RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
COURSE OUTLINE
Day 1
1600 onwards: arrival. Please ask at reception or in the restaurant for directions to your room.
1800 Supper in restaurant.
1900 Introductions to the Centre, the course, and each other.
Day 2
0830 Breakfast in restaurant
0930 How to choose which energy sources would be the most suitable. Basics - electricity, energy, power. Forms of energy. Energy conversion (or why perpetual motion machines are impossible). Assessing energy needs. Energy storage.
1100 Coffee in restaurant.
1130 Energy conservation (the other renewable) A step by step guide to reducing energy consumption in your own home.
1300 Lunch in restaurant.
1400 Solar Resource - types of PVs and PV systems.
1530 Tea in restaurant.
1600 PV practical session. Students design and build a PV system. Tour of PV systems at CAT.
1800 Supper in restaurant.
Day 3
0830 Breakfast in restaurant.
0930 Solar water heating. Collector and system types and their relative efficiencies.
1100 Coffee in restaurant.
1130 Practical solar water heating skills. Sun path diagrams and plumbing.
1300 Lunch in restaurant.
1400 Practical: constructing a solar water heating system.
1600 Tea in restaurant.
1630 Wind Power. How wind turbines work. The nature of the wind and the power available. Siting. Types of turbine and sizing. Types of wind systems, their outputs and likely costs.
1800 Supper in restaurant.
Day 4
0830 Breakfast in restaurant.
0930 Wind power practical session: specifying a wind system. Students will, with the help of computer programmes, make an initial assessment of a site's wind potential. Using this information, they will then make an estimate of the size and the type of system required to meet a specific load.
1100 Coffee in restaurant.
1130 Tour of CAT's wind systems. This session requires walking boots or shoes and involves a steep climb.
1300 Lunch in restaurant.
1400 Hydro Electric Systems. Site assessment.
1600 Tea in restaurant.
1630 Turbine and system types.
1800 Supper in restaurant.
Day 5
0830 Breakfast in restaurant.
0930 Tour of CAT hydro systems and getting wet!
1100 Coffee in restaurant.
1130 Grid connected systems - type, regulation and payment.
1300 Lunch in restaurant then depart.
COURSE TUTOR
Engineers from the Centre for Alternative Technology will lead the course.
