P Q R S

Course Overview - Excel

Introduction

This is the most popular of our courses and has been presented to more than 3000 electricians and engineers in the energy sector since 2015.

This 2 day solar PV design-and-install course was created to address the need for people, organisations or small businesses that require information on sizing, assessing and the installation of solar PV Systems. Course content is ideal for experienced candidates, engineers and electricians as well as organisations thinking of approaching the RE sector.
All 2-day courses contain practical elements depending on the venue and group size. i.e, testing voltage and short-circuit current of modules, doing experiments with shading and partial shading of modules.

Prerequisites

No formal pre-requisites are required in order to attend this course. Excitement about renewable energy and an eager mind will do. This course contains straight forward calculations, however a fair knowledge of electrical principles will be an added advantage.

Course Structure

The course is intended for a face-to-face learning environment and consists of approximately 200 slides, broken down into:

1. Chapters
2. Modules
3. Topics
4. Concepts / Principles

More detail of chapters are given elsewhere in this document and even more course structure detail can be provided on request down to 3-minute detail.

Course Goals

After having attended this course, students should have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of a solar PV system, including various components, brands, and functions of equipment.
In this 2-day course additional information and knowledge transfer allow candidates attending, to be able to:

• Gain a better understanding of the solar PV market in SA.
• Differentiate or assess differences between what could potentially be good and poor quality equipment.
• Know how PV technologies differ and identify different technologies
• Available module technologies such as poly and mono crystalline cells technologies are discussed.
• Know how storage technologies differ from an application and technology point of view. We spend the morning of day 2 discussing battery technologies. During this session, we determine when the best time is to go off-grid. We look at when it is viable to go Off-grid or stay grid tied
• The following calculations relevant to the design of a system is discussed. i.e.
  • battery cost of energy equation, load calculations, power and energy, module series and parallel calculation, temp co-efficient, volt drop, number of batteries required and number of modules required.
• Understand the impact of heat on modules and size a string
• Different types of inverters as well as solar systems are discussed. In particular, we look at Grid tied, Hybrid and Off-grid inverters.
• Terminating and connecting conductors using MC4 couplers and combiner boxes.
• How to use and where to apply - Power vs energy
• Standards & electrical regulations applicable to solar PV and storage installations
• Safety with PV installations
• Candidates attending are given a PV Installation C.o.C spreadsheet
• Experience the touch and feel of different components as various samples are made available, to pass around.
• As an added bonus, we explore market statistics and consider how data can be used to further business development.

Interaction is promoted through continuous dialogue with questions and answers.

Timing and Duration

The Excel course is a 2-day course and includes 8 x 90 minute sessions. 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Lunch is included in the cost of the course. Students receive a printed book with the slides. Books have sufficient space for taking notes. Courses are presented throughout SA, please enquire about when the next course will be presented in your region or take a look at our calender.

• Looking for a course that is less advanced, please see the courses page
  
  • Solar PV Excite is a 2 day course and covers design and installation of solar PV systems in less detail.