
Start by customizing playback speed, skip optional exercises and questions, and navigate bite-sized video lectures to suit your learning pace and preferences.
Define photovoltaic modules and explore how semiconductors, doping, and a junction convert sunlight into current for a load. The lecture outlines four chapters: PV technologies, installation, configuration, and wiring.
Discover photovoltaic materials, from thin film to crystalline and gallium arsenide, plus multi-junction cells, and compare efficiencies up to 24, 28, 36, and 45 percent for home solar applications.
Compare cell efficiency to module efficiency in crystalline solar panels, showing 28% cell efficiency yielding about 280 W, yet 220 W output due to inactive surface area.
Compare module efficiency and cell efficiency using two real-world examples from SunPower panel specifications, then learn to read the datasheet and compute module efficiency from panel area and irradiance.
Compare cell efficiency to module efficiency using a practical ESP series example and datasheet. Calculate module efficiency from area and irradiance, observing 17.7%, and note the 24% cell efficiency.
Explore how mono crystalline silicon modules are made—from liquid silicon and seed crystals to sliced wafers—highlighting high purity and 28 percent efficiency, and distinguish mono from polycrystalline panels for shopping.
Examine the polycrystalline manufacturing process, from liquid silicon to square wafers, and differentiate it from monocrystalline panels in purity, appearance, and efficiency.
Compare mono crystalline and polycrystalline panels and their cell efficiencies. Learn how brck (best weighted emitter recontact) redirects solar leakage to boost output, and how heterojunction technology further enhances performance.
Explore heterojunction technology (hiit) and intrinsic thin layers that boost solar cell efficiency, illustrated by Panasonic's EverVolt PV 380 module with around 21% efficiency.
Explain bifacial photovoltaic modules, front and rear illumination, and series or parallel connections, with specs noting 35% more energy per watt and 22.5% efficiency under STC and BSD.
Learn how half-cut photovoltaic modules split cells into half, wiring them in series and parallel to boost performance and minimize shading, with bypass diodes protecting two-column sections.
Explore half-cut solar modules that split cells into parallel sections connected in series, using bypass diodes to boost shading resilience and reduce wiring losses.
Discover how all black photovoltaic modules achieve a dark look by using monarch crystalline photovoltaic cells, a dark backing sheet, and coated interconnections, while acknowledging a slight temperature-related output trade-off.
Compare a regular blue polycrystalline module with an all black polycrystalline version, highlighting dark cells and a black back sheet, with similar wiring.
Explore how to orient and tilt solar modules using the longitude and latitude framework, and understand module direction, mounting hardware, and degree concepts.
Explore how your location dictates solar panel tilt for maximum sun power. Place near the equator with a zero angle; higher latitudes require tilting to your latitude.
Explore how the earth's tilt relative to the sun creates seasons and alters the optimal solar angle, with winter and summer extremes of about 23 degrees in the northern hemisphere.
Identify your latitude and longitude using Google Maps for Random Street in Toronto, with latitude 43.65 and longitude -79.54, to determine the optimal solar angle for your location.
Learn how to determine the azimuth of solar modules by using a horizontal reference to locate the sun, with north as zero degrees and examples at 120 and 225 degrees.
Learn to determine solar module azimuth using quick map measurements or an open source digital protractor, and distinguish between absolute north and magnetic north for accurate orientation.
Learn about mounting system options for solar modules, including ground, pole, and roof setups, plus installation considerations such as brackets, flashing, clamps, and ventilation to improve performance.
Conclude the course with a recap of installation topics, including brackets, rails, and clamps for ground floor or roof mounted systems, plus azimuth and mounting system concepts.
Hello Solar Energy Enthusiast!
My goal is to make sure you will enjoy this course! Since you are reading this, it means you are looking for a reliable source of information related to grid-tied solar energy systems: Through this course, I will share with you my extensive knowledge and experience.
And lucky you! Through this course you will get a condensed version of all the fundamentals you need to be aware of. I have included several short multiple choice questions, though which you can self-test whether you have absorbed the knowledge adequately throughout the course. And to spice it up, we will also take numerous virtual excursions to websites of manufacturers of different components of your solar system. Through this approach, we makes sure that we bridge the following gaps:
We make sure that you get the relevant and unbiased knowledge from an experienced professional
You have the possibility to test your knowledge and freely browse through the content of the course as per your preferences
We will bridge the gap between theory & real-life examples by reviewing numerous product options which you might come across as you will be shopping for your system components
I am glad you are interested in this course: It will teach you all the relevant knowledge, without any 'fluff', and includes several brief multiple-choice questions to test your knowledge.
I have created this course for you, fueled by my academic background in Renewable Energy Engineering and extensive field experience in the design and installation of PV Energy Systems. You are getting a very good deal: I will summarize for you all that I have learned over the years, and all you have to do is push the button and starting soaking up the information. Lucky you!
During this course, we will review and learn about the following topics:
The Photo Voltaic [PV] effect
The different materials options for your Solar Panel
Thin film, Crystalline, Gallium Arsenide and Multi-Junction PV Modules
Solar Panel energy efficiencies
PV Cell efficiency versus PV Module efficiency [and how to avoid being fooled by sales pitches]
How to calculate the PV module effiency from the manufacturer's specification sheet
The differences between Mono Crystalline and Poly Crystalline solar panels
Crystalline structure manufacturing processes: Seed crystals vs poly crystalline manufacturing
The physical differences between Mono and Poly Crystalline PV Modules: How to differentiate between them
The PERC solar technology upgrade: Passivated Emitter Rear Contact
The HIT solar technology upgrade: Hetero Junction with Intrinsic Thin-layer
Bifacial solar panels: How they work and what you can gain from them
The Standard Test Conditions versus Bifacial Standard Test Conditions for bifacial panels
The Half-Cut solar cell technology: The performance gains and how they work
Bypass Diodes in solar panels: How they impact your solar energy production
Solar Junction Boxes: Their location on your PV module
All-Black solar panels: Their differences with regular mono-facial models
The performance losses related to opaque module backing sheets
Solar Slopes & Angles: A refresher on the orientation system of degrees
Longitude versus Latitude: the global positioning system and how it relates to your solar energy system
Optimum tilt angles for your PV module, including theoretical examples
The seasonal shift of the earth's axis and how it impacts your solar energy production
How to retrieve your exact Longitude and Latitude
Your Solar Azimuth and the spherical coordination system
How to determine your roof's azimuth based on satellite images
Practical examples of how to use a digital protractor tool
The three types of mounting systems for solar modules
Roof mounted systems and their main components
System solution examples for corrugated roof mounting systems
The main outline of this course is as follows:
PhotoVoltaic Technologies
The PV Effect
Material options
Improved panel technologies
Difference module variations
Installation of Solar Modules
Solar angles and module tilt
Array orientation and Azimuth
Solar Module mounting system options
Take action now! Educate yourself by staring this course, so that you will be able to make well-informed decisions for your system. TIP: Udemy offers a very generous refund policy in case the course content turns out different than expected.
See you soon!
Jesse
Jesse Gorter
Renewable an Sustainable Energy Engineer, Master of Engineering
Mechanical Engineer, Energy Technology, Bachelor of Engineering