Renewable Energy Technology

Information for students of Swinburne University of Technology & Chisholm Institute of TAFE

Testing the effectiveness of bypass diodes in large strings of modules

Chisholm students can now access the Chisholm Library's databases from home using their student number and password at: http://library.chisholm.vic.edu.au/intranet/db/ This includes all the Australian Standards (they can be downloaded but will expire after 48 hours).

Examples from Class Activities

PV Installation Practical Session #1 12 Apr 2006

PV Installation Practical Session #2 29 Apr 2006

Visit to 60L Green Building 2 May 2006

Stand-alone Power Systems Components Field Trip 29 Aug 2006

Destruction Testing PV Cell 7 Sep 2006

AC/DC Machines (FP Smart Drive Reconstruction) 12 Oct 2006

AC/DC Machines (DIY motor) 19 Oct 2006

PV Installation Practical Session #3 21 Oct 2006

AC/DC Machines (Alternators) 26 Oct 2006

Selectronic PS1 Inverter/Charger Training 2 Nov 2006

Electric Bicycle Repair 9 Nov 2006

PV System Commissioning and Performance Tests 14 Nov 2006

AC/DC machines (Reconnecting Smart Drive) 15 Nov 2006

PV Power Systems (IV Curve Testing) 22 Feb 2007

Solar Availability 18 April 2007

Calculating the Sun's position and resulting shading 18 August 2007

Photovoltaic Installation Practical 22 August 2007

Grid Connect Class Practical 8 September 2007

PV Array Installation 3 September 2007

PV Array String Protection 9 September 2007

Installing 3kW Grid Connect System 15 September 2007

Installing a tilt frame onto a steel deck roof 26 September 2007

Installing onto a slopping roof using the UniRac system 27 September 2007

How to wire a switchboard for a solar supply 5 October 2007

Installing onto a tile roof 5 October 2007

SPS installation with MPPT 14 November 2007

Live View of Power Generation by Berwick Campus PV System 11 February 2008

Swinburne GC students install 2.1kW PV system on flat roof 23 February 2008

Notes in PDF format*

PV Unit 01 handout (20 Feb 2006)

PV Unit 02 handout (28 Mar 2006)

NASA Surface meteorology and Solar Energy - Available Tables (11 April 2006)

PV Unit 03 handout (2 May 2006)

PV Unit 04 handout (9 May 2006)

Batteries & Cells - worksheets (6 June 2006)

Batteries & Cells - tables and figures (6 June 2006)

Batteries & Cells - worked examples (6 June 2006)

System Wiring (12 June 2006)

ELV Wiring Diagrams (6 July 2006)

Cable Sizing Worksheet (18 July 2006)

Current Carrying Capability Chart (18 July 2006)

AS4509.2 Appendix A - use as a guide to completing App. B below

AS4509.2 Appendix B - complete using your power system sizing form (14 March 2007)

Accessing Electrical Demand of Power System (21 March 2007)

Grid Connect handouts GC Design and GC Connection Diagram (16 April 2007)

Don Elliot presents Chisholm's "Eagle" electric car (26 May 2007)

Software Resources

Excel spreadsheet grid connect calculator

Installer documents (updated 20 October 2007)

Web References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sb-MSD-multibandsolar-panels.html

http://www.pvpower.com/pvtechs.html

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~doranje/Triple_Junction_Technology.html

http://www.americanmicrosemi.com/tutorials/diode.htm

http://www.det.csiro.au/science/r_h/renewable_topics.htm

http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/lead.htm

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/HSCmotors.html (motors and generators)

http://www.electricmotors.machinedesign.com/ (motors)

http://www.1stconnect.com/anozira/SiteTops/energy/Alternator/alternator.htm (alternator secrets)

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/2/8/12044/16094 (discussion of star/delta turbine windings)

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/power-factor-electrical-motor-d_654.html (power factor)

Illustrative emissions paths to stabilise at 550ppm CO2e.

How to turn a 240VAC freezer into an efficient chest fridge

Climate Institute of Australia

Inverter Efficiency Graph for Selectronic SE22

Carbon Dioxide to Fuel Calculator

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Solar Radiation Definitions (new)

True power and apparent power

How to measure the height of a tree or other shading forming object

Useful Design References

Solar Radiation in Australia (new)

Geoscience Australia (to calculate the Sun's position)

Definition of Azimuth (varies depending which system you use!)

Australian Magnetic Deviation Chart

Sun Altitude and Azimuth Table (eg. Melbourne Latitude 37deg 49min South, Longitude 144deg 58min East, time zone 10 hours east of Greenwich [daylight saving = 11 hours east of G.])

Search for latitude and longitude of Australian cities

Renewable Energy Blogs & Forums

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/02/u_wisconsin_stu.html

http://www.cleantechblog.com/

http://www.atraa.org/ (Australian RE Installers Forum)

Becoming a BCSE Accredited Installer

Pathways to Accreditation with the BCSE

RET Products List

Questions from class (answers)

Posted 22 Feb 2006: Steven's question about the number of electrons in the the third shell being either 8 or 18. Well it depends... once it fills up to 8 a fourth shell is added but once the fourth shell gets only 2 electrons in it then the third shell's capacity increases to 18. See link below for diagram. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_electron_configuration_table

Posted 14 Mar 2006: I made a slight error when discussing the wave lengths of light. I got the shortest and longest around the wrong way! Red is longest at around 700nm and violet shortest at around 400nm. Here's a really good diagram to help understand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Spectre.svg

Posted 4 May 2006: Q. Shannon asked who invented the photovoltaic cell. A. The photovoltaic effect was first recognised in 1839 by French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel. However it was not until 1883 that the first solar cell was built, by Charles Fritts, who coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the junctions. The device was only around 1% efficient. Russell Ohl patented the modern solar cell in 1946 (US2402662, "Light sensitive device"). Sven Ason Berglund had a prior patent concerning methods of increasing the capacity of photosensitive cells.

Posted 29 Aug 2006: Q. Stephen asked for more information on valence bands and band gaps and how this effected the energy produced by a solar cell. A. see: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/solarcells.htm for info on multijunction cells and how they take advantage of the different band gaps of different cell types, also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandgap for a detailed explanation of bandgaps.

Posted 2 Apr 2007: Q. Stephen asked what "recommended generator power" refers to on the SMA grid connect inverter technical specificiations. A. see matching PV array to inverter.