Laboratory Experiences in Alternative Energy Systems and Their Integration in a Green Curriculum

Abstract

Alternative energy laboratory experiences in solar PV and wind energy have been developed to help support the “green” concentration recently offered for the first time in the mechanical engineering program at Western New England College. These laboratories, which give students hands-on experience and a better understanding of basic concepts in alternative energy systems, are conducted in a newly developed indoor/outdoor alternative energy laboratory facility. The alternative energy indoor/outdoor laboratory facility includes a fully operation geothermal system, which is used to heat and cool the engineering labs. It also includes six 195 Watt photovoltaic panels, a 30,000 Btu/clear day flat-plate solar collector, a Thermomax evacuated tubes solar collector, as well as a full scale 1 kW wind turbine, which allows for useful power and hot water to be provided to the engineering building. This facility is also fully instrumented for the collection of key performance data and allows for large scale demonstration of alternative energy systems to students. This paper describes the development, operation and capability of the indoor/outdoor alternative energy facilities, as well as a detailed description of solar and wind experiments, and how these are used in support of the “green” concentration within the mechanical engineering curriculum to give engineering graduates greater competency in the design, analysis and application of solar and wind energy systems.