Two Keele students who recently completed an internship with a renewable energy non-profit cooperative have represented the organisation at a national energy conference run by Community Energy England.

Sharenergy, who are based in Shrewsbury, help communities set up renewable energy sources via a number of projects. The organisation employed two Keele interns for the ‘Big Solar Co-op’ project where they helped carry out research, liaised with potential community solar leads and contributed to organising a national energy conference.

The ‘Big Solar Co-op’ project aims to replicate this on a nationwide scale, aiming to install 100MW of rooftop solar by 2023.

Noël Lambert, Big Solar Co-op coordinator, said:

“We wanted to offer an opportunity to young scholars to gain insight into the community energy sector and we have been really pleased with what the interns from Keele have offered to the project.

They have been attentive and enthusiastic. The most important part of their work has been to start logging potential solar PV sites and conducting self-guided research. They have offered a fresh perspective, good knowledge of renewable technologies and represented our organisation really well at a recent conference”.

Intern Aaron Yule, Keele Postgraduate in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology, said:

“It has been an incredible learning experience and I have gained a lot of confidence in my abilities and have been able to refine my knowledge by conversing in more technical issues. The highlight for me was assisting the national conference by helping with scheduling and research and then minute taking for presentations and Q&As for use in the website and mailing lists”

Fellow intern, Andreea Burdusel applied for the internship due to her desire to make a positive change to society. She completed her postgraduate degree at Keele in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technology.

She said:

“This experience has been really valuable to help with my understanding of business models and new ways to introduce renewable energies effectively. I would recommend the opportunities on sustainability provided by Keele. The internship has made me more confident in applying for graduate level jobs in the future through the knowledge I have gathered”

To find out more about our internship schemes including Santander Universities UK programme and our fully-funded charity internships please visit the Keele Internships website

For more information about internships and other support opportunities available to businesses, please visit www.keele.ac.uk/business