Syllabus 2007/2008 AEB020

Syllabus academic year 2007/2008

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS, BASIC COURSE

AEB020

Higher education credits: 7,5. Grading scale: TH. Level: G2 (First level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in English on demand. AEB020 overlap following cours/es: TNV095 och TNV095. Optional for: E4em, F4, M4, W4, W4ea. Course coordinator: Björn Karlsson, professor, bjorn.karlsson@ebd.lth.se, Energi- och ByggnadsDesign. Recommended prerequisits: Basic courses in electricity and electronics. Experience from the use of calculation program like Matlab and Excel. The course might be cancelled if the numer of applicants is less than 10. Assessment: Written examination, approved assignments, approved reports from laborations and study task and attendence at study visits. Home page: http://www.ebd.lth.se.

Aim
There is from a national and global point of view necessary to develope renewable energy technologies for generating electric energy. PV-system will in the future be one of the most important technologies for producing electricity. The course aims at teaching basic knowledge of how solar cells and solar cell systems works in different applications. In Sweden building integrated PV-systems are most interesting. In the developing countries where many people lives outside the electric grid, stand alone PV systems are of great interest. The ability to simulate the performance of PV-systems is an important part of the course. After the course the student should be able to perform a prestudy of the installation of a new PV-system

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

be able to describe the national and international use and demand of energy and the importance of the renewable energy sources.
understand and be able to describe how different types of solar cells work
understand and be able to describe how grid connected and stand alone PV-systems can be used for generating and conserve electricity.
understand and be able to describe the advantages and limitations of PV-systems
understand and be able to describe how the PV system interact with the electricity system

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

be able to estimate and describe the use of energy in a building
be able to charcterize a PV-module, i.e. measure the IV-curve
be able to use a simulation programme for estimation of the energy delivered from a PV-system
be able to construct a stand alone or a grid connected PV system and describe how its components work
be able to use a simulation programme for estimation of the solar irradiance towards surfaces in different geometries.
be able to with different methods calculate the cost for PV-electricity and competing technologies

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

be able to take part in and analyze the current discussion of energy use and global environmental problems
be aware of the influence of the building design and the energy system on the energy use of the building
be able to perform a critical analysis of the use and value of delivered solar energy
learn to critically evaluate and analyse information in general

Contents

basic energy knowledge and the problems connected to the use of energy
radiation physics, the annual irradiance distribution and the climatic conditions for using solar energy in Sweden, calculation of solar angulars and the irradiance on different surfaces
the PN-junction and Solar cell physics. The construction and function of a PV-module.
function and performance of the components in the PV-system; batteries, power point tracker, DC-AC inverter, charge regulator.
system design of stand alone and gridconnected systems
building integration of PV-system
use of simulation programmes
laborations and computer simulations
studievisits to PV installations

Literature
Solceller. ISBN91-7332-987-8, Applied Photovoltaics, ISBN 0 86758 909-4
Written course materiels which are developed within course. This materiel is distributed in the course or can be downloaded from the course home page.