New solar technology educational facility

Staff and students from the RMIT University School of Engineering TAFE, along with industry electrical inspectors, got their first glimpse of the new solar technology training facility located on the rooftop of RMIT’s Building 57 in Melbourne recently.

A government grant of approximately $730,000 covered the cost of the facility, which comprises technologies that utilise solar and hydro as alternative energy sources.

Project Manager and Senior Educator at RMIT University, School of Engineering (TAFE), Herbert Weber, said the new facility is a major achievement for staff and students at RMIT: “This facility will help industry to upskill their workforce in the emerging renewable energy technologies.

Fourteen students from the school assisted with the assembly and installation of three typical solar systems capable of being able to connect to the electrical supply. Each of these represented the typical roof environments that electrical contractors would find themselves on when installing solar panels - cement tile, corrugated iron and flat ‘clip-lock’ roofing. All this occurred under the watchful eye of Pilar De La Torre, an RMIT sessional lecturer and expert in sustainable and renewable energy technologies and managed by Herbert Weber.

Each of the solar systems can be connected to data telecommunications cabling, allowing the data from the solar system to be recorded and stored on sight, and transmitted directly into the classrooms below.

“This facility will allow pre-apprentices, apprentices, commercial clients and advanced diploma students to monitor conditions on the roof from the classroom, giving them first-hand knowledge and practical experience into the operations of solar energy systems in real time.”

Herbert Weber said: “Practical training in solar grid installation, monitoring and occupational health and safety will also further benefit students looking to go into a career in this area.”