Photovoltaic Design Foundations - Online

Self-paced e-learning from home

Hands-on labs with real solar equipment

Interactive content that's not like reading a book

Who is the course for?
Anyone who wants to learn how to make electricity from sunshine using common components and design principles of residential Solar PV systems.

How long is it?
The online solar training course is self paced, and most students finish in 3-5 weeks. The total time is about 30-50 hours.

We recognize that most online courses are notoriously boring, and that many students do not finish them. So we designed a fun, interactive, online solar training course about the design & installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The class is enhanced with interactive exercises, animations, quick quizzes, real-world experiments and video clips. We also include an entire solar kit with real solar PV cells, DC motors and multi-meter. Our hands-on exercises help you really understand solar design!

You can do the course work whenever you wish, day or night, and an instructor is available to help you with your questions.

When you enroll in the course, you receive a complete reference textbook and CD-ROM, plus an entire solar kit with real solar PV cells, DC motors and a multi-meter. You can receive a $600 discount towards this course, by bundling it with our acclaimed hands-on 6 Day Solar PV Boot Camp.

Upon completing the online solar training course and finishing the assessments with a 70% score, students will be awarded the Boots Entry-level Photovoltaic Design certification.

This course fills up very quickly, and seats are very limited and strictly on a first-come-first-serve basis. To improve your chances of enrollment, we suggest you click the ENROLL button in the Course Schedule table below to sign up online. We are currently not offering Standby status for any dates of this course. Students outside of the USA may incur additional shipping charges for course material delivery. Please contact an Admissions Representative for more information.

Course Schedule

Solar-PDF-O-Photovoltaic Design Foundations - Online     Special Price $ 995 Starting Dates Ending Dates Location Enroll   Aug 09, 10   Sep 26, 10 .  Online      Aug 23, 10   Oct 10, 10 .  Online      Sep 13, 10   Oct 31, 10 .  Online      Oct 04, 10   Nov 20, 10 .  Online      Oct 25, 10   Dec 11, 10 .  Online      Nov 15, 10   Jan 02, 11 .  Online

Note: Limited time Special pricing is for the two upcoming dates only, and will not be honored after the price changes back.

Course Outline

1: Introduction to Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

• Photovoltaics definitions
• PV Applications
• Overview of PV industry
• Different solar energy technologies

 
2: Solar Radiation

• The Sun
• Solar radiation, definitions and explanations
• Sun-Earth relationships
• Array orientation

• Solar radiation data sets

 
3: Site Evaluation

• Preliminary assessment and preplanning
• Site surveys
• Preparing proposals
• Installation planning

4: System Components

• Component descriptions
• Sources of electricity
• System configurations

5: Cells, Modules, and Arrays

• PV cells and associated technologies
• Current – voltage (I-V) characteristics
• Device responses
• Modules and arrays, characteristics and standards

6: Battery Systems

• Battery principles
• Types of batteries
• Battery systems

7: Charge Controllers

• Features
• Types of charge controllers
• Charge controller setpoints
• Charge controller applications

8: Inverters

• AC power and characteristics
• Inverters and types
• Power conditioning units
• Inverter features and specifications

9: System Sizing

• System sizing methods

• System sizing calculations

10: Mechanical Integration

• System mechanical considerations
• System mounting configurations
• Mechanical integration details

11: Electrical Integration

• System electrical integration
• Conductors and wiring methodology
• Overcurrent protection mechanism
• Disconnects, definition and descriptions
• Grounding methodology
• Battery systems

12: Electrical Utility Interconnection

• Interactive distributed generation
• Utility interconnection policies

13: Permitting and Inspection

• Building codes and regulations
• Permitting details
• Inspection

14: Commissioning, Maintenance and Troubleshooting

• Commissioning
• Maintenance
• Monitoring
• Troubleshooting

15: Economic Analysis

• Incentives
• Cost analysis

16: Certificate Exam & Course Summary