Green Building Pre-Apprenticeship Program/Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles   

[edit] Objectives

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will understand:

1. How to do a solar site assessment
2. How a solar hot water system operates
3. How to describe and use some of the tools of the trade
4. How to solder copper fitting and plumbing components

[edit] Goals

The following are some of the main goals for the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module.

[edit] Concepts

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will understand the following concepts (among others):

• Drain back
• Heat transfer in solar thermal systems
• Closed versus open loops

[edit] Vocabulary and units

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will be able to confidently use the following vocabulary and/or units (among others):

• Closed loop, Closed loop glycol, Open loop, Thermosiphon, passive, active, direct, indirect
• BTU/(panel*day), Therms consumed, feet of head

[edit] Calculations

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will be able to do the following calculations (among others):

• BTU (needed)

[edit] How to

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will be comfortable doing the following (among others):

• Size a system
• Solder
• Wire pump and control
• Mount and check sensors
• Mount collectors on roof
• Use a solar path finder and do solar site assessment

[edit] Field trips

By the end of the Solar Hot Water Installation and Design Principles module, students will be have gone on the following field trips (possibly among others):

• BCAT
• Residential Solar hot water
• Solar Trainer – CR Main Campus