Postgraduate Course: Solar Energy & Photovoltaic Systems (MSc) (PGEE11107)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course presents and assesses the fundamentals of solar energy conversion. It starts with a discussion of the resource and the mechanisms of its propagation through the atmosphere up to the point of conversion. It then discusses the various conversion processes (solar heating/cooling, concentrated thermal power generation and the photovoltaic phenomenon). The state-of-the-art of each of these technologies is then discussed, including their market and economic aspects.
The course includes a project, for which the students working in groups, undertake the design and dimensioning of a solar energy conversion system. Their results are submitted as a group report and presented at a poster session during the last lecture of the term. |
| Course description |
Topics covered:
- The sun and the solar spectrum
- Effects of Earth's atmosphere, orbit and rotation on insolation
- Solar water heating systems
- Solar space heating and cooling
- Solar thermal power generation
- Semiconductors for photovoltaics
- Power electronics for photovoltaics
- Grid-connected PV systems
- Network integration aspects
- Isolated PV systems
- Solar energy storage
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
65 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework (100%) Group report and poster.
|
| Feedback |
Formative feedback is given in the form of an exam-level question answered by the students during a tutorial session. The solution is then discussed, indicating the common errors made by students and presenting a marking template for the students to self- or peer-mark. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the nature of the solar energy resource
- Appreciate the mechanisms and the technologies of solar energy conversion including passive and active solar heating, concentrated solar thermal power generation and photovoltaics
- Appreciate the market dynamics and the economics of solar energy
- Understand the differences between grid-connected vs. isolated systems and the implications of energy storage
- Complete the dimensioning and system design for a solar thermal and/or photovoltaic array
|
Reading List
Main textbook:
Kalogirou, S. A. Solar Energy Engineering: Processes and Systems, Academic Press, 2009, ISBN-10: 0123745012
Some of the material taught is based on journal papers to be handed out by the Course Organiser.
Additional textbooks:
Messenger, R. A., Ventre, J., Photovoltaic Systems Engineering, 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2003, ISBN-10: 0849317932
Foster, R., Ghassemi, M., Cota, A., Solar Energy: Renewable Energy and the Environment, CRC Press, 2009, ISBN-10: 1420075667
Goswami, D. Y., Kreith, F., Kreider, J. F., Principles of Solar Engineering, CRC Press, 2000, ISBN-10: 1560327146
Boyle, G. Renewable Energy, 2nd ed., OUP Oxford, 2004, ISBN-10: 0199261784 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
11 2-hour lectures and 6 tutorials. |
| Keywords | Solar Energy,Solar Power,Photovoltaics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Aristides Kiprakis
Tel: (0131 6)50 5586
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Brunori Viola
Tel: (0131 6)50 5687
Email: |
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