(This course is no longer offered but has been revamped as 'Photovoltaic Workshop for Educators')

INTRODUCTION

The human population of the earth is now approximately 6 billion and all of these inhabitants want the energy necessary to sustain or improve their lives. Exactly how much energy is required to meet these needs, exactly what sources of energy will meet these needs and exactly how long the fossil fuel lasts will be questions to be addressed by the present and by the future generations. One certainty is that the conventional energy resources on the earth are limited, while the global energy demand will be increasing significantly due to rapid economic growth of developing countries like China and India. Before the exhaustion of fossil fuel resources on the earth, some alternative energy resources must be found to meet the continuously increasing energy demand on the earth. Fortunately, there exists one resource of energy, solar, which is almost inexhaustible.

To date, solar energy has been harnessed successfully to generate heat energy and electrical energy. Converting solar energy directly to electricity through photovoltaic (PV) technology has been accepted worldwide as a potential alternative to conventional power generation. Producing electricity with PV emits no pollution, produces no greenhouse gases and uses no finite fossil fuel resources.

This course focuses on the fundamentals of solar energy, photovoltaic (PV) conversion with respect to the physical principles of solar cell and basic PV system. Incorporating ideas from a variety of PV applications and basic electrical & electronic circuits, the course aims to equip teachers with the concepts and skills necessary to develop the PV related projects for the school pupils and to educate the younger generation on how to harness the solar power and keep the environment green.

TOPICS

• Solar Energy and Spectrum
• Physics of Solar Cell
• Solar Cell and PV Module
• Basic Principle of An Electrical Circuit
• Structure of a PV system and main components
• Possible PV Projects in A School
• Examples of PV Systems and its Applications

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Teachers and public who are interested to learn about Photovoltaic and how to initiate Photovoltaic projects

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Jiang Fan
Manager of Technology Centre of Energy Conservation, Singapore Polytechnic

Dr. Jiang Fan, Ph.D., Msc, B.Sc., MIEEE, MIEE, graduated from Electrical Engineering Department of Fuzhou University, China. He achieved MSc in Electrical Power Research Institute ( EPRI ) of China and Ph.D. in The Robert Gordon University, UK. Recently he is a lecturer in School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Singapore Polytechnic. As the manager of Technology Centre of Energy Conservation, he is in charge of three solar systems with the total capacity of 31kW and other energy conservation projects. He had also worked as an assistant engineer for two years, an electrical engineer for four years and one year research engineer. His main areas include electrical power transmission and distribution system, high voltage engineering, protective relays, renewable energy (solar and wind energy), microprocessor and instrumentation. He has published sixty-seven journal and conference technical papers in his research areas.