Solar Training - Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) - Online - Solar Training - Solar Installer Training - Solar PV Installation Training - Solar Energy Courses - Renewable Energy Education - NABCEP

Jul 15
duration 6 Wks/60 Hrs
tuition $845.00 USD

PVOL202: Solar Training - Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) - Online

Take a deep dive into National Electrical Code (NEC® 2017) standards as well as other best practices that pertain to designing safe and efficient grid-direct PV systems. PV202 focuses on residential and commercial-scale systems, but the Code requirements, design parameters, and best practices are applicable to all types and sizes of PV installations, including utility-scale. Detailed lessons address requirements for disconnects, overcurrent protection, and wire sizing; interconnection requirements and calculations; grounding, ground-faults, and surge protection; calculations for system sizing, inverter selection, and electrical configuration; ground and roof mount details; and commissioning and performance analysis procedures. (Prerequisite class required, see below)

what you will learn

Students who complete PVOL202 will be able to:

Define the purpose of the National Electrical Code (NEC®) and NEC® terminology for PV equipment
Determine procedures for proper installation of equipment and conductors, including minimum requirements for working space
Examine methods for PV wire management and determine where expansion fittings are required
Describe and identify electrical services, including split-phase and three-phase Wye (Y) and Delta (∆)
Evaluate electrical service details to collect and record during solar site evaluation
Identify options for NEC®-compliant PV system interconnection to the utility grid and determine whether a supply side, load side, or additional service connection is appropriate
Identify code-compliant methods for connecting an inverter to an existing AC feeder
Calculate PV module voltage based on temperature to ensure compatibility with system components and NEC® Section 690.7, and explore other options for maximum PV system DC voltage calculations
Identify NEC® requirements and sizing of disconnects and overcurrent protection devices (OCPDs) in grid-direct PV systems
Define inverter grounding configurations
Evaluate inverter choices and system configurations, including string inverters, central inverters, and module level power electronics (MLPE)
Identify requirements for equipment grounding, equipment grounding conductors (EGC), and grounding electrode conductors (GEC), and size the conductors according to the NEC®
Identify common causes of ground-faults and arc-faults
Describe ground-fault and arc-fault protection devices
Describe benefits and appropriate locations of surge protection devices (SPD)
Demonstrate the use of sun charts and perform calculations to determine row spacing and minimize inter-row shading
Identify how Codes detailing access for first responders impact PV array roof layout
Examine fire classifications that affect racking and module selection
Detail NEC rapid shutdown requirements
Identify load and structural considerations for low- and steep-slope roof-mounted PV systems
Calculate wind uplift force and select appropriate lag bolts
Review issues related to planning, design, and installation of ground-mount PV arrays
Review PV system circuit terminology, definitions, and conductor types
Calculate minimum overcurrent protection device (OCPD) size and conductor ampacity using appropriate adjustment and correction factors
Calculate voltage drop and verify system operation within acceptable limits
Examine requirements for PV system labeling
Calculate the maximum and minimum number of modules per PV source circuit, and number of PV source circuits per inverter
Determine size of residential grid-direct PV system based on site and customer-specific considerations including the number and wiring layout of modules, conductor and OCPD sizes, and the AC interconnections
Determine the size of a large, multiple inverter, grid-direct PV system based on site and customer-specific considerations, including the quantity and layout of modules and inverters and the AC interconnection
Define large-scale PV and review associated NEC® allowances and requirements
Identify safe methods for, and electrical hazards associated with, commissioning a PV system
Review personal protective equipment (PPE), lockout tagout methods (LOTO), and safe meter use and testing
Define performance verification and estimate expected voltage, current, and power based on system configuration and environmental conditions

Identify some reasons for unexpected performance test values

helpful information

Click here for Computer & Software Requirements for online courses.

PREREQUISITE COURSE: Before participating in the PVOL202 course, students MUST complete PV101 or PVOL101, an equivalent course from another organization, have NABCEP certification, or demonstrate field experience and pass a placement quiz. Please contact [email protected] if you feel you are qualified to skip the prerequisite for PVOL202.

To view in-person sessions of this workshop, click PV202.

For information on SEI’s Solar Professionals Certificate Program please click here. For information on SEI’s workshop and training program policies please click here.

nabcep certification information

SEI Contact Training Hours: 6 Weeks Online = 60 hours

NABCEP Training Hours: 60 Advanced Training Hours – Accredited

This course provides approved credit hours towards the following NABCEP Certifications and Recertifications:

PV Installation Professional
PV Design Specialist
PV Installation Specialist
PV Commissioning and Maintenance Specialist
PV Technical Sales Professional
PV Associate (Recertification only)
Solar Heating Installer (Recertification only)

Please visit NABCEP’S online course catalog for credit hours breakdown.

For information on SEI’s Solar Professionals Certificate Program please click here.

more on nabcep certification > sei's solar professionals certificate program info >

course snapshot

Online
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE LOCATION DETAILS >

SEI online courses cover the same topics as the face-to-face workshops of the similar name, but do not include a hands-on component. You can log on at any time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the full duration of the specified course. You will generally need between 10-20 hrs/week to complete the lesson materials and graded activities. The earlier lessons generally take less time than the later lessons. Students can access the course anytime, from any computer with an internet connection (see computer requirements below). There are no specific times that you need to log on, the course is self paced but you must finish all graded materials by the end date of the course. The live instructors are there to give feedback, grade your work and you can contact them with questions on the forum discussion boards, or by email.

These courses include interactive activities, power points, readings and quizzes, and exercises and homework to test student comprehension. There is also a forum where students can post questions to the instructors and network between each other. Online courses last six (6) weeks and will end on the Sunday night of the last week. All graded course activities (e.g., quizzes, forum discussion assignments, any other assignments with a score) need to be completed within these 6 weeks, with a 70% or better cumulative grade, to pass and receive a Record of Completion. After the course end-date, you will have two additional weeks for instructorless review-only time. During this time you will not be able to complete any graded activities. However, this is an ideal time to finish saving and reviewing any course materials of particular interest.

All required reading for the course is fully downloadable from within the course, so there is no need to wait for your course materials to arrive in the mail. You can also download/save the PDF files that make up the “Digital Course Notebook” for future reference.

The following are the computer and software requirements for taking SEI’s online courses.

Computer and Internet Requirements

Laptop and Desktop Platforms

PC (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10)

Mac (Intel-based only, OSX 10.5 or later)

Mobile Devices are only supported for viewing Podcast versions of the presentations

Hardware/Internet Requirements

1.8 Ghz or faster processor

2 Gb of RAM, 10 Gb of free disk space

Minimum screen / monitor resolution is 1280 x 800

Built in sound or sound card

Computer microphone or regular telephone for Webinar or Live Office Hours participation

High-speed Internet connection (at least 5 Mb download speed — click here to check your speed)

Latest version of Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Apple Safari

Enabled cookies, javascript, Java, pop-ups

Special Considerations

1) Satellite, cellular 3G/4G cards, mesh wide area networks, and other similar “non-copper” or non WI-FI connections, while appearing to be high speed, will likely experience performance issues in this course. We do not recommend this type of Internet connection.

2) There are subtle differences among all browsers based on whether using a Windows or Mac computer.

3) The version of your computer’s operating system and your browser version can also have an affect on operation.

4) Video buffering problems have been reported in some cases on slow connections.

5) The video/audio Playback Rate speed control dropdown menu is not available/functional using the Chrome browser.

Video and Audio Presentations

The lecture capture presentations are streaming video (just like Netflix® or Hulu® or Amazon®). To adequately view these lecture presentations, a high speed network connection is preferred. We suggest at least 5 Mb/sec. If your connection speed is slow, is unreliable, or if the connection is shared with other active computers or mobile devices (phones or tablets), you may experience less than optimal playback. If this happens, there are a three options: obtain a faster network connection, turn off all active devices other than the device used to view the presentations, download the presentations from Apple iTunes and view from a mobile device or the iTunes app on your computer.

Smart Phone and Tablet Platforms: Apple iOS Devices (iPod touch, iPhone, iPad) and Android Phones & Tablets.

For the best experience with our online course content we recommend using a PC or Mac computer with a wired or WiFi Internet connection. It is possible to do all of the following with smart phones and tablets, however, we strongly recommend taking the quizzes on a non touch screen device to avoid unintentional changes to your selected answers:

Take quizzes

Read your textbook ebook version

Download PDFs

Participate in online forum discussions

Check your grade book

Complete questionnaires and surveys

View video and audio presentations

Some performance or access may vary

Required Software

Microsoft Silverlight (video/audio//PowerPoint presentations)

Adobe Flash (latest version for presentations & interactive exercises in some courses)

Oracle Java plugin (latest version)

Adobe Acrobat Reader (viewing & printing PDF files)

Optional Software

Microsoft Office Viewers (viewing & printing Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Visio files)

Open Source Office Suite (viewing & printing Word, PowerPoint, Excel files)

Apple QuickTime (viewing QuickTime video in some courses)

Apple iTunes (podcast subscription)
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6 Wks/60 Hrs
10-20 hours/week

course materials

see full material list >

Instructors

Sarah Ray
Instructor

Sarah’s interest in renewable energy systems began during her years at Montana State University, when her family moved to Southeast Alaska. During a visit to the remote, coastal communities in the area, the off-grid power systems there, many of which combined solar, wind and micro-hydro, captured her imagination. After graduating from MSU in 2006 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Sarah worked for Independent Power Systems as an installer. Since then, she has held sales and management positions, and spent a year designing large commercial PV systems for Meridian Solar in Austin, Texas. She earned her Master Electrician license in 2016 and joined OnSite Energy as Project Manager in 2017. She lives in Livingston, Montana.

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Justine Sanchez
Instructor

Justine has been with Solar Energy International since May 1998. Before coming to SEI Justine obtained her Bachelors degree in Physics from the University of Colorado – Boulder. She worked with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for two years in the Solar Radiation Resource Assessment Division. After leavingNREL, Justine worked with EV Solar Products in Chino Valley performing photovoltaic system installations. Currently, Justine is Home Power Magazine’s principal technical editor. She’s been a NABCEP certified PV Installer and is certified by IREC as an Affiliated Master Trainer in Photovoltaics. She instructs SEI’s PV202 Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) and Battery-based lab weeks.

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PVOL202: Solar Training - Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) - Online

Additional Details

what you will learn

helpful information

nabcep certification information

available sessions

course snapshot

course materials

Instructors

Sarah Ray

Justine Sanchez

PVOL202: Solar Training - Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) - Online

Additional Details

what you will learn

helpful information

nabcep certification information

available sessions

course snapshot

course materials

Instructors

Sarah Ray

Justine Sanchez

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