EURAC was established in 1992 as a private non-profit organization for advanced research and further education, funded by both, private and public means. It has a turnover of about 13 million Euros. Its main activities are in the fields of “Autonomies”, “Health”, “Mountains” and “Technologies”. In the past 9 years EURAC participated in about 70 projects and at present is involved both as coordinator and partner in 45 projects funded within various EU programmes; 12 of these are under FP7.

The Institute for Renewable Energy works mainly in the field of system integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions for buildings. The activities range from monitoring over numerical simulations to laboratory testing.

The Institute for Renewable Energy is internally structured in four research groups:

• Solar Thermal Systems with focus on renewable heating and cooling systems and renewables for process heat
  
• Energy Management in Buildings with focus on Nearly Zero Energy Buildings
  
• Photovoltaic Systems with focus in BIPV and performance analysis of PV modules
• Energy Strategies and Planning with focus on renewable energies in urban planning

Additionally to the technical stuff, the International Relations and Project Service (IRPS), Scientific Communication Service and Accountancy and Legal Office offer support to researchers in preparation and management of the research projects.