.

In addition to electronics, the fastening of the panels also plays a role - many roof shapes are used to demonstrate how the installation works.

Correct wiring: complicated for laypeople, crucial for users in the event of a blackout.(Bild: Peter Buchgraber)

In the basement it's all about electronics: Blackout & Co.
The laboratory is then an exciting topic - because it contains battery storage units that are used, among other things, to train how circuits are set up for a dreaded blackout. Fitters even come to Hollabrunn from Salzburg, Upper Austria and Vienna.