Some of you might be wondering what are we teaching in this class that I am posting about,
so here is some clarification.
Its a six day class that's structured as follows:
Day 1:
Introductions of people, class structure, calendar and a very basic overview
of solar electricity.
Day 2:
The Small Home Solar System: a small DC only solar electric system sized
for the average local home. Enough electricity for some lights and a tv or radio.
Basic Electrical including Watts, Volts, Amperes and Ohms.
What is a solar panel and how does it work?
Day 3:
Batteries: the types, maintenance and how they are rated
Charge Controllers: What they are, what they do, and what makes for a good one.
Wiring: How to do it well and why doing it well is important.
Day 4
System Sizing: getting the right amount of electricity for your devices
Maintaining the entire system and trouble shooting
Installation of a Small Home System
Day 5
Business idea surrounding solar, how to run a micro solar business
Basic business skills and accounting
Day 6
Wrap up and extended question time
Preparation for the hands on installation that will be happening the following week.
That's the program. This is just the theory part of the class, it is followed by two
weeks of actually installing a system on a school which is the practical part. Then
we have a few more days of training afterward to establish maintenance routines
and to answer any questions raised during the training.
