Photovoltaics & Solar Energy - 3642

The undergraduate engineering degree in Photovoltaics (PV) and Solar Energy was established in 2000 and is a four-year full-time program. It is the first of its kind internationally and won the Poster Presentation Award at a recent major international photovoltaic conference in Rome. The program has been established in response to rapid growth in the industry in recent years in both manufacturing capacity and job creation.

The program includes training in technology development, manufacturing, quality control, reliability and lifecycle analysis, cell interconnection and encapsulation, the full range of solar cell applications, system design, maintenance and fault diagnosis, marketing, policy development and the use of all renewable energy technologies. Considerable emphasis is placed on gaining hands-on experience of working with PV devices, modules and systems.

Innovative teaching techniques have been developed to enhance the learning environment. UNSW academics in the photovoltaic field have been consistently ranked amongst the leaders worldwide through international peer review. This team has held the world record for silicon solar cell efficiencies for almost 15 years and has been responsible for developing the most successfully commercialised new photovoltaic technology internationally throughout the same period.


Second Area of Specialisation

The cross-disciplinary nature of photovoltaics and renewable energy applications necessitates many PV engineers possessing broad engineering backgrounds or else working in teams with other engineers. A good example is the UNSW Solar Car Project involving PV engineers with skills suiting most areas of the project, electronics engineers, control engineers, mechanical engineers for the aerodynamics and mechanical design, chemical engineers in relation to battery technology, power engineers for motor technology, biomedical engineers for monitoring driver performance and fatigue, computer engineers, and communications engineers for telemetry, etc.

A unique feature of this program is that in Year 2, students have the opportunity to select one of eleven possible strands to complement their education in Photovoltaics and Solar Energy. Each strand comprises 18 units of credit with the opportunity to subsequently select additional electives in the corresponding area in the final two years, subject to the approval of the Head of the Centre. The strands available are listed below and cover areas such as computing, electronics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, physics, chemical engineering, and architecture. Students may also formulate their own strands subject to School Office approval.

Please contact the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering for information on the Program Objectives and Learning Outcomes.

MATH1141 and MATH1241 may be taken at the lower level (MATH1131 and MATH1231)
SOLA1060 is offered every second year and will not be offered in 2005.

Year 2

Selected Strand 12 UOC

General Education Elective 3 UOC

SOLA2020 and SOLA2053 are offered every second year and will not be offered in 2005.

Year 3

Professional Electives 18 UOC

Selected Strand (continued) 6 UOC

General Education 3 UOC

SOLA3010 is offered every second year and will not be offered in 2005.

Year 4

Professional Electives 12 UOC

General Education elective 6 UOC

Years 2 & 3 Strand Options

Please note that the strands listed below are subject to change and may not be available every year.

Strand 1 Computing

Choose one of:

And choose one of:

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

And ONE of:

Students must choose whether to take the course at the ordinary or higher level

Strand 2 Electronics

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

And choose one from the following to complete the strand:

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

PHYS3080 has PHYS3010 or PHYS3210 and PHYS3020 as co-requisites

PHYS3310 has PHYS3080 as a pre-requisite

Strand 10 Faculty of the Built Environment

And choose from the following to complete the strand:

BENV1072 requires a waiver from ARCH1271 - Architectural Technology 3

BLDG1212 requires completion of BLDG1211 - Construction Technology 1A

BENV1242 requires a waiver from prerequisite BENV1141 - Computer & Information Technology

BENV1341 requires completion of BENV1242 - Computer Aided Design

Professional Electives for Years 3 & 4

Because of timetable clashes not all combinations or courses are possible

M523 (Murdoch) Renewable Energy Systems Design 6 Units of Credit

The following courses are offered every second year and will not be offered in 2005:
SOLA5011, SOLA5050, SOLA5052 and SOLA5056.

Electives can also be chosen from the courses listed as electives for Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering for which appropriate prerequisite requirements have been satisfied and which conform to the credit point requirements.

The program selected by each student must be approved by the Head of Centre. Not all electives are available each session or each year, nor is the full range available to part-time students. Students are advised each year of the timetable of available electives. Substitution is not permitted if it unduly restricts the range of subjects studied to only one area of Photovoltaic Engineering.

Students in this program must satisfy the General Education requirements.
For further information, please refer to "General Education" in the Table of Contents (see left-hand side of page).

Each Faculty has responsibility for deciding what courses are able to be counted towards the General Education requirement for their students.
The Faculty of Engineering is committed to providing the widest range of choice of general education electives for its students. It strongly encourages students to make the best use of this flexibility. Please contact your School Office for further information on General Education electives available to you.

In the Bachelor of Engineering degree programs the same formal program is offered to both Pass students and to those aiming at Honours. Honours will be awarded for meritorious performance over the program: special attention is paid to a candidate's performance in the final year courses and thesis project.

In the cases of combined degrees, such as the BE BA or the BE BSc, the award of the BA or BSc degree at Honours level requires two additional sessions of study.

Students wishing to gain a degree at Honours level in Arts or in Science as part of their combined degree program must meet all the relevant requirements of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Science and of the appropriate school concerned. Students may enrol for the Honours year only on the recommendation of the Head of their School in the Faculty of Engineering and with the approval of the Head of the appropriate Arts or Science School. For Honours in Science, approval must also be sought from the Science Cross Faculty Standing Committee or its delegated authorities. AUSTUDY support is available for the combined degree program including the Honours level.

Bachelor of Engineering Program Rules

1. The Bachelor of Engineering is awarded following the completion of a minimum of 192 units of credit.

2. The specific requirements for the Bachelor of Engineering in the various disciplines are set out in the relevant sections in this Handbook.

3. The degree may be awarded with Honours, based upon the overall performance in the program and in accordance with Faculty and School policies. Honours are awarded in the following classes - Class 1, Class 2 Division 1, Class 2 Division 2.

4. The standard duration of the program is four years, or eight sessions, of full-time study each comprising 24 units of credit. Students may undertake the program over a longer period on the basis of part-time study.

5. Each student is required to complete a minimum of 60 days of approved experience in industry prior to graduation.

6. General Education electives may only be attempted after the student has attempted at least 24 units of credit.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following web-page:  https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/fees/FeesMainPage.html

All students must complete at least 60 working days of approved industrial experience (or professional practice in the case of Surveying and Spatial Information Systems students) prior to enrolment in the final year of their program. The award of the degree is dependent on the completion of the requisite periods of industrial employment at a standard approved by the University.