Course Details

Course Information

Semester	Course Unit Code	Course Unit Title	T+P+L	Credit	Number of ECTS Credits	Last Updated Date
8	ME466	SOLAR ENERGY FUNDAMENTALS	3+0+0	3	5	15.08.2025

Course Details

Language of Instruction	English
Level of Course Unit	Bachelor's Degree
Department / Program	MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Type of Program	Formal Education
Type of Course Unit	Elective
Course Delivery Method	Face To Face
Objectives of the Course	• Facilitating the students to achieve a clear conceptual understanding of technical and commercial aspects of solar energy systems. • Enabling the student for better understanding the theory, systems, and technology behind the solar radiation, solar cell, solar PV power plants, solar energy storage.
Course Content	This advanced undergraduate elective course introduces the fundamental theories of solar radiation, solar thermal energy collection and storage, and physics and types of solar cells. This course covers radiation heat transfer, solar radiation, solar thermal collectors, passive solar house heating and cooling, active geosolar heating systems, physics of photovoltaic cells, physical models of solar cell operation, characteristics, and design of common types of solar cells, approaches to increasing solar cell efficiency, and energy storage. This interdisciplinary course is open to undergraduate students in engineering
Course Methods and Techniques	Theory Lectures
Prerequisites and co-requisities	( ME352 )
Course Coordinator	None
Name of Lecturers	Asist Prof.Dr. Mikail Temirel
Assistants	None
Work Placement(s)	No

Recommended or Required Reading

Resources	Lectures Slides
Course Notes	Lectures Slides

Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods

Activities are given in detail in the section of "Assessment Methods and Criteria" and "Workload Calculation"

Assessment Methods and Criteria

ECTS Allocated Based on Student Workload

Activities	Quantity	Duration	Total Work Load
Araştırma Ödevi	2	14	28
Ev Ödevi	14	2	28
Sınıf İçi Aktivitesi	2	14	28
Proje	15	2	30
Okuma	6	1	6
Rapor	1	10	10
Araştırma	14	1	14
Total Work Load			Number of ECTS Credits 5 144

Course Learning Outcomes: Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

No	Learning Outcomes
1	Establish basic knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of solar radiation.
2	Comprehend different solar thermal energy collection and storage methods, including their advantages and limitations
3	Apply basic laws of solar radiation to design of flat-plate and concentrated solar thermal collectors
4	Develop basic understanding of solar cell physics with an emphasis on semiconductor materials
5	Comprehend characteristics and design of common types of solar cells and approaches to increasing solar cell efficiency
6	Explore new forms of solar energy harvesting

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Topics	Study Materials	Materials
1	Introduction to Solar Energy
2	Radiation Fundamentals
3	Solar Radiation
4	Flat-plate and Concentrating Collectors
5	Concentrated Solar Plant
6	Semiconductor Material
7	Physics of solar cell: P-N junction
8	Types of solar cell
9	Phase Change Materials (PCM)
10	Solar Energy Storage Systems
11	New Forms of Solar Energy Harvesting
12	Solar Panel Manufacturing Process
13	Individual paper presentation
14	Project Presentations

Contribution of Learning Outcomes to Programme Outcomes

Contribution: 1: Very Slight 2:Slight 3:Moderate 4:Significant 5:Very Significant

https://sis.agu.edu.tr/oibs/bologna/progCourseDetails.aspx?curCourse=78574&lang=en