My students may wish to explore materials complimentary to the course, Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems.
Penn State
Solar Education
Materials and systems studies for solar energy conversion and technologies requires a multidisciplinary approach.
Past, Present and Future
Theses Graduates: Follow the links to download!
Ms. Mesude Bayrakci (MS EME; Summer 2011): Temperature Dependent Power Modeling of Photovoltaics
Mr. Charith Tammineedi (MS EME; Spring 2011): Matlab Modeling of Battery-Ultracapacitor Systems for Solar and Wind
Mr. Luke Witmer (MS EME; Fall 2010): TRNSYS: Quantification of the Passive Cooling of Photovoltaics Using a Green Roof
Mr. Jonathan Perez-Blanco (BS Honors ME; Spring 2010): Conventional and Green Roof Albedo Measurement and Analysis for Roof-Mounted Photovoltaic Applications
Natural Fusion Solar Decathlon
The Natural Fusion project at Penn State has seen a very successful experience on the National Mall in in Washington D.C. this October 2009! Congratulations to the team for taking 3rd place in both Engineering and Lighting Design! What an amazing design-build process for all of us.
Contact Information if you would like to contact our group for outreach, consulting, or otherwise.
Graduate Education
EGEE 597A: Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems (grad) Runs parallel to EGEE 437 in the Fall, and includes systems dynamics simulations of photovoltaic or solar thermal energy conversion case studies. [Offered Fall 2011]
EGEE 597D: Advanced Photovoltaics Integration of Materials and Systems. Students evaluate materials used in thin film photovoltaic (PV) devices and discuss resource implications for large scale deployment. EGEE 437 is a prerequisite for this course. [Offered Fall 2009]
Graduate Tools for Data Journalism and Visualization
LaTeX typesetting software: This is your tool of tools as a grad student. You will be required to submit your thesis as an electronic file with PSU's eTD program. LaTeX (pronounced la-tech or lay-tech) works in every computing environment and will remain manageable when your thesis or paper gets large. We have templates for thesis and dissertation requirements at Penn State and for many publications. [Mac:] TeXShop, Ubuntu Linux: TeXLive, Windows: MiKTex. [Required]
A LaTeX Editor: The editor is the front end, LaTeX works in the background when you compile it. [Mac:] TeXShop, Linux/Windows: TeXWorks [Required]
Jab Ref and BibTeX: Jab Ref is an excellent way to manage your references through BiBTeX. [Required]
One programming language and compiler: This is becoming harder and harder to find in graduate students, and it is an essential tool for all of you. If you don't know a language or how a compiler or interpreter works, we have great opportunities for learning! Options: Scilab, FORTRAN, R, or Sage (Python)
Modern Statistic and Graphing Software: The R language software package (available for free) [Required].
Vector Graphics Editor: Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape (available for free) [Required]. An important part of publishing is high quality, accurate, scalable graphics. Once you prepare a plot or table as a graphic, you will be expected to refine it for publishing quality. This can really only be done well with the assistance of a vector graphics editor.
Raster Graphics Editor: [Recommended] Adobe Photoshop, ImageJ or Gimp. If you collect image data from microscopes such as the SEM and TEM, you must be facile in this type of software to insert scale bars, modify contrast, and learn when data modification is actually tending to data falsification from too much editing!
SMARTS: Spectral simulation software based on physical models, by Dr. Chris Gueymard of Solar Consulting Services.
REST2: High-performance radiative software to predict cloudless-sky broadband irradiance, by Dr. Chris Gueymard of Solar Consulting Services.
Undergraduate Courses
EGEE 437: Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems (How Do We Convert Energy from the Sun?): The field of solar energy conversion for heat and power draws upon students and professionals from materials science, chemistry, architecture, architectural engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and economics. Surprisingly, student education with respect to the solar resource typically ends somewhere around middle school, often confined to the periphery of earth science studies. As each student is expected have major deficiencies in one aspect or another, DSECS (Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems) serves as the primary point of departure for advanced research, delivering the systems fundamentals of solar energy conversion and engineering. The course is required for Penn State's degree program in Energy Engineering, and will to expand to more campuses beyond the central University Park locale. [Offered every semester]
EGEE 455: Materials for Energy Applications Our energy technologies are dependent upon interesting materials for energy conversion, transmission, and storage. We cover key principles of modern thermodynamics (open systems) and materials behavior for technologies in energy applications, including batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaics, magnetic technologies, spinning power, and thermal storage. [Offered Fall 2010]
Supplemental
For topics related to the required course EGEE 437, please visit my accompanying site, Design of Solar Energy Conversion Systems.
MORE Graduate Tools
We ran out of space on the first column! Please find below some LaTeX templates that we have developed and found useful:
- ASES Paper Template, Sample *.pdf file
- ASES Paper Template (*.tex)
- ASES Template Bibliography Style (*.bst)
- ASES Template BibTeX Sample (*.bib)
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My wonderful grad students Jeff Rayl and Luke Witmer developed a working template for ASES papers. Please feel free to use for your own ASES conference papers. Instructions for using the template are inside the *.tex file. Note: Images are not included in the links (use your own).
From 2009-2011, I also served as Program Officer for the online Bachelor of Arts degree in Energy and Sustainability Policy. The degree program is offered as a collaboration between the Dept. of Energy and Mineral Engineering, the Dutton Institute of e-Education, and the PSU World Campus.