Introduction to Renewable Energy Technologies

On completion of the course participants should be have a comprehensive overview of the main commercially viable renewable technologies, an understanding of how they work, how systems are designed and sized, do initial designs for renewable energy systems, be able to assess the appropriateness of different technologies for different situations, have an overview of the main renewable energy market sectors and be able to communicate effectively and knowledgably with technology suppliers and customers.

Content

• Impact and terms in renewable: Electricity and heat generation, power, energy efficiency and CO2emissions
• Solar electricity – grid-tied and off-grid photovoltaics
• Solar thermal technology – for solar water heating, solar cooling and process heat and generation
• Short introduction to solar thermal electricity generation (Concentrating Solar Power – CSP)
• Wind power – large grid-tied turbines, wind farms, smaller grid-tied turbines and off-grid
• Bioenergy – woodchips and wood pellets, biogas and liquid biofuels
• Micro-hydro –from small systems up to 5 MW, grid-tied and off-grid
• System design and sizing
• Finance and investing in renewable energy
• The German experience with renewable energy