You can obtain the 12-credit Graduate Certificate in Solar Energy as a stand-alone credential. Courses in the 12-credit solar energy graduate certificate can prepare you to lead project development in the rapidly expanding solar energy sector. Depending on the course path you choose, the curriculum will cover topics such as:
- full systems perspective of a solar energy project, including financial policies and analysis tools required for development and implementation
- design tools, solar policies, financing tools, and factors affecting the short term and lifecycle costs of solar energy systems
- physical qualities of the solar resource, estimation of the fractional contributions of irradiance to total demand, and economic assessment of the solar resource
- heat production from solar energy conversion as applied to large-scale, industrial projects
- power production from solar energy conversion, including conversion via photovoltaics and solar thermal power cycles
- theories and practices of distributed energy production and management in the context of regional and integrated energy grid structures
- theories and design practices of solar electric systems in the context of utility and commercial scale applications