Basics of Solar Photovoltaic Energy

Everything you need to know to start your career in the solar industry, explained by a PV engineer, simple and clear

What you'll learn
Determine the components of a photovoltaic system (PV Modules, inverters, combiner boxes, cables, mounting systems)
Understand the main function of the different components
Learn the parameters of cables in photovoltaic systems
Learn about different types of mounting systems
Learn about different types of photovoltaic systems (On-Grid, Off-Grid, On-Grid with battery back-up)
Identify which components are necessary for each type of photovoltaic system
Understand main advantages and disadvantages of each type of photovoltaic system
Understand and interpret the main parameters of a photovoltaic system
Understand what is and what an IV-Curve means
Learn what the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage is
Understand the concept of kW-peak
Read a module datasheet
Understand what are the Standard Test Conditions
Learn about the main sources of meteorological data available for designing a PV system
Estimate and calculate electricity consumption
Size a PV system according to electricity consumption needs

Requirements
Willingness to learn

Description
Are you looking forward to start your career in the photovoltaic energy field? Are you looking forward to learn more about its main details and parameters? Then you are making a wonderful decision! The solar industry is growing immensely and more and more skilled people are being needed to cover the demand. This is a great opportunity to be a part of the energy transition and to join the path towards a greener and more sustainable future.

This course gives you all the fundamentals necessary to understand how a photovoltaic system works, its main components and parameters. Here you will learn what is necessary to have a photovoltaic system running and also design a system with the data and necessary information. Also you will easily comprehend the main technical definitions and understand their importance.

I work as a PV Project Engineer in Germany and I have several years of experience, therefore I know what are the necessary and applicable concepts and which is the essential information to work on residential to utility-scale projects. I am now taking you on board to lean about this amazing field and I will be ready and open to all the questions that you may have. I will also be updating this course according to your requirements and desire to learn.

You don´t need any previous knowledge in the field, here we go through the main basics so that you can easily understand it.

You will get a full understanding about the basics and fundamentals of photovoltaic systems. The course is composed as follows,

Main components of photovoltaic systems

PV Modules

Junction boxes

Combiner boxes

PV cables and connectors

Mounting systems

Inverters

AC & DC Isolators

Batteries & Charge controllers

Generation meters

Types of photovoltaic systems

On-Grid

Off-Grid

On-Grid with a battery back-up

Main parameters of photovoltaic systems

I-V Curve

PV Panel efficiency

Short-circuit current

Open-circuit voltage

Maximum power point

Standard test conditions

Concept of kW-peak

Reading a data-sheet

Designing a photovoltaic system

Location and weather data definition

Electricity consumption estimation

Defining system size

Who this course is for
Everyone who wants to acquire the knowledge of photovoltaic systems in order to start a career or find a job in the field
Engineers interested in solar photovoltaic energy
Students who want to know about photovoltaic systems