Overview
The UK Government has committed £12 billion of funding for a Green Industrial Revolution. Join the fight against climate change, find solutions to society's reliance on fossil fuels and be part of the next great energy transformation.
On this Renewable Energy Engineering degree, you'll study a branch of engineering that focuses on powering the world sustainably. From energy conversion and storage technology, to low carbon heating systems, electrical circuit analysis and large network grids, you'll develop the engineering skills and technical knowledge you need to design, assess and improve electrical, renewable and alternative energy systems that benefit the climate and society.
Follow in the footsteps of engineers who worked on radical advancements such as solar-powered drones and the hydrogen fuel used to heat and power green homes.
BEng or MEng?
You can study this course as a 3-year Bachelor's degree (BEng) or a 4-year integrated Master's degree (MEng). The MEng allows you to achieve a Master’s level degree with just one extra year of undergraduate study, further enhancing your career prospects.
What you’ll experience
- Design renewable energy systems for electricity, transport or heating applications, for residential and commercial markets
- Use cost analysis to compare renewable energy technologies with traditional fuel systems from the points of view of business, industry and maintenance
- Get a better understanding of solar PV, wind turbines, batteries, hydrogen energy, energy-efficient buildings and sustainable transport.
- Learn about many aspects of smart grid management, energy storage, charging of electric vehicles and system automation
- Work in industry on optional modules or your optional placement year, networking with and working alongside established experts and prospective employers
Work experience and career planning
Get experience while you study with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities and work experience. Towards the end of your degree and after graduation, you'll get 1-to-1 support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to find your perfect role.
Placement year (optional)
After your second year, you can do an optional paid work placement year to get valuable longer-term work experience in the industry.
Our students earn an average salary of £19,000 during their placements, and previous students have taken placement roles at Prysmian Group, Rolls Royce and the National Grid.
Possible placement destinations
- solar energy project developers
- fuel cell and battery manufacturers
- smart grid service providers
- energy storage and energy management businesses
- local councils
- sustainable transportation businesses
- energy research and development companies
We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your aspirations. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
The Group Design Project module you take in year 2, the Individual Project module you take in year 3, and the Multidisciplinary Group Project you take in year 4 (MEng only), give you the opportunity to get work experience as part of your study.
Your project work will be on an industry-related or industry-sponsored subject related to renewable energy, or its application. You'll plan your project with consultation from your tutors and, where necessary, external industrial supervisors. Your project will contain elements that boost your future employability, such as a financial analysis of different energy options for a particular business.
We'll also help you to identify additional internships, voluntary roles and opportunities that will further complement your studies, throughout the course.
Module Details
Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.
In each year, you need to study modules worth a total of 120 credits. For example, 4 modules worth 20 credits and 1 module worth 40 credits.
We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.
Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.
Programme Assessment
Teaching on this course includes:
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Tutorials
- Laboratory work
- Computer-aided engineering system activity
There's an emphasis on problem solving and project work to reflect the challenges experience in your career. Tasks will often begin with you researching a problem or project brief, before moving on to lab sessions to identify, then implement, practical solutions.
Teaching staff are all members of the IET (Institute of Engineering and Technology), and many are Chartered Engineers. The teaching staff on this course also have a range of professional experience, including working as a team leaders, and in higher management, in industry.
You can access all teaching resources on Moodle, our virtual learning environment, from anywhere with a web connection.
You'll be assessed through:
- Written examinations
- Coursework
- Practical tests
- Project work
- Presentations
You'll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark. For example, you can take online quizzes on theory-related skills, such as electrical circuit network parameters, to get automatic feedback. You also get feedback on lab-related skills through the submission of the logbook you've recorded the details of practical sessions in.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments, so you can improve in the future.
Every Tuesday in term time you'll also attend a 1-hour feedback and support session.
Student Destinations
When you graduate, you'll be ready for a career working at the forefront of the technology responsible for renewable energy. Not only is the work rewarding, but you'll be working in a highly skilled area, which is always in-demand, and get to be part of the solution to one of the most pressing issues facing society.
You'll graduate with the skills and understanding to work in many related areas, including:
- Energy generation – such as in solar or wind power
- Energy conversion and storage – in areas such as batteries and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.
- Sustainable transport systems – in fields such as electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, as well as hydrogen and biomethane vehicles
- Low carbon heating systems – such as in solar, thermal, hydrogen energy, as well as biomethane and heat pumps
- Energy efficient buildings – in areas such as energy conservation, new materials, smart energy management and energy audits
- Security – working to improve national security by working on new technologies and infrastructure
What jobs can you do with a renewable energy engineering degree?
You'll be able to take roles such as:
- solar PV system engineer
- wind energy engineer
- energy storage engineer (battery specialist)
- hydrogen energy system engineer
- fuel cell system engineer
- zero carbon heating engineer
- electric vehicle charging specialist
- smart grid engineer
- energy management specialist
- energy audit specialist
- business development manager
When you graduate you'll also be able to pursue further studies at postgraduate level, or set up your own businesses with help and support from the University.
