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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Exploring Renewable Energy Schemes by University of Pennsylvania

4.7
stars
565 ratings

About the Course

What do you picture when you hear the term “renewable energy?” Do you imagine fields of solar panels, giant windmills, or huge hydroelectric dams? Those are all examples of large-scale, grid-tied systems. In this course, we’ll go much smaller and focus on off-grid, stand-alone systems. We will explore the key components of photovoltaic, wind, and hydroelectric systems. We will examine photovoltaic, or PV, system components, and the scientific laws essential to understanding how renewable energy systems work. We will discuss wind energy and low-head hydroelectric systems, focusing on small-scale implementations. During our exploration of these systems, we will focus on safety and regulating bodies that guide proper system design. Throughout the course, you will be able to apply what you’re learning by conducting an energy audit to analyze power consumption, identifying essential system components of small-scale systems, building a budget for a small-scale system design, and creating a design for implementing a small-scale system....

Top reviews

AR

Feb 9, 2020

Great course! Information is well presented and organized. You'll end this course feeling confident on designing your own solar system, as well as gaining knowledge in other renewable energy schemes.

SR

Jul 13, 2020

Great course!!! Well presented and organized. You'll end this course feeling confident on designing your own solar system, as well as gaining knowledge in other renewable energy schemes

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1 - 25 of 153 Reviews for Exploring Renewable Energy Schemes

By Carlos J H S

Mar 26, 2020

The course is too basic, there are no equations, no specific descriptions of the types of PV systems, software to calculate energy yields, nothing. More than that, there are no prepared technical slides or relevant images, is just the professor talking and talking.... and talking.

By Andrés R

Feb 10, 2020

Great course! Information is well presented and organized. You'll end this course feeling confident on designing your own solar system, as well as gaining knowledge in other renewable energy schemes.

By sai p t

May 11, 2020

great course and I like the prof way of teaching so much, such a cool person. I highly recommend any one to come and "Explore" this course on Photo voltaic, Wind and Hydro Energy.

By Tofopefun N O

Apr 18, 2020

This course was really interesting. It cemented my basic foundation on renewable energy; solar, wind and hydro.

By Youssef A

Mar 25, 2021

The Course is a good introduction to PV and Solar Energy, although it is only an introduction and is too basic and simple in my opinion - really beginner level, quick and easy, but I did enjoy it

To be honest, I also struggled with the English/spanish accent of the teacher, which did not make it easy. beginners will like that the teacher speaks in simple terms, with metaphors and examples, so that everyone can understand.

There are other courses on Coursera that will give you a better or deeper understanding of Solar Energy etc, such as the one from DTU (Denmark) for instance.

By Sikandar H

Aug 6, 2020

its best course for beginner and specially for those who love renewable energy and its importance.

its a great opportunity for both students and field engineers who love to work on solar panels :) .

and specially thanks to great course instructor who made every thing clear.thank you coursera and thank you University of Pennsylvania

team

By Mohammad P

Aug 5, 2023

Hello, thank you for your efforts in the course. It was very useful and beautiful. I hope you will always be healthy and happy. Mohammad Pakzad from Iran.

By Nancy L

Oct 12, 2020

This was a nice high-level survey of some renewable energy options but I felt it lacked the depth required to put together a good system off-grid, which was the stated goal of the course. In particular very little attention was paid to the batteries, which will be the most expensive part of an off-grid solar system. I also felt details on how to size the required components was weak. I did learn some useful things from the course but overall I was disappointed.

By Thom V

Jul 23, 2022

The teacher is somewhat difficult to follow, searching for words. I playd the vides at 1.25 speed which, made it easier to follow him. formula 'sand theories were not very well explained. Training was not at an acedemic level.

By Kim J N

Jan 5, 2022

Soporific course, an interesting topic made boring with hours of talk and few materials. Would be great to offer, ppt, slides or hands-on tools.

By Vivek D

Jul 17, 2020

Such a wonderful course for a beginner to renewable energy systems. We all know about renewable systems to a degree, but through this course, one gets a solid understanding of the basic fundamentals and introduces new perspectives and criteria essential to running a successful system. Professor Santiago does a really good job of connecting the course material always to developing a real system. The additional readings are a great source as well.

By Fabio E S S

Jun 23, 2022

Thanks Dr. Jorge Santiago for this excellent course, where I had the chance to explore renewable energy concepts. I liked the methodology and pedagogy whic h helped me to assimilate clearly the basics of PV solar , eolic and low head hydroelectric systems. This course has motivated me to go farther in the study of PV Solar System, which is a technology that may be be easier to undertake in household projects.

By Bhekithemba S

Jun 14, 2022

This is a great course indeed, presented by someone who is patient and very passionate about the subject. I enjoyed it all the way and would recommend it to anyone else. Now I am going to get that certificate and study further! Thank you Doc, and thank you so much to the University of Pennsylvannia.

By Karen K

Jun 8, 2022

Instructor was very knowledgable and easy to follow. The content coverable was more than expected and I learned a lot in this course that I will be able to apply to my real life living. Lots of excellent resources that I have booked marked to continue exploring solar energy.

By Yalda S

Jun 8, 2020

The course was very well structured and the lectures were extremely complete and informative. A beginner to understanding renewable energy schemes will undoubtedly learn the basics. I appreciate the contributions of prof. Jorge Santiago-Aviles.

By Sunil R

Jul 14, 2020

Great course!!! Well presented and organized. You'll end this course feeling confident on designing your own solar system, as well as gaining knowledge in other renewable energy schemes

By Wasih B

Jun 22, 2020

This course provided a well organized information regarding Renewable Energy Schemes and how can we design a system to provide energy at smaller level.

By Ziyad Y

May 22, 2020

Exploring Renewable Energy Schemes, That is very helpful, I'm very glad to join in this experience with a team of Coursera, many thanks for all of you.

By FATIMAH A M

Jun 22, 2020

very good course i toke more information and enhance my knowledge. More thanks and love to the best cool prof who presented the course.

By Aisling O Y L

Sep 8, 2021

Overall, I am quite happy with this course. It may be a bit too short and general for me being a mechanical engineering student, but I found it quite interesting. I was happy to find a course in renewable energy as I have interest in sustainability and environmentally friendly projects, I feel it is important for courses like this to be available to the public as it is something that should be greatly encouraged. This course was very solar energy focused which works for my country, but it would be nice for the course to go into more detail on other renewable energy schemes as well. Dr. Jorge was good. Although it can be a bit difficult to understand him at times, and there may be a bit too many pauses when explaining something than I’d like, I found him quite entertaining and after a few videos I got used to his style. He seems like a very nice man.

By hellyharris@hotmail.com

Jul 1, 2021

me ha encantado formar parte de el grupo de alumnos que hemos tenido el privilegio de dar este gran paso, el que tenga hoy la oportunidad de obtener un cerificado que acredite que soy conocedor de las herramientas necesarias para enfrentar nuevos retos se lo devemos a coursera y a su staff de profesores, en especial a nuestro master Jorge Santiago-Aviles, muchas gracias por el privilegio y este solamente es el comienzo, sequimos con coursera hasta llegar a lo mas alto.

By Nicolás A P L

Jun 28, 2021

The course is excellent, Professor Santiago-Aviles explains key topics in a simple and easy way. The teacher emphasizes the key topics and gives time to understand them. It is a highly recommended course for people interested in renewable energy. I think that the university is in a position to offer a specialization or master's degree in renewable energy for students from all over the world.

By Arfa I

Sep 6, 2021

This course is very interesting and exciting. It will teach one a lot about solar energy, how to set up a small scale, off-grid system on your own, provide a lot of context and knowledge necessary for installing a solar energy system. One will also gain knowledge regarding low head hydroelectric and eolic (wind) energy. Dr. Jorge is an amazing course instructor. Best of luck to all students!

By Andrei S

Aug 10, 2020

excellent approach to the world of renewable energy. I already have some experience in the industry, butI have to say that the simple way in which things have been explained has made me understand better the operation of complex software that I use for work. now thanks to the Ing. Jorge Santiago-Aviles, University of Pennsylvania and Coursera I can design a PV system without a computer

By BABAR H

Feb 21, 2023

Thank s for this incredible course.

I would like to express my appreciation for this well-structured and practical online course content. Coursera, you are really doing a great service. All your videos are so valuable, to the point and really easy to understand the necessary information.

Regards

Engr Babar Hussain from Pakistan