PHYS 331/580:
Fundamentals of Renewable Energy
Prerequisites:
PHYS 262 or 266 or PI. Please see me
after the first class if you have not taken 266 or 262. Graduate students enrolled in PHYS 580 can
use it to satisfy either the MAIS
concentration in energy & sustainability or one of the three electives
for a MS in applied physics, but not the PhD in physics.
Instructor: Prof. Robert Ehrlich,
301 C ST1
Office
Hours: Tues, Thurs 1:30 – 2:30 or by appointment
Course objectives: This course introduces
students to the mathematical, physical, environmental and economic principles of renewable and
nonrenewable energy sources. The
objective is to give students enough information to allow them to understand
the imperative for moving away from fossil fuels, to assess the relative merits
of various renewable energy sources, to do calculations involving them, and to
understand the factors in optimizing their design, application and locations. Most importantly, the course will stress how
to draw conclusions from various statistics & data concerning energy
resources. Students signed up for the
graduate version of the course will be expected to master the material at a
deeper quantitative level.
Course
description: The course consists of an overview of the entire field
of energy, presented with attention to the mathematical, physical and economic
principles needed to assess the feasibility and desirability of each
source. It will also go into the most
detail with respect to renewable sources, but there are also sections on
nuclear power and fossil fuels. The
course assumes an understanding of basic physics, and it strives to address
energy problems on a mathematical level at the level of first year calculus
plus first order differential equations.
Components of your Grade
(see detailed descriptions for each
category in what follows)
25%
Term project
20%
Final Exam (in class)
20%
Midterm Exam (take home)
20%
Homework problems
10%
Class participation
5%
Field trip
5%
“extra credit”
You
are expected to observe the Honor Code on exams. Note that PHYS 331 & 580 students will
take common exams, except that the 580 students may have a few more challenging
problem on both the mid-term & final.
If you are a student with a
disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the
Office of Disability Resources at 703/993-2474. All academic accommodations
must be arranged through that office.
Academic integrity. GMU is an Honor Code university; please see the University Catalog for
a full description of the code and the honor committee process. The principle
of academic integrity is taken very seriously and violations are treated gravely.
What does academic integrity mean in this course? Essentially this: when you
are responsible for a task, you will perform that task. When you rely on
someone else’s work in an aspect of the performance of that task, you will give
full credit in the proper, accepted form. Another aspect of academic integrity
is the free play of ideas. Vigorous discussion and debate are encouraged in
this course, with the firm expectation that all aspects of the class will be
conducted with civility and respect for differing ideas, perspectives, and
traditions. When in doubt (of any kind) please ask for guidance and
clarification.
Project. This might be
a collaborative effort with a group of no more than 2 students working on
various aspects of it or alternatively separate projects for individual
students. The projects for students enrolled in the graduate
version of this course are expected to be more in line with a small independent
research project for a graduate student.
In particular, the amount and level of any data analysis should be at a
reasonably sophisticated level. Please
see me if you are unsure which of the suggested topics for projects are
suitable for graduate students. I will need to approve your project by the end of the
third week at the latest, but I will want to be assured that different
people or groups are working on different projects, so it pays to discuss your
idea with me early. Remember
your proposed project must be submitted no later than Thurs, Feb 9. At that time it is also essential that you
let me have an itemized accurate estimate of the cost of parts for your project
so that you can get reimbursed (within reason).
Some possible projects are described here. Please be sure to meet with me during the 6th
and 10th weeks of the course, so I can monitor your progress. The project must be completed by Thurs April
19, when it will be on display to the Mason community. It is expected that in addition to turning in
the project it will be presented to the class during the last week of the
semester.
Textbook: I have finished writing a draft of a text book
suitable for this course, and students will be given free access to the book,
which has not yet been published through “Google docs.” Please create an account on Google docs if
you do not yet have one. It is important
that you agree not to make these chapters available to anyone else. In addition, detailed power point notes of
the lectures will also be posted on the course web site, but they may be
revised right up to the time of the lecture.
Extra credit: Up to 5
points extra credit will be given for useful feedback on the book. The full 5 points would be given for very
substantial feedback of the type discussed in the “READ_ME” document on the
Google docs site.
Homework problems are shown in parenthesis. They are due the week after the topic is
covered.
Chapter #, date and homework assigned
1. Jan 26 Introduction
(1,2,3)
2. Feb 2 Fossil Fuels (5,7,8)
3. Feb 9 Nuclear Science (4,6,10)
4. Feb 16 Nuclear Technology
(9,11,14)
5. Feb 23 Biofuels (4,7,8)
6. March 1 Geothermal Power
(2,4,9)
7. March 8 Wind Power (7,10,11)
(plus meetings with all students on their projects
this week during office hours)
Spring recess: Mon Mar 12 – Fri Mar 16
Here is the take
home Mid-term
exam
Exams must be
turned in by the Thurs 3/22 class.
8. March 22 Hydropower (7,12,14)
9. March 29 Solar Radiation
and Climate (2,6,9)
(plus meetings with all students on their projects
this week during office hours)
10. April 5 Solar thermal
Devices (2,4,9)
11. April 12 Photovoltaic
Solar Cells (3,5,10)
12. April 19 Energy
conservation (2,6,8)
(April 19 is the absolute deadline
for submitting projects.)
Saturday April 21 field trip – see details below
13. April 26 Energy storage
& transmission & Project
Presentations (2,4,5)
April 26
project display in the “Showcase” (at
foot of Observatory tower) instead of class – come at 2PM
14. May 3 Energy
and climate policy.
Final exam Thurs,
May 10, 3:00 – 6:15 Last years final exam
Final will be on stuff since the mid-term;
it will include one EXCEL problem;
it will be open book & open notes;
you will have a choice of problems: 5 out of 7.
Zero energy Office buildings owned by the
Stella Group in Arlington, VA -- 706 North Ivy Street – arrive 9:00
Please carpool
& arrive no later than 9:00AM. Allow
about 30 min from Mason – see Google or Mapquest for directions. My cell phone number is 703-963-9499. If
there are some persons who cannot attend the field trip, an alternative
assignment will be arranged – see below.
Following the field trip you need to write a review of the visit & what you
learned.
Alternative assignment. For any
student who is unable to attend a field trip, provisions will be made for an
alternative assignment, involving design & construction of a renewable
energy demonstration to be presented to the class. You may not use “kits” for this purpose. Please see me today to inform me if you know
you cannot attend a field trip as scheduled.
Why an internship? An internship, which is often pursued in your junior year – usually over the summer – can be a great entrée into well-paying career and it may even may help you land a job later with a particular company. “Green jobs” relating to renewable energy encompass many areas, including entrepreneurs, researchers, autoworkers making hybrid cars, building consultants, home energy auditors, solar panel installers, environmental studies and engineering professors, think tank policy experts, wind turbine engineers, lawyers for biofuel companies to name just a few. Internships give you a much better understanding of what a field is like, and they give employers experience with your abilities before they make a long-term investment in you.
What is available? There are numerous internships available across the nation relating to renewable energy at universities, federally funded labs, non-profit organizations, private companies, and energy research centers. Some opportunities tend to be in scientific and engineering fields, but others are in policy areas. The ones at universities and research labs usually include a travel and housing allowance as well as a weekly stipend. Among those opportunities at companies and non-profit organizations, some are paid, and some are unpaid. Which ones might be most appropriate for you would depend on your major. Obviously, opportunities of a technical nature would be most appropriate for science or engineering majors, while others would be more appropriate for students who have majored in business, IT, or in public policy.
How to find them? A list of over 100 internships throughout the nation can be found at this web site: http://rev-up.org -- just select internships from the left menu. Note that this database can easily be sorted and searched to find those in a particular geographic region. Not every one of these organizations is seeking someone immediately, but they all do work in the areas of renewable energy & energy conservation, and they have expressed a desire to take on interns at some point.
How do I make the arrangements? Making specific arrangements for an
internship is entirely up to you after you have identified whether a particular
organization might be interested in you.
Finally, be sure to find out how to obtain course credit for an
internship, and be sure to make the necessary arrangements ahead of time, since
this cannot be done retroactively.