This is a 7-hour course that introduces the process of PV system
installation and focuses, in minute detail, on how to install a PV
system that someone else has designed. It includes understanding the
electrical design, siting and structural considerations, safety
considerations, system commissioning and programming as well as
permitting and paperwork. It is intended for electrical and solar
contractors as well as for electrical and structural inspectors and
plan reviewers.
Roger Messenger
is Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Florida
Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He received his
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and
is a Registered Professional Engineer and a Certified Electrical
Contractor, who enjoys working on a field installation as much as he
enjoys teaching a class or working on the design of a system or
contemplating the theory of operation of a system. His
research work has ranged from electrical noise in gas discharge
tubes to deep impurities in silicon to energy conservation. He
worked on the development and promulgation of the original Code for
Energy Efficiency in Building Construction in Florida and has
conducted extensive field studies of energy consumption and
conservation in buildings and swimming pools. He and
Jerry Ventre have published Photovoltaic Systems Engineering
(CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL) and the 2nd Edition of this engineering
textbook (2004). He has also contributed chapters on
Photovoltaics (PV) to 4 handbooks and has designed and supervised
the installation of 4 utility interactive PV systems with battery
backup.
He
has developed and taught a senior elective course on PV Power
Systems yearly since 1997. Recently he has been actively
involved with the Florida Solar Energy Center in the development of
courses, exams and study guides for voluntary certification of PV
installers worldwide and has been a consultant on battery backup
grid-connected PV systems to Sun Electronics, Miami, FL.
Register for these classes with the MDC Community Education
Department