Environmental Responsibility Training Program: Solar Energy
TRAINING
SOLAR ENERGY
Learn how to install a solar system in this
3-day training in Tuskegee, Alabama
with Ruth Page-Nelson.
- Cut down on your carbon footprint.
- Boost the value of your house or place of business
- Long-lasting and low maintenance
- www.ngvp.com
- 1370 Co Rd 36, Tuskegee, AL 36083
Nature ’ s Garden for Victory and Peace, Inc
Environmental Responsibility Training Program: Solar Energy
Course Dates: October 18–20, 2024
Friday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday 8:00 am – 12 noon
Location: 1370 County Road 36, Tuskegee, AL 36083
Tuition: $300 (partial scholarships may be available)
For More Info Contact:
Dr. Muhjah Shakir, President and CEO
Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace Inc.
naturesgardenvp@gmail.com
(334) 421 -7160
www.ngvp.com
RUTH PAGE-NELSON
COURSE INSTRUCTOR
www.smartnorthamerica.com
ruth@smartnorthamerica.com
Phone: (678) 591 – 0774
Ruth Page-Nelson is founder and president of Smart North America, Inc., which provides consulting, training and contracting, focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency and the smart grid. She holds several degrees in microbiology and chemistry and is a licensed electrical contractor as well as a train-the-trainer for
EPA’s Environmental Justice Academy which she helped to develop. Smart North America offers world class solar training as well as customized training in solar, energy efficiency, electrical and general contracting. Smart North America offers world class solar training as well as customized training in solar, energy efficiency,
electrical and general contracting. Smart North America, Inc., develops custom training as well as provides internationally recognized training certified by, NABCEP.org (North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals). Ruth is inaugural student of EPA’s Environmental Justice Academy which she worked with
EPA to develop. The Environmental Justice Academy was created to foster equitable treatment and meaningful participation in community development and environmental issues by community members. The company works to create real portunities within communities through working with the local community to provide
in-community, classroom and hands-on training.
Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace (NGVP) works in partnership/collaboration with the course instructor Ruth Page-Nelson, founder and President of Smart North America, Inc. The training is a community-based initiative located in Tuskegee, Alabama and is hosted and administrated by NGVP, a 501(c)3 organization in the
State of Alabama. The vision of Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace is to cultivate land that is preserved and built upon to evoke health, social wellbeing, victory and peace in members of the community.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course provides a 3-day training which will involve the installation of a solar system. This course is being provided to people who want to understand the basics of solar installation, as well as to identify and recruit students who may want to become certified to work on solar projects. In this three-day introduction to solar power and installation of a system, students will learn about the basics of solar power, learn to understand their energy demands and how to offset them, solar and storage. The course will involve classroom and handson training in which we will install a 3000-Watt (3KW) system, with battery storage, using a hybrid inverter,
which will manage the power in an off-grid “yurt” (a tent like, round structure, of Mongolia)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Day 1: Introduction to electricity and how solar power is converted into the power used by homes and businesses. Introduction to the Inverter, solar panels, batteries and components of a solar system. Placement of supports and wiring for system.
- What is electricity? A basic understanding of electricity and how electrons flow to power lights, and other loads. What are electrical loads (things that use power), and how they are calculated, to determine how much energy your home/business needs, based on when and how
much power you use. - How to read your Utility bill: Time of Use, Demand Charges, Fixed Charges, Your Kilowatt hour rate charges, etc.
- Energy Calculation tools, solar placement, calculation tools and apps that help you determine the size of your system.
- What is Solar Photovoltaics and how the sun’s energy is converted into usable energy for homes and businesses (light converts to Volts/and amps). Understanding how Solar Power Works; how the sun changes electromagnetic energy into DC Power, charges
batteries, and converts it into AC energy (the type of energy that a home uses). - Install support poles and conduit for wiring of panels, how to set the array to avoid shading, grounding and junction boxes.
Day 2: INSTALLING A SYSTEM- HANDS-ON: Mounting of panels, connection of wiring and connection of system components
- Review of the components of a solar system and how they work
- Understanding the components that we will assemble in this class, determining the system capability and how to determine whether your system is working properly.
- Mounting of the panels and wiring, aiming panels in the optimal direction and angle,
- Connection of wiring and components for 8 solar
panels, inverter and batteries, including grounding,
disconnects and breakers.
Day 3: Start-up and commissioning of a 3KW system, using REC Panels, Sol-Ark inverter and Pytes Batteries. This handson immersion course in solar power will be used to power an off-grid yurt at Nature’s Garden for Victory and Peace.
- Determining whether your components are connected properly
- How to measure system output
- Verifying system performance against system specifications
- Review of what was learned
- Understanding the needs of participants, whether for further interest in solar for training or installation of your home or business
AFTER COMPLETION OF THE COURSE THE NEXT STEPS FOR PARTICIPANTS:
1. Course evaluation
2. Assess students expressed and demonstrated levels of interest
3. Demonstrated ability, interest & professionalism
4. Follow-up meeting to discuss next steps
