Wednesday 5.30-10.30pm
General Education Outcomes are the knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that students are expected to develop as a result of their overall experiences with any aspect of the college, including courses, programs, and student services, both inside and outside of the classroom. The General Education Outcomes specifically learned in this course are:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Responsibility
Relationship to academic programs and transferability
Intro to Photovoltaic Tech (ELTR 2334)) was designed to meet specific student needs either individually or within a program and is designed to transfer to other colleges and universities. KCC participates in the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI), a statewide transfer agreement for general education courses. All colleges and universities participating in the IAI agree to accept a collective “package” of IAI general education courses; transfer of courses separately is not guaranteed. For more information about IAI and the transferability of courses to specific four-year institutions, go to www.itransfer.org and MyCreditsTransfer/Transferology.
Goals and Objectives
This course has, at least, three major intentions:
- To prepare the student for entry-level work as a designer, installer, troubleshooter, and maintenance technician for Solar-Photovoltaic power systems.
- To prepare student to perform successfully on the NABCEP Associate PV Certification Exam. The NABCEP Associate Level Learning Objectives will be distributed in class.
- To prepare student to perform a successful PV Solar Site Assessment
The major intentions (given above) for this course relate directly to the awareness, understanding, and knowledge that may be attained via the learning experiences inherent in the course content, aimed at these general goals:
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to work safely when installing, troubleshooting, and maintaining solar-PV power systems.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to perform and produce a professional-quality solar site assessment.
- To give the students a solid understanding of seasonal solar geometry, and how to use that understanding to properly perform a site assessment, and system performance estimates, for a solar-PV power system.
- To give the student a working understanding of solar cell operating principles, and solar-PV module construction and operating characteristics.
- To give the student experiential knowledge of all routine solar-PV BOS (balance-of-system) components, including: module-mounting hardware, inverters, batteries, charge controllers, engine-generator sets, metering, data logging and reporting equipment, circuit protection hardware, etc.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to properly size a solar-PV system to a specific application, and to select appropriate system components to be included in the system.
- To give the student the sufficient understanding of PV system mechanical considerations, enabling the student to properly account for wind loads, snow loads, and potential seismic concerns, when physically mounting and racking system components.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to analyze and troubleshoot solar-PV systems that are not operating properly, or are completely non-functioning; and, to affect proper corrections and repairs to make the system safely and properly functional.
Specific Unit Learning Objectives are delineated in the weekly Unit Materials that will be distributed by the instructor.
General Education Goals and Objectives
The general education program at KCC is designed to enable students to acquire communication and reasoning skills at a level reflecting college-level learning. Students who complete the general education program will be able to examine complex topics and apply systematic processes to form conclusions. The specific general education objectives addressed in this course are:
Reading Comprehension: Students will comprehend the reading required in their chosen curriculum.
Verbal Communication: Students will use clear, concise language in verbal communication.
Written Communication: Students will demonstrate written communication that is organized and coherent.
Quantitative Reasoning: Students will reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of contexts.
Ethical Reasoning: Students will apply skills in ethical reasoning and come to understand the ways ethical issues affect individual behaviors, individual lifestyles, and public life.
Inquiry and Analysis: Students will examine complex topics and apply systematic processes resulting in formed conclusions.
Faculty Contact Information
M noon- 1pm, 4-5pm; T 1-5pm; W 3.30-5pm always available via email
Clay Sterling
Course Information
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to work safely when installing, troubleshooting, and maintaining solar-PV power systems.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to perform and produce a professional-quality solar site assessment.
- To give the students a solid understanding of seasonal solar geometry, and how to use that understanding to properly perform a site assessment, and system performance estimates, for a solar-PV power system.
- To give the student a working understanding of solar cell operating principles, and solar-PV module construction and operating characteristics.
- To give the student experiential knowledge of all routine solar-PV BOS (balance-of-system) components, including: module-mounting hardware, inverters, batteries, charge controllers, engine-generator sets, metering, data logging and reporting equipment, circuit protection hardware, etc.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to properly size a solar-PV system to a specific application, and to select appropriate system components to be included in the system.
- To give the student the sufficient understanding of PV system mechanical considerations, enabling the student to properly account for wind loads, snow loads, and potential seismic concerns, when physically mounting and racking system components.
- To give the students the requisite skills and knowledge to analyze and troubleshoot solar-PV systems that are not operating properly, or are completely non-functioning; and, to affect proper corrections and repairs to make the system safely and properly functional.
Required: Solar Electric Handbook: Photovoltaics Fundamentals and Applications, by Solar Energy International; Pearson
Linemans pliers, Pump pliers, Wire stripper, #1 Phillips screw driver,
#2 Phillips screwdriver, 3/16” straight screwdriver, 1/4” straight screwdriver,
Tape measure, Tool pouch, knife, Safety glasses, calculator
Evaluation
Student achievement in the classroom phase of the course will be evaluated on the basis of homework, quizzes and exams. Achievement in the laboratory will be evaluated on the basis of the accuracy and completeness of reports, of laboratory activities, and of skills developed in the performance of manipulative tasks as evidenced by the workmanship demonstrated in the laboratory assignments. A laboratory final examination may be administered.
Letter grades are determined by the following percentage:
93 - 100 A 85 - 92 B 75 - 84 C 65 - 74 D BELOW 65 F
Grading for this class will be based on the following:
Quizzes 10%
Assignments 15%
Site Assessment 15%
Midterm project 20%
Labs 20%
Final exam 20%
TOTAL 100%
Assignments will NOT be accepted past the date due without prior approval. Missed quizzes may NOT be made up.
Business, Technology & Human Services
Dean, Paul Carlson; 815-802-8858; V105; pcarlson@kcc.edu; Division Office – W102; 815-802-8650
ATTENDANCE: If a student has missed more class hours than the number of credit hours to be earned in the class, the instructor may record the grade of "F" for the course. Missed classes may not be made up without prior permission from the instructor. Failure of the student to attend class does not constitute withdrawal. A formal written withdrawal must be made by the student to the Office of Admissions and Records.
Some important information provided during the lecture/discussions does not appear in your textbook, but you will find it useful for completing your assignments or exams. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain handouts and information presented for any class for which he/she is absent from fellow students or the instructor. Labs are due at the end of each lab period. Homework is due at the start of class on the day due.
No students will be allowed to work in lab areas outside of class time without instructor permission and appropriate supervision.
School code requires that safety glasses or some other APPROVED form of eye protection be worn in the laboratory at all times. There will be NO exceptions! Glasses may be borrowed from the technology office but the student must leave their drivers licenses. The glasses are to be returned at the end of the period. The student may be required to purchase basic components used in the laboratory experiments.
Code of Conduct
Students need to adhere to the Code of Conduct located in the college catalog.
Email Policy
To ensure a student's privacy under all applicable education laws and to facilitate timely interactions, two College-authorized methods of electronic communication exist: KCC-issued student email accounts (using the domain name of .student.kcc.edu) and the Canvas Learning Management System. Students are expected to regularly check their KCC email accounts and Canvas for important incoming communication from the college or from individual instructors. Students understand that emails they send from personal email accounts (other than those listed above) may not be delivered to the KCC recipient, and students should have no expectation that such messages will be answered.
Non-Attendance/Non-Participation
KCC complies with state law and federal financial aid policy. If you receive an attendance grade of F or are institutionally withdrawn from a course, it will affect your eligibility for financial aid. (1) You must attend at least one class, or participate at least once for an online course (logging in without participation is not attending), by the 10th day of 16 week courses or within the first 10% of shorter term classes. Non-attendance will result in an attendance grade of F. (2) If you have excessive absences and no reasonable chance of passing the course at midterm (or after), your instructor may give you a WX grade and have you institutionally withdrawn from the course.
| Week | Lecture |
| 1 | Course Introduction, NABCEP Associate Exam Unit 1 PV 101 Part 1 |
| 2 | Unit 1 PV 101 Part 2 |
| 3 | Unit 2 PV 202 Part 1 |
| 4 | Unit 2 PV 202 Part 2 |
| 5 | Unit 3 Ampacity conductor sizing and OCPD |
| 6 | Unit 4 Battery Based Systems |
| 7 | Unit 5 Stand Alone System Sizing |
| 8 | Midterm Exercise |
| 9 | Unit 6 PV Site Assessment Part 1 |
| 10 | Unit 6 PV Site Assessment Part 2 |
| 11 | Unit 6 PV Site Assessment |
| 12 | Unit 6 Site Assessment |
| 13 | Unit 7 PV System Construction |
| 14 | Unit 7 PV System Construction |
| 15 | Unit 7 PV System Construction |
| 16 | NABCEP Associate Exam |
| 17 | Shop clean-up |
College Policies, Resources and Supports
For information related to the Student Code of Conduct Policy, Withdrawal Policy, Email Policy, and Non- Attendance/Non-Participation Policy, please review the college’s Code of Campus Affairs and Regulations webpage, which can be found at catalog.kcc.edu under the Academic Regulations & Conduct Guide.
KCC offers various academic and personal resources for all students. Many services are offered virtually, as well as in person. Please visit Student Resources - Kankakee Community College to access student resources services such as:
- Clubs and organizations
- Counseling and referral services
- Office of disability services
- Student complaint policy
- Transfer services
- Tutoring services, etc.
The materials on this course are only for the use of students enrolled in this course for purposes associated with this course. Further information regarding KCC's copyright policy is available at https://kcc.libguides.com/copyright.
|Course syllabus/calendar is subject to change.