ELT 950 - Intro to Renewable Energy

1. Assess the basic and emerging principles and concepts that impact generation, transport, installation, operation, and maintenance of technologies and related equipment used to produce energy. 
   1. Explain sources of renewable energy. 
   2. Summarize energy standards produced by industry organizations. 
2. Compare and contrast the roles of various segments of the PV industry and how they interact with one other. 
   1. Identify key contributions to the development of PV technology.  
   2. Classify common types of PV system applications for both stand-alone and utility interactive systems with and without energy storage.   
   3. Associate key features and benefits of specific types of PV systems, including residential, commercial, BIPV, concentrating PV, and utility-scale.  
   4. List the advantages and disadvantages of PV systems compared to alternative electricity generation sources.   
   5. Explain the features and benefits of PV systems that operate independently of the electric utility grid.   
   6. Describe the features and benefits of PV systems that are interconnected to and operate in parallel with the electric utility grid.  
   7. Examine market indicators, value propositions, and opportunities for both grid-tied and stand-alone PV system applications.   
   8. Discuss the importance of conservation and energy efficiency as they relate to PV system applications.   
3. Determine the principal electrical safety hazards associated with PV systems, including electrical shock and arc flash.   
   1. Identify the various safety hazards associated with both operating and non-operating PV systems and components.   
   2. List different types of personal protective equipment (PPE) commonly required for installing and maintaining PV systems.   
   3. Practice safe practices for hoisting and rigging, the use of ladders, stairways and guardrails, the use of head, feet, hearing and face protection, the use of power tools, and the use of the appropriate fall protection, including the requirements for personal fall arrest and safety-monitoring systems according to OSHA standards.   
4. Prove Ohm’s Law in analyzing simple electrical circuits, and to calculate voltage, current, resistance or power given any other two parameters.  
   1. Assess basic electrical parameters including electrical charge, current, voltage, power and resistance, and relate these parameters to their hydraulic analogies (volume, flow, pressure, hydraulic power and friction).                    
   2. Explain the difference between electrical power (rate of work performed) and energy (total work performed).   
   3. Describe the function and purpose of common electrical system components, including conductors, conduits/raceways and enclosures, overcurrent devices, diodes and rectifiers, switchgear, transformers, terminals and connectors, grounding equipment, resistors, inductors, capacitors, etc.                       
   4. Identify basic electrical test equipment and its purpose, including voltmeters, ammeters, ohmmeters and watt-hour meters.                                    
   5. Examine the fundamentals of electric utility system operations, including generation, transmission, distribution and typical electrical service supplies to buildings and facilities.         
5. Quantify the effects of changing orientation (azimuth and tilt angle) on the amount of solar energy received on an array surface at any given location using solar energy databases and computer software tools.   
   1. Define basic terminology, including solar radiation, solar irradiance, solar irradiation, solar insolation, solar constant, air mass, ecliptic plane, equatorial plane, pyrometer, solar declination, solstice, equinox, solar time, solar altitude angle, solar azimuth angle, solar window, array tilt angle, array  azimuth angle, and solar incidence angle.   
   2. Diagram the sun’s apparent movement across the sky over any given day and over an entire year at any given latitude, and define the solar window.  
   3. Solve the sun’s position using sun path diagrams, and determine when direct solar radiation strikes the north, east, south and west walls and horizontal surfaces of a building.  
   4. Differentiate between solar irradiance (power), solar irradiation (energy), and understand the meaning of the terms peak sun, peak sun hours, and insolation.   
   5. Identify factors that reduce or enhance the amount of solar energy collected by a PV array.   
   6. Demonstrate the use of a standard compass and determine true geographic south from magnetic south at any location given a magnetic declination map.  
   7. Describe the consequences of array shading and best practices for minimizing shading and preserving array output.  
   8. Demonstrate the use of equipment and software tools to evaluate solar window obstructions and shading at given locations, and quantify the reduction in solar energy received.   
   9. Predict spacing distances required to avoid inter-row shading from adjacent saw tooth rack mounted arrays at specified locations between 9 am and 3 pm solar time throughout the year.   
   10. Define the concepts of global, direct, diffuse and albedo solar radiation, and the effects on flat-plate and concentrating solar collectors.   
   11. Identity the instruments and procedures for measuring solar power and solar energy.